Any Blues fans out there?

[bluescribbler]

Any kind of Blues is OK by me. I don't care if it's Delta, Chicago, West Coast, Piedmont or Classic Blues. If you're out there, let's talk.

[Kat45]

1. Absolutely! Especially Chicago blues.

Can't get enough of Buddy Guy. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen him live, and when he's on, he just blows me away!

[abq e streeter]

2. I'm eclectic in my tastes, but it most definitely includes blues

Have been fortunate to see many great blues artists ,the following ones were mainly in the 70's....Just a sample: Junior Wells, J.B.Hutto, Big Walter Horton, Son Seals, Mighty Joe Young, Fast Fingers Dawkins, Phil Guy (Buddy's brother),Koko Taylor....all of these in bars in Chicago, and all of them multiple times ( Junior and J.B. at least a dozen times each).

[Kat45]

3. A lot of the Buddy Guy shows I saw were Buddy Guy & Junior Wells

Those were all in a small club, which is where I also saw Son Seals, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Albert Collins (with Robert Cray opening). I saw J.B. Hutto when I was in college; he played in a small student lounge there!

[abq e streeter]

4. Very cool-were these in Chicago? If so, may have been the same clubs

I've also been extraordinarily privileged to have opened for several blues legends, including Collins, Dixon, Jr. Wells, A.C. Reed, Johnny Clyde Copeland...Copeland and Dixon especially were true gentlemen and kind, generous souls...Backed Bo Diddley once and had a nightmarishly off-night; he wasn't very friendly and I sucked so bad that night that I don't blame him. Seen lots of great harp players over the years too: Junior, Corky Siegel, Butterfield, James Cotton ,Sugar Blue ( best I've ever seen), Musselwhite, Rod Piazza, Jerry Portnoy ( with Muddy),Gary Primich,Chicago Slim, Kim Wilson ( T-Birds),and among guys that people don't think of as great harp players but who aren't too shabby: Southside Johnny, and Huey Lewis....BTW, most of the times I saw Phil Guy were with Junior Wells; I never saw Junior and Buddy together..... How did you like Hutto? When he was "on" he was an absolute blast to watch and listen to....

[Kat45]

5. Wow! That must have been something opening for those guys!

Kudos to you. If I were a musician, I would have probably been too awe-struck to play! lol Man, I thought I'd seen a lot of bluesmen--you've seen a lot that I haven't. Forgot about Bo Diddley; saw him in a club once when I was in high school.

All the shows I mentioned were in a small postage-stamp-sized club in Cambridge, MA. This was back when people still smoked in clubs; that smoky, small club atmosphere was a perfect setting for the shows. I probably saw Junior and Buddy together about four times. Good shows. That was also in the days before cordless guitars; in every show Buddy would do "Going Down," moving through the club to the back with a huge long cord attached to his guitar. He tore the place up! One time when I was ready to leave, Buddy was hanging out at the bar toward the back of the club. Of course a number of folks stopped to shake his hand say 'good show' on their way out. I was one of them, but he wouldn't shake my hand; he gave me a big old bear hug instead! My friend tried to sneak by him, but he grabbed her hand and planted a kiss on her cheek. She was pissed off; I wasn't. lol

I liked Hutto, though I can't remember much about the show--maybe because it was so long ago, maybe because those were my stoner days. It was a pretty small room he played in.

[abq e streeter]

6. Can't remember if it was you I'd had this conversation with re: Cambridge clubs..

some time ago....But the only time I have ever been to Boston ( Sept.86; I remember because my friend and I couldn't get scalped tickets to the Red Sox at any price) , the friend I was visiting took me to the Cantab Club. Little Joe Cook hosted an open mic/jam...I brought some harps and was gonna sing too. After hearing about a half dozen people get up and sing, I wouldn't get anywhere near that stage. They were all incredible and I didn't want to embarrass myself. I remember a guy next to us at the bar claiming to be James Brown's cousin and we're thinking "yeah, sure'. He got up to sing and damned if he might not have been. But I'm a medium sized (at best) fish in a similarly medium sized pond and so have gotten opening act gigs in Albuquerque and Santa Fe that would have never happened in a big city... I was only awe struck a few times; probably the worst was opening for the Persuasions a cappella, but Jerry Lawson was another kind , generous soul that completely put us at ease and even showed us some of his warming up exercises before we went on. Willie Dixon and Copeland were that way too; friendly and supportive and completely put us at ease...
I understand too, about occasionally fuzzy memories...I usually was very drunk when I saw Hutto even though I was always a more dedicated stoner than drinker, but when listening to the blues in small clubs, well it's pretty conducive to putting away quite a few brewskis. ( I do neither now; the years finally caught up with me). I actually only mentioned maybe half ( if that) of the blues artists I've been lucky enough to see, as well as only some of the people I've opened for. I can get unintentionally obnoxious with name-dropping "I've opened for this guy and this guy, and I've played with this guy, and I know this guy etc" so just going to name one more name and post a video only because he became one of my dearest friends in the world: Sam Franklin, from the Albert Collins band. He played sax with Albert for years and this is them doing Black Cat Bone: ( coincidentally, Sam was also a dear friend of DUer guitarman, even though he and I have never met). Sam passed away in 2001 and I'll always miss him...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQYKJWQfIlM

[Kat45]

7. I think it was me you were having that conversation with

The Cantab is still there, and Little Joe Cook was still playing there not that many years ago. The club I saw all the bluesmen in was Jonathan Swifts in Harvard Square. Thanks for posting the video; I enjoyed it. I remember one of the times I saw Albert Collins (at that club) I somehow caught the attention of one of the dudes in his band--I think the keyboard player--when I was walking into the room. He kept complimenting how I looked--I was wearing a very cool looking wool coat from the forties and a fedora type of hat--and was trying to get me to give him my address, said he wanted to send me a Christmas card. LOL

[Odin2005]

8. I've just recently gotten into Blues.

Really don't know the different artists and styles, yet. I like Blues songs with strong, deep, low guitar chords doing the 12-note blues rhythm.

[AlecBGreen]

9. dont know if this is 12-note...

but its definitely hot! He takes a while to heat up but when he does, whoa man look out! This is some dirty, dirty swamp-funk blues. :headbang:

Buddy Guy - I Gotta Try You -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uUNfKBXZ1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp0-STZvbD8 Another fave, one of the best guitar solos Ive ever heard (EVER) is Eric Clapton's Five Long Years on his "From The Cradle". I can listen to that all day. Here is a live version. Not quite as epic as the album version but heady just the same. By 3:35 he is on another plane of existence, channeling pure blues. Enjoy! :hi: