A (Brief) Electric Blues Primer

Honestly, I don’t care about Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page – or their bands apart from the Yardbirds. They can both surely shred, but when electric blues is discussed and their names are mentioned ahead of other players, it kinda bothers me. And it should bother you. I mean, you’re smart enough to be reading this, so aren’t you smart enough to not be a sheep? The answer to that is yes. So what follows is a short and by no means comprehensive (or fair) list of some players that worked in electric blues bands and make those aforementioned Brits sound like school girls.

Albert King
There’re a buncha guys named King that play blues and tote a guitar. So what makes Albert different that the rest of ‘em? Mostly the fact that his best known album – Born Under a Bad Sign – was recorded with the help of Booker T and the MGs. That fact didn’t make the album a funky burner, but there’s a good dash of soul in this King’s music. Despite his band on that disc – or any other studio effort – the stage is where Albert shone. So hunt down some live dates or bootlegs. It’ll be worth the effort.

Freddie King
This King, much like Albert, had a bit of soul and funk in his flavor – perhaps even more so. Freddie might not have count the MGs as a backing group, but he did have Robert Lockwood Jr. for a while. That might be one of the only things to trump the southern soul band, though. Again, live settings for this King work out better. He was a soulful singer and in the company of some syncopated groups, King could come off as an inventive and fiery guitarist.

Paul Butterfield
Yeah, there’s a white dude on here. And yeah, he’s the only one that doesn’t play guitar. But Butterfield kept Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop in his employ for varying amounts of time. And those guys right there are two of the more explosive talents to come outta the ‘60s, despite each player’s lack of solo work. Butterfield released two incredible discs – both 1965’s self titled effort and 1966’s East-West – before slowly sliding into stuff that no one needs to search out. That latter disc, though, was something akin to the Allman’s Fillmore set, accept more entertaining. It’s almost jazzy at points, but that’s what made Butterfield and his group a draw.

Taj Mahal
Coming out of the Los Angeles rock scene Taj Mahal had a different approach to the genre than his predecessors. The guitarist was surely still rooted in the same stuffs, but as a result of working it all out with some hippies in Rising Sons, there was just a unique bent to Taj’s blues. There aren’t hippie jams included on his discs, although, it’s evident that Taj was more than capable of it. Some of this later day recordings – anything from the second half of the ‘70s and on is a bit spotty. Those first few solo discs, though, are just short of incredible.