What's your favorite "Blues" song?

The original ask by @SomeBadDrummer was favourite “blues” song, that is, songs with “blues” in the title…I think the thread has been slightly derailed and misinterpreted, even more so by the annoyance expressed by some of the blues purists amongst us? Perhaps read the OP again guys; you can always start a new thread dedicated solely to your favourite actual blues artists? :unsure:
 
The original ask by @SomeBadDrummer was favourite “blues” song, that is, songs with “blues” in the title…I think the thread has been slightly derailed and misinterpreted, even more so by the annoyance expressed by some of the blues purists amongst us? Perhaps read the OP again guys; you can always start a new thread dedicated solely to your favourite actual blues artists? :unsure:
Slightly? :rolleyes:🤣 some people are happy to derail any thread if it suits their own purposes/agenda/thoughts instead of taking a minute to start their own.
Perhaps a mod will shut down this thread and put it out of its misery :sick: lol.
 
I am not a fan of the blues...probably the only one, I know...

I play a TON of them in my country band, but until I got into that band, I went 45 years without really ever paying attention to the blues. I know they influence a ton of stuff that I do like, but straight out blues is just boring to me. I play it in the band I am in b/c I like the guys I play with, I like it when other people are having fun listening to what they like and I wanted to expand my style knowledge...

I DEFINITELY respect and am fascinated by the history of the blues in American culture, so when I play, I am always trying to do that justice as well

not trying to throw shade, but also just curious to see of anyone else is not a blues fan....honestly, other than real young kids, I have NEVER met someone who doesn't love the blues....

Don't care for it at all, never have. We play a few in the band but that's about it.
 
Not my favorite blues tunes, since neither are technically blues—at least, I can't think of any blues which use a mediant chord like that, but maybe I'm just missing some/many—but easily:

"Yer Blues" — The Beatles
"Bell Bottom Blues" — Derek & the Dominos
with
"Winner's Blues" — Sonic Youth
"No Queen Blues" — Sonic Youth

coming in quite a ways behind, although I'm still very fond of them.
 
Can anyone discern the differences in blues and country? IMO they overlap with many similarities and if you can tell me specifically how they differ I’d be interested in learning.
A blues is a musical form, like a sonata or, to switch artforms, like a sonnet or haiku or sestina or limerick. It follows a certain pattern, with most (not all!) being 12-bars, and following certain specified chord changes:

I I I I
IV IV I I
V IV I V

with most/all of those usually being the dominant seventh form of the chord.

So in the key of C, you'd play:

C-C-C-C
F-F-C-C
G-F-C-G

(although, again, those would probably actually be C7 and F7 and G7 chords)

Many country songs are in the blues form, but most (I believe—I'm far from an expert here) more traditionally adhere to the 8-bar structure, with a separate chorus and sometimes a bridge or two.

So the incendiary first Elvis 45" had a blues ("That's All Right, Mama") and a country song ("Blue Moon of Kentucky"), a pattern I believe he would keep for pretty much all his Sun releases.

So to go back to your original question, not everything that BB King, say, played was a blues, even if it was always bluesy. Whereas Pat Boone, say, could play a blues but it sure as hell isn't going to be bluesy.
 
A blues is a musical form, like a sonata or, to switch artforms, like a sonnet or haiku or sestina or limerick. It follows a certain pattern, with most (not all!) being 12-bars, and following certain specified chord changes:

I I I I
IV IV I I
V IV I V

with most/all of those usually being the dominant seventh form of the chord.

So in the key of C, you'd play:

C-C-C-C
F-F-C-C
G-F-C-G

(although, again, those would probably actually be C7 and F7 and G7 chords)

Many country songs are in the blues form, but most (I believe—I'm far from an expert here) more traditionally adhere to the 8-bar structure, with a separate chorus and sometimes a bridge or two.

So the incendiary first Elvis 45" had a blues ("That's All Right, Mama") and a country song ("Blue Moon of Kentucky"), a pattern I believe he would keep for pretty much all his Sun releases.

So to go back to your original question, not everything that BB King, say, played was a blues, even if it was always bluesy. Whereas Pat Boone, say, could play a blues but it sure as hell isn't going to be bluesy.

yep...blues structure - both harmonic and phrase - is different than "blusey feel"

hell, much of the (seemingly intricate) metal I listen to is centered in the blues harmonic structure, but it is NOT blusey
same with a lot of the punk

BUT

a lot of the metal I listen to is definitely "blusey" feeling ,and is sometimes in, and sometimes not in the blues harmonic structure
 
Can anyone discern the differences in blues and country? IMO they overlap with many similarities and if you can tell me specifically how they differ I’d be interested in learning.
What a great question. The first thing I came up with is...generally speaking, Country is duple time and Blues is triplet time. Of course nothing is black and white but that is a major difference. Country has waltz time and Blues has the 2/4 train beat, so there's overlap. They are both story telling strains of music, chronicling the hardship as well as the good times. Also, generally speaking, when they first started out, Country music was the poor white man's music and Blues was the poor black man's music. It's just the way it was.
 
Last edited:
I’d say the entire EC Was Here album which I loved for 30 odd years, but if I had to choose one track it would be Rambling On My Mind. Love all the key changes.
 
I’d say the entire EC Was Here album which I loved for 30 odd years, but if I had to choose one track it would be Rambling On My Mind. Love all the key changes.
Amen, the perfect blues for any group with more than one soloist, great changes, no turnarounds and resolves to the vocal key.
 
Not my favorite blues tunes, since neither are technically blues—at least, I can't think of any blues which use a mediant chord like that, but maybe I'm just missing some/many—but easily:

"Yer Blues" — The Beatles
"Bell Bottom Blues" — Derek & the Dominos
with
"Winner's Blues" — Sonic Youth
"No Queen Blues" — Sonic Youth

coming in quite a ways behind, although I'm still very fond of them.
Actually you are one of the few to post songs that fit the criteria of the OP. So congrats on that.
secondly great tunes.
 
What a great question. The first thing I came up with is...generally speaking, Country is duple time and Blues is triplet time. Of course nothing is black and white but that is a major difference. Country has waltz time and Blues has the 2/4 train beat, so there's overlap. They are both story telling strains of music, chronicling the hardship as well as the good times. Also, generally speaking, when they first started out, Country music was the poor white man's music and Blues was the poor black man's music. It's just the way it was.
This is a fair reckoning, I have always been much more partial to Blues than Country and colorblind musically. Here are two of my all time favorite bluesy tunes


 
After Robert Johnson we are all just beggars and thieves.Robert_Johnson.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This whole album ;
JimiHendrix_Blues_G010001888172A_F_001_72dpi.jpeg

+ Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) - on the new rising sun album.
 
Oh, just realized it doesn't have to be blues, only "Blues". Then,

Moby - Natural Blues
Yoko Kanno - Blues in My Heaven
Queensryche - A Junkie's Blues

As for actual blues, I recently discovered some albums of R. L. Burnside which I really liked.
 
Back
Top