The darkest, spookiest BLUES

You might be surprised if you haven't heard it, but Cowboy Junkies first LP Whites Off Earth Now!! fits this description.

http://www.markbrine.com/american_roots_music/images/robert_johnson.jpg
http://www.afropop.org/img/world_music/african_music/namer/usa/BluesBluesSkipJames.jpg

I've said it a billion times but Geechie Wiley: "Last Kind Word Blues." Doesn't get any spookier.

Not to everyone's taste, but I'd genuinely suggest Jandek.

You might be surprised if you haven't heard it, but Cowboy Junkies first LP Whites Off Earth Now!! fits this description.

LOL CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE

Howlin' Wolf

Blind Willie Johnson

clotpoll ftw

timi on what planet is howlin wolf "spooky"

AWOOOOOOOOOOO

Dude was a wolf. And he howled. On records.

You don't think "Evil" or "Smokestack Lightning" fit here?

Fair enough, I can see where you're coming from w/r/t "Evil" especially.

"Moanin' at Midnight." "Commit a Crime."

On the other hand, I don't hear a "Built for Comfort" in Blind Willie Johnson's discography.

barbecue bob
charley patton

ha i don't hear creepy in moanin at midnight at all

He doesn't exactly invite you to a party with that vocal intro.

Also, the invocation of the telephone as a worrisome, almost otherworldly object.

sweatyghost some calibration might be helpful. Have any of these suggestions hit on what you're after? Cause for me this could just as easily be titled "list pre-war country blues dudes." I love a whole hell of a lot of those guys and they all scare the shit out of me when I'm in the right mood.

Blind Willie Johnson

-- clotpoll, Saturday, August 16, 2008 4:18 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

dark was the night - cold was the ground

otis rush feels kind of heavy. and the cramps are pretty spooky. i don't really get anything spooky out of willie johnson, even though it feels like it should tick all the boxes.

Apart from that one song, I can't think of much that's really, genuinely spooky about BWJ, unless you're spooked by old gospel songs. About the same for most of these guys, really...

Skip James is at least like...cold and bastardly in a disconnected sort of way, I suppose that's sort of spooky though I don't immediately feel that from him...

Howlin Wolf I can sorta see, but if you watch videos like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFZfx3r-AvE

...it sorta lifts any veil, if there was one, and it's just not really spooky to me in any sort of genuine way which is what I think sweatyghost is after... I dunno, this seems like sort of a tough one.

Sioux City Pete to thread.

Come to think of it, maybe Sad Days, Lonely Nights by Junior Kimbrough counts? There's something of depth and endlessness to the juke grooves on that album, shadowy even, and if only it contained the song You Better Run it'd be a cinch imo.

if only it contained the song You Better Run it'd be a cinch imo.

i'm always bummed do the rump isn't on that record. i kind of can't be bothered buying any of the others, because i've got all the elastic wriggly blues action i want with sad days, but it sounds like the best summation of his really rollicking rolling stuff.

Furry Lewis.

if you wanna go to Nashville men's ain't got no fare
if you wanna go to Nashville men's ain't got no fare
cut your good girl's throat and the judge will send you there

for some reason the "ten thousand people standing 'round the buryin' ground" line in Son House's "Death Letter" always creeps me out. I guess just the presence of such a bizarre little impressionistic detail in an otherwise straightforwardly descriptive song.

Jandek. The first acapella one, Put My Dream On This Planet.

I would argue strongly against Jandek being blues even though I know FE & others say he is.

Chris Whitley was a haunted, spooky dude. I'd recommend him.

jelly roll morton "creepy feeling"

I was going to mention Jelly Roll's Library of Congress recordings- particularly Buddy Bolden Blues and Winin' Boy, and all those spoken introductions. The guy really sounds like his life is disintegrating.

The title of this thread is kinda creeping me out.

sweatyghost some calibration might be helpful. Have any of these suggestions hit on what you're after?

I haven't heard much Blues so I don't know if you guys have recommended what I'm looking for.

I'm looking for albums. Atmosphere is key. Something that sounds lonely, not modern...

Moon Pix by Cat Power is a favorite of mine, if that helps.

I might venture that this qualifies:

http://www.revenantrecords.com/index.php?section=releases&cd_ident=17

a few more specific songs

Charlie Patton - Poor Me
Robt Johnson - Love in Vain (both sound resigned to fate)
Peetie Wheatstraw - Meat Cutter Blues (pretty self explainitory)
Junior Kimbrough - All Night Long (contemporary, but hypnotic)

The guy really sounds like his life is disintegrating.

By all accounts he was pretty happy that Lomax had tracked him down --- but yeah he was playing some tiny ass low-dignity joints immediately prior to these recordings and pretty much continued to for the rest of his life.

Thread title creeps me out too. Skip james is probably what inquirer is actually looking for.

but yall should all listen to creepy feeling

I've said it a billion times but Geechie Wiley: "Last Kind Word Blues." Doesn't get any spookier.

-- Kevin John Bozelka, Saturday, 16 August 2008 06:33 (11 hours ago) Link

OTM!

I first heard this on the Crumb documentary and thought is was the most haunting song i'd ever heard...

it's available on archive.org if you want to check it out...

http://www.archive.org/details/Words

Many songs from this compilation qualify, e.g., Motherless Child Blues; Dangerous Blues; and Sobbin Woman Blues.

The vibe, production, and tunes on Buddy Guy's Sweet Tea are dark and spooky. It's not that old but he is.

For those doubting the blues authenticity of Jandek, I cite Keiji Haino's supposed comment after the first surprise Jandek live performance: "Jandek IS the blues."

Sweet Tea is so fucking good.

Keiji Haino is a mad man :)

Definitely 2nd Charley Patton. I dunno, Robert Johnson never seemed spooky to me, something about his voice.

It's the tinny recording quality and the nature of the lyrics (+ the mythos!) combined with the trebly sound of his voice that makes it really spooky to me at times.

makes sense. certainly the songs go to a dark place.

there is a version of Lightnin' Hopkins' "Shine on Moon" that is terrifying (the personification of the moon combined with the fact that is sounds like Lightnin' is screaming from the bottom of an empty well = chilling)

...but overall, Blind Willie Johnson owns this thread.

I love BWJ. Not sure he's dark/spooky, tho, except for Dark Is The Night.

D, Esq: yeah, that's pretty subjective territory. Something about the froggy-throat shout that reminds me of a moment of trauma from my early years.

His voice will be a turn-off for many listeners, but I love it.

"Mother Earth" by Memphis Slim

well they didn't really make whole "blues albums" with "atmosphere" that much back in the olden days, at least Blind Lemon Jefferson didn't, and he's creepy, as is Son House on the well-known blues tune "Death Letter Blues" about this letter a guy gets and it says his love is dead. I suppose Cat Power will get around to doing that stuff one day as she makes her way south from Memphis, she'll end up doing New Orleans r&b and then disappearing altogether into the Gulf of Mexico.

Janis Ian is very creepy

I actually have Between the Lines by Janis Ian, and it really ain't creepy at all, unfortunately. I bought it at Borders for $7 + change.

Slightly off-topic: I liked everything about Diamanda Galas' Plague Mass except for the songs sung in English.

I've always considered Tommy Johnson to be the most haunting vocalist of the pre-war era. Patton and James were obviously better all-around musicians, but man, when Tommy does that voice crack yodel thing it still has the ability to scare the crap out of me. Like on 'Cool Drink of Water Blues' .. "Looord, lordy looord..." .. kind of like Ozzy on the first one where he's all "Please god help me!" same vibe..

the Document CD with the complete Tommy Johnson stuff is right up there as the best of best pre-war country blues (along with Charley and Skip of course) as far as I am concerned.

Cat Power, Jandek, Chris Whitley = sheesh, white people.

For those doubting the blues authenticity of Jandek, I cite Keiji Haino's supposed comment after the first surprise Jandek live performance: "Jandek IS the blues."

Do you mean the renowned blues expert Keiji Haino or the overrated Japanese guitar strummer Keiji Haino?

Why, the blues expert of course.

P.S. Are you wanting to start fisticuffs besmirching Haino like that? I'm trying to resist rising to the bait.

Dock Boggs Pretty Polly here is a video adaption: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB-W3pygCsg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGmXg6WYJ1U