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Serving the music industry since 2001:
49 charts, 32,750 songs and 13,027 artists in 644,469 chart entries, 78,360 news articles and 21,660 lyrics
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Features: US Year End Charts |
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2001:
Year-End USA Chart,
BLUES | |
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BLUES
The more things change, the more they remain the same: That was the way things went on US Top Blues Albums chart, as 2000's best-selling blues title took the No. 1 slot on the year-end chart for the second year in a row and a number of other releases repeated their sales successes.
B.B. King and Eric Clapton's "Riding With the King," the first full-length pairing of the genre's two best-known and most-loved guitarists, again took honors as the biggest blues release of the previous 12 months. The pair's double-platinum Duck/Reprise recital has been welded at or near the apex of the Top Blues Albums chart since its release in the fall of 2000.
King repeats as the Top Blues Artist of the year, as sales of his compilation "The Millenium Collection" (MCA) helped cement his ongoing eminence; Clapton fell in behind King once again on the blues-artist rolls, thanks to their collaboration's persistent strength.
The late Stevie Ray Vaughan's popularity with blues listeners didn't wane during 2001, putting the hot-picking Texan at No. 3 in the Top Blues Artists listings. Vaughan's CD-plus-DVD boxed set "SRV," out in late 2000, trailed only the King-Clapton opus at the top of the chart. "The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 2" maintained a hot sales profile, and another long-lived title, the slow-blues compilation "Blues at Sunrise," kept up a relentless sales pace in 2001. In a testimony to the enduring popularity of Vaughan, "Been a Long Time" (Tone-Cool/IDJMG), the debut release by his onetime Double Trouble rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton, logged in at No. 12 in the year-end standings.
Other 2000 releases that duplicated their popularity in '01 include "Gotta Get the Groove Back" (Malaco), the last album by the late soul-blues titan Johnnie Taylor; "Milk Cow Blues" (Island/IDJMG), country star Willie Nelson's foray into the blues; "Crossing Muddy Waters" (Vanguard), the bracing acoustic set by singer-songwriter John Hiatt (who authored the title track on the King-Clapton magnum set); "Live On" (Giant/Reprise), the in-concert stormer by whey-faced gunslinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd; and "The Best of Etta James" (MCA), the hits compilation by the grande dame of female blues singers.
 Delbert McClinton's "Nothing Personal," at No. 3, is the top new entry on the year-end blues albums chart and perhaps the biggest and most pleasant surprise of the year. The magnificent and uncategorizable Texas singer-songwriter has always had an affinity for the blues, and his bow with L.A. indie New West Records proved to be his most vital, personal and witty brace of songs in years.
Some chart perennials reaped commercial rewards. Keb' Mo', the elder statesman of younger blues musicians who made their mark in the '90s, treated his fans to another sleek down-home feast with "The Door" (OKeh/550 Music). The Century Award honoree Buddy Guy attracted widespread press attention and solid sales with what may have been his most adventurous album ever: "Sweet Tea" (Silvertone), a collection of bristling tracks either drawn from or inspired by the work of such North Mississippi performers as R.L. Burnside and the late Junior Kimbrough.
Burnside's own career, which has seen the 75-year-old singer-guitarist cross over to a broad punk-based audience, continued apace, with both the studio album "Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down" and the rocking live set "Burnside on Burnside" (both on Fat Possum) grabbing chart space. His regional compatriots, those blues-rocking wunderkinds the North Mississippi All Stars, waited until year's end to release their sophomore Tone-Cool effort, but they found a chart home nonetheless, in collaboration with Medeski, Martin & Wood keyboardist John Medeski and sacred-steel player Robert Randolph, on the stellar instrumental gospel workout "The Word" (Ropeadope).
Among the year's bestsellers were titles by a varied group of seasoned pros: John Hammond, with his Tom Waits recital "Wicked Grin" (Pointblank/Virgin); Robert Cray, with his latest soul-blues foray Shoulda Been Home (Rykodisc); Marcia Ball, with her latest pianistic wonder "Presumed Innocent" (Alligator); and John Mayall, with the star-laden session "John Mayall & Friends" (Eagle).
TOP BLUES ALBUMS
| # |
Title |
Artist |
Labels |
| 1 |
RIDING WITH THE KING |
B.B. King & Eric Clapton |
Duck/Reprise/Warner Bros. |
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| 2 |
SRV |
Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble |
Legacy/Epic |
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| 3 |
NOTHING PERSONAL |
Delbert McClinton |
New West |
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| 4 |
THE DOOR |
Keb' Mo' |
OKeh/550 Music/Epic |
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| 5 |
THE BEST OF B.B. KING: 20TH CENTURY MASTERS
THE MILLENIUM COLLECTION |
B.B. King |
MCA |
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| 6 |
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