I need some recs.

Muddy Waters - Fathers and Sons

Ma Rainey Vol 1 or Vol 2.

Howlin' Wolf...you can get his first two on one CD.

Robert Johnson, any of the collections are fine.

John Lee Hooker...I have a soft spot for The Real Folk Blues, but most other people probably differ.

Muddy Waters...for me, the one to get is Folk Singer.

Skip James...The Complete Skip James, he's not as big a name, but one I really dig, he was the blues singer you heard if you saw Ghost World.

Willie Dixon...I am the Blues, was more renowned for being a session bass player and songwriter than band leader, but I like this selection of his own versions of the many standards he wrote...great piano on here too.

Well, there's a few.

The 2CD Blind Willie Johnson complete recordings collection is pretty awesome.

Must have some Elmore James in there somewhere.

vera hall

maybe more roots music than blues, but she's definitely worth checking out

to my knowledge there's never been an official compilation released but several of her songs were included in the lomax field recordings for the library of congress. i think verahallproject.com has most if not all of her songs available for download but the site is down at the moment so i'm not sure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Hall
http://www.verahallproject.com/

Blind Willie McTell~ Last Session
J. B. Lenoir~ Vietnam Blues
Lightnin" Hopkins~ The Complete Aladdin Recordings

Buddy Guy for that Chicago blues style!

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Mostly a gospel singer who played guitar but it was very much blues influenced.

Mississippi Fred McDowell

I Do Not Play No Rock n' Roll- Great reissue of his classic/signature album. Picked this up recently and was blown away by it.

Tampa Red

Amazing guitar playing.

RL Burnside

Ass Pocket Full of Whiskey-You might scoff at adding RL, but I think his style (more appropriately Hill Country Blues style) is what is keeping many people in the blues.

also,