Raw , undramatic Blues recommendations please?

robgilmo

I am sick of hearing glorified, searing solo big sound Blues, it doesn't do it for me. I want something acoustic maybe, basic, unrefined, rough around the edges, Lightning Hopkins on a bad day type blues, you know, like this....


Anything I should be checking out? 

EricTheWeary

Early Muddy Waters, early John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf 'rockin chair' album, I love a bit of Hound Dog Taylor ( find out where Jack White stole from   ), RL Burnside, Son House, Jessie Mae Hemphill.

KKJale

Yes to all the above...

Mississippi Fred McDowell, or Cedell Davis if you really like it raw ...   

scrumhalf

Definitely Hound Dog Taylor. It's so raw you have to keep it covered in the fridge.

capo4th

Junior Kimbrough this is how I sound when drunk and try to sing and play guitar.

boogieman

Bonnie Raitt. Edit: probably not quite what you're looking for. Although she does do blues stuff, she's not exactly earthy or raw.

John Lee Hooker. 

It doesn't get a lot rawer than Robert Johnson of course.

Jalapeno

Early Black Keys albums - Rubber Factory & Thickfreakness

Winny_Pooh

Son House

StageStruck

Taj Mahal, unusually for a late 60s blues man, big solos weren't really the order of the day.

artinski

Son House - I second that! And the very early B.B. King. Edit: And Robert Johnson, 'The Complete Recordings'. 

dtr

I guess it's the mention of Lightning Hopkins that put him in mind, but when I'm after something acoustic, basic, unrefined and rough around the edges, I'll often go for something that's not blues at all...

KDS

Charlie Patton if you can get past the bad sound, but it sounds unearthly.
bukka white and skip james are also worth mentioning in addition to the other great suggestions. Maybe start R Johnson and go from there

EricTheWeary

https://imgur.com/a/Lizcs

If we are mentioning Hound Dog Taylor have to have this picture of his hand. 

boogieman

EricTheWeary said:

https://imgur.com/a/Lizcs

If we are mentioning Hound Dog Taylor have to have this picture of his hand. 

Good grief. As if the massive fingers weren't scary enough 

bingefeller

Mance Lipscomb

Rocker

JJ Cale. Listen to 'Cocaine' and compare it to how Eric Clapton played it.

rlw

Big Bill Broonzy

fob

Buddy Guy - the Sweet Tea album is pretty good:

Jalapeno

Sonny Terry & Brownie Mcghee

EricTheWeary

Some of these are featured in an old documentary called Deep Blues ( Dave Stewart, for some reason, wandering around Mississippi with blues historian Robert Palmer) and that's well worth a watch. 
There's a slightly wobbly version on YouTube 

smigeon

Here's one from a slightly different tradition. Still pretty raw, though.