I wrote a book about women blues singers called T’ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do, and I love women blues singers best. But for the purposes of this article, I am choosing 5 women and 5 men who I feel have had the most influence on the popularity of the blues.
1. B.B. King
In the 1960’s, B.B. King crossed over with the megahit, “The Thrill is Gone,” and by 1969 he had won total mainstream acceptance and opened for the Rolling Stones. Recently, he has toured less, but in the 80’s and 90’s, he recorded with U2 and Eric Clapton. No musician has probably done more to bring blues music to a diverse and international audience than B.B. King, and he has done it with style and flair.
2. Ma Rainey
Ma Rainey was one of the very first female blues singers to perform and record as such. She was known as “The Mother of the Blues,” and that is an accurate title. She was a big, brassy performer and a smart business woman; after her retirement, she owned her home and two theaters. People are still listening to her music today, and the recordings still reveal the power of her voice and the verve of her personality.
3. Lightnin’ Hopkins
It was the Folk Music revivial of the 1960’s that made Lightnin’ Hopkins a blues great. In 1960, he appeared at a folk concert at Carnegie Hall, and soon after, recorded the song that became his signature, “Mojo Hand.” He was a major influence on such musicians as Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Hopkins made number 71 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time. He died of cancer in 1982.
4. Bessie Smith
Bessie was probably the greatest female blues singer ever born. In 1923, she started recording on Columbia Records.She performed with many great jazz artists like Fletcher Henderson and Coleman Hawkins, and her version of “St. Louis Blues,” with Louis Armstrong, is considered one of the best recordings of the 1920’s. Her life was tragically cut short by an automobile accident in 1937. Many years later, she was a major influence on Janis Joplin. When Janis learned that Bessie had no tombstone, she helped fund one for her. Bessie’s recordings have never been out of print in over 80 years.
5. Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson is legendary, literally. Many people know him today mainly because of the legend that he sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads in order to become a great blues musician. Whether he did or whether he didn’t, there is no doubt that he was the greatest Delta blues musician of them all. His music has influenced so many musicians, including the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, and Bob Dylan. Eric Clapton called him “the greatest blues singer that ever lived.” Songs of his such as “Dust My Broom,” “Come on in my Kitchen,” and “Crossroads” are still being recorded by artists all over the world today. Not bad for a man who died at age 27 in 1938-under mysterious circumstances, at a county crossroads near Greenwood, Mississippi.
6 Sippie Wallace
Sippie Wallace began to record in 1923 on Okeh records. Unlike most blues women, she wrote most of her own songs. She had a sexy, sassy style that set her apart. She retired in the 1930’s, but in the 60’s, she teamed up with another blues great, Victoria Spivey, and made a comeback album. I had the great good fortune to see her sing and play her classic, “You Got to Know How,” with Bonnie Raitt in the 80’s, when she herself was in her 80’s. She won at Grammy in 1983 for her album, Sippie. She died in 1986, but she is still a living legend of the blues.
7. Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell, a Georgia musician, recorded mainly during the 30’s. He never had mainstream popularity then, but his songs, such as “Stateboro Blues,” have been huge hits for other artists, including the Allman Brothers. He is the inspiration for a great, great blues club in Atlanta, Blind Willie’s, and a blues festival in his hometown of Thomson, Georgia.
8. Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas, “The Soul Queen of New Orleans,” has been recording and performing since the early ’60’s, and is still going strong. No one sings New Orleans-style blues better than Irma Thomas.
9. Eric Clapton
Clapton is the greatest blues musician of our day, and probably the greatest male ambassador for the blues.
10. Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt is the best female slide guitarist and the most powerful modern blues singer around. She also has gone out of her way to tour with and sponsor classic blues musicians who might otherwise be forgotten.
There you have it: my picks for the top ten blues musicians around today.
