Acoustic Blues
Vinyl LPs & CDs
Mississippi John Hurt - "Best of" is an LP I found at a record store in South Bend and was one of the first acoustic blues LPs I ever bought. It includes live versions of most of his tunes - recorded during the sixties blues revival.
Johnny Shines & Robert Lockwood - "Hangin' On" is an LP my older brother had in his collection that influenced me quite a bit. Robert Lockwood plays some amazing 12-string acoustic blues throughout.
This CD collection is a no-brainer/must add to your collection. IT includes all of his recordings as well as some alternate takes.
Blind Lemon Jefferson - "King of The Country Blues" is an LP I purchased on Amazon Digital Music. I do not know if they have it on CD or vinyl, but it's awesome!
Blind Willie McTell - The Early Years is an LP that a friend of mine put on CD for me after I first started learning to play acoustic blues guitar. This includes some of his best 12-string songs!
Blind Blake - This CD includes of of Blake's best known tunes, but is also missing a couple classics. Still, one of the best compilations of his work you can buy.
Various Artists - Great Blues Guitarists String Dazzlers is a compilations of songs by some of the best acoustic guitarists of the pre-war era. I got this on a cassette at a local record store. It has songs by Lonnie Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Sylvester Weaver, Tampa Red and others.
Lonnie Johnson - Steppin' On The Blues is my favorite Lonnie Johnson CD compilation. Includes many of his best instrumentals and vocal tunes.
This is probably my favorite Lightning Hopkins CD. It's got "Annie's Boogie," "Trouble In Mind," and other great songs!
This is one of the better Mance Lipscomb CDs.
This is a good LP for Tampa Red's solo bottleneck style - includes his instrumentals "You Got To Reap What You Sow" and the epic "Denver Blues."
There seem to be a lot of different Charlie Patton CDs out there, but this one seems to have all his really great guitar stuff - including "Screamin' and Hollerin' The Blues," and "Green River Blues."
IF you want to venture into "The Twilight Zone" of pre-war acoustic blues guitar, this is the CD for you! This includes his best stuff, but you'll likely need help figuring out how to play it - as I did! See Tom Feldman's su[erb instructional DVD!!!!