Some non-jazz blues recommendations

Hound Dog Taylor - nothing jazzy about him, just the filthiest blues.

Jazz and blues have a lot of shared history so I don't think you can always say which is one of the other. But what I hear is a difference in phrasing. Blues is much more about call and response, breath, a musical conversation. That's there in jazz (certainly pre war)but jazz players tend to construct longer more fluid lines. Given the same notes over the same chords you can hear a jazz version and a blues version. 
Players like Robben Ford, Kenny Burrel, Charlie Batey even Miles Davis obviously understood both conventions and would go between them. Freddie King 100% blues with his phrasing and dynamics. Some of Jimmie Vaughan's phrasing absolutely falling off a cliff as you wait for him to resolve a line. Neither really using the huge bends and mad vibrato that we came to understand as blues/blues rock guitar. 

[The rest of my Ted Talk 'Old White Man Pontificates on the Blues' is available on www.ted.com/getouttahere] 

joeW said:

thanks to everyone for the suggestions - I have plenty of names to add to a playlist.  Time to transcribe and plagiarise!

I don't think you can plagiarise the blues, that's been done thousands of times already.

Can't remember if this has been mentioned but Mike Bloomfield is essential. 

Litterick said:

guitars4you said:

Caffeine_Vampire said:

Litterick said:

guitars4you said:

Caffeine_Vampire said:

Litterick said:

Blues is essentially pentatonic, isn't it? I cannot imagine how a guitarist could play blues in diatonic scales. But perhaps I have been missing something. Does anyone know any blues songs that are not pentatonic?

Add a flat 5th, a tweak towards a major 3rd, a chromatic run from dominant 7th to root and you're already two thirds of the way there. Jimmy Vaughan favours the 2nd for a bit of colour etc... Every note has a purpose in blues.

the pentatonic is essential a simple sketch pad to fall back on - As you say add those notes to 'jazz' it up - 2nd (9th) flat 3rd, 3rd, 4th (as a passing note to add colour/tension), to flat 5 and 5th is a simple chromatic run - Play around with it, going up down, listen to where you start, finish, land, pass etc and you'll hear many sax players licks as you play around with it - Then 5th, 6th and dominant 7th all work when required 

Even a flat 9th has its place when used right 

Then you find you are no longer playing blues. You are playing jazz.

Nah, blues is all-encompassing and open to interpretation by the player.

You beat me to it - SRV and many players use more than 5 notes to play the blues  - Granted it can take you into fusion based areas , but it is how you use the 'additional' notes that counts - And as always you don't use all the additional notes , all the time

It is not the number of notes that matters. It is the scale. Adding grace notes to a blues melody does not alter the scale. Jazzing up a blues songs with chromatic runs and such like changes it into something else.

Most of the time I never use those graze notes as a chromatic run - I know you can - But you can use various combinations as part of a triplet - the minor 3rd + major 3rd is a common obvious, so then to add another note on the way out, before landing on a key/tone note is no different to a big bend - just different phrasing - But many times there is no line between jazz and blues - Blues is in jazz and vice versa