Last week's Grammy® Awards provided somewhat of a sales uptick to virtually all of the blues music nominees, the winner for "Best Blues Album" - the Tedeschi Trucks Band's Revelator - jumping several spots back into the number four spot, while Gregg Allman's Low Country Blues edged back in at number ten. Guitarist Warren Haynes' excellent Man In Motion album re-entered the charts at a respectable number fifteen.
Reader Steve McConnell called out the Reverend this week for my Grammy® blog post, stating in his comments that I "did an injustice in not applauding the winner." Steve is right, and he was also correct in saying that Revelator was "one of the best albums of the year in any genre." My frustration over the shrinking blues award categories overshadowed an otherwise excellent effort from Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, and they deserve the honor. Kudos also to nominees Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, and Marcia Ball, who all delivered solid works in 2011. Steve also asked for a video of an award acceptance speech from Tedeschi and/or Trucks...sorry, but I couldn't find a video, but I did find this cool clip of Haynes talking about competing with his Allman Brothers Band mates Trucks and Allman. Lest I forget, the Allman Brothers Band also received a well-deserved Grammy® "Lifetime Achievement Award" this year.
Not much else changed on the Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending February 25, 2012, Etta still holding down number one, Ruthie knocking at the door at number two, and Gary Clark holding down the number three position. Here are this week's Top Ten blues albums, ranked by sales:
10. Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues (Rounder Records)
9. Etta James - The Dreamer (Verve Forecast)
8. Dion - Tank Full Of Blues (Blue Horizon)
7. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Playlist: The Very Best Of (Sony Legacy)
6. Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk (Warner Brothers)
5. Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton - Play The Blues (Warner Brothers)
4. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator (Sony Masterworks)
3. Gary Clark, Jr. - The Bright Lights EP (Warner Brothers)
2. Ruthie Foster - Let It Burn (Blue Corn Music)
1. Etta James - Icon (Geffen Records)
New releases this week: Eddie C. Campbell's Spider Eating Preacher (Delmark Records), Morgan Davis's Drive My Blues Away (Electro-Fi Records), Studebaker John's Old School Rockin' (Delmark Records)
Photo of Studebaker John's Old School Rockin' courtesy Delmark Records
Comments
I was happy to see so many Allman Brothers nominated for Grammys. Glad to see one of’em took the trophy home. All three of the albums deserved to be nominated. It was interesting to see the lesser know Derek Trucks win. Usually the Grammy voters just tick off a check next to the most familiar name. I’ve been watching a lot of Allman Brothers video lately and I am amazed at the talents of both Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks. I’m not going to get into a Duane and Dickey versus Warren and Derek. All of these guitarists put down some fantastic licks.
Oh Yeah, Shout out to Levon Helm for winning another Grammy for Americana Album of The Year