Blues

Buying blues records: Chicago, Bluesville and the great voices

In short: The Vinyl Room currently has 240 blues records – mostly US pressings from the sixties and seventies. The stock runs from piano blues and boogie-woogie through electric Chicago blues to rhythm & blues and soul, with names such as Howlin’ Wolf, Lonnie Johnson, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Etta James and Odetta.

What belongs to the blues?

The blues is an important foundation of rock, soul and funk. It starts acoustic in the American South, with guitar, harmonica or piano. From the forties and fifties it goes electric in Chicago: amplified guitar, a band, the big city. Alongside there is piano blues and boogie-woogie, for example by Meade “Lux” Lewis, and rhythm & blues, which later became soul.

Why collect blues on vinyl?

Because many blues recordings only found an audience through the LP. In the sixties young listeners in the US and Europe rediscovered the old masters – labels recorded them again or collected their singles on long-players. Those records, with their covers and liner notes, are collector’s items today. Thomas in our Plattenparty stream on Chess: “Chess is an amazing label” – with some of the best blues artists “and also a lot of good, really more soul albums”. ▶ Plattenparty video at 2:10:47

Which labels matter to collectors?

• Chess – Chicago: the label of electric blues, from Howlin’ Wolf to Etta James.
• Prestige Bluesville – Prestige’s blues label from 1959, with Lonnie Johnson and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee; particularly well represented here.
• Blue Thumb – the Californian label of the late sixties and seventies, with blues, rock and jazz.

From our stock

Chicago & electric blues

Piano blues

Prestige Bluesville

Rhythm & blues

Browse by style: Chicago blues · Electric blues · Piano blues · Rhythm & blues · Blues rock

FAQ

What is Chicago blues? The electric blues that emerged in Chicago from the forties and fifties – with amplified guitar, harmonica and a band. Its most important label was Chess.

What is Bluesville? Prestige’s blues label, founded in 1959. It released mainly acoustic blues, for example by Lonnie Johnson.

What is the difference between blues and rhythm & blues? Rhythm & blues is the danceable form of the forties and fifties, often played with horns – rock ’n’ roll and soul grew out of it.

How do I recognise an original blues pressing? As with any first pressing: label, catalogue number, runout engravings and cover must match a documented edition.

→ Grading explained · How to spot a first pressing · The Collector’s Room · Plattenparty on YouTube