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Luther Allison - Songs From The Road - New CD MP3s Free

I’m a music lover with a pretty large collection of music. I resorted to storing all my CD’s in binders a long time ago. Then there got to be too many binders and filing the CDs was bothersome so I converted to MP3s and got a bluetooth compatible stereo to stream from my computer to the stereo. All this to say I’m at the point where I prefer good quality MP3s to CD’s unless the CD comes with significant value add. The reason I’m telling you all this is because I found an excellent source for blues MP3s at eMusic .

My experience has been that eMusic had an incredible selection of music but not always the latest releases. Emusic is a particularly good source for older releases which obviously includes a lot of blues. I’m really happy with my subscription. $7.99 a month entitles me to download 30 MP3s a month and review many blues artists for my blog. What’s it all got to do with free MP3 versions of Luther Allison’s new release you may ask? Well to my surprise Luther Allisions new CD “Songs From The Road” is available now on eMusic and since you get 25 free mp3s for signing up for a trial subscription I assume that means you’d be able to get this album for free (some restrictions apply so I can’t guarantee the availability). Anyway the trial is no risk. You can sign up, download your mp3s and quit the service without ever paying a cent. If you’re a music fan like me though, I’m pretty sure you’ll be very happy with emusic’s selection and stay subscribed to get the next 30 tunes.

If you’re looking for a little more information please do click this link to see some of my other posts documenting my emusic experience. If you think you’re up to signing up for the service click the emusic icon below and while you’re at it check out Colin Linden, Gerry Hundt, Eric Bibb and of course Luther Allison all available on emusic.com.

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John Lee Hooker JR

What would John Lee Hooker be doing if he was born in around 1956 instead of 1917. Maybe something like this.

Thats John Lee Hooker JR., son of John Lee Hooker and the man is coming on strong! What an awesome sound! Its going to take me a while to get my head around this one so check back soon for updates. In the mean time enjoy these previews and the fine cds listed below.

Thanks to my friend at Big Blend Magazine for bringing this to my attention.

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T-Bone Walker - The Electric Guitar Pioneer

You could be forgiven for not looking into T-Bone Walker if you’re not a Texas Blues or early Chicago blues fan. The time of his appearance on the blues scene and name could easily have you lumping him in with others who you may have listened to and maybe not appreciated at the time. That’s what I did. But I was wrong and you would be too.

B.B. King himself has stated that T-Bone Walker was his primary influence. Even that only scratches the surface of what T-Bone Walker gave us. T-Bone popularized the lead electric guitar. His blues spanned jazz, swing, doo wop and early rock. His riffs echo in the playing of Freddie King, Chuck Berry and Jimmy Rogers. Make no mistake, T-Bone Walker changed the world of blues and left an indelible mark on many modern music genres. He also played his guitar in a way cool way horizontally out in front of his body. Here’s a great example.

T-Bone was a consummate musician who wrote musical scores. His blues do not sound like those handed down through the ages. I find it fascinating that one of my favorite blues songs of all time was “borrowed” by Jimmy Rogers and in fact was a T-Bone Walker tune. Check this out

Yeah, Jimmy Rogers “Walkin’ By Myself” is really different lyrics to a T-Bone Walker song called “Why Not”! In just those first few bars you can hear more music than most of us generate in a lifetime. Another great T-Bone tune is Stormy Monday. Stormy Monday has been covered by almost every blues and jazz musician as well as almost any rock band from the early 70’s. As a matter of fact if you search for an MP3 of Stormy Monday on Amazon.com you’ll get 645 hits.

OK so the list of T-Bone Walker recommended recordings is pretty long but here are just a few:
T-Bone Blues- 1959 (great coverage of his work in the 50’s and great sound too considering the vintage)
The Complete Recordings of T-bone Walker 1940-1954
- this is a 6 CD set that covers from 1940 to 1954.
Blues Masters: The Very Best of T-Bone Walker
- this is single CD collection for those wanting the abridged version of The Complete Recordings. It comes highly recommended by Club Koda co-author of Blues for Dummies.

Here is a real treat for blues fans - this video is 25 minutes of a TV concert featuring T-Bone Walker and a young B.B. King.
T-Bone Walker and B.B. King

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Albert King - King of the Blues Guitar

Musicians who were influenced by Albert King include Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayall and Mike Bloomfield but, no where is the influence more apparent than when listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn. As a matter of fact one of the most enjoyable CD’s to just lay back and give a listen to is the In Session album where SRV and Albert King play together (something Albert King was clearly enjoying).


Born Under a Bad Sign was actually King’s second album and is number 499 of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Essential Recordings. The songs on it are short as was the requirement for commercial success in that era. Some blues fans considered it to be the greatest blues album ever. King of the Blues Guitar may be a better choice.
There are 59 Albert King albums out there and no shortage of great ones. Here are a few other picks.
Here are some mp3s available to preview and purchase on Amazon.com.

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Johnny Winter Interview

Thanks to Sean over at Livebluesworld.com for bringing this to my attention. I’m a big Johnny Winter fan. As a matter of fact Johnny Winter was the opening act at the first concert I ever went to. I’ll write more on Johnny later but for now here is a great 5 part video interview with Johnny.





Johnny looks better than ever and is still very active: Check out JohnnyWinter.net for the latest news.
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