The Music Collection's Top 200 List

Based on the number of times a CD (and its copies) have been checked out from the Music Collection, not counting course reserve CDs, these are the top 200 CDs of the Music Collection.   Have you checked out any of these CDs?

#	Artist	Title
1	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin
2	Beatles	The Beatles
3	Beatles	Abbey Road
4	Pink Floyd	The Wall
5	Pink Floyd	Dark Side of the Moon
6		Classic Disney
7	Coldplay	Parachutes
8	Beatles	Yellow Submarine
9	Beatles	Help!
10	Beatles	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
11	Beatles	A Hard Day's Night
12	Lloyd Webber, Andrew	Phantom of the Opera (B'way Cast)
13	Menken, Alan	The Little Mermaid
14	Beatles	Past Masters
15	Beatles	With the Beatles
16	Petty, Tom	Greatest Hits
17	Radiohead	The Bends
18	Beatles	Let it Be
19	Beatles	Please Please Me
20	Jonathan Larson	Rent (Original B'way Cast)
21	Simon and Garfunkel	Greatest Hits
22	Beatles	Beatles for Sale
23	Coldplay	A Rush of Blood to the Head
24	Dave Matthews Band	Crash
25	Radiohead	OK Computer
26	White Stripes	White Blood Cells
27	Dylan, Bob	Blonde on Blonde
28	Pink Floyd	Objects of Fantasy: the Music of Pink Floyd
29	Red Hot Chili Peppers	By the Way
30	Styx	Greatest Hits
31	Eagles	Their Greatest Hits, 1971-1975
32	Lennon, John	Imagine
33	Jimi Hendrix Experience	Smash Hits
34	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Blood Sugar Sex Magik
35	Soundtrack	Walt Disney's Fantasia
36	Pink Floyd	Wish You Were Here
37	Eminem	The Marshall Mathers LP
38	Davis, Miles	Milestones
39	Jackson, Michael	HIStory: Past, Present, and Future
40	Coldplay	X & Y
41	Billy Joel	Greatest Hits: Volume I & Volume II
42	Simon and Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water
43	Beatles	Magical Mystery Tour
44	Dave Matthews Band	Before These Crowded Streets
45	Radiohead	Kid A
46	Johnny Cash	Johnny Cash 1955-1983
47	Bob Dylan	Highway 61 Revisited
48	Flogging Molly	Swagger
49	OutKast	Stankonia
50	Radiohead	Hail to the Thief
51	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Californication
52	John Coltrane	My Favorite Things
53	Eminem	The Slim Shady LP
54	Radiohead	Pablo Honey
55	Led Zeppelin	Physical Graffiti
56	Dave Matthews Band	Under the Table and Dreaming
57	Death Cab for Cutie	Plans
58	Elton John	Greatest Hits:  Volume II
59	Dave Matthews Band	Busted stuff
60	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin III
61	Radiohead	Amnesiac
62	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Greatest Hits
63	Fleetwood Mac	Greatest Hits
64	Pink Floyd	A Momentary Lapse of Reason
65	Dylan, Bob	Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
66	Eminem	The Eminem Show
67	Bee Gees	Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack)
68	Killers	Hot fuss
69	Incubus	Make Yourself
70	Alanis Morisette	Jagged Little Pill
71	Howard Shore	The Fellowship of the Ring
72	White Stripes	Elephant
73	Soundtrack	Forrest Gump
74	Sex Pistols	Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
75	Sinatra, Frank	The Capitol Years
76	Journey	Journey's Greatest Hits
77	Soundtrack	Moulin Rouge!
78	Beatles	The Beatles Anthology 3
79	Maroon 5	Songs About Jane
80	Mayer, John	Any Given Thursday
81	Modest Mouse	Good News for People Who Love Bad News
82	Tool	Lateralus
83	West, Kanye	Late Registration
84	AC/DC	Back in Black
85	Disturbed	Believe
86		Classics for Children
87	Foo Fighters	There is Mothing Left to Lose
88	Goo Goo Dolls	Gutter Flower
89	Rascal Flatts	Melt
90	OutKast	Speakerboxxx ; The Love Below
91	Williams, John	The Best of John Williams and the Boston Pops
92	Barenaked Ladies	All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001)
93	Chicago Symphony Orchestra	Fantasia 2000
94	Pink Floyd	Meddle
95	Rolling Stones	Let it Bleed
96	Smashing Pumpkins	Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
97	U2	The Joshua Tree
98	Nine Inch Nails	The Downward Spiral
99	U2	The Best of 1980-1990
100		Fright Night: Music That Goes Bump in the Night
101	Aerosmith	Aerosmith's Greatest Hits
102	Clash	London Calling
103	Collins, Phil	Hits
104	Evanescence	Fallen
105	Flogging Molly	Within a Mile of Home
106		Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the 80's Underground
107	Coltrane, John	Blue Train
108	Pearl Jam	Ten
109	Foo Fighters	One by one
110	Hootie & the Blowfish	Cracked Rear View
111	Mayer, John	Room for Squares
112	Pearl Jam	Pearl Jam
113	Soundtrack	Amadeus
114	Dave Matthews Band	Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
115	Dr. Dre	The Chronic
116	Red Hot Chili Peppers	One Hot Minute
117	Soundtrack	American Graffiti
118		OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, 1948-1980.
119	Disturbed	The Sickness
120	Goldsmith, Jerry	Disney's Mulan
121	R.E.M.	In Time 1988-2003: The Best of R.E.M.
122	Rodgers & Hammerstein	The Sound of Music (1965 Soundtrack)
123	Soundtrack	Garden State
124	Clapton, Eric	Chronicles: the Best of Eric Clapton
125	Dylan, Bob	Nashville Skyline
126	Shore, Howard	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
127	3 Doors Down	Away from Sun
128	Black Eyed Peas	Elephunk
129	Copland, Aaron	Fanfare for the Common Man ; Appalachian Spring ; Rodeo : Four Dance Episodes ; Billy the Kid : Ballet Suite (NY Phil / Bernstein)
130	Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus	Le Nozze di Figaro (Fischer-Dieskau)
131		The Kings of Swing
132	Dylan, Bob	Before the Flood
133	Mos Def	Black on Both Sides
134	Fitzgerald, Ella	Ella & Louis
135	Nelly	Country Grammar
136	Shore, Howard	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
137	Kander & Ebb	Cabaret
138	Beck	Mutations
139	Green Day	American Idiot
140	Keys, Alicia	Songs in A minor
141	Police	Every Breath You Take: The Classics
142	U2	All That You Can't Leave Behind
143	West, Kanye	Graduation
144	Green Day	Dookie
145		Walt Disney's Tarzan
146		1977, Take Two
147	Black Eyed Peas	Monkey Business
148	Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band	Greatest Hits
149	Guns n' Roses	Use Your Illusion I
150	Lloyd Webber, Andrew	Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
151	Pearl Jam	Lost Dogs
152	Rolling Stones	Beggars Banquet
153	Doobie Brothers	Best of the Doobies
154	Bowie, David	Hunky Dory
155	Jackson, Michael	Bad
156	Jones, Norah	Feels Like Home
157	Pearl Jam	Vitalogy
158	Schwartz, Stephen	Wicked (Original B'way Cast)
159	White Stripes	De Stijl
160	Beastie Boys	Licensed to Ill
161	Cash, Johnny	American IV: The Man Comes Around
162	Heap, Imogen	Speak For Yourself
163	Jimi Hendrix Experience	Axis: Bold as Love
164	Menken, Alan	Beauty and the Beast (Soundtrack)
165	Nelly	Nellyville
166	Arlen, Harold	The Wizard of Oz (B'way Cast)
167	Soundtrack	8 mile
168	Matchbox 20	More Than You Think You Are
169	Mellencamp, John	The Best That I Could Do, 1978-1988
170	Rascal Flatts	Feels Like Today
171	White Stripes	Get Behind Me Satan
172	Who	Who's Next
173	Hendrix, Jimi	First Rays of the New Rising Sun
174	Linkin Park	Hybrid Theory
175		Big Bands of the Swinging Years
176	Beach Boys	The Beach Boys: 1962-1967
177	Rage Against the Machine	The Battle of Los Angeles
178	Rolling Stones	Exile on Main St
179		1972
180	Chesney, Kenny	Greatest Hits
181	Coltrane, John	A Love Supreme
182	Holiday, Billie	The Billie Holiday Songbook
183	Led Zeppelin	Houses of the Holy
184		1968
185	Bach, J.S.	Mass in B minor, BWV 232
186	Schönberg, Claude-Michel	Miss Saigon
187	Stevie Wonder	Songs in the Key of Life
188		1973
189		Ultimate Broadway
190	Clapton, Eric	Crossroads
191	Cure	Disintegration
192	Flaming Lips	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
193	Béla Fleck	Perpetual Motion
194	Morrison, Van	The Best of Van Morrison
195	Kenny Chesney	No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
196	Soundtrack	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
197	Brooks, Mel	The Producers (Original B'way Cast)
198	Cash, Johnny	Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison
199	Doors	Waiting for the Sun
200	Al Green	Greatest Hits

Off-Campus for the Summer?

If you are away from campus for all or part of the summer, the library can still help you in many ways:

Interlibrary Loan can supply you with book chapters or journal articles in .pdf format.  For faculty off-campus, ILL can also scan chapters and articles from print resources here at Bracken (Faculty Document Delivery)

Ask a Librarian services include many off-campus options:  phone, e-mail, text message, and live chat.  And of course, I am always available for phone or e-mail consultation, too.

Distance Education Services are available if you have registered for an electronic-only course.

E-Books:  The Library has a select number of recent books available online, plus thousands of historical books.  To find them, use Advanced Search in CardCat, and then select "e-book" as the format after filling in other search terms.  Topics include Music Education, Opera History, and multi-disciplinary studies.

Subject Guides:  The subject guides for music include online subscription resources as well as select open access websites.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Let us help you stay on track!

For many students, summer means going without lessons in their primary performance medium. They may be back home, away from university-level instruction or on-campus while their teacher is abroad performing in a summer music festival.

The library has books and magazines for almost every instrument, often with performance tips or exercises to help you progress in your technique.  Look for these subjects if you need motivation:

Practicing (Music)
Music -- Psychological Aspects

...and these books:

Practicing Sucks... But it Doesn't Have to, by Phyllis Sdoia-Satz
MT 1 .S44 2009

Practicing for Artistic Success, by Burton Kaplan
MT 170 .K37 2004

The General Collection has self-help for time management and the mental side of athletic training, which may apply to musicians as well:

The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, by Stephen Covey.  This is one of the classic self-help books for time management.  The key take-away concept:  Ask yourself "Is it important?  Is it urgent?"  If it's neither, then don't do it!  Video games, Facebook, channel surfing... we can whittle away our days in a thousand ways.  If it's important, even if not urgent, that's where your time should be spent, for example practicing scales!
BF 637 .S8 C68 2004
BF 637 .S8 C68 1990 (first edition)

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by James Duhigg.  This book is more about theory than self-help, but it makes a compelling case for practicing carefully, i.e. not practicing mistakes.  Duhigg summarizes psychological research about forming and breaking (extinguishing) habits in a writing style that reaches anyone.
BF 335 .D775 2012 & Non-Fiction Best-Sellers Collection

Mindset, the New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck.  This book asks you to reflect on your motivations and examines what it means to be talented, how to cope with (apparent) failure, and how to reframe experiences in a more helpful way.  The Growth Mindset is based on the premise that everyone can grow through study, no matter their initial level of "talent."
BF 773 .D85 2006

In Pursuit of Excellence: How to Win in Sport and Life through Mental Training, by Terry Orlick.  Orlick is a former gymnastics trainer at the Olympic level.  Like musicians, gymnasts have to deal with distractions, goal-setting, and self-doubt.  Orlick's advice based on years of coaching these athletic performers can help anyone achieve their goals, but especially musicians.
GV 706.4 .O73 2000

These e-books can help you manage your time and yourself:

Ready, Set, Organize!  A Workbook for the Organizationally Challenged  (online ebook)

The 26-Hour Day: How to Gain At Least Two Hours a Day with Time Control (online ebook)http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/askalibrarian/

Blues : The Revival and Beyond

The Blues influenced Rock 'n' Roll in two ways.  First, blues musicians who melded country and urban blues influenced the early days of Rock.  Second, the Blues Revival movement of the 1950s and 1960s introduced historical blues to young musicians who were to become great stars of Rock.  Later rockers incorporated blues influences into their styles, sometimes also covering classic blues songs.  The influence can be subtle shades of harmony or modern covers of classic blues songs.  Although African-Americans invented and developed the Blues, white British and American musicians embraced the music, incorporating it into other styles or continuing the Blues tradition in their way. 

Follow the links to find books, CDs and DVDs to learn and listen:

Allman Brothers Band  The Allman Brothers, guitarists Duane and Gregg, formed their band in the late 1960s, combining classic blues and country music to achieve an eclectic sound sometimes described as "Southern" rock.  The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East (1971) is an iconic live album that begins with Statesboro Blues, a song by Blind Willie McTell (1898 - 1959) and continues its blues vibe for the whole concert.  Their sound would influence generations of blues and blues-rock musicians.

Canned Heat's cover of a 1920s blues song, "Going up the Country," was one of the most memorable songs of the famous Woodstock Festival of 1970.

Eric Clapton (b. 1945), solo and with Cream, Derek and the Dominos, and The Yardbirds, continues to be one of the most influential champions of the Blues.  His Crossroads Guitar Festival brings together young and old performers every few years since 1999.



Jimi Hendrix playing guitar behind his back

Jimi Hendrix (1942 - 1970) is sometimes credited as being the greatest guitarist in rock music history.  With his group, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, he appeared at both the influential Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and Woodstock.  He grew up on the Blues but incorporated R&B styles into his performances as well.

Janis Joplin

Janice Joplin (solo and with Big Brother & The Holding Company) was a Texas-born blues-rock singer of the 1960s and 1970s.  Her performances at the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock helped define the blues-rock vocal sound for women.

Led Zeppelin was heavily influenced by the blues, and some of their songs are straight-up blues numbers.  One famous example is "When the Levee Breaks," a song about the 1927 flood of the Mississippi River that greatly affected people from Kentucky to New Orleans.

The Rolling Stones embraced the blues as youngsters in the 1950s, and as they developed their signature style, one stop for them was the famous Chess Records studio in Chicago where their heroes had recorded.  The name of the group comes from a song by Muddy Waters.



George Thorogood

George Thorogood (1950 - ) With his group, The Destroyers, has been successful as a crossover artist.  His hits include One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, by John Lee Hooker.

Jimmie & Stevie Ray Vaughan with
the double-neck guitar they used for duets.

Jimmie Vaughan (1951 - ) played guitar with his blues  band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and with his younger brother, Stevie Ray, before going solo.

Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954 - 1990) grew up with the blues, and followed in his brother's footsteps. He and his group, Double Trouble, had several hits, including "Texas Flood" during the 1980s.  His life was cut short by a helicopter crash in 1990.

Johnny Winter

Johnny Winter (1944 - 2014) recorded his first blues song at the age of fifteen, and his first album, at age 24, was titled The Progressive Blues Experiment.  He has continued to be a master of the blues throughout his career and collaborated with his childhood hero, Muddy Waters.  His brother, Edgar, had a hit with a 1970s heavily synthesized instrumental rock song, Frankenstein.

ZZ Top is the quintessential blues-rock band.


More Blues-Influenced Performers:
Alabama Shakes released their first album in 2011, representing the latest generation of blues-rock artistry.

The Black Crowes

The Black Keys band is at once progressive and retro, channeling blues singers, 1960s psychedelic sounds, and modern Alt-Rock styles.

Joe Bonamassa (b. 1977) is one of the few guitarists to be successful as a soloist.  He founded an organization, "Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation,"  to support music for young people, awarding scholarships for college students and grants to deserving public schools.

Robert Cray (b. 1953) is one of the enduring blues vocalist/guitarists of the current generation.  He has collaborated with Eric Clapton and many other blues masters.

For More Information Check out these books:

Blues Music in the Sixties: A Story in Black and White
ML 3521 .A34 2010

Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock 'n' Roll (And Rock Saved the Blues)
ML 3521 .M56 2013

Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound
ML 394 .G68 2008

Journeyman's Road: Modern Blues Lives from Faulkner's Mississippi to post-9/11 New York
ML 394 .G98 2007

Russia Gets the Blues: Music, Culture, and Community in Unsettled Times
ML 3521 .U6 2004

All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues
Reference:  ML 156.4 B6 A45 2003

Ladies Sing the Blues

Originally a man's world, the Blues attracted female vocalists who were sometimes more popular than their counterparts.  They became stars of "urban" blues in the North, especially Harlem, and later at festivals during the revival period (1950s - 1960s).

For more information, these books are available:
Black Resonance: Iconic Women Singers and African American Literature
PS 153 .N5 L68 2013 General Collection, Fourth Floor East

Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, by Angela Davis
ML 3521 .D355 1998

Men are Like Street Cars: Women Blues Singers, 1928 - 1969
Compact Disc 12861

Ma Rainey (1886 - 1939) made over 100 recordings in the 1920s and 1930s, as a soloist and in collaboration with Louis Armstrong.  She toured widely and influenced a younger generation of singers, including Bessie Smith.
Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey  ML 420 .R274 L5


Alberta Hunter (1894 - 1984) sang the blues and jazz as a soloist and in collaboration with some of the legendary men of music history. She began her career in Chicago and traveled the world entertaining the troops during World War 2.

• Young Alberta Hunter: The 20s and 30s  Compact Disc 2740
• Beale Street Blues (1921 - 1940) Compact Disc 7387
• Amtrak Blues Compact Disc 10792

Bessie Smith, the "Empress of the Blues."  (1894 - 1937) is considered one of the best singers of the 1920s and 1930s.  She influenced both blues and jazz singers and was the highest paid black entertainer of her day.

• Bessie Smith  Compact Disc 13884
• The Essential Bessie Smith  Compact Disc 11564
• Empty Bed Blues: Her 23 Greatest  Compact Disc 15081
• Bessie Smith:  Empress of the Blues  Compact Disc 5958
• Bessie Smith: The Collection Compact Disc 11759
• Blue Spirit Blues  Compact Disc 7388

Song book:  Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues:  M 1630.18 .S62 S6 1975

Ethel Waters (1896 - 1977) Her early career was spent in several cities and on the road, but she settled in Harlem and became one of the stars of the Harlem Renaissance.  She branched out to Broadway and other styles.  She reached wide audiences with film performances in Cabin in the Sky (1943) and Pinky (1949)


Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915 - 1973) sang religious music in a blues style, playing guitar as a young child.  Southern gospel developed on a parallel track to Blues and Jazz, and Tharpe had some crossover hits.  A postage stamp was created in her honor in 1998.

Shout, Sister, Shout!  The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe
ML 420 .T395 W35 2007

"Big Mama" Thornton (1926 - 1984) is most famous for "Hound Dog," which was covered by Elvis Presley.  She was part of the Blues Revival of the 1950s and 1960s, and performed with Muddy Waters among other Blues legends. She composed her own songs and also played harmonica.
Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings (1952 - 1957)  Compact Disc 21374

• Ball n' Chain (1965 - 1968) Compact Disc 21373
• Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band, 1966  Compact Disc 15762

Although Billie Holiday (1915 - 1959) titled her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues, she was more of a jazz singer, influenced by the Big Band era more than the Blues.

Black History Month: Chicago Blues

African-Americans from all over the South migrated Northward during
"The Great Migration" during the first half of the Twentieth Century.  The Illinois Central Railroad carried people from the Mississippi Delta to Memphis and then on to Chicago, where musicians played for newly employed factory workers in South Side clubs.

In Chicago, the blues grew from a soloistic medium to a group endeavor, with piano and "harp" (harmonica), and a more powerful electrified guitar often taking the place of the acoustic guitar.  There was often a saxophone in the mix.  Chicago blues greatly influenced early Rock n' Roll and Rhythm and Blues.

Muddy Waters

In 1947 Chess Records began recording blues musicians from Memphis and Chicago, including Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. Radio play and the 1950s folk music revival disseminated the Chicago blues style around the world.  Young British musicians took to the medium and made the blues an integral part of rock 'n' roll.  The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Cream (fronted by Eric Clapton) covered many songs by Chicago bluesmen.

Chess Blues:
Compact Disc 11957

Robert Johnson, the quintessential Delta Blues musician who never actually lived in Chicago, composed "Sweet Home Chicago"  and recorded it in Texas in 1936.  It has become a standard of Chicago blues since then.  Even President Barack Obama sang it at a White House celebration of the blues (with Buddy Guy and B.B. King):



Some of the most famous performers are:

Muddy Waters (1913 or 1915 - 1983) grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi under the influence of Son House and Robert Johnson.  He moved to Chicago in the 1940s and his influence continues to be felt.  His first recordings were made by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress.  In Chicago he recorded for the Chess Brothers on the Aristocrat label.  He is considered the "father" of Chicago Blues and is credited with the change from acoustic to electric guitar.  His 1950 song "Rolling Stone" inspired a young British Rock group to name themselves The Rolling Stones.

• Complete Plantation Recordings (1941-1942)  Compact Disc 2677
• Blues Straight Ahead  Compact Disc 7390
• The Real Folk Blues (1947-1966)  Compact Disc 2675
• Goodbye Newport Blues (1963, 1969)  Compact Disc 4303
• Folk Singer (1964)  Compact Disc 11431
• Muddy, Brass & The Blues (1966)  Compact Disc 4526
• Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band (1966)  Compact Disc 15762
• Essential Blues Grooves, Vol. 1 (1975)  Compact Disc 15680
• I'm Ready (1977)  Compact Disc 13956
• King Bee (1980)  Compact Disc 13955
• Muddy Waters (Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues)
  An overview of Muddy Waters' career in conjunction with the television Show
  Compact Disc 13964

Big Bill Broonzy (1893-1958) grew up in Arkansas, across the river from the Mississippi side of the Delta.  After moving to Chicago in the 1920s, he began recording with his acoustic guitar and changed to electric in the 1940s, but played acoustic for folk music revival tours of the 1950s.  He inspired other blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, as well as early rock and roll guitarists.

• Blue Smoke: The Recorded Journey of Big Bill Broonzy  ML 420 .B78 H68 2010
• Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs, recorded in 1958 by Moses Asch during the folk music revival of the 1950s.  Compact Disc 6324
• Legendary Country Blues Guitarists (two songs).  DVD Video 11591

Willie Dixon (1915 - 1992) was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi and moved to Chicago in 1936.  After World 2 he began recording for Chess Records and later became a producer for them.

• I am the Blues: The Willie Dixon Story  ML 410 .D68 A3 1989

 

Buddy Guy (b. 1936)   He was born in Louisiana and moved to Chicago in the 1950s.  He learned the blues on a diddley bow and later played guitar.   He was a session guitarist for Chess Records and broke out as a soloist in the 1980s.  Today he is one of the best-known blues musician, playing rock-tinged blues.  He has collaborated with Eric Clapton.

• When I Left Home: My Story 
  ML 219 .G86 A3 2012
• Living Proof (2010) 
  Compact Disc 19607
• Blues Singer (2003) 
  Compact Disc 13662 
• Feels Like Rain (1993)
  Compact Disc 5214

Albert King (1923 - 1992) was born in Indianola, Mississippi and spent part of his childhood in
Arkansas.  He moved to Chicago in the 1950s, but then left for St. Louis and finally settled in Memphis.  He influenced rock and blues guitarists alike.

In Session (With Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1983)
Compact Disc 12022

Sonny Boy Williamson (The Second) (ca. 1912 - 1965) was born Alex Miller but known as Sonny Boy Williamson despite another well-known harmonica player having the name first.  He was born in Mississippi and traveled the Delta absorbing the blues sound.  He recorded for Chess Records' Checker Records label in the late 1950s and early 1960s.   He famously recorded an album with the British Invasion rock band, The Yardbirds, which featured Eric Clapton.

The Real Folk Blues
Compact Disc 12168

A Diddley-Bow

Bo Diddley (1928 - 2008) His stage name is a play on the diddley-bow, a folk instrument associated with the blues.   He is credited with transitioning blues into the rock idiom.  He is one of the famous blues musicians to record with Chess Records.

His Best
Compact Disc 15114




For more information, check out these books:

• Exploring Chicago Blues: Inside the Scene, Past and Present  ML 3521 .C86 2014
• Chicago Blues: Portraits and Stories  ML 394 .W5 2006
• Chicago Breakdown  ML 3556 .R7 1975
• Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock 'n' Roll (and Rock Saved the Blues) 
  ML 3521 .M56 2013
• Urban Blues  ML 3556 .K43
• Machers and Rockers: Chess Records and the Business of Rock &Roll 
  ML 405 .C63 2004
• Spinning Blues into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records   ML 405 .C64 2000
• Blues All Day Long: The Jimmy Rogers Story  ML 420 .R613 G65 0214
• Going to Chicago: A Year on the Chicago Blues Scene  ML 3521 .G63 1990 

To hear more Chicago Blues performers, check out:
Soundtrack to "Chicago Blues" (1970)

Compact Disc 7402

Windy City Blues
Compact Disc 15339

Soundtrack to "The Blues Brothers"
Compact Disc 21975



Black History Month: The Delta Blues

Mississippi Delta
(in green)

One of the quintessential and perhaps most influential styles of American music is known as "The Blues."  "The blues" denotes depression and sadness in everyday parlance, but in music it means that and much more.

After the turn of the Twentieth Century, the descendants of slaves who had worked the cotton fields of the Northwest Mississippi (The "Delta") were free to leave the agricultural life.  Many migrated North to factory jobs.  Many turned to the trades to make a living.  And some became entertainers. Musicians playing the blues could play "juke joints," street corners or house parties.  As they traveled through the South, they spread the style that would be known more generally as "the blues."  During the definitive, Depression Era, years, the guitars were acoustic, but some musicians went on to play electric guitars, developing the Chicago Blues style.

Although the musicians were typically rural farm kids, Memphis and other cities became meccas for both performing and recording.

Classic blues lyrics depicted unrequited love, poverty, or the itinerant travels of the bluesmen.  They  could also be raunchy songs about sex, which did not endear the genre to the religious communities of the South.   It was considered the "devil's music" by more proper, church-going Mississippians, and some of the lore of the Blues embraces the idea.

The Delta Blues experienced renewed interest when Alan Lomax, of the Library of Congress, and other researchers recorded folk musicians around the world.  These recordings reached as far as England, where they influenced the development of rock n' roll.  Artists such as the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton counted Delta blues musicians among their musical heroes.

For more about the Delta Blues, check out these resources:
The Hidden History of Mississippi Blues
ML 3521 .S76 2011

Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues
ML 3521 .G58 2009

The Land Where the Blues Began, by Alan Lomax
ML 3521 .L64 1993

DVDs in the Educational Technology and Resources are of Bracken Library:

Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey (Compact Discs and DVDs from the television series)

Blues Masters: The Essential History of the Blues
DVD Video 3813

Legendary Country Blues Guitarists
DVD Video 11591

Delta Blues Musicians:

Charley Patton (ca. 1890 - 1934) was one of the first Delta bluesmen to be recorded.  He influenced many of the younger generation of performers as a mentor and teacher.  Check out Screamin' and Hollerin the Blues:  Compact Disc 12986, which includes recordings from 1929-1934 and interviews.

One of the most famous of Patton's protegés was Robert Johnson (1911 - 1938).  He only made a few recordings in 1936 and 1937, but the songs are enduring classics. Eric Clapton's "Crossroads" festival is named for Johnson's song, Crossroads Blues. The complete recordings are available on Compact Disc 12686  Clapton first performed Crossroads in the 1960s while a member of the band, Cream.


Guitarists can emulate Johnson thanks to Robert Johnson: The New Transcriptions, transcribed by Pete Billmann.  Whether you read staff notation or TAB, it's all there:
M 1630.18 .J665 R6 1999

Mississippi John Hurt (1892 - 1966) was a self-taught musician who was one of the first recorded blues singers, recording a session in 1928, but his influence was more widely felt when he recorded his music at the Library of Congress in the 1960s.  His songs have been performed by modern blues and rock musicians.  For more information, check out:
Mississippi John Hurt: His Life, His Times, His Blues
ML 420 .H986 .R37 2011

"Son" House (1902 - 1988) was one of Charley Patton's protégés, and he in turn influenced Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters.    Like Mississippi John Hurt, he recorded for the Library of Congress.  His recordings continue to influence modern country, rock, and blues musicians.

Howlin' Wolf (1910 - 1976) learned to play guitar from Charley patton and he also played harmonica, Chess Records, he moved to Chicago, as did many bluesmen.  For more, see:
with Robert Johnson, Son House or other guitarists backing him.  After scoring a recording contract with

Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf
ML 420 .H72 S44 2004

Muddy Waters (1913 - 1983) began his career in the Mississippi Delta, emulating Son House and Robert Johnson.  Alan Lomax traveled to his plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi to record his music, and from then on he became one of the biggest stars of the blues.  He was one of the first to amplify his guitar, developed a Chicago blues style.  He recorded and performed until 1982, keeping the Blues alive for younger generations.

John Lee Hooker
in The Blues Brothers movie

John Lee Hooker (1917 - 2001) was also from Clarksdale, Mississippi.  He learned the blues from his stepfather, but in the 1930s his home was Memphis, where he performed on the famous Beale Street.  He performed throughout his life, and appeared in the Blues Brothers movie, singing his hit, "Boom Boom."

Operatic Tenors

Enrico Caruso

Traditionally, the male romantic lead in an opera is portrayed by a man with a rather high voice: a tenor.  Because of this, many tenors have become stars with international and crossover appeal.  Follow the links below to find CDs and DVDs featuring these operatic tenors:

Historic Tenors:
Carlo Bergonzi
Jussi Björling
Enrico Caruso
Nicolai Gedda
John McCormack
Richard Tear


Jon Vickers

The Three Tenors:
Domingo, Carreras, Pavarotti

Fritz Wunderlich

20th Century Tenors:
Andrea Bocelli
José Carreras
Plácido Domingo
Luciano Pavarotti


The New Generation:
Marcelo Alvarez
Lawrence Brownlee

Juan Diego Flórez

José Cura
Juan Diego Flórez
Vittorio Grigolo
Jonas Kaufmann
Ramón Vargas
Rolando Villazón

Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the survivors in the Auschwitz concentration camp on January 27, 1945.  Sadly, 6 million Jews and 5 million others were put to death by the Nazis.

Many of the prisoners who died during the War were musicians.  Their talent bought them a few years of life entertaining the Nazis, but most eventually died.  A recent CD compilation brings to life the music of these musicians as well as those imprisoned by the Allies.  The KZ Musik Project pulled together archival resources from all over Europe, including the music of both Jews and Christians who were imprisoned:

The set comprises 24 CDs  numbered Compact Disc 21627-21650.

Some composers of note:
Viktor Ullmann, 1898-1944, was a Hungarian Jew who perished at Auschwitz.  From 1942-44, he was one of the musicians who provided entertainment in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in what is now the Czech Republic (also known as Terezin).  He had been a student of Arnold Schoenberg.

Gideon Klein, 1919-1945, was a Czech pianist and composer.  His music has been compared to that of Alban Berg.

Pavel Haas, 1899-1945, was a Czech composer who was befriended by Gideon Klein at Theresienstadt and later died at Auschwitz.  Before the war he composed film music as well as music in many other genres.

Sikmund Schul, 1916-1944.

See also:

Forbidden Music: The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis, by Michael Haas
ML 3776 .H32 2013

Music in the Holocaust: Confronting LIfe in the Nazi Ghettos and Camps, by Shirli Gilbert
ML 3776 .G55 2005