Mixtape #5: "Christmas Blues (side A)"

Hello, loyal readers!!  No, I have not forgotten you.  The past... span of time has been rather hectic and the world is ripe and full of upheaval.  I moved, I've been working, and I literally had to wrestle a bear in order to get internet properly connected and established at my new place of residence.  I promise that I have been (not so) hard at work trying to make it up to you for seemingly disappearing and leaving you dangling on a precipice of anxiety.  Man... that's a good phrase.  I better trademark that shit before anyone steals it from me.  Violence will befall you if you steal my phrases from me.  That's not a threat, just sayin' is all.

Anyway, I'll tell you some cool stories about what's been going on (if I feel like it) later.  Right now, I have a super surprise for you.

As you may or may not have realized, the holiday season is upon us.  Personally, it snuck right the fuck up on me.  Which is okay, because I kind of hate loathe christmas music and most christmas movies (Grinch & Christmas Story aside, that is).  It's really the commercialization and all that nonsense more than anything. I mean, I like getting presents and all that, don't get me wrong.  Hell, I even like giving them.  But since I'm not any good at being a secret computer hacker and I can't individually track every single person who's read, visited, or said nice things about my blog, I'm going to just give you all one really awesome blanket present.  Today, loyal reader, I give you the gift of the blues.  Special limited edition double mixtape featuring 26 of my favorite blues traditionals, improvisations, and modernizations from an assortment of artists, thieves, murderers, and other various undesirables.

Now, I wanted to use a pretty loose interpretation of what the blues actually was here, so we've got a seriously awesome mixed bag of goodies.  Every decade from the 20's to the 00's is represented between side A and side B (which you'll have to wait for until tomorrow.  come on now, I can't spoil christmas for you completely...).  80+ years of traditional spirituals, blues folk, slide guitar, and electric church, every ounce of it extra dirty, a little mean, and double-plus good.  And if you don't agree that every one of these songs is 100% blues, feel free to engage me in a fruitless argument in the comments section.

So if you get done singing christmas carols and you've got a snarl on your face, or you wake up tomorrow morning and find a lump of coal in your stocking, then download some of this goodness on your new computer, listen to it on your new ipod, and then go write a song on your new guitar about how much your new christmas sweater blows.  If this shit doesn't wipe away your christmas blues, then I'll give you a 100% money back guarantee.  Just pay the postage and handling.

Run with it.  And you better enjoy it, because there's plenty more where this came from.


1) I Can't Quit You, Baby (live at the BBC) - Led Zeppelin
2) Baby, It's You - Smith
3) In My Time Of Dyin' - Bob Dylan
4) Sweet Home Chicago - Robert Johnson
5) Dying Crapshooter's Blues - Blind Willie McTell
6) Nobody But You - the Black Keys
7) The Weight - the Band
8) Dust My Broom - Elmore James
9) John the Revelator - Son House
10) I Fought Piranhas - the White Stripes
11) Red House - the Jimi Hendrix Experience
12) Staggolee - Mississippi John Hurt
13) The Ballad of Curtis Loew - Lynyrd Skynyrd