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:: Release Info:
::
:: Artist......> VA
:: Title.......> The Greats Sittin in-Chicago Blues Now
:: Label.......> Raisin Music
:: Genre.......> Blues
:: Rip.Date....> 03.29.2005
:: Street.Date.> 00.00.2005
:: Source......> CDDA
:: Quality.....> VBRkbps - Joint-Stereo
:: Play Time...> 40:18 min
::
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:: Track Listing:
::
:: 01. Albert King - Old Blue Ribbon
:: 02. John Primer - Every Time You Leave Me
:: 03. J. A. Lane - That's All Right
:: 04. Rick Darnell - the Thrill is Gone
:: 05. Clay Williams - Rough Dried Woman
:: 06. Buddy Guy - A Man and His Blues
:: 07. Johnny Taylor - if You Love Me Like You Say
:: 08. Robert Johnson - Sweet Home Chicago
:: 09. B.B. King - It's My Own Fault
:: 10. Mckinley Morganfield - Got My Mojo Working
::
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:: Release Notes:
::
:: THE GREATS SITTIN' IN: CHICAGO BLUES NOW! is a Chicago blues
:: compilation CD. It is also part of a multifaceted project
:: that includes Sittin' In With The Greats: The Chicago Blues
:: Play-Along CD. Some of the greatest Chicago blues
:: singers/instrumentalists on the scene today were brought
:: together with the finest rhythm sections/sidemen in Chicago
:: blues--keeping in mind important musical compatibility
:: considerations--for a special recording session.
::
:: John Primer, Willie Kent, Magic Slim and Little Smokey
:: Smothers are among those who not only make up a relatively
:: small group of traditional Chicago artists and who are
:: currently keeping the music alive and vital, but are among
:: those who have helped create and shape the sound of Chicago
:: blues as we know it now.
::
:: We are privileged to have Lurrie Bell on this recording.
:: Lurrie is unquestionably one of the greatest Chicago Blues
:: guitarists alive today. We are also happy to introduce a
:: wonderful singer, Mike Avery, who not only has an exceptional
:: voice, but has special familial ties to the roots of Chicago
:: blues.
::
::
:: JOHN PRIMER
::
:: Native of Camden, Mississippi, John picked up his first
:: guitar at age eight. With the daily sounds of Jimmy Reed,
:: Muddy Waters, Elmore James and many other blues artists
:: coming through his grandmother's tube radio, John was
:: instantly hooked on the blues. In 1963 at the age of
:: eighteen, he migrated to Chicago where modern electric blues
:: was in its formative stage. John became the house guitarist
:: at the famous Theresa's Lounge on the south side in 1974.
:: During this period that lasted five years, he played with
:: such originators as Sammy Lawhorn, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy,
:: Smokey Smothers and a host of other innovators who were
:: sculpting the sound of Chicago blues. In 1979, John joined
:: the legendary Willie Dixon's band. The Chicago Blues
:: All-Stars. His next gig was with the great Muddy Waters who
:: hired John not only as a guitarist, but as an opening act. He
:: was with Muddy until the legend's death in 1983. John then
:: joined Magic Slim's band with whom he toured for fourteen
:: years. In 1995, he released his major label debut. The Real
:: Deal. He has ten solo albums to date.
::
:: LITTLE SMOKEY SMOTHERS
::
:: LITTLE SMOKEY SMOTHERS, originally from Tchula Mississippi,
:: made his way to Chicago as a young teenager where his older
:: brother Smokey Smothers was already an established blues
:: musician on the club scene. He loved the sound of blues music
:: and spent some of his time learning to play a harmonica that
:: he would pull out of his pocket only when nobody was around.
:: But it wasn't until he picked up his first guitar at sixteen
:: that he knew what he wanted to do with his life. Still
:: underage, Smokey would get to see his brother play by
:: sneaking into the clubs where none of the club owners knew
:: his name, but he was Smokey's little brother. They dubbed him
:: Little Smokey, and he has had that name ever since.
::
:: Smokey's first teacher was a young man who lived across the
:: street form him named Magic Sam. At sixteen, Smokey spent
:: hours at Sam's house practicing his guitar with his good
:: friend. At seventeen, he landed his first gig. A year lager ,
:: the great Howlin' Wolf asked him to join his band. Smokey
:: held down the guitar seat with Wolf for two years and he then
:: went on to play with the legendary bluesman Earl Hooker with
:: whom he worked for several years. At twenty-three, he started
:: his own band which quickly became popular and was the first
:: Chicago Blues band to use a full horn section. As Smokey put
:: it, "up to that point Otis Rush and Wolf carried but one horn
:: with them. I brought in the full section, including trumpet
:: and Willie Henderson on baritone...." His high energy shows
:: included his performance of a number of exciting acrobatic
:: moves with his guitar on stage. In the 1960s, Smokey mentored
:: both Paul Butterfield and Elvin Bishop of the Paul
:: Butterfield Blues Band. Elvin Bishop continues to credit
:: Little Smokey with his mentoring of the band and his
:: importance in the blues surge of the 1960s for white
:: audiences. Smokey has recorded several CDs under his own
:: name, and in his latest effort, he teamed up with Elvin
:: Bishop for a live recording.
::
:: WILLIE KENT
::
:: Born in Inverness, Sunflower County, Mississippi, in 1936,
:: Willie lived with his family in a sharecropper's shack. He
:: was devoted to the church where he sang in the gospel choir
:: when he was nine years old. Willie grew up hearing Elmore
:: James, Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Bill Broonzy, Johnny Shines,
:: Louis Jordan and others everyday on radio's "King Biscuit
:: Hour." There was a roadhouse not far up the road called The
:: Harlem Inn where the underage Kent got to hear regulars Ike
:: Turner, Jake Brenston, Little Milton, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy
:: Waters. At sixteen he followed the blues and the jobs to
:: Chicago where he learned to play from the masters such as
:: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Littler Walter, Junior Parker,
:: Jimmy Rogers, Magic Sam and others. Leading his own band both
:: on the road and in the studio, Willie has established himself
:: as one of the greatest singers in blues today.
::
:: MAGIC SLIM
::
:: Magic Slim was born Morris Holt on August 7, 1937 in Grenada,
:: Mississippi and began in music as a piano player. After
:: losing one of his fingers in a farming accident, he switched
:: to guitar. In 1955 he moved to Chicago and played bass in
:: this friend Magic Sam's band. It was Sam who dubbed him Magic
:: Slim. During his time in Chicago, Slim had absorbed the
:: sounds and styles of the city's great bluesmen. Besides Magic
:: Sam, Slim was strongly influenced by Muddy Waters, Freddie
:: King and Otis Rush. After moving back to Mississippi and
:: working on his guitar skills, Slim came back to Chicago
:: determined to make a name for himself. He found a gig as lead
:: guitarist with a south side band called Mr. Pitiful and the
:: Teardrops. When the band's singer left the group, Slim took
:: over the as lead vocalist. He recorded his first 45 RPM in
:: 1966, won a strong following in the clubs and eventually took
:: over Hound Dog Taylor's house gig at Florence's Lounge. His
:: guitar playing, both aggressive and raw, along with his
:: roaring gruff vocals, gives Slim a distinctive and powerful
:: style all his own. His rhythm driven, tough sound has
:: established him as one of the most original bluesmen on the
:: scene.
::
:: MIKE AVERY
::
:: When your mother plays nothin' but the blues in the house,
:: your cousin is blues titan Magic Sam, and you grow up in the
:: same building with him on the west side of Chicago, you have
:: little choice but to be firmly rooted in the blues. As a
:: teenager, Mike remembers all the backyard barbecue parties
:: that Sam hosted. "man, he loved to barbecue. He used to have
:: them all the time. And I remember all kind of blues musicians
:: and singers like Otis Clay, Tyrone Davis, Betty Wright used
:: to come around. Sam would cook and play blues on the back
:: porch every chance he could. You could smell the barbecue
:: clear down the street and all way at the end of the alley..."
::
:: Already a singer in his teens, Mike would soak up as much as
:: he could from his cousin, Magic Sam. In the middle seventies,
:: Mike started singing at the Majestic Lounge on 14th and
:: Pulaski with house blues bands, Scotty And the Rib Tips and
:: Johnny B. Moore. He remembers, "it was something, man, back
:: then The Majestic was the after-gig joint. A lot of musicians
:: would go there after their shows and just hang out. People
:: like Lee Shot Williams, Mac Thompson, Johnny Dollar, Mary
:: Lane. It was like a big family. That's how deep the vibe was.
:: That was a tough area, but it was safe there and nobody
:: played the star, they all just dug being together. Yeah, like
:: a family. It was cool. I don't see as much of that anymore.
:: Sadly, it's a tire shop now, I think." It is easy to
:: understand how growing up so close to such R&B and soul
:: singers as Otis Clay and Tyrone Davis could lead Mike down
:: the path to R&B and soul music where he focused much of his
:: career. "I'm not on the blues circuit, but that's where my
:: roots are. I couldn't deny if I wanted to. Giving me a good
:: blues tune to sing is like taking me back home."
::
:: LURRIE BELL
::
:: Born in 1958, son of blues harmonicist Carey Bell, Lurrie
:: picked up his father's guitar at age six and taught himself
:: to play. He was clearly gifted beyond most. In addition to
:: that, he grew up with many of the Chicago blues legends
:: around him. Eddie Taylor, Big Walter Horton, Eddie C.
:: Campbell, Eddie Clearwater (his cousin), Lovie Lee, Sunnyland
:: Slim, Jimmy Dawkins and many more were frequent visitors to
:: his house. They all helped to shape and school him in the
:: blues, but none as much as his father's long time employer
:: Muddy Waters.
::
:: By seventeen, Lurrie was playing on stage with Willie Dixon.
:: Not only was Lurrie quickly recognized as an exceptionally
:: gifted guitarist and musician, but his knowledge of different
:: blues styles, his soulfulness and musical maturity brought
:: write-ups in publications such as Rolling Stone and The New
:: York Times. At a time when most other young blues guitarists,
:: both black and white, were favoring the rock-blues "guitar
:: hero" style, made popular by the likes of Johnny Winter and
:: Stevie Ray Vaughn, Lurrie's playing has always followed more
:: in the traditional style of such blues greats as B.B. King,
:: Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Eddie Taylor. For Lurrie, it has
:: never been about how many notes he could play or how fast he
:: could play them. Rather, it's always been about the music,
:: and more specifically, about the blues. Above all, whatever
:: style or flavor Lurrie chooses to draw from, it is his own
:: sound that comes out.
::
:: At nineteen, Lurrie went tout on the road with Koko Taylor.
:: His next gig was a founding member of Son of the Blues with
:: Freddie Dixon and Billy Branch. He has also played and
:: recorded extensively and his with his father over the years.
:: Lurrie has a prolific recording career both as a sideman and
:: under his own name.
::
::
:: The material on this CD ranges from the traditional Chicago
:: blues of the postwar period to its more modern, present-day
:: style. Accompanying Willie Kent, Little Smokey Smothers and
:: Magic Slim on the more traditional songs, "That's All Right,"
:: "Old Blue Ribbon," "Got My Mojo Working," "Rough Dried
:: Woman," "A Man and his Blues," and "Sweet Home Chicago" are
:: Al "Get Down" Brown on bass, Tim "Awesome" Austin on drums,
:: James Wheeler and Larry Skoller on guitar and Johnny Iguana
:: on piano. Chicago harmonica veteran Matthew Skoller lends his
:: mastery of the style to "That's All Right," "Sweet Home
:: Chicago" and "Every time You Leave Me." On "A Man and his
:: Blues" Willie Kent replaces Al Brown on bass.
::
:: Backing Mike Avery's soulful vocal performance for the modern
:: tunes, "The Thrill is Gone," "It's My Own Fault" and "If you
:: Love Me Like You Say" are Johnny B. Gayden on bass, Ray
:: "Killer" Allison on drums, Michael Coleman on guitar and
:: Roosevelt "Mad Hatter" Purifoy on keyboards. Primer's own
:: "Every Time You Leave Me" features John on vocals and guitar
:: with Johnny B. Gayden, Tim Austin and Roosevelt Purifoy
:: rounding out the band.
::
:: Lurrie Bell is heard on "The Thrill is Gone," "It's My Own
:: Fault, "If You Love Me Like You Say," "Got My Mojo Working,
:: "A Man and his Blues" and "Rough Dried Woman." (Slim gives
:: over the lead guitar duties to Lurrie.) His amazing guitar
:: work on these songs is further proof that he is one of the
:: most gifted blues guitarists alive today.
::
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::
:: RiP iN PeACe!
::
::
::
::....................................................................