Some cohorts and myself are planning to do a blues project. None of us are really from a blues background but we still want to give this a try. My question to the fine, knowledgable folks here is....
 
What are some of the blues standards any self respecting blues band worth their salt needs to play in order to keep true blues fans from finding another joint to do their drinking in?  
 
JP

Around here you need to look into doing some modern blues folks such as Tommy Castro or Gary Moore. As far as traditional stuff just about anything from Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf or Willie Dixon will go over down here. You couldn't hurt yourself by adding in some Buddy Guy or SRV either.  
 
Keith

Thrill is Gone; Stormy Monday; Caledonia; Sweet Home Chicago; Mustang Sally; All Blues; Everyday I have the Blues; You Win Again...

Spoonful is a favorite of mine.  Calling Card would be another.

Not a standard, but alot of fun- Blues of the Month Club, T. Graham Brown.
 
Larry

A great place to start in putting together a blues set list is Stevie Ray Vaughan.  I've played a bunch of stuff off his albums in bands I've been in, some of it stuff he wrote and some stuff he covered.  Practically everything he did is now a standard.
 
Another source is Clapton.  His From The Cradle is a blues album.  A couple of the songs I've done that are on that album are Tore Down and Third Degree.  Another standard Clapton covered is Further On Up The Road.  And there are many others.
 
Which leads me to Johnny Winter.  Tons and tons of stuff there.  Some of the most .. well there's some stuff here that'll make you want to crawl into a dark corner and get stone drunk.

; drenched in it.

Excuse me for hijacking the thread, but ..
 

It just pours out of him.

And
Soaking in it!
 
[edit: longer version of song]
 
(Message edited by davehouck on January 10, 2008)

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By the way, Tommy Shannon is a great example of a bass player for a blues band.  He's not only locked in to the drummer, but he's locked in to, and supporting, the emotion coming out of the guitar.

Dave you're dead-on about Tommy he is an awesome blues basssist, with whom ever he's playing.
 
One of the bands I was working with in the 90's played a gig with the Arc Angels (Doyle Bramhall Jr., Charlie Sexton, Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton) back in the 90's at the Hard Rock in Dallas and Tommy and Chris were just rock solid man.  
 
I beleive that first video is Live at El Macombo which is an incredible dvd.
 
Olie

Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Leadbelly, the great Robert Johnson, B.B.King, Albert Collins... there are so many to chose.
Plus the modern guys, Stevie Ray V, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Jeff Healey.
Listen to them all, use there songs, play 'em slow, play fast, funk them up they are all so versatile..a great education that every musician should try

.

Albert King, John Lee Hooker, Luther Allison, Fenton Robinson, Lonnie Brooks.
 
Peter

I've seen Luther's son Bernard Allison a few times; great player.