Talk:List of blues musicians

Clarify subject & criteria
Although the list is titled "List of blues musicians", the lead (criteria?) includes "Performers in the blues style range from primitive, one-chord Delta players to big bands to country music to rock and roll to classical music." "Blues musicians" are those primarily known for performing blues music; "performers in the blues style" could include anyone who has recorded a blues-style song. The sections "Blues in conventional pop music", "Blues in country music", "Blues influence in classical music", etc. (unreferenced) seem more related to the songs musicians in those genres may have performed, rather than the musicians themselves. If this list is intended to include any who have performed in a blues style, the title should be changed to reflect it. Or create a separate "List of musicians who have performed in a blues style" and leave this to actual acknowleged blues musicians. —Ojorojo (talk) 16:15, 1 October 2017 (UTC)

Sections
The current sections are a confusing mix of styles and time periods, none of which are supported by references. Generally, WP "lists of [genre] musicians" do not contain sections, except by alphabet. Since there are already over twenty "lists of blues musicians by genre", there is no need for separate subgenre or style sections on this list. Additionally, some of the time periods overlap: there is a "Postwar blues" (after 1945) and a "Modern blues (post-1950s)" section, but it is unclear how the musicians are chosen (Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, and Willie Dixon are in the "Modern" section, although they also recorded in the 1940s; several musicians in the "Postwar" section did not record until well after 1950).

Propose to reduce the sections to three that correspond to the WP Blues article: This eliminates "Prewar" or "Pre-World War II" that have different meanings (US before 1941, Europe 1939, Asia 1937) and "Modern blues" which is subject to different interpretations (for some, it is post-1950 and others place after the 1960s revival).
 * Pre-1940 blues (Blues sections "Prewar blues" and "Urban blues")
 * 1940–1979 blues (Blues "1950s" and "1960s and 1970s")
 * Blues after 1980 (Blues "1980s to the present")

Also, propose to update the tables format for WP:ACCESS, add a Table of Contents with anchors for easy access, and add columns for "Origin" "Primary style", and "Refs". Since the columns are sortable, it would be possible to see all entries for a particular state/country and style grouped together.

—Ojorojo (talk) 17:34, 25 June 2019 (UTC)


 * ✅ Several artists included in the prior "Early country blues", "Early urban blues", and "Pre-World War" sections may not be considered "Pre-1940 blues" and need to located elsewhere: Jimmy Dotson, Archie Edwards, Boo Hanks, Silas Hogan, Smokey Hogg, John Jackson, Baby Tate. —Ojorojo (talk) 16:36, 4 July 2019 (UTC)
 * While the sections are being consolidated, some artists have been removed from one list, but not yet added to another. This is temporary and will be corrected as the transition progresses. —Ojorojo (talk) 16:19, 9 July 2019 (UTC)
 * The first two sections now use the new table format and are largely cited. The reference books listed in "Sources" don't have entries for most of the "Blues since 1980" musicians, so new references (possibly artist by artist) need to be added to complete the last section. —Ojorojo (talk) 18:01, 12 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Another reference source, which may well include some of the "Blues since 1980" musicans, and generally particularly good for dates of birth and/or death, is


 * From memory, there is an online version (via Google Books) that can be "plundered" too. Derek R Bullamore (talk) 21:45, 22 July 2019 (UTC)
 * After my recent activities here and on other "list of x blues musicians" articles, I am going to take a break. Good luck to anyone who wishes to update the "Blues since 1980" table format.  Meanwhile, it is probably a good idea to include a source for additions and changes (see the Barrelhouse Chuck entry) – it might make it easier. —Ojorojo (talk) 13:42, 23 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Since you work a lot with lists, do you have any tricks for importing the data from the third "Blues since 1980" section into the table format used for the first two sections? Maybe an automated or semi-automated approach?  It would then be much easier for editors to just fill in the empty origin, style, and refs columns and not worry about the table markup. Thanks. —Ojorojo (talk) 15:29, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

Blues since 1980
Currently, this section is a holdover from an earlier version of the list: the table format lacks information about origin, style, and refs. Despite having a "needs additional citations for verification" maintenance template for over ten months, editors have not added any refs or otherwise tried to make the table consistent with the others. Propose to remove the existing table and re-add names to a properly formatted table using the refs currently listed in "Sources". Since most of these are from 1992 to 2004, later blues artists will be left off and will probably need individual sources before they can be re-added. —Ojorojo (talk) 16:20, 5 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Updated the table using the existing sources. This has the potential to be a featured list, so I will continue to work on it with this in mind. Of course, additions and changes will need reliable sources; there are notices at each section to remind contributors. —Ojorojo (talk) 18:20, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

The missing
Having Bloomfield but not Kooper, No Roy Buchanon, No Bonamassa (What, 19 in a row blues album of the year?)"Roomful of Blues but no James Montgomery Band (and blues is not by any means my favorite genre) if I can see this there must be so much missing maybe someone with time and editing experience needs to overhaul this because it is almost embryonic in it's utility?---Peter Huston — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.73.112.212 (talk) 16:07, 17 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Anyone who is able to include reliable sources may add artists. I've added a Template:Dynamic list as a reminder. —Ojorojo (talk) 14:32, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Providing sources
and other contributors: Thanks for all your additions to keep this list up-to-date. The goal is still to make this a featured list candidate, so please remember to include citations for your source(s). If you are unsure how to properly format them, leave a note here with a link to the source and it will be taken care of. Thanks again. —Ojorojo (talk) 13:34, 1 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Here is a ref: . I was only shadowing Deaths in 2021, trying to make sure all pages that mentioned year of birth were not neglecting to show year of death. If I had to put references in each of those pages, I would simply not be able to keep up. It takes me an hour each day just to do that without adding refs to each page. Chris the speller   yack  16:11, 1 May 2021 (UTC)


 * I suspected something like this. Keep it simple: add the name and a link here (as with your Holeman example) and I or another regular here will add it. Thanks. —Ojorojo (talk) 16:41, 1 May 2021 (UTC)