Blues 101

Born in the rural South as a balm for the pain of oppression, blues journeyed north, got electrified, and eventually crossed into the mainstream. Lyrically deep and rhythmically relentless, the music scores a simultaneous hit to the gut, soul, and feet. Time to meet the masters, kicking off with the great B.B. King, whose stunning 1969 recording of Rick Darnell and Roy Hawkins’ “The Thrill Is Gone” earned him an R&B Vocal Performance GRAMMY®; and Robert Johnson, who released “Cross Road Blues” on 78 way back in 1937 and compounded the legend of his soul-trading pact with the devil in exchange for blues fame.

Blind Willie McTell and the Allman Brothers offer contrasting takes on the same tune, in Next Steps.

So many blues songs are rightfully revered as classic: sizzling guitars, pounding pianos, soaring harmonicas, and riveting vocals have long reigned as the cornerstones of the genre. Feel the rustic bluesy power of Blind Willie McTell, whose “Statesboro Blues” sends us sparks and shivers from the depths of 1928, with its push-pull narrative of rejection and defiance. We’ve also included the Allman Brothers’ ’70s take on the song, distinguished by the legendary slide guitar of Duane Allman. Robert Cray, lynchpin of the ’80s blues revival, lays his unique talent on the line in superlative pop-crossover fashion with “Right Next Door (Because of Me).”

Alberta Hunter sings to us from way back when, in Deep Cuts.

Great though they were, the American superstars of blues aren’t the only ones who contributed monumental recordings to the music’s history. Explore further and you’ll encounter more mind-blowing tracks, like the work of British blues legend John Mayall, whose Blues Breakers featured Eric Clapton on lead guitar — “All Your Love” from 1966 features the band’s then-unique and influential pairing of a Gibson Les Paul guitar with an overdriven (distorted) Marshall amp. And among all the men, we’ve made room for some legendary blueswomen, including Alberta Hunter, who was born in Memphis in the 19th century, cut her teeth in the dive clubs of Chicago in the 1900s, and bequeathed us unforgettable cuts like “Fine and Mellow.”

The blues — a shortened version of the phrase “the blue devils,” meaning everything from low spirits to the DTs — is what you feel when you’re low and, transformed into music, it’s what gets you back up. It’s the symptom and the cure. Tunes that come from a place this real never die and never lose their power to shake your heart and your hips. Experience the earthy honesty of the blues with these utterly essential tracks, featuring the music’s pioneers, legends, eccentrics, and innovators. From ’20s trailblazers Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, to Chess label legends Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Muddy Waters, through to phenomenal white bluesmen Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the genre’s bastion-bustin’ women, including Big Mama Thornton and Bonnie Raitt, our Blues 101 Essentials makes for one bad bedrock.