This blues playlist from last Friday features John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Son House, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan; a boatload of Mississippi Fred McDowell and Billie Holiday.

Lest this group be accused of being too Smithsonian-y, some Thunder, JJ Cale & Leon Russell, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Aerosmith (whom I used to hate), Drive-By Truckers, The White Stripes, Steve Earle, and Amy Winehouse just. Fucking. Killing it. And among several other heartfelt tunes about loss, love, lust, agrarian stuff, and/or the devil.

On the NFL front—whatever. Nothing’s going on.

I’ll tell you this though: there is not a single Led Zeppelin tune in this playlist that I suggest be titled “Hey Extraterrestrials: This here’s ‘The Blues’. Can you be absentee landlords?” And Elvis Costello would approve. Elvis Costello; just mull that one over. You are welcome.

Well, I think this offseason might just be tolerable. So don’t wear out your shoes and let these blues wash over you. And don’t worry: there’s no Sinatra in this playlist either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obEFlt1ELD4&list=PLM8nWenhx6H-xSriHcNC2P8tp-IwtzZoe

Yuge props to Rikki-Tikki-Deadly for assembling the playlist.