Over the years, quite a number of women guitarists have more than held their own in the blues world (more so than in any other musical genre), and Ruf Records has compiled a two-disc set, appropriately entitled Blues Guitar Women, to recognize this fact and pay homage to them. Handsomely packaged, with great liner notes and biographies of each of the artists compiled by guitarist Sue Foley, Blues Guitar Women takes a slightly different approach to most compilations, featuring the artists in reverse chronological order, and dividing the set into a contemporary disc and a traditional disc.
On the contemporary disc, there are a lot of familiar faces presented (Foley, Joanna Connor, Debbie Davies, Deborah Coleman, Bonnie Raitt, Alice Stuart, Barbara Lynn, Beverly “Guitar” Watkins), along with some newer faces you may not have heard from yet (Tracy Conover, Ruthie Foster, Ana Popovic, Eve Monsees, Carolyn Wonderland, Erja Lyytinen, and Laura Chavez). Some of the tracks are instrumental and range from Foley’s zesty “Mediterranean Breakfast" to Lynn’s funky “Lynn’s Blues” to Popovic’s pensive “Navajo Moon.” Other highlights include the fiery opening track by the Lara Price Band (featuring Chavez on guitar), “Can’t Quit The Blues,” Wonderland’s “Judgement Day Blues,” Raitt’s “It’s A Blessing” (with Maria Muldaur helping out on vocals), Foster’s soulful “Woke Up This Mornin’,” and Traci Conover’s scorching cover of Freddy King’s “Goin’ Down.”
The traditional disc is predictably a more sedate affair, and most of the names will be recognizable ones to fans of traditional blues. Foley and Stuart make appearances on this disc also, (Stuart’s treatment of “Rather Be The Devil” is a keeper). Other standouts include Precious Bryant’s “Fool Me Good,” Jessie Mae Hemphill’s “Streamline Train,” JoAnn Kelly’s “One Dime Blues,” and a couple of appearances by Rory Block (one solo and one with Uppity Blues Woman Gaye Adegbalola). There are also some tracks by some of the ladies who blazed the trail for women guitarists in the blues --- Mattie Delaney, Elvie Thomas, Geeshie Wiley, and the undisputed Queen of Blues Guitar, Memphis Minnie, who influenced most, if not all, of the women featured here (and a fair share of men as well).
Blues Guitar Women is an excellent collection of some artists you’ve already heard, some you might have heard of, and some you definitely need to hear more of, and belongs in every blues fan’s collection.
--- Graham Clarke