You Must Hear 7

delta blues

Last updated: Tue Oct 28 2025 08:41:20 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Description

Delta blues is a raw, emotionally intense style of blues that originated in the Mississippi Delta region during the early 20th century, characterized by slide guitar, bottleneck techniques, and deeply personal vocals. The music often features sparse instrumentation, with performers using acoustic guitars to create haunting, hypnotic rhythms that reflect the hardships of rural Southern life. Its influence shaped virtually all modern blues and rock music.

100 chronological releases

Place	Cover	Date	Artist	Album	Tags	Other places
79		1929	Tommy Johnson	Complete Rec. Works(1928-1929)	blues
77		1957	Blind Lemon Jefferson	Blind Lemon Jefferson Vol. 2 (1927)	blues delta blues
44		1960	John Lee Hooker	Travelin'	blues
23		1962	John Lee Hooker	The Best Of John Lee Hooker	blues
19		1964	Pat Carr	Some Kind of Blues	acoustic blues blues blues rock delta blues electric blues	acoustic blues # 32 electric blues # 38
51		1964	Mississippi Fred McDowell	Mississippi Delta Blues	blues delta blues
86		1965	Son House	The Original Delta Blues	blues	acoustic blues # 66
31		1965	Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters 1941 - 1946	blues delta blues
45		1965	Bukka White	Fixin' to Die	delta blues
17		1965	Vera Hall	The Blues Makers, Natural Blues II
91		1968	Skip James	Devil Got My Woman	delta blues
100		1969	Bukka White	The Complete Bukka White	delta blues	roots # 54
76		1970	Son House	Delta Blues and Spirituals	blues	acoustic blues # 24 country blues # 49
99		1970	Robert Johnson	King Of The Delta Blues Singers	blues	blues # 53
4		1971-01	Big Joe Williams	And Friends, Going Back To Crawford
16		1972	Mississippi John Hurt	Last Sessions	blues
69		1972-03-01	Mississippi Fred McDowell	Mississippi Fred McDowell	blues
3		1974	Elray Johnson	What About Me Original Blues vol2 Elray Johnson	blues chicago blues delta blues	chicago blues # 20
14		1974	John Lee Hooker	The Best Of John Lee Hooker 1965 To 1974	blues
63		1977	Robert Johnson	King of the Delta Blues Singers, Volume 2
8		1977-05	Muddy Waters	Hard Again	blues	electric blues # 22 chicago blues # 41
55		1978	Leadbelly	Blues Routes Leadbelly	delta blues
98		1985	Charley Patton	Founder Of The Delta Blues: 1929-1934	blues delta blues	country blues # 13
5		1988	Various Artists	Black Snake Moan Soundtrack	blues soundtrack
92		1988	Skip James	Skip James 1931	delta blues
57		1990	Fred McDowell	Mama Says I'm Crazy	delta blues
80		1990	Howlin' Wolf	Smokestack Lightening	blues delta blues
93		1990-08-20	Robert Johnson	The Complete Recordings	blues	country blues # 37
47		1992	Son House	Father Of The Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions	blues
52		1992	John Lee Hooker	The Best Of John Lee Hooker: 1965 To 1974	blues delta blues jazz
11		1994	John Lee Hooker	Folk Blues	acoustic blues blues boogie chicago blues classic rock country blues delta blues electric blues male vocalists rock	boogie # 23 acoustic blues # 23 chicago blues # 25 electric blues # 26 country blues # 48
29		1994	R.L. Burnside	Too Bad Jim	blues	electric blues # 77
64		1994	Skip James	The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James - 1930	delta blues
65		1994	Stevie Ray Vaughan	Sout To Soul	blues southern rock
74		1994	Mississippi Fred McDowell	You Gotta Move	blues
83		1995	John Lee Hooker	The Very Best Of	blues	chicago blues # 75
94		1995-03-21	Charley Patton	Founder Of The Delta Blues	blues delta blues
90		1996	Elmore James	Dust My Broom	blues	chicago blues # 91
43		1996	Peetie Wheatstraw	The Devil's Son-In-Law (The Blues Collection Vol.82)	delta blues
75		1997	Muddy Waters	Chicago Blues (The Blues Collection Vol.11)	blues blues rock chicago blues delta blues	chicago blues # 81
50		1997-04-08	Howlin' Wolf	His Best	blues	chicago blues # 96
85		1997-09-23	R.L. Burnside	Acoustic Stories	blues delta blues
37		1998	Big Bill Broonzy	St. Louis Blues	acoustic blues blues	country blues # 66 acoustic blues # 72
1		1998	Son House	Son House The Original Delta Blues	blues delta blues
48		1998-08-11	R.L. Burnside	Come On In	blues
96		1998-08-11	Skip James	Blues From The Delta	delta blues
78		1998-08-25	Junior Kimbrough	God Knows I Tried	blues
34		1999	Earl Hooker	Simply the Best	blues chicago blues delta blues electric blues rhythm and blues	chicago blues # 46 electric blues # 55
10		1999	Leadbelly	Lead Belly Sings for Children	delta blues
7		2000	Robert Lowery	Playing out in the Street	blues chicago blues country blues delta blues	chicago blues # 22 country blues # 43
9		2000	Robert Lockwood, Jr.	Ramblin' On My Mind (Blues Reference) [recorded in France 1982]		acoustic blues # 20
2		2000	Lead Belly	Lead Belly's Last Sessions	delta blues folk
20		2000	Mississippi John Hurt	The Complete Studio Recordings (1 of 3)	blues delta blues
36		2000	Robert Johnson	Devil On My Trail	blues
82		2001	Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble	Live At Montreux 1982 & 1985	blues delta blues southern rock
35		2002-08-05	Robert Johnson	Contracted To The Devil	blues delta blues
28		2003	ben prestage	beale street	acoustic acoustic blues ballad country blues delta blues folk memphis roots	memphis # 27 acoustic blues # 40 country blues # 59
97		2003-08-26	Eric Sardinas	Black Pearls	delta blues
95		2003-09-09	Son House	Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Son House	acoustic blues blues country blues delta blues	acoustic blues # 90 country blues # 96
22		2004	72Blues	Detroit Border City	delta blues electric blues	electric blues # 39
53		2004-03-09	Blind Lemon Jefferson	Black Snake Moan	blues delta blues
81		2005	North Mississippi Allstars	Hill Country Revue	blues rock delta blues southern rock
38		2006	Olga	Now Is the Time	acoustic blues blues delta blues singer-songwriter	acoustic blues # 47
21		2006	Bobby Rush	Raw	delta blues
59		2006	Boo Boo Davis	Drew, Mississippi
40		2006-01-01	ben prestage	Down-Home & Home-Made	acoustic acoustic blues ballad country blues delta blues folk memphis roots	memphis # 38 acoustic blues # 49 country blues # 68
41		2007	ben prestage	Real Music	acoustic acoustic blues ballad country blues delta blues folk memphis roots	memphis # 40 acoustic blues # 51 country blues # 73
67		2007	Lightnin' Hopkins	Forever Gold	blues
30		2008	Robert Johnson	Complete Collection	acoustic blues blues delta blues	acoustic blues # 42
66		2008	Boo Boo Davis	Name Of The Game	delta blues
71		2008	Memphis Minnie	Hoodoo Lady	blues
89		2008	Robert Johnson	Red Hot Blues (The Blues Collection Vol.6)	blues delta blues
60		2008-12-09	Uncle Sinner	Ballads and Mental Breakdowns	acoustic blues alt-country americana banjo blues contemporary folk country blues delta blues folk gothic country outlaw country roots	roots # 31 outlaw country # 33 gothic country # 48 acoustic blues # 64 banjo # 78 country blues # 81
15		2009	Leadbelly	Where Did You Sleep Last Night? - Lead Belly Legacy (Volume 1)	blues
56		2010	Boo Boo Davis	Undercover Blues	blues blues rock delta blues roots	roots # 25
49		2010	The Black Keys	Delta Kream	blues rock
33		2010-03-23	Rick Shaffer	Necessary Illusion	blues rock delta blues garage garage rock garage rock revival	garage rock revival # 38
88		2011	Keb' Mo'	The Reflection	acoustic acoustic blues americana blues delta blues pop rhythm and blues singer-songwriter	acoustic blues # 84
24		2011	Son House	Lowdown Dirty Dog Blues	delta blues
39		2011-04-05	ben prestage	One Crow Murder	acoustic acoustic blues ballad country blues delta blues folk memphis roots	memphis # 36 acoustic blues # 48 country blues # 67
62		2011-10-24	Howlin' Wolf	Smokestack Lightning /The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960	delta blues
84		2012-01-17	Blind Willie McTell	The Essential	acoustic blues delta blues	acoustic blues # 80
42		2012-08-21	Kelly Joe Phelps	Brother Sinner and the Whale	acoustic acoustic blues acoustic guitar blues delta blues folk singer-songwriter	acoustic blues # 52
72		2012-08-21	Kelly Joe Phelps	Brother Sinner & The Whale	acoustic acoustic blues acoustic guitar blues delta blues singer-songwriter	acoustic guitar # 41 acoustic blues # 71
6		2012-09-01	The Damned and Dirty	The Damned and Dirty	acoustic acoustic blues blues country blues delta blues netherlands	netherlands # 2 acoustic blues # 16 country blues # 42
13		2013	Gravelroad	The Bloody Scalp of Burt Merlin	blues delta blues
70		2013	Bukka White	The Vintage Recordings 1930 - 1940 "Aberdeeen Mississippi Blues"	delta blues
25		2013-03-11	The Cedars	Little Copper Still	acoustic acoustic blues acoustic guitar alt-country alternative country americana banjo bluegrass blues british contemporary folk country country blues delta blues england english folk female vocalists folk folk noir gospel indie folk london outlaw country slide guitar traditional country world	outlaw country # 12 acoustic blues # 38 traditional country # 44 banjo # 51 country blues # 57 slide guitar # 65 english folk # 65
58		2015-01-26	Uncle Sinner	Let the Devil In	acoustic blues alt-country americana banjo blues contemporary folk country blues delta blues folk gothic country outlaw country roots	roots # 27 outlaw country # 28 gothic country # 46 acoustic blues # 63 banjo # 75 country blues # 80
46		2016-11-11	Lightnin' Hopkins	All the Classics 1946-1951	blues
26		2017	Hayes McMullan	Everyday Seem Like Murder Here	delta blues
61		2023	Various Artists	Roots Of The Blues - Delta & Country Blues	blues delta blues
68		2023	Various Artists	Mississippi Blues "Delta Guitar Pioneers"	blues delta blues
18			Mississippi Joe Callicott	Ain't a Gonna Lie to You	acoustic blues blues delta blues	acoustic blues # 31
27			Bent Banana Harper	Blues Pioneer	acoustic blues chicago blues delta blues rock singer-songwriter	chicago blues # 38
54			Aben D Blues	Klassiker	acoustic blues delta blues	acoustic blues # 60
12			Various Artists	A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings	delta blues field recordings
32			Mississippi Fred McDowell	The Alan Lomax Recordings	delta blues
73			Various Artists - Shanachie Records	Masters Of The Delta Blues: The Friends Of Charlie Patton	blues delta blues
87			Mississippi Fred McDowell	You Got To Move	blues

Related genres

• blues
• folk
• acoustic blues
• country blues
• singer-songwriter
• acoustic
• roots
• americana
• electric blues
• chicago blues