Musichound Blues: The Essential Album Guide

Newly revised and updated, the essential album guide covers the gamut of regional and historical blues styles - from the deep country blues of the Mississippi Delta to the classic electric blues of Chicago, the big-band jump blues of the 1940s and the blues-rock of today. You’ll discover reviews and ratings of the work of over 600 blues artists, from Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson to Kenny Wayne Shepherd and GIllian Welch.

For such a small word, the blues covers a large territory. There's Mississippi Delta and New Orleans style, the Chicago blues and the Texas touch; there's acoustic, electric, and jump, jazzy blues and country blues; and then there are the artists, hundreds of them, and the albums they've spawned. Even a lover of the blues can get lost in the sea of wailing musical moans. It is with total faith that blues fans can turn to Leland Rucker's album guide, which includes his definitive profiles of 600 blues artists, from Howlin' Wolf to Charlie Musselwhite, Billie Holiday to Marcia Ball, and the indispensable "what to buy, what to avoid" album suggestions for each. But Rucker also provides comprehensive lists of blues Web pages, music festivals, radio stations, and record labels, plus a band member index, producer index, and roots index. Rucker's experience and musical acumen add welcome wisdom to the process of shopping for the blues. --Stephanie Gold