Great musicians of the 20th century

[ajay124]

Great musicians of the 20th century
Recently while surfing the net I came across Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 great albums,singers etc.Like all lists there was something to be pleased about and a LOT which I found difficult to digest.Rolling Stone had focused almost entirely on rock/rock'n' roll/r&b and ignored jazz music.Iconic jazz albums like A Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane seemed to have been included as an afterthought while the Beatles and Bob Dylan dominated the list.In the 100 great singers list there was no mention of the five singers I would rate as the best.Namely-Billie Holiday,Ella Fitzgerald,Louis Armstrong,Nat King Cole and Mahalia Jackson(pls. don't confuse the last with Michael.Don't like his music one bit).
So let's make a list of our own.I am restricting my list to all genres of western music except the classical.But we could have separate lists for Western and Indian Classical.

ROCK/R&R/FOLK/BLUES
BOB DYLAN--HIGHWAY 61/BLONDE ON BLONDE/BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME/BLOOD ON THE TRACKS
PHIL OCHS--THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE/LIVE IN CONCERT/FAREWELLS AND FANTASIES
NEIL YOUNG--RUST NEVER SLEEPS/HARVEST/TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT
LEONARD COHEN--I'M YOUR MAN/VARIOUS POSITIONS/THE FUTURE
JIMI HENDRIX--ARE YOU EXPERIENCED/ELECTRIC LADYLAND/BAND OF GYPSIES
ERIC CLAPTON--JUST ONE NIGHT/SLOWHAND/461 OCEAN BOULEVARD
ELVIS PRESLEY--30 #1 HITS(COMPILATION)
JONI MITCHELL--BLUE/CLOUDS/COURT & SPARK
ROBERT JOHNSON--COMPLETE RECORDINGS(COMPILATION)
BOB MARLEY--LEGEND/UPRISING/EXODUS/KAYA
CREAM--DISRAELI GEARS/WHEELS OF FIRE
THE BEATLES--SGT.PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND/RUBBER SOUL/ABBEY ROAD
THE ROLLING STONES--BEGGARS BANQUET/STICKY FINGERS
THE WHO--WHO'S NEXT/TOMMY
LED ZEPPELIN-1,2,3,4
PINK FLOYD--DARK SIDE OF THE MOON/THE WALL/MEDDLE
TRAFFIC--LOW SPARKS/WHERE THE EAGLE FLIES/GOLD(COMPILATION)
STEELY DAN--CAN'T BUY A THRILL/AJA/TWO AGAINST NATURE
GRATEFUL DEAD--AMERICAN BEAUTY/WORKINGMAN'S DEAD/BLUES FOR ALLAH
DOORS--STRANGE DAYS/MORRISON MOTEL/AMERICAN PRAYER
SANTANA--ABRAXUS/MOONFLOWER/CARAVANSERAI
CCR--CHRONICLES/PENDULUM
DIRE STRAITS--DIRE STRAITS/COMMUNIQUE/MAKING MOVIES
EAGLES--HOTEL CALIFORNIA/ONE OF THESE NIGHTS
SIMON & GARFUNKEL--BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS/PARSLEY,SAGE,ROSEMARY &THYME
JETHRO TULL--AQUALUNG/CREST OF A KNAVE
QUEEN--SHEER HEART ATTACK/NIGHT AT THE OPERA
ALLMAN BROTHERS--LIVE AT FILMORE EAST/BROTHERS AND SISTERS
DEEP PURPLE--MACHINE HEAD/FIREBALL
R&B/SOUL/GOSPEL
RAY CHARLES--ANTHOLOGY(RHINO)(COMPILATION)
ARETHA FRANKLIN--NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVED YOU/LADY SOUL
MARVIN GAYE--WHAT'S GOING ON/LET'S GET IT ON
MAHALIA JACKSON-ESSENTIALS (COMPILATION)
SAM COOKE--TWO SIDES/BEST OF(COMPILATIONS)
OTIS REDDING--BEST OF (COMPILATIONS)
JAMES BROWN--BEST OF(COMPILATIONS)
JAZZ
JOHN COLTRANE--A LOVE SUPREME/GIANT STEPS/MY FAVORITE THINGS
MILES DAVIS--A KIND OF BLUE/BIRTH OF THE COOL/SKETCHES OF SPAIN
DUKE ELLINGTON--AT NEWPORT/MONEY JUNGLE/ESSENTIALS(COMPILATION)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG--GREAT SUMMIT/HOT 5 & HOT 7
THEOLONIOUS MONK--MONK'S DREAM/LIVE AT THE IT CLUB/CRISS CROSS
ORNETTE COLEMAN-THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME/THIS IS OUR MUSIC
SONNY ROLLINS--SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS/WAY OUT WEST/NIGHT AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD
CHARLIE PARKER-- WITH STRINGS/JAZZ AT MASSEY HALL/CHASING THE BIRD(BOX SET)
DIZZY GILLESPIE--AT NEWPORT/WITH ROY ELRIDGE/SWING LOW SWEET CADILLAC
CLIFFORD BROWN--AT BASIN STREET/STUDY IN BROWN
OSCAR PETERSON--NIGHT TRAIN/WE GOT REQUESTS/ON THE TOWN
CHARLES MINGUS--THE CLOWN/BLACK SAINT AND SINNER LADY/EPITAPH
ERIC DOLPHY--OUT TO LUNCH/LAST DATE
ART BLAKEY--JAZZ MESSENGERS/NIGHT AT BIRDLAND
MAX ROACH--PLUS FOUR
BILLIE HOLIDAY-DECCA AND COMMODORE(COMPILATIONS)
ELLA FITZGERALD--THE SONGBOOKS/WITH LOUIS ARMSTRONG/WITH JOE PASS
NINA SIMONE--ANTHOLOGY/SUGAR IN MY BOWL 67-72(COMPILATIONS)

PS.I did not notice that I had posted the thread to the Speakers forum.Hence resubmitting on the Music forum.Happy listening and listing!

 

[Asit]

Hi,

In the following, I list a few musicians in the last century whom I consider great in the North Indian style of Indian classical/semiclassical music.

Please remember there were many many excellent artistes, but only a few can be truly great. Also these are only my personal opinion. If I've forgotten somebody, I may later include that name.

Vocals: Abdul Karim Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Bhimsen Joshi

Instrumental:
Sitar: Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee
Sarod: Ali Akbar Khan
Sehnai: Bismillah Khan

Tabla: Ahmedjan Thirakuwa, Anokhelal, Shamta Prasad, Kishen Maharaj, Keramatullah Khan, Zakir Hussain

Semiclassical vocals:
Thumri: Siddheshwari Devi
Ghazal: Begum Akhtar

Regards.

 

[thevortex]

Asit - what are your thoughts on Kishori Amonkar and Begum Parveen Sultana? Any reasons why stop short of greatness?

I have recently been listening to some Hindustani Classical and it is very very different from Carnatic that I am used to listening. I will probably be pestering you with a few questions on this subject just as soon as I have conceived them well enough in my mind, that is.

 

[thevortex]

Also Asit - if you were to prepare a list of great musicians of Carnatic music, who would they be?

 

[Asit]

Vortex,

There have been quite a few very very good artistes in North Indian classical music. For example, in vocals, I look for anything by Wahid Khan, Sawai Gandharva (guru of Bhimsen Joshi), Omkarnath Thakur, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kesarbai Kerkar and today's Kishori Amonkar and Ulhas Kashalkar. In instrumental music there is also a similar number of musicians.

Many of the above artistes have given many memorable performances which would definitely be some of the greatest music for a long long time. But remember the TS wanted us to list the greatest musicians (as opposed to music). To be called a great musician, there has to be simply an unmatched level of performances over a long period (20, 30, 40 or 50 years), in the process opening up new avenues (in terms of form) in music, and contributing in a way to shape music for a long time to come.

If you look at my list of the greatest musicians in my previous post, everybody there has done that. You'll be surprised that I was even hesitating to put Zakir Hussain in that list, because if he is there then why not Swapan Chaudhuri or even Anindo Chatterjee. But then Zakir has a bigger repertoire, I think, among all living tabla players, a bigger canvas of work (within classical music, not fusion-type), and perhaps a slightly higher level of consistency of the level of performance since I heard him the first time some 30-35 years ago.

I am not qualified to enlist the greatest Carnatic musicians of the century. Yes, I have heard a lot of them. But for a whole century? That's a tough ask, because one has to hear all those musicians, so many of them are simply excellent. I do not simply have the vast experience required to even try such a thing. Even if I had a chance to hear them all, the most difficult would be to set the scale. For that one needs a lot of knowledge and I simply do not have that in the Carnatic style of Indian classical music.

Regards.

 

[ajay124]

For someone like me whose knowledge of hindustani classical music is restricted to a few recordings of Ravi Shankar/Amjad Ali Khan/Bismillah Khan and Bhimsen Joshi,your list provides useful information for initiating myself into a new world of music.Also,I agree with you that the criterion for selection should be excellence/originality/innovation over a reasonably long period of time.
Adding some more musicians-
PACO DE LUCIA-Spanish flamenco guitarist.-CONCIERTO DE ARANJUEZ/GOLD
(COMPILATION)
DJANGO REINHARDT-Gypsy jazz guitarist-DJANGO REINHARDT WITH STEPHANE GRAPELLI/BEST OF
JOE PASS--Perhaps the greatest jazz guitarist EVER!--VIRTUSO 1,2&3/BEST OF
EDITH PIAF--French singer-La vie en rose or any other compilation

 

[Asit]

For someone like me whose knowledge of hindustani classical music is restricted to a few recordings of Ravi Shankar/Amjad Ali Khan/Bismillah Khan and Bhimsen Joshi,your list provides useful information for initiating myself into a new world of music.

Some of the names mentioned like Abdul Wahid Khan and Abdul Karim Khan died in the first half of the last century. Hence the recording quality is abysmal. Even recordings of Siddheswari Devi, Begum Akhtar, Amir Khan and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (all of whom I have heard live) are generally poor.

So I am afraid my list is not good for an initiation into Indian classical music. This is just a list of the great musicians of the last century. But an almost unbelievable list. If they all performed in one music conference, I think many Indian classical music lovers would find it hard to control themselves. Take for example, Abdul Wahid Khan of the Kirana school. I have not put him in the great musicians' list. However, he was a musicians' musician. It is greatly acknowledged by everybody that the great Amir Khan, although not a disciple of Abdul Wahid Khan, basically followed Wahid Khan and built his own style based on Wahid Khan's. There was a time when Amir Khan used to secretly listen to Abdul Wahid Khan when Wahid Khan was doing riyaz (practice). Knowing this Wahid Khan stopped singing the second phrase (antara) of the vadishes (compositions). I do not know if the above is a story, but many people swear by this, and it is actually true that Amir Khan used to sing some compositions with only the opening phrase (Asthayee) .

Stories and anecdotes apart, it is better to start with better quality recordings of instrumental Indian classical music. Just search. About an year or 8months ago Cranky wanted to know about such better quality recordings. There many people including me had some suggestions.

Regards.

 

[Asit]

Hi all,

Here is a very absorbing interview of Ustad Zakir Hussain at the Dept of Ethnomusicology of UCLA taken by a Michael Robinson.

This is the link: Zakir Hussain Interview

Zakir, in his own lovely and charming way, answers all the questions (even though some questions were kind of meaningless, at least to me. Zakir is one very articulate man). He talks about tabla, ragas, Indian classical music, some Western music, and about some of the great musicians. Please read it. It is non-technical and very enjoyable.

Regards.

 

[moktan]

a bunch of great anti-musicians..

ornette coleman (well ????).....

but surely

Cecil Taylor

David Thomas and Per Ubu.....

 

[mnhegde]

Nice Thread!

 

[ajay124]

After the recent sale of cd's I had vowed NO MORE ROCK!Well among the first few CD's I have bought are anthologies of Steely Dan(Deacon Blues,Hey Nineteen,Dirty Work)Talking Heads(Psycho Killer!Burning Down The House!Heaven!But my favorite-Dream Operator is missing) and Velvet Underground/Lou Reed(Stephanie Says,Lisa Says,Femme Fatale).Great bands all of them.Perhaps not as famous as the Beatles,but I would say,better.More innovative,experimental,eccentric,unpredictable and interesting.......

 

[aku]

ROCK/R&R/FOLK/BLUES
BOB DYLAN--HIGHWAY 61/BLONDE ON BLONDE/BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME/BLOOD ON THE TRACKS
PHIL OCHS--THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE/LIVE IN CONCERT/FAREWELLS AND FANTASIES
NEIL YOUNG--RUST NEVER SLEEPS/HARVEST/TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT
LEONARD COHEN--I'M YOUR MAN/VARIOUS POSITIONS/THE FUTURE
JIMI HENDRIX--ARE YOU EXPERIENCED/ELECTRIC LADYLAND/BAND OF GYPSIES
ERIC CLAPTON--JUST ONE NIGHT/SLOWHAND/461 OCEAN BOULEVARD
ELVIS PRESLEY--30 #1 HITS(COMPILATION)
JONI MITCHELL--BLUE/CLOUDS/COURT & SPARK
ROBERT JOHNSON--COMPLETE RECORDINGS(COMPILATION)
BOB MARLEY--LEGEND/UPRISING/EXODUS/KAYA
CREAM--DISRAELI GEARS/WHEELS OF FIRE
THE BEATLES--SGT.PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND/RUBBER SOUL/ABBEY ROAD
THE ROLLING STONES--BEGGARS BANQUET/STICKY FINGERS
THE WHO--WHO'S NEXT/TOMMY
LED ZEPPELIN-1,2,3,4
PINK FLOYD--DARK SIDE OF THE MOON/THE WALL/MEDDLE
TRAFFIC--LOW SPARKS/WHERE THE EAGLE FLIES/GOLD(COMPILATION)
STEELY DAN--CAN'T BUY A THRILL/AJA/TWO AGAINST NATURE
GRATEFUL DEAD--AMERICAN BEAUTY/WORKINGMAN'S DEAD/BLUES FOR ALLAH
DOORS--STRANGE DAYS/MORRISON MOTEL/AMERICAN PRAYER
SANTANA--ABRAXUS/MOONFLOWER/CARAVANSERAI
CCR--CHRONICLES/PENDULUM
DIRE STRAITS--DIRE STRAITS/COMMUNIQUE/MAKING MOVIES
EAGLES--HOTEL CALIFORNIA/ONE OF THESE NIGHTS
SIMON & GARFUNKEL--BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS/PARSLEY,SAGE,ROSEMARY &THYME
JETHRO TULL--AQUALUNG/CREST OF A KNAVE
QUEEN--SHEER HEART ATTACK/NIGHT AT THE OPERA
ALLMAN BROTHERS--LIVE AT FILMORE EAST/BROTHERS AND SISTERS
DEEP PURPLE--MACHINE HEAD/FIREBALL
R&B/SOUL/GOSPEL
RAY CHARLES--ANTHOLOGY(RHINO)(COMPILATION)
ARETHA FRANKLIN--NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVED YOU/LADY SOUL
MARVIN GAYE--WHAT'S GOING ON/LET'S GET IT ON
MAHALIA JACKSON-ESSENTIALS (COMPILATION)
SAM COOKE--TWO SIDES/BEST OF(COMPILATIONS)
OTIS REDDING--BEST OF (COMPILATIONS)
JAMES BROWN--BEST OF(COMPILATIONS)
JAZZ
JOHN COLTRANE--A LOVE SUPREME/GIANT STEPS/MY FAVORITE THINGS
MILES DAVIS--A KIND OF BLUE/BIRTH OF THE COOL/SKETCHES OF SPAIN
DUKE ELLINGTON--AT NEWPORT/MONEY JUNGLE/ESSENTIALS(COMPILATION)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG--GREAT SUMMIT/HOT 5 & HOT 7
THEOLONIOUS MONK--MONK'S DREAM/LIVE AT THE IT CLUB/CRISS CROSS
ORNETTE COLEMAN-THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME/THIS IS OUR MUSIC
SONNY ROLLINS--SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS/WAY OUT WEST/NIGHT AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD
CHARLIE PARKER-- WITH STRINGS/JAZZ AT MASSEY HALL/CHASING THE BIRD(BOX SET)
DIZZY GILLESPIE--AT NEWPORT/WITH ROY ELRIDGE/SWING LOW SWEET CADILLAC
CLIFFORD BROWN--AT BASIN STREET/STUDY IN BROWN
OSCAR PETERSON--NIGHT TRAIN/WE GOT REQUESTS/ON THE TOWN
CHARLES MINGUS--THE CLOWN/BLACK SAINT AND SINNER LADY/EPITAPH
ERIC DOLPHY--OUT TO LUNCH/LAST DATE
ART BLAKEY--JAZZ MESSENGERS/NIGHT AT BIRDLAND
MAX ROACH--PLUS FOUR
BILLIE HOLIDAY-DECCA AND COMMODORE(COMPILATIONS)
ELLA FITZGERALD--THE SONGBOOKS/WITH LOUIS ARMSTRONG/WITH JOE PASS
NINA SIMONE--ANTHOLOGY/SUGAR IN MY BOWL 67-72(COMPILATIONS)

FRANK ZAPPA !!!! For being who he was.

 

[ajay124]

@Aku
Yeah! I forgot to put Zappa.Also Talking Heads and Velvet Underground.Later I had wanted to delete CCR/Deep Purple/Dire Straits/Eagles/Queen/Jethro Tull from the list but by the time I thought of doing it the edit option was no longer available.Because if you put in these guys then why not CSNY,Moody Blues,Procol Harum,Genesis,Mayall,Blind Faith,Winwood etc. and pretty soon it would be open house!

 

[doors666]

Looks like the OP is very particular about jazz and in all the enthu has missed out on most of the blues artists. Here are few:

BB King
Bo Diddley
Buddy Guy
Champion Jack Dupree
Howling Wolf
Johny Lee Hooker
Leadbelly
Magic Sam
Memphis Minnie
Memphis Slim
Mississippi Fred McDowell
Muddy Waters
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Robert Johnson
Sam Hopkins
Slim Harpo
Son House
Sonny Boy Williamson I
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie Dixon
junior wells

 

[ajay124]

@doors666
You're right buddy.Your list of blues musicians is pitch perfect.If you have copy/pasted the list from a google search it is still a great achievement.Even searching in the right places requires a fair amount of knowledge.If you have actually heard/own this music then:clapping:
Without the Blues of the 30's/40's there would have been no rock music.Don't know what harmless ditties the whites were singing in those days,coz most of the music (Excluding Gershwin's Porgy and Bess etc.)came out of the blues/gospel/jazz-all native afro/american art forms.All this great music of the downtrodden and disinherited was assimilated,watered down and turned into mainstream music?noise?(take your pick).And so was born 'Country' 'Pop' Rock'n'Roll 'Rock' 'R&B' 'Soul' 'Rap' etc.Don't know whether the historians would agree with my notion of how it happened but for me Western Classical is white man's music and indeed its golden age of Bach,Beethoven and Mozart is unrivalled in the history of this planet.But 20th century popular music for me is Afro-American music.All,All my favorite musicians are black-John Coltrane,Oscar Peterson,Miles Davis,Clifford Brown,Thelonious Monk,Duke Ellington,Charlie Parker,Dizzy Gillespie,Sonny Rollins,Ornette Coleman,Eric Dolphy,Charles Mingus,Louis Armstrong,Ella Fitzgerald,Billie Holliday,Mahalia Jackson,Ray Charles,Nat King Cole,Nina Simone,Aretha Franklin,Sam Cooke,Otis Redding,Marvin Gaye,Lou Rawls.The only whites I still listen to-Phil Ochs,Bob Dylan,Neil Young,John Lennon,Stevie Ray,Eric Clapton,Roy Orbinson, Elvis Presley,Cream,Steely Dan,S&G,Allman Brothers,Velvet Underground,Talking Heads.

CROSSROADS is where many musicians say it all began.....One dark stormy night Robert Johnson stood at a crossroad waiting for a lift back home.He did'nt get a ride but he met the Devil!Robert made a 'faustian' bargain with the devil.He sold his soul and in return was granted the power to become a great(the greatest)blues musician.But with the devil there is always a catch.He would not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of the great music he was creating.Born 1911.Dead 1938.But the legend of Crossroads lives on!Every bluesman/rocker with a sense of history/a sense of gratitude has covered this track.My favorite is from my favorite group Cream.Unfortunately later musicians also signed a pact with the devil(the recording studio's).But got no musical powers in return.All they got was a fistful of (paper)$.

 

[moktan]

speaking of black musicians..i remember a Time magazine review of a Eric Clapton album in which he had 'covered' many blues standards..(was it From The Cradle? i am not sure..) anyway tongue in cheek the reviewer wrote 'when Clapton sings "There is a hound dog on my trail" you wonder if its name isn't Patches.." i quite agree with that..the technical virtuosity of the man notwithstanding..he simple doesn't have that soul element of say your Sly and the Familystone...
by the way some other 'white' musicians i dig are...The Allman Brothers Band, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band(though these aren't all entirely 'white') Van Morrison..and amongst jazzmen..Dave Brubeck, Keith Jarret, George Shearing, John Scofield , Monty Alexander Richard Thomson (probably one the greatest guitarists ever...)

 

[doors666]

lots of guys that claim to be blues artists are basically a pale shadow of what a real blues artist is, and this includes guys like eric clapton, fleetwood mac, alman brother's band, van morrison, SRV, etc... all these guys are good no doubt, but to call their music blues is basically an insult to blues... these guys are just bluesy.. if you know what i mean... You listen to leadbelly, magic sam, lightning hopkins, memphis slim, slim harpo etc and you will know what real blues is.. rest are all pretenders, fakes, moissanite:lol:

And no, i didnt get the list off the web... i have heard atleast one album of all of the bands i mentioned. got the list off my hard disk folders.

 

[longshanks]

There are so many artists i am sure no matter how hard we try we will miss many of em, here are a few that pops in my mind now.

Musicians&Composers:
M S Vishwanathan
Illayaraja
A R Rahman
K V Mahadevan
Erik Satie
Mychael Danna
Yanni(before 2004)
Hanz zimmer
James Newton Howard
Clint Mansell
John Williams
Vangelis


Singers, Artists and Bands:
TM Soundararajan
SP Balasubramanium
S janaki
P Sushila
Ustad nusrat fateh ali khan
Alan parsons project
Pink Floyd
Ali Farka Tour
Peter Gabriel
Gal costa
Martha gomez
George micheal
Mariah carey(before 2000)
Eric Serra
Sting
Chuck Mangione
Jennifer Warnes
Leonard Cohen
Michael Jackson
Sheila Chandra
Beegees
Julio Iglesias
Nana Mouskouri
Bon Jovi
Luciano Pavarotti
Bryan Adams
LED Zeppelin
BOB MARLEY
Sade
Ofra Haza
Oumou Sangare
Sinead O'Connor

 

[moktan]

@doors666
You're right buddy.Your list of blues musicians is pitch perfect.If you have copy/pasted the list from a google search it is still a great achievement.Even searching in the right places requires a fair amount of knowledge.If you have actually heard/own this music then:clapping:
Without the Blues of the 30's/40's there would have been no rock music.Don't know what harmless ditties the whites were singing in those days,coz most of the music (Excluding Gershwin's Porgy and Bess etc.)came out of the blues/gospel/jazz-all native afro/american art forms.All this great music of the downtrodden and disinherited was assimilated,watered down and turned into mainstream music?noise?(take your pick).And so was born 'Country' 'Pop' Rock'n'Roll 'Rock' 'R&B' 'Soul' 'Rap' etc.Don't know whether the historians would agree with my notion of how it happened but for me Western Classical is white man's music and indeed its golden age of Bach,Beethoven and Mozart is unrivalled in the history of this planet.But 20th century popular music for me is Afro-American music.All,All my favorite musicians are black-John Coltrane,Oscar Peterson,Miles Davis,Clifford Brown,Thelonious Monk,Duke Ellington,Charlie Parker,Dizzy Gillespie,Sonny Rollins,Ornette Coleman,Eric Dolphy,Charles Mingus,Louis Armstrong,Ella Fitzgerald,Billie Holliday,Mahalia Jackson,Ray Charles,Nat King Cole,Nina Simone,Aretha Franklin,Sam Cooke,Otis Redding,Marvin Gaye,Lou Rawls.The only whites I still listen to-Phil Ochs,Bob Dylan,Neil Young,John Lennon,Stevie Ray,Eric Clapton,Roy Orbinson, Elvis Presley,Cream,Steely Dan,S&G,Allman Brothers,Velvet Underground,Talking Heads.

CROSSROADS is where many musicians say it all began.....One dark stormy night Robert Johnson stood at a crossroad waiting for a lift back home.He did'nt get a ride but he met the Devil!Robert made a 'faustian' bargain with the devil.He sold his soul and in return was granted the power to become a great(the greatest)blues musician.But with the devil there is always a catch.He would not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of the great music he was creating.Born 1911.Dead 1938.But the legend of Crossroads lives on!Every bluesman/rocker with a sense of history/a sense of gratitude has covered this track.My favorite is from my favorite group Cream.Unfortunately later musicians also signed a pact with the devil(the recording studio's).But got no musical powers in return.All they got was a fistful of (paper)$.

you know there is an irony here...Parker, Robert Johnson etc were as miserable as they come..and yet the music they made from the darkest depths had that 'mojo' that extra something in it..jazz, blues always had that tortured beginnings..
today this music is too cerebral and elitist...maybe hip-hop is the new jazz but then again when one looks at the corporatisation of this music, the merchandising etc one doubts..perhaps real music is to be found in the ghettos of africa..but who knows by the time we get to 'hear' them they too would have sold out...its a trap

 

[moktan]

lots of guys that claim to be blues artists are basically a pale shadow of what a real blues artist is, and this includes guys like eric clapton, fleetwood mac, alman brother's band, van morrison, SRV, etc... all these guys are good no doubt, but to call their music blues is basically an insult to blues... these guys are just bluesy.. if you know what i mean... You listen to leadbelly, magic sam, lightning hopkins, memphis slim, slim harpo etc and you will know what real blues is.. rest are all pretenders, fakes, moissanite:lol:

And no, i didnt get the list off the web... i have heard atleast one album of all of the bands i mentioned. got the list off my hard disk folders.

i wouldn't agree with that assessment of Van Morrison though..he is as 'sincere' as they come musically..