Archive Review: Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters & Little Walter's Super Blues (1967/2013)

The late 1960s were a difficult time for the good folks at Chess Records. The legendary Chicago blues label was struggling to stay relevant in the face of changing musical currents, and the 1950s commercial heyday of its biggest stars – marquee names like Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters – had seemingly long since passed. This led to a number of various musical experiments, attempts to capture lightning in a bottle that extended well into the 1970s, long after the label had been sold before shutting down for good in 1975.

Although the label's experiments in electric blues, rock, and funk found varying levels of critical and commercial success, few of them prompted the debate garnered by 1967's Super Blues and the following year's The Super, Super Blues Band. The former featured the trio of Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter Jacobs performing in an informal studio jam session, while the latter album replaced the late Little Walter with the great Howlin' Wolf. Super Blues is the better of the two releases, although the second is criminally underrated, and while blues traditionalists have largely dismissed both albums, they served as an important gateway to the blues for many young fans at the time of their release.

Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters & Little Walter's Super Blues

The truth is, Super Blues is a heck of a lot of fun! Although harp legend Little Walter was hanging on by a thread during the recording sessions, the backing band – including guitarist Buddy Guy and longtime Waters' sideman Otis Spann on piano – picked up the slack. The spotlight deservedly shines on Diddley and Waters, the two talents sparring with each other in the studio while delivering solid performances. Super Blues opens with the low-slung Waters' track "Long Distance Call," the master's slide-guitar complimented by Walter's subtle harp while the vocals are nicely split between all three men; Little Walter's hoarse, underpowered voice is overshadowed by the bravado of his co-stars.

Diddley's "Who Do You Love" is provided a reckless, almost riotous performance as Bo and Muddy jawbone with each other above the song's familiar, reliable rhythm. The guitars scream and soar while drummer Frank Kirkland and bassist Sonny Wimberley hold down a fat bottom line. Waters' signature song "I'm A Man" – actually penned by Diddley – represents a duel for the ages, the two aging stars vying for top dog status on a tale that in and of itself is fueled by ego-driven braggadocio. As the song's notorious riff circles the studio like a raging tornado, Waters and Diddley deliver a heavyweight championship bout that could only end in a draw.

You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover

Chicago blues legend Willie Dixon – a talented musician, producer, and songwriter – was instrumental in the success of both Diddley and Waters, so it's only right that he is represented on Super Blues by three of his better songs. "You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover" was Diddley's last chart hit back in 1962, and had subsequently been covered by blues-loving rockers like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds. The version here is down and dirty, with unrelenting rhythms, a chaotic harp line, and chiming guitars dancing alongside Kirkland's machine-gun drumbeats. Waters' entry from the Dixon songbook, "I Just Want To Make Love To You," dates back to 1954 and represented one of the Chicago blues king's biggest hits. A bona fide blues standard, the song has also been successful in the hands of the Stones and, most notably, Foghat, although it's also been covered by Etta James, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Guy, among many others.

On Super Blues, "I Just Want To Make Love To You" is slowed to a smoldering, languid pace, the song's circular riff surrounding Waters' sultry vocals like a halo around his head, Walter spending the last of his strength blowing a fiery solo while Spann pounds the ivories like a madman. It's a strong performance, made all the more entertaining by the verbal jousting between Waters and Diddley. Little Walter takes the spotlight for a low-key replay of his 1955 Dixon-penned #1 hit "My Babe." The vocals are wisely shared by the three stars, as Walter's voice is barely heard in the mix, but it's an engaging performance nonetheless. The album closes with Diddley's spry "You Don't Love Me," Walter's jaunty harp paving the way for some imaginative fretwork on an electrified mix of blues and rock that was a good decade ahead of its time.

The Reverend's Bottom Line

Both Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters would experience ebbing fortunes in the wake of Super Blues and 1968's The Super, Super Blues Band. Although Diddley's commercial peak pre-dated the British invasion of the early-to-mid-1960s, his studio flirtations with funk and rock on albums like 1970's The Black Gladiator and 1972's Where It All Began failed to reignite his career, although they've since been reappraised as solid efforts. Hitting the rock 'n' roll oldies circuit, Diddley remained a popular live performer until his death in 2008.

By contrast, experiments like Waters' Electric Mud (1968) and After The Rain (1969), while doing little to breathe new life into the blues legend's then-moribund career, did lead to triumphs like 1969's Fathers and Sons album, recorded with Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield, as well as The London Muddy Waters Sessions in 1972. These, in turn, led to Waters' late-career resurgence with a brace of albums produced by guitarist Johnny Winter, efforts like 1977's Hard Again and the following year's I'm Ready cementing Waters' already considerable legacy as the greatest the blues has to offer.

Super Blues is by no means a groundbreaking album, but it has withstood the test of time to become a minor classic in its own right, a raucous affair that's well worth another listen for Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters fans alike. Although this Get On Down Records 2013 reissue of Super Blues omits a pair of Little Walter songs from a previous 1992 CD reissue, considering Walter's health when they were recorded, listeners might be better off tracking down one of the esteemed bluesman's "greatest hits" albums for his timeless versions of the missing "Juke" and "Sad Hours." (Get On Down Records, released November 19, 2013)

Also on That Devil Music:
Muddy Waters' Electic Mud CD review
Bo Diddley's The Black Gladiator CD review

Vinyl Review: Big Bill Broonzy's The Midnight Special (2020)

BIG BILL BROONZY
The Midnight Special: Live In Nottingham 1957

Side One:
1. This Train
2. Trouble In Mind
3. Willie Mae
4. In the Evening
5. Glory of Love
6. The Midnight Special
7. What King of Man Jesus Is

Side Two:
1. Keep Your Hand Off It
2. Nobody’s Business
3. Hey! Bub
4. The Feasting Table
5. C.C. Rider
6. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
7. Goodnight Irene

Chicago Blues Legend Big Bill Broonzy

Chicago blues legend “Big Bill” Broonzy was a bridge between the rural, Delta-influenced country blues of the 1920s and ‘30s and the more urbane, sophisticated “big city” blues created in hotbeds like Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis during the 1940s and ‘50s. Although not as well-known as near-mythical contemporaries like Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, or even Son House, Broonzy’s influence can be heard in the music of those touched by his kindness, giants of the genre like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, whose careers he helped when they first arrived in Chicago. Although he died in 1958 at the age of 65 years old, Broonzy’s music also inspired a generation of British rockers like Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, John Lennon of the Beatles, Dave Davies of the Kinks, and guitarists Rory Gallagher and Eric Clapton, among many others.

Born, literally, on the banks of the Mississippi River, Broonzy moved with his parents to Chicago as a teenager in 1920, picking up the guitar and learning to play from older bluesmen like Papa Charlie Jackson. Broonzy began recording in the mid-‘20s and by the early ‘30s he was a commanding figure on the Chicago blues scene who would help define the city’s early sound. Capable of playing in both the older vaudeville styles (ragtime and hokum) and the newly-developing, more sophisticated Chicago style, Broonzy was a smooth vocalist, accomplished guitarist, and a prolific songwriter.

Broonzy began recording for Paramount in 1927, but it was his work for Bluebird Records during the 1930s, including playing behind talents like Tampa Red, Washboard Sam, and John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, that helped define the popular sound that was known as “The Bluebird Beat.” In 1938, Broonzy performed at John Hammond’s “Spirituals To Swing” concert in New York City as a last-minute replacement for the late Delta bluesman Robert Johnson. The appearance introduced an entirely new audience to his music, winning him a small role in the film Swingin’ The Dream alongside Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong. When the post-war blues boom rendered Broonzy’s quaint homegrown style a thing of the past, he re-invented himself as a singer of authentic folk-blues and became one of the first blues artists to tour Europe, developing a new and appreciative following among blues-crazed British teens.

Big Bill Broonzy’s The Midnight Special: Live In Nottingham 1957

Chicago bluesman Big Bill Broonzy

The Midnight Special: Live In Nottingham 1957 documents one of Broonzy’s late-career concerts, this one in Nottingham, England and possibly one of the bluesman’s last-ever performances before his death a year later. The album was mastered from original analog tape by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and is surprisingly good, given the antiquated vintage of the recording. A sound engineer can only work with what they have on tape, and recordings from the ‘50s generally don’t have much sonic dynamic to enhance, but Gardner did a fine job here, Broonzy’s vocals and guitar sounding slightly muffled, but distinct enough to be entertaining and better than many dodgy 1990s-era live recordings I’ve heard. And make no mistake, Broonzy’s performance this night was, indeed, very entertaining.

The folk-blues “songster” runs through a setlist here of blues, folk, and Gospel standards, imbuing each with his unique character and charisma. The traditional “This Train” is a perfect showcase for Broonzy’s nimble-fingered fretwork, the song’s up-tempo arrangement complimented by Broonzy’s hearty vocals. The bluesman’s original “Willie Mae” is a similarly upbeat tune with wiry guitar licks and moaned lyrics while a cover of Leroy Carr’s “In the Evening” is provided a smoldering, passionate vocal delivery that is punctuated by Broonzy’s jazzy picking. “The Midnight Special” is a traditional Southern folk tune popularized in the 1930s by the great Leadbelly, and later recorded by everybody from Bob Dylan and Little Richard to the Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Broonzy’s jaunty reading of the old chestnut is highlighted by his warm vocals and spry guitar strum.

Broonzy’s original “Keep Your Hands Off Her” is mistitled here, the song originally released as a single in 1935 by Bluebird Records and it’s a fine example of the light-hearted “hokum” blues style with buoyant guitar picking and upbeat, double-entendre lyrics. The traditional “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” was recorded with some success by blueswomen like Alberta Hunter and Bessie Smith in the 1920s, and Broonzy’s version here plays up the song’s vaudeville roots with a brilliantly-upbeat performance and jazzy guitar-playing. “The Feasting Table” is one of a handful of Gospel “spirituals” included on The Midnight Special, this one leaning more towards a raucous tent revival in its energetic reading and scattershot guitarplay.

Although the song’s true origins are shrouded in mystery, Broonzy released “C.C. Rider” (a/k/a “See See Rider”) as a single in 1934. Ragtime pianist Jelly Roll Morton recalled hearing the song as far back as 1901, and Broonzy claims to have been taught the song by a former slave when he was but 10 years old. The song is no worse for the wear, however, and Broonzy’s infectious reading here is enhanced by an inspired mix of blues, jazz, and country twang. The Midnight Special closes with two performances from an “informal backstage session,” the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and Leadbelly’s folk-blues standard “Goodnight Irene.” The former is a reverent, fervid performance with Broonzy’s wailing voice staggering at first before breaking into a joyous noise while the latter song is provided a loose, almost rowdy reading with nearly-bellowed vocals and scraps of accompanying guitar.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Big Bill Broonzy’s The Midnight Special: Live In Nottingham 1957 offers an impressive representation of the artist’s immense instrumental talents, his on-stage presence and crowd-pleasing patter, and his innate ability to interpret a wide range of then-contemporary musical styles. As mentioned above, the album’s sound quality is better than one could hope for, and the artist’s performance displays why Broonzy was held in such high regard by his peers.

There is precious little “live” Broonzy available for blues fans; just a mere handful of albums now commanding collectors’ prices, and just one of a similar vintage – Southland’s The Historic Concert Recordings CD captures an 18-song Belgium performance from 1957 – which was released in 1990 and has been out-of-print nearly as long. Org Music’s vinyl release of The Midnight Special is the first appearance of this particular show that I could find, and is available on both shiny black wax from Org Music or pressed on coral-colored vinyl, available exclusively from Vinyl Me, Please (links to both below).

If you’re an old-school blues fan unfamiliar with the artist’s charms, you owe it to yourself to check out The Midnight Special, which provides an engaging introduction to Big Bill Broonzy. If you’re already a fan of Broonzy’s music, then what are you waiting for? Get it! (Org Music, released July 24th, 2020)

Buy the vinyl! Org Music link

Buy the colored wax! Vinyl Me, Please link

Archive Review: Magic Sam's Live At The Avant Garde (2013)

By the mid-1960s, Chicago blues guitarist "Magic" Sam Maghett had been kicking around the Windy City for a decade and a half, trying to kickstart a career that seemed to be buoyed entirely by his dynamic live performances. A series of well-received but under-performing sides released by the Cobra and Chief Records labels between 1957 and 1961 had earned Sam a reputation as a fiery guitarist and soulful vocalist, and while they were influential beyond what their meager sales numbers would indicate, creatively Sam didn't hit his stride until signing with Bob Koester's groundbreaking Delmark Records label.

Magic Sam's Live At the Avant Garde

At the time, Delmark Records was pioneering a new style of blues that not only pushed the staid genre into new territory, but also appealed to a growing audience of young white fans. Records by Junior Wells, J.B. Hutto, and Magic Sam's 1967 debut, West Side Soul, would withstand the test of time to become influential classics of the blues, but in the soul-drenched era, anachronistic guitar men like Maghett had a hard time finding gigs in Chicago. Sam drove north in June 1968 to perform at the Avant Garde in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the show thankfully captured on tape by high school student and blues fan Jim Charne.

The Magic man kicked off the Avant Garde set with a rip-roaring cover of Freddie King's instrumental classic "San-Ho-Zay" that he'd later record later that year for his sophomore effort Black Magic. As drummer Bob Richey delivers a strong circular beat and bassist "Big Mojo" Robert Elem holds down a fat bottom end, Magic Sam embroiders the progressive rhythms with his electrically-charged fretwork. The notes jump out of the speaker and attack your ears with the subtlety of a swarm of angry bees, but you're overjoyed by the musical honey left behind. The slightly less rambunctious "Don't Want No Woman" is built on a standard Chicago shuffle, raised a notch by Sam's underrated, soulful vocals and imaginative guitarplay.

While the original recording has been re-mastered and cleaned up as much as possible by producer and engineer Charne, there's still plenty of dirt and grease in the grooves, and the shortcomings of the original 45-year-old recording technology are evident on several tracks. It's no worse sounding than standing at the back of a smoke-filled club though, the notes bouncing and colliding off the walls and other listeners. Besides, when you're faced with a performance as stunning as Sam's take on Lowell Fulson's "It's All Your Fault Baby," you're not really going to care. His emotional vocals are paired with a languid backbeat and the song's familiar recurring lick, the guitarist delivering a blues tour-de-force. While his instrument trembles and shakes throughout the take, Sam's anguished solo almost three-minutes into the song is the definition of the blues, perfectly capturing the song's heartbreak with a few well-written lines of poetic guitarplay.

Tribute to Muddy Waters

Maghett's original "You Belong To Me" is an upbeat rocker with a jaunty rhythmic soundtrack that relies heavily on Elem's lively bass lines and Sam's machine-gun guitar licks. His vocals pop out of the mix and lyrics are delivered at a frenzied pace as Richey's rapid-fire drumbeats keep moving the clock forwards. It's an exhilarating ride, and highly recommended, but still nowhere near as alluring as Sam's reading of Amos Blakemore's "Come On In This House." Sam's vocals here often ride a rocket into the stratosphere, the singer hitting falsetto notes that seem to amplify his emotional turmoil, his wiry fretwork echoing the tearful vibe, a few well-placed notes delivering tremors the equal of any earthquake.

Magic Sam pays tribute to the great Muddy Waters with a pair of nicely-chosen-and-delivered covers, the first of the Willie Dixon-penned "Hoochie Coochie Man," one of the Chicago blues master's signature songs. With Richey and Elem laying down a martial rhythm, Sam spits out the now-legendary lyrics with a certainty that, while less forceful than Waters, is boastful nonetheless. Sam's guitar licks mimic the original recording, but he slaps some fresh paint on the song with a tense solo that wraps around your ears like barbed-wire and squeezes every bit of braggadocio out of the tale. By contrast, while his cover of Waters' "Still A Fool" retains the Delta dirt of the original, Sam takes it to a while other level, his hypnotizing guitarwork rising above his equally-enchanting vocals to leave the listener gobsmacked by the primal electricity of the performance.

One of Sam's best-known songs, "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)" was actually written by his West Side blues partner Otis Rush, but Maghett takes it and makes it entirely his own with a powerful reading, the song's up-tempo rhythms matched by Sam's exclusive guitar tones and nimble-fingered playing, the blues literally falling from his fingertips and washing over the audience. Sam goes the opposite direction with his original instrumental "Lookin' Good," the guitarist amping up a reckless rockabilly vibe, welding it to a steely blues framework, and subsequently laying down the nastiest, greasiest, most enjoyable finger-pickin' east of the mighty Mississippi before the song just choogles on down the tracks as its infectious locomotive rhythm fades into the background. 

The Reverend's Bottom Line

As mentioned above, the sound quality of Live At the Avant Garde is a bit dicey, scratchy with a bit of echo and some fuzziness. What a young Jim Charne accomplished with his original tape is amazing nonetheless, his primitive recording technology managing to capture the raw immediacy and electricity of the performance. And it's the music that matters, Magic Sam and his trio reveling in the blues, cranking out a high-energy, hour-plus set that is both intimate and expansive, the guitarist bringing his best to a meager audience in a small club. Live At the Avant Garde perfectly documents the musical growth between Sam's West Side Soul and Black Magic albums, and is a welcome addition to the blues legend's too-small catalog. Highly recommended! (Delmark Records, released November 19, 2013)

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Magic Sam's Live At the Avant Garde

Chicago Blues Legend Otis Rush, R.I.P.

Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush

The Blues Foundation and Rolling Stone magazine are both reporting on the death of Chicago blues legend Otis Rush, who passed away on Saturday, September 29th, 2018 from complications arising from a stroke the guitarist suffered in 2003. Rush was 84 years old and had been unable to perform for several years.

Otis Rush is revered by hardcore fans, but is virtually unknown outside the blues world. This in spite of the fact that his unique guitar style and hearty, soulful voice influenced a generation of blues artists and would factor heavily in the sound of rockers like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Michael Bloomfield, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among many others. Indifferent or underfunded record labels and bad contracts, erratic behavior, mediocre live performances, and poor management have prevented Rush from taking his rightful place as one of the greats of the Chicago blues.

Born and raised in Mississippi, the left-handed Otis Rush learned the rudiments of blues harp and guitar, which he played upside down, while still a youth. Rush moved to Chicago in 1948 and, inspired by the electric Delta blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, was performing in South Side and West Side clubs by the age of 20. Rush’s expressive fretwork and powerful vocals brought him to the attention of Willie Dixon, who signed the guitarist to Cobra Records.

Rush hit it out of the ballpark with his first side for Cobra, “I Can’t Quit You Baby” quickly rising to #6 on the Billboard magazine R&B chart in 1956. Subsequent singles for the label performed nearly as well, songs like “Double Trouble,” “All Your Love,” and “My Love Will Never Die” becoming staples of Rush’s live show for decades and, along with fellow guitarists Magic Sam and Buddy Guy, Rush helped to define and popularize the West Side Chicago blues sound.

When Cobra Records went bankrupt in 1959, Rush followed his producer Dixon over to Chess Records. The label recorded eight songs on the guitarist between 1960 and ‘62, but only released one lone single, the classic “So Many Roads, So Many Trains.” Dismayed by the lack of support from Chess, Rush jumped to rival Duke Records, which also released just one single, the houserockin’ “Homework” (later covered by the J. Geils Band). Although his fortunes in the recording studio were waning, Rush’s live performances were in high demand, and he toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival.

In 1965, Rush had the rare good luck to have five songs included on Vanguard’s seminal Chicago/The Blues/Today! compilation album, which brought the guitarist’s unique sound to an appreciative rock music audience. Guitarist Mike Bloomfield, of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, convinced his manager Albert Grossman to take Rush on as a client. With a deal from Atlantic Records’ Cotillion subsidiary in their pocket, Bloomfield and fellow blues-rock guitarist Nick Gravenites produced Rush’s Mourning For The Morning album in 1969. The pair failed to capture the guitarist’s incendiary performance style on tape and when the album suffered from lackluster sales, the label dropped Rush.

Undaunted, Grossman grabbed a deal for the guitarist with Capitol Records, and Gravenites went back into the studio with Rush in 1971 to record Right Place, Wrong Time, widely considered to be Rush’s best album. Not liking what they heard, the label refused to release the album, and it sat on a shelf until the independent Bullfrog Records bought the rights and released it in 1976. By this time, however, the allure of the blues for white rock audiences had fallen by the wayside, and the album sold few copies.

Rush recorded the unspectacular Cold Day In Hell for Delmark Records in 1975, but recording sessions became few and far between for the bluesman well into the 1980s, and he made a living through club performances and the odd festival appearance. Rush retired from music for a while in the early 1980s, but by mid-decade he was back in the saddle, using questionable pick-up bands for performances outside of Chicago.

Rush’s reputation took a hit during the 1980s as the guitarist displayed increasingly erratic behavior and delivered mediocre performances with substandard bands, many of which were later released on vinyl and compact disc by exploitative fly-by-night labels. By 1994, though, Rush had seemingly tightened up his game, and he recorded the inspired Ain’t Enough Comin’ In with noted producer John Porter, his first studio album in sixteen years.

Rush released what might be the final studio album of his career in 1998, Any Place I’m Goin’ receiving widespread critical acclaim and earning Rush his first and only Grammy® Award for “Best Traditional Blues Album.” Rush toured steadily throughout the 1990s and into the ‘00s until suffering a stroke in 2003 that put the Chicago blues legend on the sidelines for good. Rush’s Live...And In Concert From San Francisco was released in 2006, the album capturing an above-average 1999 performance by the underrated Chicago blues legend.

Often overshadowed by contemporaries like Buddy Guy and Magic Sam, Otis Rush’s influence nevertheless can be heard in the music of current Chicago bluesmen like Dave Specter and Nick Moss. Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1984, Rush made a rare public appearance in June 2016 at the Chicago Blues Festival when the city declared June 12th to be “Otis Rush Day.” Ranked a measly #53 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “100 Greatest Guitarists” list, Otis Rush’s music and incredible tone will endure and continue to inspire generations of guitarists to come.






Otis Rush biography courtesy of Chicago Blues (1940s-1960s): Gordon’s Blues Guide, Volume Two eBook

1968 Revisited: Muddy Waters' Electric Mud

The mid-to-late 1960s were a difficult time for the bluesmen of the 1950s. The young African-American audiences they once ruled had largely turned their back on the blues, preferring the pop-soul of Motown or the Memphis soul of Stax Records to what they increasingly saw as their “parent’s music.” Young white rock ‘n’ roll fans had just begun to embrace the blues, leaving legends like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Little Water, among others, to scramble for every hard dollar. For Waters, this meant his record label – Chess Records – trying to bring a contemporary edge to his music by forcing the bluesman into the uncomfortable position of a blues-rock artist.

Many, if not most, blues purists shudder and shake their collective heads in revulsion at the very mention of Waters’ Electric Mud album, the result of a grand experiment by producer Marshall Chess to introduce the bluesman to a young, white audience. For some of us, though, the 1968 recording was our first exposure to the Chicago blues legend, and while many of the album’s performances don’t meet the highs of either Waters’ classic 1950s sides or his late-career, Johnny Winter-produced 1970s era albums, Electric Mud still has its charms. The album sold exceptionally well upon its release and has proven to be quite influential in the years since, with artists as diverse as guitar-god Jimi Hendrix and rapper Chuck D singing the praises of Electric Mud.

Muddy Waters’ Electric Mud

Chess had a simple concept for Electric Mud: re-imagine Muddy’s classic songs as psychedelic blues-rock romps (it was 1968, after all) and back the master with a band of young players like guitarists Pete Cosey and Phil Upchurch, and keyboardist Charles Stepney, the latter two men from the great psychedelic-soul outfit Rotary Connection. While many of the song choices for Electric Mud were pretty good, others – like a horrible cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together” – makes one wonder what Chess was thinking in making what he termed a “concept album.” Still, as mentioned previously, there’s a lot to like on Electric Mud.

Waters’ classic “She’s All Right” is re-tooled as a dark-hued voodoo stomp, Waters’ hypnotic vocals reaching up from the boggy swamp, his voice surrounded by squalls of swirling wah-wah guitar and crashing drumbeats, the song’s extended jam evolving into a soft-peddled instrumental fade-out of the Temptations’ “My Girl” complete with dancing flute. The raucous Waters/Bo Diddley gem “I’m A Man (Mannish Boy)” benefits greatly from a more rock-oriented arrangement, wiry guitars entwined with Waters’ swaggering vocals and explosive rhythms to great effect.

The Willie Dixon-penned “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” welds jazzy guitar licks to blustery rock ‘n’ roll percussion and bluesy vocals for a powerful performance. Although Waters’ vocals are all but lost in the din, the unbridled psychedelic zeal of “Herbert Harper’s Free Press” made the song one of Hendrix’s favorites, while Dixon’s “Same Thing” displays Waters’ ability to rise above the mix to deliver a strong vocal performance amidst smothering instrumental chaos, with (I’m guessing) Upchurch’s jagged, fractured guitarplay embroidered throughout the performance.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

While critics, almost to a man, hated Electric Mud, the album equally reviled by the aforementioned blues purists, young white rock fans – especially those in England, the land of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page – flocked to the LP in droves. It was, for a while, Waters’ most commercially-successful album, so when it came time to start thinking about a follow-up, Chess decided to deliver fans more of the same, but with a few significant changes. For 1969’s After the Rain, producer Chess got rid of the awkward, ill-fated cover tunes and instead went with tried-and-true blues treasures from Waters’ deep catalog of songs.

Nevertheless, Electric Mud remains a valuable document of Waters’ lengthy and unusually varied (for a bluesman of his vintage) career, the psychedelic-blues sounds of Electric Mud definitely a product of their era. The guitars of free-jazz master Pete Cosey (who would go on to play with Miles Davis) and psychedelic-soul innovator Phil Upchurch (vastly underrated, in my estimation) positively light up Electric Mud, an album that continues to find a new audience on CD and vinyl in spite of itself...

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Muddy Waters’ Electric Mud & After the Rain twofer

Buy the vinyl from Third Man Records: Muddy Waters’ Electric Mud

Book Review: Robert Gordon's Can't Be Satisfied (2003)

There are precious few cultural icons as important as McKinley Morganfield, better known to most people as Muddy Waters. A Mississippi Delta sharecropper working on the Stovall Plantation, the thirty-year-old Morganfield would travel to Chicago in 1943 to eventually become the musical link between Delta bluesmen like Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, and Son House and early rockers like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.

During the next forty years, Waters would find fame as a bandleader, singer and guitarist, influencing a generation of blues and rock musicians while scrabbling for every hard dollar. Robert Gordon, music journalist and author of the acclaimed It Came From Memphis, has written the definitive biography of the blues legend, Can’t Be Satisfied.

Robert Gordon’s Can’t Be Satisfied

Can’t Be Satisfied is based on interviews conducted by Gordon with family and former Waters band members and on four decades of published material, from obscure manuscripts in university libraries to books, newspapers and magazines and, of course, the music of Muddy Waters itself. The resulting book is, perhaps, the most comprehensive music biography outside of Peter Guralnick’s excellent books on Elvis Presley. Gordon finds Waters in the Mississippi cotton fields of his youth, recounting his formative years and early field recordings with Library of Congress historian Alan Lomax and Fisk University professor John Work. We travel along with Waters when he first arrives in Chicago, already a booming blues town during the unpredictable World War II years. Waters’ relationship with famed label magnate Leonard Chess is covered in detail, as are the studio sessions for Chess Records and the Aristocrat label that resulted in a number of late ’40s and early ’50s R&B chart hits for Waters.

After Water’s popularity waned with African-American record buyers more interested in soul records than in Delta-dirtied blues, Gordon takes us on the road to England and across the United States with Waters and his touring band. Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, Waters played to a younger white, middle class audience, influencing rockers like the Rolling Stones, who took their name from a Waters’ song. Gordon recounts the early ‘60s folk era when Waters and contemporaries like Mississippi John Hurt were recast as “folk blues” artists. Can’t Be Satisfied winds down with Waters’ late ‘70s studio work with Johnny Winter and death in 1983 from cancer.

Gordon writes in a fluid style, his enthusiasm sometimes getting the best of him when describing a
certain song or performance. Brought up on the blues in Memphis, Gordon has an ear for the music and brings a great deal of passion and empathy to his treatment of Waters. He offers up the blues giant with warts intact, covering Waters’ frequent autocratic manner as bandleader, his considerable womanizing that would lead to numerous children, and his infrequent mean streak that would cause band members to quit.

Gordon also does an admirable job in relating Waters’ generosity, his love of family, and his sense of responsibility for his many children and his creativity, which was never more than a few steps away from the Delta. More importantly, Gordon tells the story of the blues, the music’s roots and its importance and explains its influence on music today. The book’s appendixes offer up a suggested discography and other historical minutiae while Gordon’s exhaustive notes bring Waters’ life into finer detail.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Muddy Waters is an important figure in American music, not only for his own recordings, which would be enough to ensure his legacy, but also for the many talented musicians Waters brought into his band and launched into the spotlight. Little Walter, Otis Spann, Jimmy Reed and James Cotton all got their start in Waters’ bands, each contributing to Waters’ reputation even while creating musical history with their own work. Muddy Waters helped define the Chicago blues sound, putting the wheels in motion for much of what would follow in the music world, from blues and jazz to R&B and rock ‘n’ roll. Waters’ story is a phenomenal tale, expertly told by Robert Gordon in Can’t Be Satisfied, an excellent book that should not be overlooked by anyone with more than a passing interest in blues or rock music. (Back Bay Books, published 2003)

Review originally published in Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine, 2003

Buy the book from Amazon.com: Robert Gordon’s Can't Be Satisfied

CD Preview: Ronnie Baker Brooks’ Times Have Changed

Chicago blues guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks will release his first album in nearly a decade when Provogue Records drops Brooks’ Times Have Changed on January 20th, 2017. Produced by Steve Jordan, who has worked with talents like Keith Richards and Eric Clapton, Times Have Changed was recorded at the legendary Royal Studios in Memphis and Nashville’s Blackbird studio.

Times Have Changed features a number of storied guests, including Memphis soul legend Steve Cropper, “Big Head” Todd Mohr, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Felix Cavaliere (The Rascals) and, of course, Lonnie Brooks. Recording at Royal Studios in Memphis, Brooks and Jordan enlisted the Hi Rhythm Section of brothers Teenie Hodges on guitar, Charles on keyboards, and drummer Leroy Hodges, who played on hits by artists like Al Green and Ann Peebles. “We used the same mics that Al Green used on his record,” Brooks says in a press release for the new album. “Matter of fact, we were using much of the same band! It kind of took that vibe.”

Brooks recorded several tracks for Times Have Changed in Nashville, taking advantage of the talent available in the “Music City.” Says Brooks of the studio, “it had great hospitality, a great vibe, great tone, great equipment. And of course I got to get closer to some of the musicians who live there, Felix Cavaliere, Steve Cropper – they all live there, and it just created a great atmosphere. One of the key things for me was that we got Todd Mohr there, and he was willing to play rhythm guitar along with Lee Roy Parnell, so we got a nice little chemistry going with the three guitar parts together.”

The son of legendary bluesman Lonnie Brooks, Chicago-born Ronnie Baker began playing guitar at around six years old. At age nineteen he joined his father’s band, the young guitarist playing alongside blues giants like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Koko Taylor. Brooks launched his solo career with the 1998 release of his debut album Golddigger, for which he received a Blues Music Award nomination as “Best New Artist.” Brooks released his sophomore effort, Take Me Witcha, in 2001 and followed up with The Torch in 2006, the album produced by Jellybean Johnson (The Time) and including contributions from bluesmen Eddy Clearwater and Willie Kent as well as Memphis rapper Al Kapone. Most recently, Brooks has toured with his father and younger brother Wayne Baker Brooks as the Brooks Family Band.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Ronnie Baker Brooks’ Times Have Changed

CD Review: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s Got A Mind To Give Up Living - Live 1966 (2016)

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band were musical trailblazers not because they were fusing blues music and rock ‘n’ roll unlike any band before them – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and the Yardbirds, among others, had already been doing so on the other side of the pond, even if they were relatively unknown to American audiences. No, Butterfield’s group was influential because they were the first interracial band to emerge from the 1960s, and they played Chicago blues with a rock ‘n’ roll edge that retained the emotional soul of the former and the unbridled energy of the latter.

The band was formed in Chicago in 1963 by homegrown blues fan Paul Butterfield and transplanted Oklahoman Elvin Bishop, both of who were ostensibly attending the University of Chicago at the time but, in reality, spent more time in the city’s notorious blues clubs than in classes. The offer of a regular performing gig prompted Butterfield to lure bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay from Muddy Waters’ band, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was formed. The band caught the eye of Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild and, adding the phenomenal guitarist Michael Bloomfield to the line-up, they secured a record deal with the label and thus a legend was born.

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s Got A Mind To Give Up Living

After several misfires in the studio, the band released its self-titled debut album in late 1965; keyboardist Mark Naftalin was brought on board during the album’s recording sessions to expand the band’s sound. With Butterfield on the microphone and blowing a mighty blues harp (influenced by the likes of Junior Wells and Little Walter), Bloomfield adding his innovative lead guitar, Bishop providing solid rhythm guitar, and a seasoned rhythm section holding down the bottom end, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band quickly made a name for themselves as an electrifying and imaginative live outfit. Although the band’s debut album only rose to #123 on the Billboard album chart, it has since become a blues-rock touchstone and is widely considered one of the truly pioneering albums of the blues.

The band toured across the country in the wake of their debut album, appearing at the Newport Folk Festival in ’65 (even playing behind Bob Dylan); opening for the Jefferson Airplane in San Francisco; and hitting the east coast with a May 1966 performance at the Unicorn Coffee House in Boston, Massachusetts. By this time, Sam Lay had fallen ill and was replaced by jazz drummer Billy Davenport, himself an alumnus of Muddy Waters’ and Howlin’ Wolf’s bands. One of the Butterfield band’s rafter-shaking performances at the Unicorn Coffee House was recorded, the performance recently rediscovered and released on CD by the good folks at Real Gone Music as Got A Mind To Give Up Living – Live 1966. Previously unreleased – I can’t even find mention of this particular show in any of my bootleg LP references – this dynamite 13-track live set earns its legit release status.

Born In Chicago

Capturing the band at the peak of its performance skills, Got A Mind To Give Up Living offers up a mix of songs from the band’s debut and their upcoming musical tour de force, East-West, which was recorded and released later in 1966. Providing an hour-plus of low-fidelity, high-energy jams, the albums kicks off with a rattletrap instrumental vamp to introduce the band, jumping directly into an inspired take on Elmore James’ “Look Over Yonders Wall” that features Butterfield’s vibrant harp, Bloomfield’s stinging guitar licks, and the rhythm section’s rollicking instrumental backdrop. The band’s signature song, the Nick Gravenites-penned “Born In Chicago,” offers up a rowdy good time; Butterfield’s rapid-fire reading of the lyrics matched by a similarly fast-paced but multi-textured rhythm track, which itself is neatly embroidered by the frontman’s fluid harp playing.

“Love Her With A Feeling” is a vintage 1930s-era Tampa Red blues song famously covered by guitarist Freddie King; never recorded to album by Butterfield and crew, it’s delivered this night as a slow-burn Chicago blues dirge, Bloomfield’s amazing fretwork leaping out of the arrangement as Butterfield’s emotional vocals are underlined by his mournful harp and the band’s steady, traditional Chicago blues beat. Later recorded for East-West, “Get Out Of My Life, Woman” was written by New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint, and the band evinces a funky Crescent City groove atop which Butterfield lays down his vocals and Naftalin adds his lively, melodic keyboard flourishes. With a similar vibe, the band’s cover of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ R&B gem “One More Heartache” is an up-tempo lil’ rocker that benefits from Davenport’s jazzy percussion and Butterfield’s upbeat vocals and brilliant accompanying harp.

The instrumental “Work Song,” also from the band’s then-forthcoming album, is a romping, stomping extended jam courtesy of jazz trumpeter Nat Adderley (brother of saxman Cannonball), the song allowing each of the band members to step into the spotlight for a little solo time. The performance never loses cohesion or energy, though (and the listener never loses interest, even after 12+ minutes). The title track here is one of the darker numbers from East-West, a real blues tear-jerker that features some of Butterfield’s most emotional and nuanced harp-play as well as Bloomfield’s frenetic guitar solos. The Muddy Waters’ blues standard “Got My Mojo Working” closes out the album, Arnold and Davenport laying down a fine shuffling groove that allows Butterfield’s harp and Bloomfield’s guitar to run free.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Let’s address the elephant in the room first, shall we? The sound on Got A Mind To Give Up Living is, to put it mildly, “less than perfect.” I have no doubt that engineer Mike Milchner did the best he had with the tapes he was provided, but as the old adage goes, “you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” Recording technology in 1966 was still in the cave-painting era, and whatever rig was used to capture this otherwise blistering performance was probably somewhat Neanderthal in nature. Bloomfield’s usually nuanced vocals are often washed out or redlined, too hot for the tape. There’s an overall echoed sound that club spelunkers will readily recognize, and more than a little fuzz growing on the cave walls, if you catch my meaning...

That being said, Got A Mind To Give Up Living documents a prime performance by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and there just ain’t that many of those around, Bunkie! Milchner seems to have brightened up the instruments so that, for instance, Butterfield’s wired harp playing and Bloomfield’s electrifying fretwork stand tall in the mix, while Davenport’s steady pounding of the skins provides an anchor for many of the performances. Arnold’s fluid bassplay is almost altogether lost in the din and distortion, and Bishop’s skilled rhythmic work is mostly indiscernible.

Longtime fans of Butterfield and Bloomfield will certainly appreciate the performance, but newcomers should probably start with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and East-West albums before venturing into these waters. There’s no arguing, though, that at their prime the Butterfield gang was simply explosive on stage, and Got A Mind To Give Up Living captures the full megatonnage of the band’s performance. Grade: B+ (Real Gone Music, released June 3, 2016)

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s Got A Mind To Give Up Living - Live 1966 

Book Review: Steve Krakow's My Kind of Sound: The Secret History of Chicago Music Compendium (2016)

He may not be a household name, but writer, artist, and musician Steve Krakow (a/k/a Plastic Crimewave) is one of the most important and engaging music historians working in the field today. A self-taught expert on psychedelic rock and esoteric music, Krakow – under his ‘Plastic Crimewave’ nom de plume – launched his Galactic Zoo Dossier music zine in 1995. Published by the Chicago-based Drag City Records label, Galactic Zoo Dossier is a joyful celebration of the musical and pop culture flotsam and jetsam of the 1960s and ‘70s. Most notably, every issue of the zine (published roughly once a year to date) is hand-drawn by Krakow in his unique, psychedelic-tinged style.

Krakow’s bona fides extend beyond the publication of Galactic Zoo Dossier, although his eclectic tastes have led to interviews in those pages with such interesting talents as the Clive Palmer (Incredible String Band), Simeon (Silver Apples), Dave Lambert (Strawbs), Dick Taylor (The Pretty Things), and Arthur ‘Hellfire’ Brown (the zine takes its name from an album by Brown’s band Kingdom Come). As a musician, Krakow fronts Plastic Crimewave Sound, the avant-garde psychedelic outfit releasing half a dozen albums to date and, as a visionary, Krakow is promoter of the Million Tongues Festival in Chicago, exposing fringe and cult artists to a new audience.

Steve Krakow’s My Kind of Sound

Most importantly for our purpose here, Krakow is the creator of The Secret History of Chicago Music. Krakow’s hand-lettered and hand-drawn column has been published by alternative newsweekly the Chicago Reader since 2005. An outgrowth of Galactic Zoo Dossier, the single-panel strip was meant to showcase “pivotal Chicago musicians that somehow have not gotten their just dues,” and it runs as a semi-monthly feature in the paper. Krakow also hosts a regular “Secret History” segment on WGN-AM radio, taking phone calls related to the featured artist, some of whom join the conversation. Now nearly 200 of Krakow’s “Secret History” columns – more than a decade of his work – have been collected by publisher Curbside Splendor in a gorgeous hardback book.

Ostensibly an odd-shaped (6.75” x 8.75”) art portfolio with matte B&W covers and thick, semi-glossy paper, My Kind of Sound: The Secret History of Chicago Music Compendium is an invaluable, groundbreaking work of original research and hell of a lot of fun to read and pore over. Krakow’s enthusiasm as a fan comes through in every artist profile he presents, and his familiarity with the bands and their music is complimented by personal interviews whenever Krakow is able to track the down an artist or band member. Every pen-and-ink panel features a sketch of the band or artist (some more effective than others, but all of them enchanting) along with an insightful, informative hand-lettered bio that captures the essence of the subject, providing a bit of back story, the reasons why we should care about them and, when possible, where the musicians are today – no little feat for any writer.  

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

The scope of Krakow’s achievement with My Kind of Sound is remarkable by any standard, and the range of artists he covers is impressively diverse. From lesser-known Chicago bluesmen like Blind Arvella Gray, Fenton Robinson, and Mighty Joe Young to obscure rockers like Mason Proffit, the Ides of March, and Starcastle, Krakow gives ‘em all the deluxe treatment. Throughout the book, Krakow frequently covers more prominent artists like Bo Diddley, Rufus, and ‘Magic’ Sam Maghett, but he also gives a lot of love to true cult musicians like Skafish, Ken Nordine, Phil Upchurch, and the Illinois Speed Press, among many others.

It’s a heavy load to carry, but Krakow skillfully documents Chicago’s rich musical history in all its hues and facets, preserving it for the future. If you’re anything like the Reverend, Krakow’s My Kind of Sound will have you filling up your Amazon wish list and digging through vinyl listings on Discogs – and that’s the highest praise I can think of… Grade: A+ (Curbside Splendor, published January 5, 2016)

Buy the book from Amazon.com: Steve Krakow's My Kind of Sound: The Secret History of Chicago Music Compendium

Gordon's Blues Guides now available for your eBook reader!!!

Some of you know, but a lot of you might not, but the Reverend loves the blues. Your humble music critic and historian has been enamored of the blues since I was a wee teen spinning Furry Lewis sides on a portable turntable. I've covered the blues for most of the 44 years that I've been writing about music, and spent 6 1/2 years as the "Blues Guide" for About.com as well as contributing to The Blues magazine in the U.K. and Blues Music magazine here in the states.

Along the way, I've learned a lot about the blues, and I've put that knowledge to good use, creating three of these Gordon's Blues Guides eBooks for new and veteran fans alike to get more info on the key artists in their respective blues styles. All of the Reverend's eBooks are available for the Kindle from Amazon.com as well as from iTunes and Barnes & Noble's Nook store (if you look for 'em).

With the publication of Blues-Rock, the Rev's third book in the series (watch for a contemporary blues guide in 2016!), we thought it only fair that we recap the series with a list of all of the Rev's eBooks in the hopes that we can convince you to lay down some hard coin on one or more of these entertaining, educational tomes (links in titles to Amazon.com Kindle store):

Blues-Rock: Gordon's Blues Guides, Volume Three
Blues-Rock (1960s-2010s) is the third volume of Gordon's Blues Guides, a concise and informative primer on this popular sub-genre of the blues, from its formation in the early 1960s through the present day. The guide provides a brief history of early blues-rock bands along with a list of key artists with biographies and recommended recordings. (165pp, $3.49)

Chicago Blues: Gordon's Blues Guides, Volume Two
Chicago Blues (1940s-1960s) is the second volume of Gordon's Blues Guides, a quick and easy primer on the Chicago blues style from the 1940s through the 1960s. The guide provides a brief history of the early days of the city's blues scene, a list of key artists with biographies, and recommended recordings as well as an overview of Chicago-based record labels and a "blues glossary." (78pp, $2.99)

Delta Blues: Gordon's Blues Guides, Volume One
Delta Blues is the first volume of Gordon's Blues Guides, a quick and easy primer on the Mississippi Delta blues music of the 1920s and '30s. The guide provides a brief history of the music, a list of the key artists with biographies, and recommended recordings. (43pp, $1.99)

Stevie Ray Vaughan Buying Guide
The Stevie Ray Vaughan Buying Guide is an illustrated, album by album overview of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist’s too-brief career including a condensed artist biography, a discography with complete song listings, and even a select discography of bootleg albums, all compiled by the Rev. Keith A. Gordon, former About.com Blues Guide. As a bonus, the Reverend also includes his reviews of several of Vaughan's albums, including the seminal Texas Flood and In Session, with blues legend Albert King. (94pp, $2.99)

Frank Zappa Buying Guide
During his lifetime and a musical career that spanned five decades, Frank Zappa released almost 60 albums of rock, jazz-rock, and classical music. The Frank Zappa Buying Guide is an album by album guide to navigating the often daunting Zappa catalog, with color cover photos for each album, as well as descriptions, band history, and much more for the Zappa fan or newcomer alike. (92pp, $2.99)

Cash Box Kings Hold Court with new Blind Pig Records album

Chicago blues outfit the Cash Box Kings have announced an April 28th, 2015 release date for Holding Court, the award-winning band’s third album for Blind Pig Records. Holding Court continues the Kings’ tradition of blending old-school roots ‘n’ blues from the 1940s and ‘50s with a contemporary sound and energy.

Originally formed by singer, songwriter, and harmonica player Joe Nosek, the Cash Box Kings also feature singer and songwriter Oscar Wilson, a charismatic and larger-than-life frontman that reminds audiences of the golden Chicago blues era of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. The band also includes drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith and guitarist Joel Paterson as well as guest members like bassist Gerry Hundt, guitarist Billy Flynn, and pianist Barrelhouse Chuck, among other talented musicians.

With Holding Court, the Cash Box Kings pay tribute to some of the founding fathers of contemporary blues with raucous covers of classic songs from giants like Jimmy Rogers (“Out On The Road”) and John Lee Hooker (“Hobo Blues”), as well as tunes from lesser-known but no less important artists like Big Smokey Smothers (“I Ain’t Gonna Be No Monkey Man”) and Honey Boy Allen (“I’m A Real Lover Baby”). The album also features a raft of original material that skillfully blends a variety of roots sounds with Chicago blues tradition.   

In a press release for Holding Court, Nosek says “we're very excited about putting out our third release with Blind Pig. We feel that this is some of the strongest and most topical music that we've ever recorded and we're really excited to share it with the rest of the blues world. Like all our other albums, this is a 'live' in the studio recording that is primarily focused on the traditional style of Chicago blues music that we feel so passionate about.  But we also tried to touch on some of the other great American musical styles that we love like ragtime, jump blues and swamp pop. We really feel 'at home' with Blind Pig and appreciate all the support that the label has given us. We're grateful for them having faith in us and our musical vision.”