(Part 2) Top products from r/blues

I think one of my favorite players is Ronnie Earl, and my favorite album of his is "Ronnie Earl and The Broadcasters: Blues Guitar Virtuoso Live in Europe." Here's the link for the CD on Amazon. And here's the link at the iTunes Music Store.

Ronnie Earl is probably the most under rated, first rate blues guitar player playing today. His playing will really open up your ears. He has a "Hot Licks" DVD, recorded years ago (on VHS, no doubt) that is really good to watch. I can't say I stole any licks from it, but his discussion of playing soulfully and doing more with less is something I find really inspirational.

Another really good blues player that you may or may not of heard of is Tab Benoit, who is like the guitar mayor of New Orleans right about now. I really like his album "These Blues Are All Mine." Here is the CD at Amazon and here it is on iTunes. He plays with a really good mix of major and minor pentatonic scales, and combines them in a very lyrical and soulful way.

Give these two albums a listen and see what you think.

I have a goal similar to yours, I started with the blues but now I've gone in so many different directions I've become overwhelmed with all the music that I want to hear. The Blues is a great place to start because it influenced all of 20th century American music, it also shares a lot of the same roots with jazz and country as well so don't be surprised if you get side tracked from your goal, there's just an insane amount of good tunes out there waiting to be discovered.

Here's a really good book on the blues that gives a clear-eyed historical overview.

A few Blues artists I started with: Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James (I still haven't dug into the earliest recorded blues)

If you want to hear early rock I would check out: Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Carl Perkins, Johhny Cash (Sun recordings) and Little Richard

I know you are looking more into blues and rock but you should also plan to listen to the Carter Family and Hank Williams, extremely instrumental in shaping the future of music.

Okay, so I'm biased towards acoustic blues, especially 20s-30s stuff, but here are my suggestions.
Since many of the greatest blues artists recorded before full albums became popular, I'm a big advocate of compilations, since they highlight some of the lesser known artists who maybe didn't record a ton of stuff, compiled by people who REALLY know their shit. Yazoo Records and Document are both absolutely killer, and most of the Document stuff is on Spotify.

Speaking of Spotify, I dunno if you have it or not, but here's an old country blues playlist I made not long ago.

Here are some compilations that blew my mind when I was first getting into blues:
-The Best There Ever Was(Yazoo), Roots n' Blues: Retrospective 1925-1950. I'm sure your local library has this. Roots of Rock(featuring songs later interpreted by rock bands), I Can't Be Satisfied (All ladies all the time)

Story of the Blues - Paul Oliver

Favorite book on the my favorite subject.

https://www.amazon.com/Story-Blues-Paul-Oliver/dp/155553354X

You might find Charles Shaar Murray's Jimi Hendrix biography, 'Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix & The Post-War Rock 'N' Roll Revolution' both useful and entertaining.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether it was Angeline Johnson or Willie B. Harris who sang with him here? Has this been unanimously settled?
So far this is the best source I could find.
But I'm still inclined to believe historian [Samuel Charters] (https://www.amazon.com/Country-Blues-Capo-paperback/dp/0306800144) over music collector Dan Williams

Sooooooo I haven't gotten to read it myself yet but I've heard and read really good things about Cross Dog Blues:
https://www.amazon.com/CROSS-DOG-BLUES-Great-Story/dp/0991132025/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503466280&sr=1-1&keywords=cross+dog+blues

First heard about this tune in the book Do Not Sell at Any Price. Good book talks a fair bit about the old blues recorded back in the day on 78s.

I'm sure a sealed vinyl record of this recording is rare, but the CD of this recording is on Amazon for $15.

https://www.amazon.com/Live-Oberlin-College-Mississippi-John/dp/B06ZZ2NLVP

I might not be as serious as blues-only fans, but this is a good quick read and a reference guide. Find it here, but maybe somewhere else a little cheaper.

Chasin' that Devil's Music - http://www.amazon.com/Chasin-Devils-Music-Searching-Blues/dp/0879305525

https://www.amazon.com/Crumbs-Heroes-Blues-Jazz-Country/dp/0810930862

https://www.amazon.com/Portrait-Blues-Paul-Trynka/dp/0306807793

Southern Cross the Dog: https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Cross-Dog-Bill-Cheng/dp/0062225022

Can't recommend this enough Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music