Sounds of the City cont....

Ok, so last time we left off with the holy trinity of the electric blues. We'll start talking about Muddy Waters. He was born in Rolling Fork, MS in 1915 and died in Chicago in 1983. Muddy is known as really the first blues superstar, from a playing standpoint and a recording standpoint. He could really play, and he earned the respect of players around the country including Chuck Berry, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards, who all pretty much worshiped the man. He put Chess records, one of blues' premier labels, on the map. One of his last performances is documented in the film, "The Last Waltz."

Next is a voice that is now synonomous with Chicago, Howlin' Wolf. In my opinion, he is the best that ever did it. He has the most recognizable and powerful voice in blues music, and if it wasn't for Howlin' Wolf, I probably would have never started playing blues. But aside from that, he and Muddy competed as Chess's prized possessions. Wolf's music was raw, unadultered, and extremely vulgar. He never enjoyed the commercial success that Muddy did, and this bothered Wolf. But in the musical realm he was always respected. It is important to remember that Howlin' Wolf was more a vocal force than a musical force, although he was an accomplished harmonica player. In the 50's he almost exclusively played Willie Dixon songs, which was probably the best move of his career, and in 1953 the legendary Hubert Sumlin began playing lead guitar on all his records. Howlin' Wolf was great because of his voice and his band.

Next is John Lee Hooker, the closest thing we had to a blues superstar in this generation. Late in his career he gained lots of exposure and praise for his lifetime of work. Like Muddy and Wolf, John Lee was born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago as the blues boom started there, namely because of Chess records ran by the Chess brothers Leonard and Phil. Hooker's blues was almost always fast paced and even dancable. He played a very rhythmic style as opposed to Wolf's sharp, angular style. You might have heard his song "Boom, Boom"

The mastermind behind Chess records and the Chicago sound was Willie Dixon. He was a session bass player and a phenomenal songwriter. Pretty much every important blues song ever recorded in Chicago is a Willie Dixon song. Artists in all sorts of genres have covered his songs, and he was smart enough to claim them legally. It made him a very rich man.

Chess records was Chicago's flagship recording studio, and they sported the likes of Wolf, Hooker, Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and many others. Like Sam Phillips in Memphis, they were successful because they weren't afraid to take chances on artists.

My listening recommendations for New Orleans and Chicago are as follows...Fats Domino-The Fats Domino Jukebox, Howlin' Wolf-Moanin in the Moonlight Two for One, Muddy Waters-The Anthology, John Lee Hooker-Real Folk Blues, anything by Little Richard, and Time Is On My Side: The Best of Irma Thomas.

I'll get to Memphis and Elvis tomorrow. There is a lot to post about so I am trying to break this up. Also, if you guys have any questions about any of these artists in greater detail, please feel free to e-mail or facebook. And if you want any of this music and don't want to pay for it, I'll be happy to burn you a cd.

I'm going to post a link I got from another blogger on a Chicago blues documentary, if you guys are interested at all in Chicago blues (which I hope you are) please, check it out. http://www.youtube.com/maxwellstreetdoc (for clips) www.electrifiedblues.com (blues blog, may be helpful for class).

Rock n' Roll is here to stay! Read your book!