hiiii i know itβs not what your blog is about, but i wanted to tell you that your posts about soul & blues music got me into the genre and i hope you keep posting about it sometimes βΊοΈ do you have any recommendations for someone who wants to listen more music like that?
This makes me so happyyy oh my god like fr. Iβve had to rewrite and condense this answer several times because I was yapping for way too many paragraphs.
I can link my soul & gospel playlist and my blues playlist here if thatβs helpful! Ymmv though because this is literally just my personal favorites and itβs almost all pre-1970 because thatβs just what I enjoy the most! Because of this ask though I did group my blues playlist very loosely from least to most βchallengingβ since it spans everything from late 60s blues rock crossover hits to unremastered tracks from the 20s that sound like they were recorded on a haunted phonograph at the bottom of the ocean.
There are also some classic spirituals on the blues playlist and lots of gospel on the soul playlist because of how closely theyβre linked and how well they go together. Thereβs no blues without the folk songs and spirituals of black southerners and no soul without gospel!
For specific soul albums (again, just my personal favorites), I have to suggest Tell Mama - Etta James, Lady Soul - Aretha Franklin, Feelinβ Bluesy - Gladys Knight & The Pips, and anything from Sam Cooke! Sister Rosetta Tharpeβs Gospel Train is also perfection and what is gospel if not religious soul and vice versa.
For pre-war blues (less album oriented), I would recommend Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Bessie Smith, and Tommy Johnson (and Lead Belly as an honorable mention even though heβs more on the folk side of things most of the time).
For post-war blues, my favorites are I Got What It Takes - Koko Taylor, any Muddy Waters greatest hits compilation, Moaninβ in the Moonlight - Howlinβ Wolf, Poet of the Blues - Willie Dixon, and Stronger Than Dirt - Big Mama Thornton!
