Down & Dirty Blues

Down & Dirty Blues

This week’s show leans into the rougher side of the tradition: the places where bruised pride, bad decisions, and raw truth find their way into song. “The down and dirty blues” isn’t a stylistic claim so much as a shared attitude — the kind shaped by rent coming due, lovers turning cold, and the kind of trouble that sits heavy in the gut. Across the past century, singers and players have used these stories to put plainspoken feeling into motion, building grooves that don’t promise comfort so much as recognition. Across two hours, we’ll move through voices that carried this edge with conviction — men and women from the 1930s onward who weren’t at all shy about calling out mean mistreaters or confessing their own missteps. You’ll hear hard-driving cuts where guitars sting, pianos roll, and vocals land with a certain bruising weight. Tune in for the likes of Victoria Spivey, Lonnie Johnson, Dirty Red, Little Joe Blue, Howlin’ Wolf and a couple dozen others. The ‘dirty dozen’ doesn’t get much dirtier than this.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Annisteen Allen Down By The River Get Hot Sleazy Rhythm & Blues Vol. 3 Amazon
3Howlin' Wolf Down In The Bottom Moanin' In The Moonlight Amazon
4Victoria Spivey Down Hill Pull Moaning The Blues (The Blues Collection Vol.65) Amazon
5Memphis Minnie Dirty Mother For You Blues Classics: '27_'69 [Disc 1] Amazon
6Dirty Red Mother Fuyer Eat to The Beat: The Dirtiest of Them Dirty Blues Amazon
7Little Junior Parker Dirty Friend Blues Abc of the Blues, Vol. 36 Amazon
8Little Joe Blue Dirty Work Goin' On Chess Blues Disc 4 Amazon
9Little Johnny Jones & The Chicago Hound Dogs Dirty By The Dozen (Sweet Little Woman) The Flair Story – Dust My Rhythm & Blues Amazon
10Muddy Waters Down South Blues More Real Folk Blues Amazon
11Smokey Hogg Dirty Mistreater The Mercury Blues Story (1945-1955) – Southwest Blues, Vol. 2 Amazon
12B.B. King Every Day I Have the Blues Pure R&B: Vol. 3- Let the Good Times Roll [Disc 1] Amazon
13Amos Milburn Hard Driving Blues Eat to The Beat: The Dirtiest of Them Dirty Blues Amazon
14T-Bone Walker It's a Lowdown Dirty Deal The Very Best of T-Bone Walker [Koch] Amazon
15Piano Red – Dr. Feelgood Don't Tell Me No Dirty The Doctor's in – Disc 4 Amazon
16J.B. Lenoir Low Down Dirty Shame Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: J.B. Lenoir Amazon
17Lonnie Johnson The Dirty Dozen Lonnie Johnson: Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 6 (1930-31) Amazon
18Victoria Spivey From 1 to 12 (Dirty Dozen) The Victoria Spivey Collection 1926-1937 Amazon
19Little Milton I Play Dirty Living The Blues: The 70's Blues Classics Amazon
20Jimmy Reed Down The Road You Dont Have To Go (The Blues Collection Vol.18) Amazon
21Bobby Bland Driftin' Blues The Best Of Bobby Bland Amazon
22Jimmy Witherspoon Bar Fly Blues Raw Blues Amazon
23Wynonie Harris Hard Luck Blues Battle of the Blues – Volume 2 Amazon
24John Lee Hooker Blues Before Sunrise Don't Look Back Amazon
25The Leap Frogs Dirty Britches No Jive: Authentic Southern Country Blues Amazon
26George Harmonica Smith/Long Gone Miles Low Down Dirty Shame [#] Juke Joint Blues 1950's-1960's Amazon
27Rory Block Low Down Dirty Dog Blues Blues Walkin' Like a Man: A Tribute To Son House Amazon
28Amina Claudine Myers Dirty No-Gooder's Blues Oxford American 11th Edition Southern Music CD [Disc 2, "Arkansas Masters"] Amazon
29Dinah Washington Big Long Slidin' Thing Eat to The Beat: The Dirtiest of Them Dirty Blues Amazon
30Julia Lee & Her Boy Friends Don't Come Too Soon Eat to The Beat: The Dirtiest of Them Dirty Blues Amazon
31Buddy Guy First Time I Met the Blues Chess Blues Disc 4 Amazon
32Geeshie Wiley Last Kind Words Blues Before The Blues: Early American Black Music Scene (Vol. 2) Amazon
33Dave Bartholomew & His Orchestra My Ding-A-Ling Eat to The Beat: The Dirtiest of Them Dirty Blues Amazon

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