It's an exclusive from the folks at . . .

. . . Living Blues magazine. Here are the 50 most played blues CD's for 1996, as reported by the program directors and hosts of blues shows at 192 radio stations around the world.

The top 50 is based on monthly reports to Living Blues through all of 1996. The rankings don't weigh too heavily on monthly chart position, but overall reporting status throughout the year. So those discs that were reported most consistently do better here.

Are you a program director or blues radio host? Are you not reporting your playlists to Living Blues each month? So what's your problem? Click here!

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Living Blues Magazine's Top 50 Blues CD's for 1996

1. Long John Hunter Border Town Legend (Alligator)

2. Taj Mahal Phantom Blues (Private Music)

3. Lonnie Brooks Roadhouse Rules (Alligator)

4. William Clarke The Hard Way (Alligator)

5. John Primer The Real Deal (Code Blue)

6. John Hammond Found True Love (Pointblank)

7. Floyd Dixon Wake Up And Live (Alligator)

8. Cephas & Wiggins Cool Down (Alligator)

9. Billy Boy Arnold Eldorado Cadillac (Alligator)

10. Coco Montoya Gotta Mind To Travel (Blind Pig)

11. Luther Allison Blue Streak (Alligator)

12. Tommy Castro Exception To The Rule (Blind Pig)

13. Smokin' Joe Kubek Got My Mind Back (Bullseye Blues)

14. W.C. Clark Texas Soul (Black Top)

15. Gatemouth Brown Long Way Home (Verve)

16. Bo Diddley A Man Amongst Men (Telarc/Blues)

17. Duke Robillard Duke's Blues (Pointblank)

18. Studebaker John & The Hawks Tremoluxe (Blind Pig)

19. James Cotton Deep In The Blues (Verve)

20. Guitar Shorty Get Wise To Yourself (Black Top)

21. Monster Mike Welch These Blues Are Mine (Tone-Cool)

22. Luther Johnson Slammin' On The Westside (Telarc/Blues)

23. Bobby "Blue" Bland Sad Street (Malaco)

24. Buddy Guy Live: The Real Deal (Silvertone)

25. Sonny Rhodes Out Of Control (King Snake)

26. James Peterson Preachin' The Blues (Waldoxy)

27. Michelle Willson So Emotional (Bullseye Blues)

28. Paul Rishell and Annie Raines I Want You To Know (Tone-Cool)

29. Corey Harris Between Midnight And Day (Alligator)

30. Various 25th Anniversary Collection (Alligator)

31. Saffire Cleaning House (Alligator)

32. Alvin Youngblood Hart Big Mama's Door (OKeh)

33. Preston Shannon Midnight In Memphis (Bullseye Blues)

34. Muddy Waters Tribute Band You're Gonna Miss Me (Telarc/Blues)

35. Big Jack Johnson We Got To Stop This Killing (MC)

36. Carl Weathersby Don't Lay Your Blues On Me (Evidence)

37. Mike Morgan & The Crawl Looky Here (Black Top)

38. Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters Grateful Heart (Bullseye Blues)

39. Byther Smith Mississippi Kid (Delmark)

40. Sherman Robertson Here And Now (Code Blue)

41. Robert Ward Black Bottom (Black Top)

42. John Mooney Against The Wall (House Of Blues)

43. Tutu Jones Blue Texas Soul (Bullseye Blues)

44. Johnny Copeland Jungle Swing (Verve)

45. Jimmy Thackery Drive To Survive (Blind Pig)

46. Freddie King Live At The Electric Ballroom (Black Top)

47. Matt "Guitar" Murphy The Blues Don't Bother Me (Roesch)

48. Sarah Brown Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' (Blind Pig)

49. Rusty Zinn Sittin' And Waitin' (Black Top)

50. Pat Boyack & The Prowlers On The Prowl (Bullseye Blues)