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Latest FBG music countdown of >800 artists - #2 The Rolling Stones, #1 The Allman Brothers Band (1 Viewer)

79. The Brothers (113 points)

Total number of songs: 24

Average song score: 3.96

# of 5-point songs: 6 (Desdemona, live; Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’, live; Don’t Want You No More, live; Dreams, live; It’s Not My Cross to Bear, live; Jessica, live)

# of 4-point songs: 12 (Black Hearted Woman, live; Blue Sky, live; Come and Go Blues, live; Every Hungry Woman, live; Hot’lanta, live; In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, live; Mountain Jam, live; Revival, live; Soulshine, live; Statesboro Blues, live; Trouble No More, live; Whipping Post, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Don’t Want You No More/It’s Not My Cross to Bear, live; Every Hungry Woman, live; Jessica, live; Revival, live



This is kind of like the Fare Thee Well entry, in that some people might take exception at this being listed as a separate artist. But this is how it is listed in my library, so we are going with it.



The Brothers was a reunion of members of the extended Allman Brothers family for one show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band. It included original drummer Jaimoe and official members Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Marc Quinones, and Oteil Burbridge. Along with Widespread Panic drummer Duane Trucks and Double Trouble keyboardist Reese Wynans (who as I explained in the Allman thread was close to being an official member of the ABB until Gregg replaced him), they formed the core group for this show. Former Allman Brothers pianist Chuck Leavell made a special appearance.



The concert was epic. They played forever and it was cool seeing Warren take lead vocals on a lot of songs that Gregg would have typically sung. I’m not going to say much more about the individual songs because there is a whole thread for that and we obviously still have the Allman Brothers entry in this countdown to come. But the album and the DVD performance are both well worth the money – the above videos unfortunately aren’t the greatest quality.



Of course, since it was only a single concert nobody got personnel bonuses here. But obviously a lot of the musicians I mentioned will get bonuses in later entries.



One last note – when I was counting versions of “Statesboro Blues” as the most frequent track in my library, I actually forgot this one. So add one to the previous tally.
 
Obviously music is subjective but it’s hard to get behind a music ranking where BT > SW.
I don't even think John Popper would do that :lol:

But, if I posted a Uruk version of this, people would also be scratching their heads. I like looking at things through other folks' eyes - makes me think about why I view things a certain way.

Yeah and obviously I don't actually think Blues Traveler is better than Stevie Wonder. It may be, as @Dr. Octopus pointed out, one of the drawbacks of this format.

Actually, one reason that Blues Traveler is ranked higher is because of the jam bonus that I give. There may be a 12-minute epic version of "Sir Duke" somewhere, but if so I'm not familiar with it (though I would love it if that did exist). That would be short compared to some of the Blues Traveler stuff I have.
 
I just can’t do Rush and it’s because of Geddy vocals. I did want to go see Primus when they did the A Farewell To Kings tribute but nobody I know likes Primus and I didn’t want to go solo
 
Obviously music is subjective but it’s hard to get behind a music ranking where BT > SW.
I don't even think John Popper would do that :lol:

But, if I posted a Uruk version of this, people would also be scratching their heads. I like looking at things through other folks' eyes - makes me think about why I view things a certain way.

Yeah and obviously I don't actually think Blues Traveler is better than Stevie Wonder. It may be, as @Dr. Octopus pointed out, one of the drawbacks of this format.

Actually, one reason that Blues Traveler is ranked higher is because of the jam bonus that I give. There may be a 12-minute epic version of "Sir Duke" somewhere, but if so I'm not familiar with it (though I would love it if that did exist). That would be short compared to some of the Blues Traveler stuff I have.
It's not a drawback, though. You're not doing the Rolling Stone thing where you're dictating "the best". You're ordering and sharing your playlist. There's some kind of double-secret algebra going on I don't understand that's slotting these artists, but it doesn't matter. This is your show.

It became apparent pretty early on that the "jam bonus" was going to weigh heavily here. Many (most?) of the links you provide are live versions and we've already had about 900 ABB-adjacent artists revealed. That's cool - shows where your heart is.
 
Since most of the remaining entries are a single or at most two artists, I may try to pick up the cadence a little as my work schedule allows and do a few entries per day. At least that's my intention. We'll see how it goes. I'm also anxious to get through the next 10-15 entries which I think are a little up an down in terms of how excited I am for the artists. There are some great ones coming up, but also several that I think are a little overrated. But after about the next dozen artists things become more consistent and both the point totals and my enthusiasm for each individual artist increases substantially.


78. Aerosmith (114 points)

Total number of songs: 27

Average song score: 3.22

# of 5-point songs: 3 (Love in an Elevator; Never Loved a Girl; Train Kept a-Rollin’)

# of 4-point songs: 7 (Cryin’; Dude Looks Like a Lady; Dude Looks Like a Lady, live; Eyesight to the Blind; Last Child, live; Sweet Emotion; Same Old Song and Dance, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Jesus is on the Main Line; Last Child, live; Livin’ on the Edge; Never Loved a Girl; Walk This Way, live



This might be another pick that has mixed reactions, so I will just preface the entry by saying, no, Aerosmith is not better than Stevie Wonder. Actually, they are one group that if I was just making my gut rankings I would probably not have them in my top 100. But I guess it turns out they have a lot of songs that I just happen to like.



One of my favorite albums of theirs is one that some might not be familiar with. Honkin’ on Bobo is an album of mostly blues covers where they do really cool takes on artists like Sonny Boy Williamson II, Little Walter, and Mississippi Fred McDowell. There are some great tracks but my favorite is actually a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Never Loved a Man,” a song I highlighted earlier in the countdown. Their version of “Jesus is on the Main Line” is also great.



Not to bring back the whole Chuck Berry debate from earlier in the thread, but this is another group that seem like epic jerks and that even other musicians seem to hate. But again, I tried not to let that affect my rankings at all.
 
77. Thelonious Monk (116 points)

Total number of songs: 35

Average song score: 2.34

# of 5-point songs: 1 (Bemsha Swing)

# of 4-point songs: 2 (Epistrophy; Misterioso)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #12 miscellaneous/multi-instrumentalist (piano) Thelonious Monk

Recommended listening: Ba-Lue Bolivar, Ba-Lues-Are; Bemsha Swing; Blue Monk, live; Epistrophy; Pannonica; Ruby, My Dear; Well, You Needn’t



I said in a previous entry that I thought Oscar Peterson was the greatest jazz pianist ever, and I think that is true in a technical sense. But I also mentioned that another jazz pianist would be ranked ahead of him. Thelonious Monk gets my highest ranking among jazz pianists. Only Duke Ellington ranks above him as a jazz composer, and probably no pianist was a great improviser or more interesting in terms of style.



His style was fairly unique. His playing was highly percussive, sounding almost like he was attacking each note. It was often highly dissonant. As Monk once said, “The piano ain’t got no wrong notes.” He also made great use of space, sometimes with long unexpected pauses.



Some of these recommendations have already appeared earlier in the countdown. As I previously mentioned, guitarist Oz Noy is a huge fan and seemingly has a Monk cover on every album. “Bemsha Swing” is my favorite, but nothing compares to the original.



We also get some other great musicians playing on some of these tracks. Monk did some outstanding collaborations with Coltrane as you can hear in “Epistrophy” and “Ruby My Dear.” Max Roach is also incredible on drums on some of these tracks.
 
You would probably dig Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk, a 2018 album by the Julliard professor Frank Kimbrough and his quartet.

Monk wrote 70 songs in his lifetime including some that he never recorded. Kimbrough's band performed versions of all 70 over the course of six days in the studio. The new interpretations highlight Monk's melodic and chromatic creativity without resorting to imitation. Kimbrough's relatively unknown quartet is outstanding--the rhythm section of Rufus Reid and Billy Drummond swings like crazy, Kimbrough's piano subtly honors Monk's style and Scott Robinson on saxes _and_ trumpet brings variety to the mammoth set list.

 
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You would probably dig Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk, a 2018 album by the Julliard professor Frank Kimbrough and his quartet.

Monk wrote 70 songs in his lifetime including some that he never recorded. Kimbrough's band performed versions of all 70 over the course of six days in the studio. The new interpretations highlight Monk's melodic and chromatic creativity without resorting to imitation. Kimbrough's relatively unknown quartet is outstanding--the rhythm section of Rufus Reid and Billy Drummond swings like crazy, Kimbrough's piano subtly honors Monk's style and Scott Robinson on saxes _and_ trumpet brings variety to the mammoth set list.


Awesome, thanks for the recommendation
 
77. Thelonious Monk (116 points)

Total number of songs: 35

Average song score: 2.34

# of 5-point songs: 1 (Bemsha Swing)

# of 4-point songs: 2 (Epistrophy; Misterioso)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #12 miscellaneous/multi-instrumentalist (piano) Thelonious Monk

Recommended listening: Ba-Lue Bolivar, Ba-Lues-Are; Bemsha Swing; Blue Monk, live; Epistrophy; Pannonica; Ruby, My Dear; Well, You Needn’t



I said in a previous entry that I thought Oscar Peterson was the greatest jazz pianist ever, and I think that is true in a technical sense. But I also mentioned that another jazz pianist would be ranked ahead of him. Thelonious Monk gets my highest ranking among jazz pianists. Only Duke Ellington ranks above him as a jazz composer, and probably no pianist was a great improviser or more interesting in terms of style.



His style was fairly unique. His playing was highly percussive, sounding almost like he was attacking each note. It was often highly dissonant. As Monk once said, “The piano ain’t got no wrong notes.” He also made great use of space, sometimes with long unexpected pauses.



Some of these recommendations have already appeared earlier in the countdown. As I previously mentioned, guitarist Oz Noy is a huge fan and seemingly has a Monk cover on every album. “Bemsha Swing” is my favorite, but nothing compares to the original.



We also get some other great musicians playing on some of these tracks. Monk did some outstanding collaborations with Coltrane as you can hear in “Epistrophy” and “Ruby My Dear.” Max Roach is also incredible on drums on some of these tracks.
Probably the most underrated genius of American music. His creativity in composition and harmony were otherworldly. Favorite album: Monk's Music. And the Straight, No Chaser documentary is outstanding.
 
The things that John Popper does with a harmonica are insane and like no one else.
Their debut album came out when I was a freshman in college. I still remember this passage from the review in my college paper: "John Popper's harmonica playing makes Bob Dylan and Neil Young sound like they are farting through their instruments."
 
# of 5-point songs: 1 (Working Man)

# of 4-point songs: 6 (Finding My Way; Here Again; Need Some Love; What You’re Doing)
Also interesting that you shouted out these songs, which predate Neil Peart joining the band.

Yeah, Neil is great, obviously, but like I said I like more of their straight up rock. I appreciate their later stuff more than I love to listen to it.
 
T-75. Arthur Crudup (117 points)

Total number of songs: 85

Average song score: 1.96

# of 5-point songs: 0

# of 4-point songs: 2 (Rock Me Mama; That’s All Right)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Goin’ Back to Georgia; Mean Old ‘frisco Blues; So Glad You’re Mine; That’s All Right; Who’s Been Foolin’ You



Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup is one of the last blues artists on the list to appear as one of the early pioneers of rock. He probably isn’t as important as some of the others that appeared earlier on the list, but he has a large volume of easily accessible tunes that are high enough in quality to be part of the library, so he is up here based more on volume than anything else.



That being said, I do think he is underrated among the early founders of rock. He doesn’t get as much publicity as some others, but he has a lot of really great tracks. His guitar playing is solid and more interesting than a number of similar artists of the era and his singing, while not necessarily flashy, has some real rock authenticity to it.



Crudup is mostly known for recording “That’s All Right” which was famously covered by Elvis and has been dubbed by some as the first rock and roll song. Elvis once said, “"If I have any ambition in life is to has to be good as Arthur Crudup.” Crudup has also been cited as an influence for Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, and Led Zeppelin, among others.





T-75. Joe Bonamassa (117 points)

Total number of songs: 34

Average song score: 3.21

# of 5-point songs: 4 (Asking Around for You, live; Blues Deluxe, live; How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times, live; Woke Up Dreaming, live)

# of 4-point songs: 8 (Further on Up the Road, live; The Great Flood, live; Livin’ Easy, live; Mountain Time, live; Sloe Gin, live; So Many Roads, live; Stop, live; Woke Up Dreaming, live)

Top 50 track bonus:

Personnel bonus:

Recommended listening: Blue and Evil, live; Dust Bowl, live; I’ll Play the Blues for You, live; Mountain Time, live; Redemption; Sloe Gin, live; Woke Up Dreaming, live



It seems like Joe Bonamassa is considered by many to be one of the top if not the top blues guitarist of the last few decades. There are certainly one or two I would rank above him, but he is definitely in the conversation. He is an incredible talent who combines outstanding musicianship with authenticity and an obvious love for the blues.



Bonamassa opened for B.B. King when he was 12 years old and he hasn’t looked back since. He has played with legends like Eric Clapton, has been nominated for multiple Grammys, and has had 11 studio albums reach the top spot on the blues charts.



But it is in his live albums where he really shines. The great thing about Bonamassa is that, while he plays a very authentic version of the blues, he is never limited by it. He plays a lot of styles of blues music very well, and in concert he plays songs in a lot of different ways and can be pretty jammy.



He can sing pretty well too. While he isn’t my favorite blues artist of the last generation, he is definitely up there.
 
T-73. Chuck Leavell (118 points)

Total number of songs: 19

Average song score: 3.16

# of 5-point songs: 1 (Georgia on My Mind, live)

# of 4-point songs: 3 (Alberta, Alberta, live; Compared to What, live; Tumbling Dice, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #3 miscellaneous/multi-instrumentalist (piano) Chuck Leavell

Recommended listening: Alberta, Alberta, live; Comin’ Home; Down the Road A Piece, live; Georgia on My Mind; Tumbling Dice, live



This entry is a little bit different as it is kind of like a life-time achievement award. Chuck Leavell has come up a few times in the countdown already and will certainly come up again. Rock’s greatest pianist is not only one of my favorite musicians, but I find him to be one of the most fascinating people in the world.



For those who aren’t familiar with Chuck and haven’t read my previous posts about him, he was an official member of The Allman Brothers Band during their commercial zenith, where he wrote and performed the greatest piano solo of all time (see the “Jessica” entry in my Allman Brothers thread, which discusses how Chuck was nearly as important in the development of the song as Dickey was).



Beyond that, for nearly 35 years he has been the primary piano player and musical director for The Rolling Stones. He was the founder and leader of the critically acclaimed jazz fusion group Sea Level and a key member of B.H.L.T. (both of whom have already appeared in the countdown). He was the pianist on Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album, Gregg Allman’s Laid Back album, and David Gilmour’s Live at Pompeii album. In addition, he has played and recorded with Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, George Harrison, The Black Crowes, and Gov’t Mule. I know I’ve posted it before, but one of my favorite piano solos ever is Chuck’s solo on this version of “Look on Yonder Wall.”



This entry is technically for Chuck’s solo work. He has put out several really good solo albums and occasionally tours with his own band, which is also really strong. Obviously, the ranking is significantly boosted by his personnel bonus, which I feel captures all his other musical contributions not covered elsewhere.



The fascinating thing about Chuck is that he is only a part-time musician. He spends a good chunk of his life serving as an award-winning tree farmer. If you get the chance, check out the documentary Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man. Absolutely fascinating.





T-73. Ry Cooder (118 points)

Total number of songs: 41

Average song score: 2.83

# of 5-point songs: 1 (Dark End of the Street)

# of 4-point songs: 5 (Boomer’s Story; Crazy ‘bout an Automobile, live; Feelin’ Bad Blues; Jesus on the Mainline; Let’s Work Together)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Feelin’ Bad Blues; How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live, live; Paris, Texas; Tattler, live, Tap ‘em Up Solid, live; Too Tight Blues #2, live



Speaking of musicians with a Rolling Stones association, few of their collaborators can top Ry Cooder. The multi-instrumentalist is probably best known as a collaborator, not only with the Stones but also with John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Neil Young, Little Feat, Eric Clapton, and even Randy Newman. But he also did a lot of great solo stuff including composing soundtracks for a number of films such as Paris, Texas.



We have a bunch of songs here, like “Dark End of the Street,” “Boomer’s Story,” and “Jesus on the Mainline” that have appeared elsewhere on the countdown. But we also have some great Cooder originals.



A really soulful slide player, Ry was close to getting a personnel bonus for guitar. I also considered him for a bonus on the multi-instrumentalist list. I love his mandolin playing on “Love in Vain.”
 
72. The Faces (123 points)

Total number of songs: 35

Average song score: 3.31

# of 5-point songs: 4 (Blues Deluxe, live; Had Me a Real Good Time; Miss Judy’s Farm; Stay With Me)

# of 4-point songs: 10 (Around the Plynth, live; Flying; Flying, live; Glad and Sorry; I Feel So Good, live; It’s All Over Now, live; Ooh La La; Pool Hall Richard; Sweet Lady Mary; Three Button Hand Me Down)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Borstal Boys, live; Flying, live; Gasoline Alley, live; Had Me a Real Good Time; It’s All Over Now, live; Stay With Me, live; Wicked Messenger



We are getting to a point in the countdown where we will start to see the point totals escalate a lot more. Here we have a decent sized jump from 118 points to 123 points (though future jumps will be much bigger).



Just to quickly reiterate what I said in the entry for rank-position #209 for those who can’t keep them straight, The Small Faces were a mid-60’s group featuring Steve Mariott and Ronnie Lane that had a pop and psychedelic sound. The Faces were an early-70’s group featuring Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood along with Lane and with more of a raw blues and hard rock sound.



In terms of playing straight up rock, there were few bands that were better. This is when Rod Stewart was at his absolute best. Having Ronnie Wood featured in much more of a lead role than he typically takes with the Stones really works. And Stones collaborator Ian McLagan (who was also a member of The Small Faces) really shines here.



I personally prefer this version of the Bobby Womack tune “It’s All Over Now” over the more famous Stones version. There are also some amazing guitar riffs in some of their original tunes like “Had Me a Real Good Time” and “Miss Judy’s Farm.” But none is better than the legendary riff in “Stay With Me,” which in my opinion is probably one of the top 10 guitar riffs of all-time.



I’ve alluded to the fact that I am a huge Black Crowes fan, and probably no group influenced early Crowes, like the stuff on Shake Your Moneymaker, more than The Faces. Astute readers may have caught that Crowes-spinoff group Magpie Salute (rank #123) had a Faces cover, “Glad and Sorry” as one of the recommended listening selections.



Really the only reason these guys aren’t a top-50 artist for me is that the overall volume of their work, particularly the availability of good live material, is smaller than most of the remaining artists.
 
T-73. Chuck Leavell (118 points)

Total number of songs: 19

Average song score: 3.16

# of 5-point songs: 1 (Georgia on My Mind, live)

# of 4-point songs: 3 (Alberta, Alberta, live; Compared to What, live; Tumbling Dice, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #3 miscellaneous/multi-instrumentalist (piano) Chuck Leavell

Recommended listening: Alberta, Alberta, live; Comin’ Home; Down the Road A Piece, live; Georgia on My Mind; Tumbling Dice, live



This entry is a little bit different as it is kind of like a life-time achievement award. Chuck Leavell has come up a few times in the countdown already and will certainly come up again. Rock’s greatest pianist is not only one of my favorite musicians, but I find him to be one of the most fascinating people in the world.



For those who aren’t familiar with Chuck and haven’t read my previous posts about him, he was an official member of The Allman Brothers Band during their commercial zenith, where he wrote and performed the greatest piano solo of all time (see the “Jessica” entry in my Allman Brothers thread, which discusses how Chuck was nearly as important in the development of the song as Dickey was).



Beyond that, for nearly 35 years he has been the primary piano player and musical director for The Rolling Stones. He was the founder and leader of the critically acclaimed jazz fusion group Sea Level and a key member of B.H.L.T. (both of whom have already appeared in the countdown). He was the pianist on Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album, Gregg Allman’s Laid Back album, and David Gilmour’s Live at Pompeii album. In addition, he has played and recorded with Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, George Harrison, The Black Crowes, and Gov’t Mule. I know I’ve posted it before, but one of my favorite piano solos ever is Chuck’s solo on this version of “Look on Yonder Wall.”



This entry is technically for Chuck’s solo work. He has put out several really good solo albums and occasionally tours with his own band, which is also really strong. Obviously, the ranking is significantly boosted by his personnel bonus, which I feel captures all his other musical contributions not covered elsewhere.



The fascinating thing about Chuck is that he is only a part-time musician. He spends a good chunk of his life serving as an award-winning tree farmer. If you get the chance, check out the documentary Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man. Absolutely fascinating.





T-73. Ry Cooder (118 points)

Total number of songs: 41

Average song score: 2.83

# of 5-point songs: 1 (Dark End of the Street)

# of 4-point songs: 5 (Boomer’s Story; Crazy ‘bout an Automobile, live; Feelin’ Bad Blues; Jesus on the Mainline; Let’s Work Together)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Feelin’ Bad Blues; How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live, live; Paris, Texas; Tattler, live, Tap ‘em Up Solid, live; Too Tight Blues #2, live



Speaking of musicians with a Rolling Stones association, few of their collaborators can top Ry Cooder. The multi-instrumentalist is probably best known as a collaborator, not only with the Stones but also with John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Neil Young, Little Feat, Eric Clapton, and even Randy Newman. But he also did a lot of great solo stuff including composing soundtracks for a number of films such as Paris, Texas.



We have a bunch of songs here, like “Dark End of the Street,” “Boomer’s Story,” and “Jesus on the Mainline” that have appeared elsewhere on the countdown. But we also have some great Cooder originals.



A really soulful slide player, Ry was close to getting a personnel bonus for guitar. I also considered him for a bonus on the multi-instrumentalist list. I love his mandolin playing on “Love in Vain.”
The “session guy” double shot.
 
The next few entries are all going to be pretty bluesy...


71. Canned Heat (127 points)

Total number of songs: 31

Average song score: 3.71

# of 5-point songs: 5 (Bullfrog Blues, live; Future Blues; Henry’s Shuffle, live; Sweet Sixteen, live; Wish You Would, live)

# of 4-point songs: 13 (Bring It on Home, live; Dust My Broom, live; Fried Hockey Boogie; Going Up the Country; I’d Rather Be the Devil, live; Let’s Work Together; Let’s Work Together, live; London Blues, live; On the Road Again; Rockin’ With the King; Same All Over; That’s All Right Mama, live; Whiskey and Wimmen)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Amphetamine Annie; Bullfrog Blues, live; Henry’s Shuffle; On the Road Again; Poor Moon; Time Was; Woodstock Boogie, Part 1, live; Woodstock Boogie, Part 2, live



Most people probably know Canned Heat from “Going Up the Country” (which is a re-working of the Henry Thomas song “Bull Doze Blues”) and maybe from their version of “Let’s Work Together” (renamed from the original “Let’s Stick Together”). But if that’s all you know about them, you are missing out. They were one of the best blues bands of the 60’s and 70’s, with a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of roots blues music. The name Canned Heat itself comes from a fairly deep-cut blues song by Tommy Johnson.



More than just being dedicated to the style, they were great musicians. They also had an important influence on psychedelia and in some ways were an early jam band. The classic lineup had two very interesting lead vocalists with very different styles. The higher register heard in songs like “Going Up the Country” and “Poor Moon” was Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson. Bob “The Bear” Hite had the deeper voice and can be heard on songs like “Bullfrog Blues.” They also were great instrumentalists and could really bring it when doing one of their many boogies, especially live.



Because they respected the music so much, they also had a lot of respect from other artists and collaborated with some legends. Among the above songs, they recorded “Rockin’ with the King” with Little Richard and “Whiskey and Wimmen” with John Lee Hooker. In fact, they recorded an entire album with Hooker.



I will say I probably would have had them just a little lower in my gut rankings. Not a lot, but this feels like it is maybe about 25 spots too high. That’s splitting hairs, though. If you don’t know a lot of Canned Heat’s stuff other than a couple of their big hits, you should definitely check them out. They are great.
 
70. Howlin’ Wolf (129 points)

Total number of songs: 32

Average song score: 2.94

# of 5-point songs: 1 (Goin’ Down Slow)

# of 4-point songs: 7 (Built for Comfort; Evil; Highway 49; Killing Floor; Poor Boy; Sitting on Top of the World; Smokestack Lightning)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #13 vocalist Howlin’ Wolf

Recommended listening: Evil; Goin’ Down Slow; How Many More Years, live; I Ain’t Superstitious; Moanin’ at Midnight; Smokestack Lightning, live; Spoonful



Few artists in any genre made music with more emotional intensity than Howlin’ Wolf. With his growling voice, his biting lyrics, and the snarls and moans he added to his delivery, listening to some of his songs can be chilling.



Howlin’ Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett and he is one of the absolute legends of blues music. He was another key figure in the transition from Delta to Chicago electric blues. His distinctive voice earns him a personnel bonus here, but he was also a very good guitarist and a fine harmonica player.



In addition he was a great bandleader and surrounded himself with super talented musicians. Many of his best-known songs were written by acclaimed blues songwriter Willie Dixon (see my previous entry on Dixon). His band for a number of these tracks featured Dixon along with Hubert Sumlin and Otis Spann.



Some of the above songs, like “Evil” and “Smokestack Lightning” are blues classics. Howlin’ Wolf’s version of “Spoonful” is probably the definitive version of that blues standard. The importance of “Killing Floor” has been documented in other threads, but it was famously covered by Jimi Hendrix. Led Zeppelin also played it during some of their early concerts and later adapted it into “The Lemon Song.”



If you are looking for a great album, check out The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions, which features Chester playing with Eric Clapton, Charlie Watts, Steve Winwood, Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman, and Ringo Starr.
 
69. Kenny Wayne Shepherd (131 points)

Total number of songs: 31

Average song score: 3.74

# of 5-point songs: 8 (Aberdeen; Born With a Broken Heart; Deja Voodoo; Everybody Gets the Blues; Everything is Broken; I Want You, live; Somehow, Somewhere, Someway; Talk to Me Baby, live)

# of 4-point songs: 9 (Heat of the Sun, live; King’s Highway; Ledbetter Heights; Mr. Soul, live; Riverside; Shame, Shame, Shame; Shame, Shame, Shame, live; Turn to Stone, live; Voodoo Child, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Aberdeen; Deja Voodoo; Everybody Gets the Blues; I Want You, live; Lay It on Down; Mr. Soul, live; Nothing But the Night; Riverside; Woman Like You



I am wondering if there might be mixed opinions on this entry. Kenny Wayne Shepherd gets some criticism for imitating Stevie Ray Vaughn too much. There is a good reason for the resemblance. Kenny met Stevie when he was 7 years old and shortly thereafter devoted himself to playing guitar.



Regardless, that criticism annoys me. I alluded to this in the entry for Chris Duarte, another artist who people denounce for sounding too much like SRV. It’s dumb because all music, especially blues music, is derivative to some extent. And if someone’s biggest criticism of you is that you sound too much like one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived, you probably aren’t doing too poorly.



Anyway, Kenny is simply one of the best guitarists alive today. Ledbetter Heights might be one of my favorite blues albums ever, and if that was the only thing he ever produced, I would consider him a great musician. But he has multiple great albums and is outstanding live as well.



I’m giving a shout out to @Pip's Invitation here with the cover of Neil Young’s “Mr. Soul.”
 
69. Kenny Wayne Shepherd (131 points)

Total number of songs: 31

Average song score: 3.74

# of 5-point songs: 8 (Aberdeen; Born With a Broken Heart; Deja Voodoo; Everybody Gets the Blues; Everything is Broken; I Want You, live; Somehow, Somewhere, Someway; Talk to Me Baby, live)

# of 4-point songs: 9 (Heat of the Sun, live; King’s Highway; Ledbetter Heights; Mr. Soul, live; Riverside; Shame, Shame, Shame; Shame, Shame, Shame, live; Turn to Stone, live; Voodoo Child, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Aberdeen; Deja Voodoo; Everybody Gets the Blues; I Want You, live; Lay It on Down; Mr. Soul, live; Nothing But the Night; Riverside; Woman Like You



I am wondering if there might be mixed opinions on this entry. Kenny Wayne Shepherd gets some criticism for imitating Stevie Ray Vaughn too much. There is a good reason for the resemblance. Kenny met Stevie when he was 7 years old and shortly thereafter devoted himself to playing guitar.



Regardless, that criticism annoys me. I alluded to this in the entry for Chris Duarte, another artist who people denounce for sounding too much like SRV. It’s dumb because all music, especially blues music, is derivative to some extent. And if someone’s biggest criticism of you is that you sound too much like one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived, you probably aren’t doing too poorly.



Anyway, Kenny is simply one of the best guitarists alive today. Ledbetter Heights might be one of my favorite blues albums ever, and if that was the only thing he ever produced, I would consider him a great musician. But he has multiple great albums and is outstanding live as well.



I’m giving a shout out to @Pip's Invitation here with the cover of Neil Young’s “Mr. Soul.”
It’s a good one. And one of many I linked when the song came up in my Neil countdown thread. (It’s one of those songs that’s pretty hard to screw up.)
 
68. Jackie Green (132 points)

Total number of songs: 39

Average song score: 3.21

# of 5-point songs: 4 (A Moment of Temporary Color; Doing It to Death, live; I’ve Got a Feeling, live; Till the Light Comes)

# of 4-point songs: 8 (Animal, live; The Ballad of Sleepy John, live; Crazy Comes Easy, live; Drown in My Own Tears, live; Hallelujah, live; The Holy Land; I’m So Gone, live; Modern Lives, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Gone Wanderin’, live; Honey I Been Thinking About You, live; I Don’t Live in a Dream; I’m So Gone, live; Like a Ball and Chain, live; Nothing Comes from Nothing, live; Prayer for Spanish Harlem, live; Till the Light Comes



I first learned about Jackie Greene when he joined The Black Crowes for a brief period as their lead guitarist following the departure of Luther Dickinson. Even though he was with them for a short time, I was impressed, and he ended up becoming my second favorite guitarist for the Crowes, behind only Marc Ford. I knew he also did some work with Gov’t Mule and members of The Grateful Dead, so I decided to explore a little more.



What I found is that he not only is a great guitarist, but an awesome multi-instrumentalist (being quite adept at piano, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, and drums), a pretty good singer, and a great songwriter.



His solo stuff is a lot more rootsy than the more hard rock sound of the Crowes, but I still really dig it.



The above videos include some cool performances with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.



I’m actually still exploring Jackie’s stuff and he has put out a lot of music that I haven’t really had a chance to even incorporate into my library yet. He could potentially move up the rankins in the future. If you are looking for some good Americana, check this guy out.
 
I like Jackie Green as a musician. This ranking is probably a bit beyond where his actual recording output should place him (obviously this is your list though).
His albums are more “there” than “wow”, imo.
 
68. Jackie Green (132 points)
Total number of songs: 39

Average song score: 3.21

# of 5-point songs: 4 (A Moment of Temporary Color; Doing It to Death, live; I’ve Got a Feeling, live; Till the Light Comes)

# of 4-point songs: 8 (Animal, live; The Ballad of Sleepy John, live; Crazy Comes Easy, live; Drown in My Own Tears, live; Hallelujah, live; The Holy Land; I’m So Gone, live; Modern Lives, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Gone Wanderin’, live; Honey I Been Thinking About You, live; I Don’t Live in a Dream; I’m So Gone, live; Like a Ball and Chain, live; Nothing Comes from Nothing, live; Prayer for Spanish Harlem, live; Till the Light Comes



I first learned about Jackie Greene when he joined The Black Crowes for a brief period as their lead guitarist following the departure of Luther Dickinson. Even though he was with them for a short time, I was impressed, and he ended up becoming my second favorite guitarist for the Crowes, behind only Marc Ford. I knew he also did some work with Gov’t Mule and members of The Grateful Dead, so I decided to explore a little more.



What I found is that he not only is a great guitarist, but an awesome multi-instrumentalist (being quite adept at piano, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, and drums), a pretty good singer, and a great songwriter.



His solo stuff is a lot more rootsy than the more hard rock sound of the Crowes, but I still really dig it.



The above videos include some cool performances with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.



I’m actually still exploring Jackie’s stuff and he has put out a lot of music that I haven’t really had a chance to even incorporate into my library yet. He could potentially move up the rankins in the future. If you are looking for some good Americana, check this guy out.
I've seen Jackie Greene twice, both at Levon Helm's barn in Woodstock, once solo, and once with Trigger Hippy. Both shows were great. His multi-instrumental talents are top-notch, and it's fun to watch him switch them up live.

Trigger Hippy was him, Joan Osbourne, Steve Gorman, NIck Govrik, and Tom Bukovic. Stellar lineup and some really fun rock and roll. Check out their self-titled debut album if you haven't already. Jackie and Joan played off each other incredibly well swapping vocals on songs.

We ran into Jackie on a corner in Woodstock before his solo show. Was by himself and we didn't want to bother him for a pic or anything, so we just told him to have a great show as we were walking by. He seemed appreciative we didn't make a big deal of it. Would love to see him there again.
 
68. Jackie Green (132 points)
Total number of songs: 39

Average song score: 3.21

# of 5-point songs: 4 (A Moment of Temporary Color; Doing It to Death, live; I’ve Got a Feeling, live; Till the Light Comes)

# of 4-point songs: 8 (Animal, live; The Ballad of Sleepy John, live; Crazy Comes Easy, live; Drown in My Own Tears, live; Hallelujah, live; The Holy Land; I’m So Gone, live; Modern Lives, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Gone Wanderin’, live; Honey I Been Thinking About You, live; I Don’t Live in a Dream; I’m So Gone, live; Like a Ball and Chain, live; Nothing Comes from Nothing, live; Prayer for Spanish Harlem, live; Till the Light Comes



I first learned about Jackie Greene when he joined The Black Crowes for a brief period as their lead guitarist following the departure of Luther Dickinson. Even though he was with them for a short time, I was impressed, and he ended up becoming my second favorite guitarist for the Crowes, behind only Marc Ford. I knew he also did some work with Gov’t Mule and members of The Grateful Dead, so I decided to explore a little more.



What I found is that he not only is a great guitarist, but an awesome multi-instrumentalist (being quite adept at piano, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, and drums), a pretty good singer, and a great songwriter.



His solo stuff is a lot more rootsy than the more hard rock sound of the Crowes, but I still really dig it.



The above videos include some cool performances with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.



I’m actually still exploring Jackie’s stuff and he has put out a lot of music that I haven’t really had a chance to even incorporate into my library yet. He could potentially move up the rankins in the future. If you are looking for some good Americana, check this guy out.
I've seen Jackie Greene twice, both at Levon Helm's barn in Woodstock, once solo, and once with Trigger Hippy. Both shows were great. His multi-instrumental talents are top-notch, and it's fun to watch him switch them up live.

Trigger Hippy was him, Joan Osbourne, Steve Gorman, NIck Govrik, and Tom Bukovic. Stellar lineup and some really fun rock and roll. Check out their self-titled debut album if you haven't already. Jackie and Joan played off each other incredibly well swapping vocals on songs.

We ran into Jackie on a corner in Woodstock before his solo show. Was by himself and we didn't want to bother him for a pic or anything, so we just told him to have a great show as we were walking by. He seemed appreciative we didn't make a big deal of it. Would love to see him there again.

Trigger Hippy was on the list earlier. Would have been ranked higher if they had more material.
 
T-66. James Brown (135 points)

Total number of songs: 25

Average song score: 2.40

# of 5-point songs: 3 (Please, Please, Please/You've Got the Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You, Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen/Bewildered/Please, Please, Please, live; Night Train; Pass the Peas)

# of 4-point songs: 2 (Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag; Think, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #8 drummer Clyde Stubblefield; #12 drummer John “Jabo” Starks

Recommended listening: Cold Sweat; Funky Drummer; I Got the Feelin’; I’ll Go Crazy, live; Pass the Peas; Please, Please, Please, live; Think, live



With this entry, we officially have our longest song title with the epic 9-part medley from the legendary Live at the Apollo album. If there is anyone who by some strange twist of fate hasn’t heard that album, stop reading and go get it right now. Certainly, a top 25 live album ever.



This entry encompasses material from various stages of James Brown’s amazing career, including stuff with The Famous Flames, stuff with The JB’s, and other material. I doubt I will have to convince anyone of the greatness of The Godfather of Soul. Entire genres of music owe their existence to him.



Maybe the most interesting thing about this entry is that it is the first time that we have two personnel bonuses for the same instrument in one entry (though it will definitely not be the last). In the late 1960’s, James Brown famously had a band that featured two of the greatest drummers in the world. This would inspire other bands, particularly those in the jam band genre. When Duane Allman was asked why his band had two drummers, he simply said because James Brown did (which is true – Allman was a big fan of Brown and had seen him perform live while living in L.A.).



Both Clyde and Jabo were amazing, but Clyde gets the slight edge for having one of the most famous drum performances ever in “Funky Drummer.”



One of my favorite tunes by the JB’s is “Pass the Peas” which I first heard a local jazz group do an amazing rendition of during a New Year’s Eve performance at a local hole-in-the-wall club. At the time I didn’t know it was a James Brown song. I just thought it had one of the best grooves I had ever heard. I later discovered the song’s origins after hearing this cover by Gov’t Mule and John Scofield.





T-66. Marc Ford (135 points)

Total number of songs: 32

Average song score: 3.31

# of 5-point songs: 1 (Locked Down Tight, live)

# of 4-point songs: 12 (Arkansas Gas Card, live; Deep Water; Deep Water, live; Don’t Ya Get Me Killed, live; Dream #26, live; Ghetto is Everywhere; Greazy Chicken, live; Main Drain, live; Mother’s Day, live; Old Lady Sunrise; Shalimar Dreams; Steady Rollin’ Man, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #18 guitarist Marc Ford

Recommended listening: Arkansas Gas Card, live; Greazy Chicken, live; Main Drain, live; Mother’s Day, live; Shalimar Dreams



We have back-to-back posts featuring a Black Crowes guitarist. But while Jackie Greene was a marginal member of the band who toured with them for a year or two, Marc Ford was a key part of their sound during their prime. He joined the group shortly after the release of Shake Your Moneymaker and played on their two best albums, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion and Amorica, where his creative lead playing really pushed their music to the next level.



As the #18 ranked performer on my guitarist list, I’m sure he is by far the least-known of the musicians to get a personnel bonus for that instrument. But I absolutely love his playing. He walks the line between blues and rock perfectly. His tone is among the best I have ever heard. I have seen him live with the Crowes multiple times and he always brought something different and interesting every time he played a solo. And he is a very good slide player.



Unfortunately, substance abuse issues eventually forced him out of the Crowes. But he has continued to make great music outside that, touring with Ben Harper, serving as a member of Blue Floyd and the Crowes spin-off group Magpie Salute (who were featured earlier in the countdown), and doing work with Booker T. Jones, Gov’t Mule, and Izzy Stradlin, among others.



He has also released several very good solo albums and led a few groups of his own. My favorite of these is The Neptune Blues Club which is the source of most of recommendations above.



We’ll obviously talk a lot more about his work with the Crowes later, but for now I’ll link to two of my favorite solos he did with them: “Sometimes Salvation” and “She Gave Good Sunflower.” His tone on those tracks is otherworldly.
 
65. Elton John (139 points)

Total number of songs: 32

Average song score: 2.34

# of 5-point songs: 2 (Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, live; Your Song)

# of 4-point songs: 2 (Levon; Rocket Man, live)

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #4 miscellaneous/multi-instrumentalist (piano) Elton John

Recommended listening: Blues for Baby and Me; Empty Sky; Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding; Madman Across the Water; Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters; Take Me to the Pilot; Your Song



I know most people would rank Elton John way higher than this. He is one of the greatest musicians who ever lived. And I have a ton of respect for his music (hence the personnel bonus).



Him not making my top 50 is likely the result of 3 factors. First, most everything that I have in my library I have had there for many years, so the bias I previously mention that “older” songs are ranked lower than newer songs plays a role. Second, I have some soundtrack stuff from Aida and The Lion King that are listenable enough to keep them in the library but still pull the overall average down. Third, his stuff is just a little bit too much on the pop side for my tastes, so with some of the above exceptions, many of his bigger hits fall in the 2 or 3-point levels for me rather than the 4 or 5-point levels.



I still really like Sir Elton. I saw him live maybe 10 years ago and it was a great, great show. Actually, when I am done with the countdown, I think he might be one of the first artists I go back and re-explore to find stuff in his catalog that I am missing and to re-evaluated which songs should be ranked higher.
 
I like Jackie Green as a musician. This ranking is probably a bit beyond where his actual recording output should place him (obviously this is your list though).
His albums are more “there” than “wow”, imo.

One thing I meant to mention about Jackie but forgot is that he received the very rare "consistency bonus." I know my scoring system isn't clear to everyone, but just as a reminder, what this means is that an artist has at least 20 songs in the library and all of the songs are at least rated at the 2-point level. It may not sound like much of a feat but almost every artist has a few clunkers and even among the artists at the very top of my list, almost all have several songs at the 1-point level. So this is actually the least common way for an artist to get bonus points, but Jackie managed it.

I was reminded of that because another artist that I was reviewing who will come up in 2 or 3 days also will be getting this bonus.
 
With this entry I am going to make a format switch that I alluded to previously. This group has 17 songs on the 4-point line and those numbers are only going to increase as we move into the top 50 and beyond. I'm not going to type dozens and eventually hundreds of songs out on these point lines, so I'll continue to list the number of 4 and 5-point songs but I'm going to stop typing out the names of each individual track. I will, however, increase the amount of "Recommended Listening" songs and increase the overlap between that and the songs on my 4 and 5-point lines. Feel free to ask about specific songs if you want to know where they fall.


64. Robert Randolph & The Family Band (140 points)

Total number of songs: 28

Average song score: 4.03

# of 5-point songs: 6

# of 4-point songs: 17

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: I Don’t Know What You Come to Do, live; I Need More Love, live; Nobody; Pressing My Way, live; Sacred Steel/The March, live; Squeeze; Ted’s Jam, live



If you aren’t familiar with Robert Randolph & The Family Band, they are one that you should go check out immediately. They are typically classified as sacred steel (a type of gospel music incorporating steel guitar), but they are actually a jam band, and a really good one at that.



I first saw these guys open for The Black Crowes, I think back in 2005. I’ve seen a lot of great bands open for the Crowes, including Drive-By Truckers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and one really great artist that will be featured prominently toward the top of the countdown, but I had as much or more fun listening to these guys as any of them.



Robert Randolph came up earlier in the countdown with The Word. He plays primarily lap pedal steel and is absolutely amazing. But the entire band is incredibly talented. Their live shows are super high energy. They are incredibly fun with tons of dancing and band members switching to play each other’s instruments.



There aren’t many bands in the countdown that have an average score above 4.0 so obviously I really like this group. “Squeeze” may be one of my favorite instrumentals ever.
 
63. Metallica (141 points)

Total number of songs: 41

Average song score: 2.91

# of 5-point songs: 4

# of 4-point songs: 7

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #17 bassist Cliff Burton

Recommended listening: All Nightmare Long; Battery; Blackened; The Call of Ktulu; Fade to Black; Master of Puppets; Nothing Else Matters; Orion; Welcome Home (Sanitarium)



It depends who you define as metal, but at least according to my definition, this would be the highest ranked metal band in the countdown. It pretty much had to be either them or Black Sabbath, and I like that they are my two highest ranked metal bands because their styles are so dissimilar.



There was a time when I was young, after I had moved on from my grunge days, that I would have probably said Metallica was my favorite band. I think I mentioned earlier in the thread that they were actually my first concert (Corrosion of Conformity opened for them). I don’t listen to nearly as much metal these days, but sometimes you just really need to headbang, and I still think there is no better group to do it to.



A lot of their stuff is, of course, the definition of thrash, but I am still impressed at how well-crafted some of their compositions are, and how beautiful some of their slower music is. Songs like “Fade to Black” are stunning.



While I like Hetfield’s singing, many of my favorite Metallica tunes are the instrumentals. “The Call of Ktulu” is actually one of my favorite songs to play on guitar. Bassist Cliff Burton, who gets a personnel bonus even though he was only with the band for a few albums, absolutely kills it on songs like “Orion.” Kirk Hammett, who was close to a bonus, is also amazing on some of these tracks.



A discussion of Metallica wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Apocalyptica. I excluded them from the countdown, but they are great and I still listen to tracks from Plays Metallica by Four Cellos fairly regularly.
 
62. Blind Melon (148 points)

Total number of songs: 38

Average song score: 3.47

# of 5-point songs: 8

# of 4-point songs: 2

Top 50 track bonus: #43 Change

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Change; Change, live; Galaxie; No Rain, live; Seed to a Tree; Skinned, live; Soak the Sin; Soul One; St. Andrew’s Fall, live; Tones of Home; Walk, live



This choice is a pretty big dark horse as Blind Melon has nowhere near the stature of the artists that we have been seeing in the last few dozen picks. But I simply love their music. I consider them one of the saddest missed opportunities in rock history. They only released two albums before the death of lead singer Shannon Hoon and both are probably in my favorite 10 albums of the 1990’s.



Despite the low volume of material, Blind Melon benefits from a couple of bonuses. First, as you can see, they get a top 50 track bonus. “Change” isn’t their most well-known or highly acclaimed song, but it is my favorite. A relatively simple but absolutely beautiful tune with great instrumentation, it is one that I can listen to endlessly and never get tired of it.



In a recent post, I also discussed the consistency bonus, which Blind Melon also benefits from. I have 38 songs from them in my library (the entirety of their two albums with Hoon plus several live tracks – I don’t have anything from the post-Shannon band) and none are at the 1-point level. Actually, all of their songs slot in at least at the 3-point level. That makes them the band with the highest total number of songs in the library with each earning at least 3 points.



Shannon obviously got most of the publicity. Deservedly so as he had one of the most unique and interesting voices I’ve ever heard. But props to the rest of the band as well. They were all great. “Tones of Home” has some of my all-time favorite guitar riffs. I also have to give a special acknowledgement to their throwback to jug band music with “Skinned.” Maybe the best lead kazoo performance ever!
 
61. Leon Russell (150 points)

Total number of songs: 39

Average song score: 3.10

# of 5-point songs: 4

# of 4-point songs: 9

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #14 miscellaneous/multi-instrumentalist Leon Russell

Recommended listening: Alcatraz; Delta Lady; I’ll Take You There/Quinn the Eskimo (Mighty Quinn), live; Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Young Blood, live; Lost Inside of the Blues; Prince of Peace, live; Shootout at the Plantation, live; A Song for You; Stranger in a Strange Land; Tight Rope



I know we have some big Leon Russell fans on the board, so I probably don’t need to even say much about this legend, but this is one artist that is so much fun to write about. It would be difficult to name an artist who had a more diverse and interesting career than Leon.



Russell got his musical start as one of the pioneers of the “Tulsa sound.” I mentioned in the J.J. Cale entry (whom Leon played with when they were just kids) that other artists from the genre would be highly ranked in the countdown, and along with Elvin Bishop, this is who I was thinking of.



Leon was also a major part of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, performing on tracks with groups like The Ronettes. He famously was the musical director for Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour in which he was probably more important than Cocker himself.



In multiple roles including instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer, he collaborated with artists as diverse as The Beach Boys, Ike and Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra, George Harrison, Boy Dylan, Willie Nelson, Freddie King, and The Rolling Stones.



In total Leon has more than 250 official album credits as an artist (comprising 29 different instruments) and more than 275 writing credits, and 45 production credits.



And he did it all so well. He was proficient in all the instruments he played. His songs are classics. He is well-known as being Elton John’s greatest influence. And he was outstanding live and could totally jam the heck out of any song.



To top it all off, he probably he the coolest look of any musician in the history of rock music.



What a legend.
 
T-59. Deep Purple (151 points)

Total number of songs: 34

Average song score: 3.44

# of 5-point songs: 6

# of 4-point songs: 10

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #16 vocalist Ian Gillan; #13 drummer Ian Paice

Recommended listening: Emmaretta; Fireball; Highway Star, live; Lazy, live; Maybe I’m a Leo, live; Place in Line; Space Truckin’, live; Strange Kind of Woman, live



Once famously recognized as the “globe’s loudest band,” Deep Purple certainly had elements of heavy metal, though they also embraced aspects of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and straight blues rock, which is why I named Metallica the highest-ranking metal band a few posts ago.



Regardless, Deep Purple could really rock. They underwent a lot of lineup changes over the years, but the “Mark II” lineup may be one of the most talented lineups in rock history, as can be seen in the absolutely scorching version of “Lazy” linked above. From that lineup, singer Ian Gillan and drummer Ian Paice (the one consistent presence through all of their lineups) both received personnel bonuses, while guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and bassist Roger Glover just missed bonuses for their respective instruments. However, other Deep Purple lineups have also been super talented and while the majority of the above recommendations come from the Mark II days, their entire catalog is worthwhile.



I couldn’t in good faith make it an official recommendation, but I do have to share this video of “Hush” because it makes me laugh.





T-59. Moby Grape (151 points)

Total number of songs: 47

Average song score: 3.09

# of 5-point songs: 3

# of 4-point songs: 10

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: 8:05; Come in the Morning; Hey Grandma; Indifference; Looper, audition version; Miller’s Blues, live; Motorcycle Irene; Murder in My Heart for the Judge; Omaha; Soul Stew



I’m a sucker for bands that have multiple lead vocalists and multiple songwriters with distinct styles, and Moby Grape fits the bill. I’m also a guitar guy and as one of the first major triple-guitar rock groups, once again I find the Grape very interesting.



If I remember correctly, these guys came up in Krista’s American artist thread, so they shouldn’t be an unknown to this audience. However, they are still less of a household name than most of the recent artists, so for those that don’t know, Grape was a late-60’s psychedelic rock band in the vein of groups like Jefferson Airplane. In fact, founding member Skip Spence had for a brief time played drums with Jefferson Airplane (and guitar with Quicksilver Messenger Service).



They put out some fantastic albums early in their career, but their initial lineup was short lived due to terrible management and mental health issues with their members. They reformed a number of times but continued to be saddled with those demons and consequently didn’t achieve the same success as some of their contemporaries.



But they were really great. This seems just a little high to me in terms of gut rankings, but they are still one of the most underrated and underappreciated bands ever, so I am ok with the ranking.
 
58. Django Reinhardt (151 points)

Total number of songs: 59

Average song score: 2.44

# of 5-point songs: 1

# of 4-point songs: 4

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Belleville; Blues for Ike; Django’s Tiger; Djangology; Limehouse Blues; Minor Swing; Night and Day; Nuages; St. Louis Blues



In a previous post discussing my favorite jazz guitarists, I embarrassingly left out the greatest jazz guitarist of all-time. If you were to look up the word virtuoso in a dictionary, it should probably display Django’s picture.



Most are probably aware that he lost the use of two fingers on his fret hand at a young age. Despite this, he was still a blindingly fast lead player. It wasn’t just his speed, however, that made him so fantastic. He was a great rhythm player, his timing was incredibly precise, his bends were perfect. He made great use of harmonics. His melodic and rhythmic ideas were both incredible. And he could write too, composing more than 100 songs, many of which have become standards.



As I discussed in my Allman Brothers thread, “Jessica” was partially inspired by Django as Dickey Betts was a huge fan. He wrote the song with the thought that the lead fret hand would be able to play it using only two fingers. The song also captures the bouncy rhythm characteristic of Django’s work.



I’ve talked about “St. Louis Blues” in other entries, but this is probably the best version of that song that I’ve ever heard.



If you want to see genius in action, check out the only known video footage of Django playing.
 
Apologies. I am a little distracted by basketball so my pace this weekend may be a little slower. But I'll try to keep things going the best I can.


57. Bonnie Raitt (154 points)

Total number of songs: 54

Average song score: 2.59

# of 5-point songs: 5

# of 4-point songs: 5

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: Big Road, live; Finest Lovin’ Man, live; Gnawin’ on It; I Believe I’m in Love With You, live; Kokomo Medley, live; Love Me Like a Man, live; Million Miles, live; Rollin’ and Tumblin’, live; Something to Talk About, live; Walkin’ Blues, live



I do have some of Bonnie Raitt’s studio stuff in my library, but you can see most of the above stuff is live where she is amazing. The majority of the tracks come from two really fantastic live albums, The Lost Broadcast – Philadelphia 1972 and Road Tested (mostly from Oakland 1995). They are very different but both definitely worth checking out.



Bonnie is super talented. She is one of only two female artists, along with Joni Mitchell, to be featured on Rolling Stone lists for the 100 greatest singers of all-time and 100 greatest guitarists of all time. For me she got significant consideration for a personnel bonus both as a vocalist and a guitarist.



Her later music certainly has more pop sensibilities, but it is still quite good compared to most pop music. And even in her later career she still breaks out some incredibly soulful blues. But it is her rootsy early stuff that I really love. She does some of the best country blues interpretations you’ll ever here and her slide guitar playing on those tracks is incredible.
 
Since I brought up those two live albums, I should mention something that I haven't explicitly stated but that I hope everyone has picked up on. In general, when I link to a live performance recommendation, I try to have it be the same performance as the actual track in my library. However, this isn't always possible. Some tracks simply aren't available to link to, especially since some of the live albums I have are pretty obscure (many aren't even officially released albums, but are instead Instant Live albums or similar).

When the exact track isn't available, I have tried as much as possible to link to performances that capture what I like about the track in my library.

I mentioned earlier that at some point I was going to start providing more details on each live recommendation. We will soon be getting to artists for which I have multiple performances of the same song (sometimes dozens) in my library, so distinguishing will be more important. The plan is that once we hit the top 50 I will provide the time and place of the recording of live tracks when I know it (for many of these tracks I do, but not for all). At that point I will switch to being more strict about linking to the actual performance, but that will also mean some recommendations may go without a link.
 
T-59. Moby Grape (151 points)

Total number of songs: 47

Average song score: 3.09

# of 5-point songs: 3

# of 4-point songs: 10

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: 8:05; Come in the Morning; Hey Grandma; Indifference; Looper, audition version; Miller’s Blues, live; Motorcycle Irene; Murder in My Heart for the Judge; Omaha; Soul Stew



I’m a sucker for bands that have multiple lead vocalists and multiple songwriters with distinct styles, and Moby Grape fits the bill. I’m also a guitar guy and as one of the first major triple-guitar rock groups, once again I find the Grape very interesting.



If I remember correctly, these guys came up in Krista’s American artist thread, so they shouldn’t be an unknown to this audience. However, they are still less of a household name than most of the recent artists, so for those that don’t know, Grape was a late-60’s psychedelic rock band in the vein of groups like Jefferson Airplane. In fact, founding member Skip Spence had for a brief time played drums with Jefferson Airplane (and guitar with Quicksilver Messenger Service).



They put out some fantastic albums early in their career, but their initial lineup was short lived due to terrible management and mental health issues with their members. They reformed a number of times but continued to be saddled with those demons and consequently didn’t achieve the same success as some of their contemporaries.



But they were really great. This seems just a little high to me in terms of gut rankings, but they are still one of the most underrated and underappreciated bands ever, so I am ok with the ranking.
All of your recommendations come from their first two albums and outtakes from those sessions. Their third album, Moby Grape '69, may be even better. It's one of the first examples of country rock, released the same year as the first albums from CSN, Poco and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The songs are all high quality and the devastating "I Am Not Willing" is probably their best track. But it's short on psychedelia and jamming, so it may not be your thing as much as their earlier material.
 
56. Robert Johnson (159 points)

Total number of songs: 41

Average song score: 2.59

# of 5-point songs: 3

# of 4-point songs: 4

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: #13 songwriter Robert Johnson; #12 vocalist Robert Johnson

Recommended listening: Come on in My Kitchen (take 1); Come on in My Kitchen (take 2); Cross Road Blues (take 1); Cross Road Blues (take 2); Drunken Hearted Man; I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom; I’m a Steady Rollin’ Man; Kindhearted Woman Blues (take 1); Love in Vain (take 1); Love in Vain (take 2); Preachin’ Blues (Up Jumped the Devil); Stop Breakin’ Down Blues (take 1); Sweet Home Chicago; Terraplane Blues; Walking Blues



The most important artist in the history of modern popular music? There are a few people that probably rank ahead of him, but Robert Johnson is certainly up there.



Despite having a recording career that consisted of only 2 sessions across the span of 7 months, Johnson left us with arguably one of the greatest catalogs anyone has ever produced in any genre. Essentially every one of his recordings (29 distinct songs, some with multiple takes) is one of the 100 or so most important blues songs of all-time. Blues songs, especially from that time period, are always tricky in terms of whether they were original or not, but most sources list him as the official songwriter on these compositions and nearly everyone agrees that at the very least, he crafted his own unique arrangements. And while he no doubt borrowed some lines from older tunes in the blues mythology, he almost certainly composed some of the lyrics which are among the most famous ever set to music.



His guitar playing was lightyears ahead of anyone else at that time. He wasn’t the first important slide guitarist (he was influenced by Son House in that regard), but he played that style at a level that wasn’t improved upon until at least he days of Elmore James.



As an aside, there is an interesting story about Johnson’s guitar playing. When he first started playing, it took him a little while to pick it up. When he initially met him, Son House commented that he was a decent singer and harmonica player but a terrible guitarist. Johnson left to get guitar lessons from Ike Zimmerman and returned a short time later as a master of the instrument who could blow away anyone else on the juke joint circuit. This rapid improvement likely contributed to the stories about Johnson selling his soul for his abilities.



Regardless of how we got so good so fast, his playing was incredible. Listen to recordings like “Preachin’ Blues” or “Terraplane Blues” and it still blows away anything almost any guitarist plays. There is a story that when Keith Richards first heard a Robert Johnson recording, he asked Brian Jones who the second guitarist was, not realizing that Robert was playing the entire piece solo.



More than anything, though, it is probably Johnson’s hauntingly emotional vocal performances that separate his work from anyone else. Colleague Johnny Shines (who appeared earlier in the countdown) relates a story about the power of his singing: “One time in St. Louis we were playing one of the songs that Robert would like to play with someone once in a great while, "Come On In My Kitchen". He was playing very slow and passionately, and when we had quit, I noticed no one was saying anything. Then I realized they were crying – both women and men.”



Clapton said it simply: “Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived.”
 
55. Tom Petty (161 points)

Total number of songs: 45

Average song score: 3.2

# of 5-point songs: 3

# of 4-point songs: 15

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: American Girl; Angel Dream, live; Best of Everything; Breakdown; The Date I Had with That Ugly Old Homecoming Queen, live; Learning to Fly; Louisiana Rain; Mary Jane’s Last Dance; Runnin’ Down a Dream; You Don’t Know How It Feels, live; You Got Lucky



I’m not 100% sure off the top of my head what Tom Petty songs are sans Heartbreakers and am way too lazy to go back and check which album they all appeared on. While “You Don’t Know How It Feels” is from one of his solo albums, the live track above is played with the Heartbreakers. So I think all the recommended listening selections are Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but because at least a couple of the 45 tracks are solo I just made the entry his name alone.



Obviously Petty got a ton of love in Krista’s thread so I don’t think I need to spend a lot of time on detailed analysis here. There was a time when I would have been right there with all that love and said Petty was one of my 5 or 10 favorite artists.



Eventually I got a bit sick of him. Partially this was because I saw him in concert, and it was honestly one of the worst concerts I’ve ever been to. They essentially played the greatest hits album with every song sounding exactly like it does on the album. It was so boring. After that I kind of lost interest.



Since then, I have had times when I got back into him and he obviously has a ton of great songs. And as the Live at the Fillmore 1997 album demonstrates, he could be fantastic in concert. So I still really love him. Maybe just not as much as some others on the board.
 
Partially this was because I saw him in concert, and it was honestly one of the worst concerts I’ve ever been to. They essentially played the greatest hits album with every song sounding exactly like it does on the album
I am the complete opposite of you on this. I think an artist who can replicate a great recorded performance on-stage is more enjoyable than one who goes off into all kinds of silly directions where the song isn't really the song anymore.
 
55. Tom Petty (161 points)

Total number of songs: 45

Average song score: 3.2

# of 5-point songs: 3

# of 4-point songs: 15

Top 50 track bonus: none

Personnel bonus: none

Recommended listening: American Girl; Angel Dream, live; Best of Everything; Breakdown; The Date I Had with That Ugly Old Homecoming Queen, live; Learning to Fly; Louisiana Rain; Mary Jane’s Last Dance; Runnin’ Down a Dream; You Don’t Know How It Feels, live; You Got Lucky



I’m not 100% sure off the top of my head what Tom Petty songs are sans Heartbreakers and am way too lazy to go back and check which album they all appeared on. While “You Don’t Know How It Feels” is from one of his solo albums, the live track above is played with the Heartbreakers. So I think all the recommended listening selections are Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but because at least a couple of the 45 tracks are solo I just made the entry his name alone.



Obviously Petty got a ton of love in Krista’s thread so I don’t think I need to spend a lot of time on detailed analysis here. There was a time when I would have been right there with all that love and said Petty was one of my 5 or 10 favorite artists.



Eventually I got a bit sick of him. Partially this was because I saw him in concert, and it was honestly one of the worst concerts I’ve ever been to. They essentially played the greatest hits album with every song sounding exactly like it does on the album. It was so boring. After that I kind of lost interest.



Since then, I have had times when I got back into him and he obviously has a ton of great songs. And as the Live at the Fillmore 1997 album demonstrates, he could be fantastic in concert. So I still really love him. Maybe just not as much as some others on the board.
I thought the Heartbreakers were a great live band every time I saw them. :shrug: But if you’re looking for the songs to be totally reinvented live, that’s not what they do (did).

Petty’s solo albums are Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers and Highway Companion.

If you haven’t heard them, you might enjoy the two albums Petty did with Mudcrutch, his pre-Heartbreakers band that he re-formed in the 21st century. They are rootsier and jammier than the Heartbreakers.
 

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