T Bone Walker Albums Ranked
Aaron Thibeaux “T-Bone” Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues and electric blues sound. In 2018 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 67 on its list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. By the early 1960s, Walker’s career had slowed down, in spite of an energetic performance at the American Folk Blues Festival in 1962 with the pianist Memphis Slim and the prolific writer and musician Willie Dixon, among others. However, several critically acclaimed albums followed, such as I Want a Little Girl (recorded for Delmark Records in 1968). Walker recorded in his last years, from 1968 to 1975, for Robin Hemingway’s music publishing company, Jitney Jane Songs. He won a Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1971 for Good Feelin’, while signed with Polydor Records, produced by Hemingway, followed by another album produced by Hemingway, Fly Walker Airlines, released in 1973 Walker was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Here are all of T Bone Walker albums ranked
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10. Sings The Blues (1959)
“T-Bone is the (blues) Man. Its a total mystery that I hadn’t got this years ago. A cosmic hole in my collection is plugged by one of the first and finest to ever plug in a blues guitar. Excellent sleeve notes too, and careful attribution of all recordings.”
9. I Want A Little Girl (1973)
“Most of the songs are slow or mid tempo, leaving lots of space for T-Bone’s soulful vocals and crisp guitar lines. The guitar tone and style are very much in line with T-Bone’s earlier work from the 40s and 50s. This sounds nothing like the blues guitar that I, at least, associate with the 1960s.”
8. Funky Town (1968)
“Low down blues never got better then T-bone walker. This is a great collection of T-Bone classics. Tunes with a groove. Most of these songs were on another T-Bone recording called Dirty Mistreater, which has long been out of print.”
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7. The Complete Imperial Recordings, 1950-1954 (1991)
“This collection is a great, and economical way to experience one of the giants, not only of blues guitar, but guitar period. T-Bone was one of the pioneers of electric guitar along with Charlie Christian. His Imperial works are smooth and urbane, but still pack a solid wallop.”
6. Good Feelin’ (1969)
“his is some great blues music and the recording sounds excellent. T-Bone and his band get in the pocket and hit a groove that carries through the whole collection. A great band, some really tasty guitar licks and smooth vocals. You can’t miss. Sounds like it was recorded yesterday! It’s definitely blues, but goes beyond that and can be classified as great music in general.”
5. The Complete Recordings Of T-Bone Walker 1940-1954 (1990)
“A superb set if you’re looking for all the recordings of T-Bone Walker on the Capitol and associated labels. Great booklet included. Mosaic obviously took tremendous care putting this package together; the audio quality is second to none.”
4. Very Rare (1973)
” Terrific arrangements, great production and of course some of the best vocal tracks that T-Bone Walker has recorded. This disc should have been released years ago and should be awarded a Grammy as one of the best Blues/ R&B reissues.The last song (Stormy Monday) with the incredible intro of T-Bone talking about himself is a masterpiece.”
3. Singing The Blues (1960)
“For the serious blues guitar collector this is essential material. It is easy, from listening to this collection, to hear the influence Walker had on Chuck Berry and BB King. Even a little bit of vocal influence on Nat King Cole. An absolute gem of a music collection of. Very cool tunes played by a blues icon.”
2. Stormy Monday Blues (1967)
“I appreciate certain styles of blues guitar, and I found that style in T-Bone Walker’s guitar playing. Like a lot of blues artists of his era T-Bone Walker incorporated organs and horns in his music. You can hear the use of effects on his electric guitar with some songs. It’s a matter of taste I suppose, but I really like everything I hear on this cd! T-Bone Walker had a voice for the blues. And the songs all sound polished.”
1. T-Bone Blues (1959)
“This is a great album by one of the pioneers of electric guitar. Once, I had this on vinyl and I was pleasantly surprised by the arrangements and the musicianship. This release had additional songs on it and it is a fine product put out by Atlantic Records. This and the Imperial Sessions by T-Bone are keepers.”
