As we have at least ten weeks of lockdown to enjoy, it occurred to me to do a series of posts of my most-DJ’d music in both swing and blues– so I’m starting a weekly series of posts, where each week I’ll post another ten tracks from my most-played lists. Here’s the first ten blues tracks to get things started.
As I’ve been DJing since 2007, and have had a pretty steep learning curve in that time, this will probably throw up some bizarre choices and guilty secrets. Mind you – I reserve the right to remove any of the really bad choices that I find. Where possible, I’ll put in links where you can listen to the tracks.
These are not necessarily my all-time favourite tracks, and they’re not necessarily the ones that I’d be recommending as the best dance tracks ever. They’re just the ones I’ve played the most over the last thirteen years.
I’ve created a Spotify playlist to host all the tracks (or all the ones on Spotify anyway) – so each week, I’ll add the tracks for the week. You can listen to it here!
| Track | Artist | Album | Time | BPM | Plays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | You Don’t Have To Go | Brother Yusef | Blues By Request | 4:06 | 79 | 15 |
| This is a slightly gentler track than Brother Yusef’s usual energetic, chunky style – still fantastic, with his distinctive guitar and great vocal style. Also, it’s proving hard to find a playable link. | ||||||
| 99 | They can’t take that away from me | Louis & Ella | The Complete Ella and Louis on Verve | 4:38 | 102 | 15 |
| I love this song – although I can’t actually remember ever DJing it. It’s a a slow, gentle, jazzy end-of-the-evening too-tired-to-dance song. Listen on Spotify |
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| 98 | Lonely Avenue | Ray Charles | The Best Of Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years | 2:36 | 73 | 15 |
| I call songs like this “heartbeat songs” – the rhythm feels like a heartbeat – a steady, soulful undemanding track. Listen on Spotify |
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| 97 | I Know I’ve Been Changed | The Dixie Hummingbirds | The Best Of Classic Gospel | 2:12 | 90 | 15 |
| Pure deep resonant pulsating vocals – this amazing gospel track is a wonder. The ending gets a bit wild and wandering though – I keep forgetting that which is probably why it’s been played as much as it has. Listen on Spotify |
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| 96 | Get Up Get Ready | Eric Bibb | Sisters & Brothers | 4:28 | 127 | 15 |
| A cheerful, slightly pop pleasant blues track, for faster blues moments. Features the amazing Maria Muldaur. Listen on Spotify |
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| 95 | Tonky Honk | Chuck Higgins | Dootone Rock ‘N’ Rhythm And Blues | 2:27 | 102 | 16 |
| Awesome slow intricate instrumental honky-tonk (of course) piano with wonderful dirty sax on top. Listen on Spotify |
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| 94 | Sweat | Popa Chubby | Booty And The Beast | 5:52 | 88 | 16 |
| Chicago blues, with arguably Popa Chubby’s best-known track… slow and intense, with an incredible and unforgettable chorus refrain…. and … yeah – the lyrics are in dubious taste – but hey – this is blues. Listen on Spotify |
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| 93 | Should I Stay or Should I Go | The Cooltrane Quartet | Jazz & ’80s: The Coolest And S | 3:56 | 89 | 16 |
| An incongruously gentle and jazzy version of the Clash classic. Undemanding – another end-of-the-night track. Listen on Spotify |
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| 92 | One Heartache Too Late | Janiva Magness | What Love Will Do | 4:35 | 96 | 16 |
| Soulful slow-burn intense bluesy ballad. Slightly spoiled by the fade-away at the end. Why can’t artists end their songs properly?. Listen on Spotify |
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| 91 | Egyptian Fantasy | Sidney Bechet | Jazz Me Blues | 3:06 | 97 | 16 |
| Vintage Bechet – with some really nice rhythmic variations and intricate solos to play with. Listen on Spotify |
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Excellent use of time and appreciated, nice to have tunes to chill to when we can not dance……well done Andy