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Guitar Legends Blues Legends

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    BUDDYGUYA Man dnd the BhesTEIS1968eleasemarkedGuy'sdebutasasoloartist.He is incharacteristicallyover-the-top

    L form,singingandwailing heblueson hisStratwith equalfervor.A frenziedmasterpiece.EARLOOKERTwoBugs&ARoachTARENCEGATEMOUTI{"BROWNTheOriginalPeacock ecordingsTHESEARLY IFTIESesslonscapflrre heTexasglitarist inhis swingingprime,particulailyon suchclassics s OkieDokieStomp"and Depression lues."Jazzmeetsblueswhen Gate's nthe gig.AtBERTCOttINS

    ALL OF AIBDRT'SAlligatorsessionsaremarkedbyhis signatureintensity, utthis-his first-burctswith the energyofa greattalent suppressedor too ong.His first album n sevenyears,-Ice icl.in'marked he beginningof Collins' e-emergencesa contemporary luesguitarpowerhouse.t washis fineststudiodate.ALBERTCOIIINS,OEERTCRAYANDOHNNYOPELAND

    THIS LOOSE,freewheelingjamsessioneaturesCray'smostto date. t's alsoa careerhighlight or longtimebluesourneymanCopeland,while Collins s n his usual ineform.Sho1,downs an excellentstartingpointfor novices f the

    Texas ound,GUITARSTIMSufferin' MindEDDIE "GI'ITARSlim" Joneswasa major nfluenceon guitaristsranging fromBuddycuyto Jimi Hendrix. Hiscrazed,slashing uitarwork wasrootedin the TexasjumpbluesofT-BoneWalker andcatemouthBrown,but itwas uniqueand

    utterly original.This disc n cludesthe bluesstandard The ThingsUsed o Do."

    JoIn\ LEE"Scousinis ofle of the trueunsungtreasuresoftheblues. HisChicago peerswidelyregardedhim as he mostwell-roundedguitaristonthe bluesscene. hiscollections a ine n troduction.

    mt llot unrttERE0Btoltt00tt0ililltEttlr$?Im rrumll${0-Zt$TtltsTltruErc0u$Tt8il0 tEctntct|Jt$Ec0R0lil0$.ROMSTORE HELVESo online retailers of CDsand MP3s, here is no shortageofplaces fromwhich todiscoverclassic luesguitaristsand heirmusic. That's great,but the wealth of materialavailable can be dauntins for the uninitiated.Which ofthe 200or so available ohn LeeHooker titlesisbest?And which versionof ElmoreJames' Dust MyBroom' is the right one to buy?Well, take a load off. We've compiled this guideto the finest electric and acousticblues Euitarmusicever ecorded,o helpyounavigatehEdeepandwild river they call the blues.Read t and take

    it to heart-for asany blues guitarist will tell you,it pays o be prepared.

    JOI{NETHOOKERThe U timdte CollectionTHIS IS ANexcellentcollection thatlives up to itsbilling. lt'sprobably all theJohn LeeHookeryou'lleverneed,and t mal

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    erview. sRV devoteesso check onirrv wirl

    perfommnce by a legendaryThe King puts his $eat v-oice,on such staples as"It's My

    "Every Day I Have theand "SweetLittle Angel." t'sofsophisticated, yet

    JIMMY IEDSpedk the Llrics to Me, Mamd ReedITEEDWAS a greatsongwriter, whilhis longtilnepartner EddieTaylol helpedwrite the book

    on Chicago blues g itar. Thiscol lect ion ncludes he bluesstandards "Baby What You WantMe to Do," "BigBoss MaD" and"Bright Lights, BigCity," as wellas 22 other stellar examples ofReed's mellow boogie beats.

    vicious machil,Ie gun b]ues witl'ra cuild starfire and sang withr mawelous rage. This liveperforrrance, r'ecorded in thclate Seventies, captures Seals ath is feroc iousbest .

    STEVIEY VAUGI{ANAND OUBTETROUBTEInStepsrE\.tE RAY'S INAI-AI-BUMwitllDoubleTrouble was alsohisfi nest, eaturingconsistentlyscalding itar work-the solosin "Crossfir"and"Tightrope"arehot enough o trigger smokedetectorsall acrossTexas.withIn Step,Valrghanoined thetirree Kings,Albert CollinsandBuddycuy in the pantheonofmodernbluesgleats.

    JOEOUIS ATKERBIU.SoulTHIS s PERIIAPShe finest albumby one ofcontemporary b lues 'finest g itar.ists. It includesgrooi'ing R&B ("Ain't Nothin'coing on"), biting acousticslide ("I'll cet to Heaven onMy Own") and crazed, searingoverdrivel slow blues i la Buddycuy ("city ofAngels").

    JOHNNYGUITAR'WATSON3 Hours PdstMidniphtEXTRXMELYintense and wild,major influence onJlml ilenonx. 50rt

    FILLED WITH THElicks hat nspiredthousandsofwould-beKings, hisreissue eatureswork,which makesgrert, indeed.Amongtreasurcs re he origiDalMeThreeO'Clock lues""s Long Years."

    (INGof

    THIS ANTHOLOGYincludes tellarvocaltracksike"HaveYou Everbut the lighlights

    original "Hide Away"-whichelough tasty blues icks toeven he nost ravenous

    Eric Clapton fans arcone out.

    Best f B.8. King,vol. one

    MAYALT ITHBreakers

    UNDERXATEDthroughouihiscareer, Robinsoncolorshis jazz-tinged pla)'ingwith all lnallncrofdynan1ic ubtleties. his s hisbestalbum,and he title track s abona ide masterpiece.

    oTts usHCobrd Recordings,1956 1958THIS AIBUMfeatures classicOtis Rushtuneslike "AllYourLove," which gavecel.tainBritishglita sts somethirg to practice,

    and "Double Trouble," which gaveCobra label's heavily leverberatedtreatn1entof Rush's vocalhistrionics and passionatesoloingmake these racks amongthe mosttelrifl,ing in all bluesdom.

    JOHNNYWINTERJohnn winter

    FENTONOEINSONSomebodyLoan Me a Dime

    (:u/* - ----L* $fM{ .c-t.gfff6.w."SM,\x

    extroverted Gatemouth Brow11.

    MUDDYWATERSIhe Chess oirTHISTHREE-CDsETs a box ofbiuesgold.waters'associationi{ith Chessasted or 25years,and his collection ncludes hecrean ofa veryextensive ropof recordings. hey'reall here-Muddy's lide lassics'Honey3ee," Rollin'andTumblin' ),his hits("HoochieCoochieMan," I'm Read,v") ndhis atertriumphs "YouCan'tLosewhatv ^ , ' A i n r N a w p r H , r , l ' )

    MAGICAMWestSideSou?THE I-ATEMAGICSam Maghcttfully lived up tohis n icknameon this 1968album, castiDg anexuberant pellwith his soaringvocals nd apid,clean-toned

    g itar lines.

    SON EALSLire andBurningIn his prime,SonSeals layed

    T-BONEWATKERLorr-DownBlues

    THE WHITEtornado blewoutofTexas andinto the nationalspotlight withthis album ofjaw-droppir'Ig,igh intensityblues. t'smore ocused nd ess ock-orientedthm anlthing that followed.

    l . IHowuN'wotModnitl n theMootllight/Howlin'WolfTHTS T1ryO-AI-BUMS-IN.ONE-CDcol lection ffers n excel lenrsampl ing fHubertSumlin 'smasterftrlguitaru,ork. t'smaximumgrungeby theguitaristwho influencedagenerationf rocker -8[

    E.C. PI-AYSChicago tylewith impressivelyprecociousalrthoity on hisalbum,whichcountlessock anson oClapton's most plrdstard thc work that inspired

    "god."

    WAIKERSbeautifullysophis t icatedplayirg had adecisive impacton B.B.King, BuddyGuy andtheir bluesy lk, *-hile it also

    made ts mark on Chuck Berryand heworldof rockguitar isrs.This is his peakstuft

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    INE YEARSAFTERHISDEATH,StevieRayVaughan'sinfluence only continuesto grow It can be heard nbarrooms and arenasaround the globe, n the playingofeveryone rom prot6g6s ike Kenr.ryWayneShepherd omentors like Buddy Guy to younger rockers ike MikeMcCready and Kirk Hammett. It can be seen n the

    But pcrhaps rhe most tcllingstrtement abouts t e \ i e \ , ' , , r r i r L r e de l e . a n , r ' r h r r h i : m u s i cst i l l speaks 'o lumes to mi l l ions of l is teners.Somevoices are stilled bydearh, buthis hasonlygrorvn ouder."Urrfortunrtel,v, ]'ou [ever flrlly graspsomeone'sgr-eatress r i mportancc u ntil thev'regon,"sa,vs .B.King.'And I think thet's ruc \, ihStevic.As thevears go by and he's not here, tlustbecomes nor-c nd morc clearhow specirl he *,as,and how nluch he's missed:'\ l is .eJ.u rrru. r \ r r hungr l ia ls , rgnrh . rwai rrcws of"lost" SRV racks discoveredn thc vaults,crossirgtheir fingerswith thc hope rhata motherlode of unreleased material sits u,aiting to beunearthed and aired.Atlcast someofthese praler.s vere ansrvcredon March 23, 1999,$'hen Sory legrcy releasedStevie's burstudio albums with Double Trouble(Texas lood, Couldn't Stand the Weather, Soulto Soul fl1d In Step),cach of thenupdatcdwlthfour bonus r-acksecorded n the sarrerime 6 aneastheor ig inal -To understand whxt n1adeStevic tick, to gett h r u - r , ' - e o r r o f t l r r r r r r h e l - ' n dh en r u s i r , eturned to his closestconfidantes, he people r4roknewhi l11best ndmisshi l1 l thenost .c iven theopportunitr to tell Stvie's ale, hey opeled up,levealingthings they'd ncvcr-rcvealed eforc.Theresultis aportrairolan arlistcomplerelydedicatedto his craft, and ofa man who had *'resrled withhis demons and cmerged \,ictofious, with a newleasc on life and a rcdedicated passion for hislife's work. Stevie Ra)' *.as undoubtedl,vmakingI h e ' r e 5 r I n u . i , , l l - ' . l i r e h r r r r cd i p d r a g e35.This is his stoq.,astoldbyhis best ricnds mdbiggestheroes-ar, d the ol1e oulbestqualified todoso:himscl iYou kno\,r, he music. Now mcctthe man.

    Inttt rumnnSTEvrEay vauc8at I got lnv first iuiter whcn Ilvasseven. t was oneo fiose Roy Rogersguitars;i ihadpic turesofcowbovs andcowson i t ,somerope. I had ablanket thathad hesameshi ton t ,too.Whcn I \\-as ealvoulg, [rvesrernsu,ingban{the Texas Plal'bors hungout atoufhouse rllthctime. M)'parcrts played "+u " [dominoes], al1dthet'tl comeover end iet drunk. Thoseguyshungaround a lot, they'd do some playing, and we'clhear their stuff N{ainl ,,we'd hear.them talkir,gi b ' u r ' t . T h e r r u r r c r l o ro l c l r n , a r ' r , r . h r r g i n garound. Evely once in a *.hile, nry dad wouldyel fajtcts fi ea ,-vural ?e.rds ccentl, "He),,J m,Stcve, come out hcre and shou' thcm rvhat youcando "Andrvervcrelirtle midgets,with guirarshangin' on us that \\,erc this bigl

    ,ll/lNllEVAUGHAI{ went strright for the blues,because hat's what sound ed best to me;I can'ttell,vou why.lt spoke to me more than colrntry,$ ih ich was he othef th ing I heard al l the t rmc.A lot of lry relrtives were country musicians,and I nevef even h ied to play country. All mvlelatives looked at mc like, What in thc r-orldare you doing? but Ijust saicl, I like riis." And Inever thought about itagair.sRv When \r,e stated ofl I kne{, how JimmyReed sounded, but I couldn't plat' it right. AndJimmiewould setmc stra ight .A lotof thehrne,I just watched hinl pla,v. imrnie turned lne onto a lot of differenr stuff. I r-ernemberset,eraldifferent things: him bringing honre records byHcrdr i : \ . Budd\ 'du\ . M uddy u l ter : . ts s .K ngThe firstrecord I everboLrghtwas "\ /han1,"byLonnie Mack, fiom t963, [rrhicfi] \r as I greatrccord. I played it so rnany times, nry dad gorl rad andbroke i t lWhcn I d idn ' r th ink i t coutdbe arv louder, I $'ent and bo r-r-orvedomebouy sShufe Vocal M$ter PA., putnlics in ffont ofthestereo speakers, and turned the PA. upl It u,asloud in mv roon.,lrtMrEvAUGHAI{When wc werc Ieal lit le, n1ydadhad ajob which requi led him to t ravelaroundthe South,and we nl l t ra i led around. I t$ 'as realtough goingto schools for two weeks at atime,alwrys uprooting. In a way, t wrs perfect trainrngforthe lilc we eventu alll. livd rs musicians, onthe road all the time. Then rvc settled back inDal las,when I $ as n f i$ t grade, n Oak Cl i f f ,which u,as a real rough place. Pretty muchever_vonc1,r,e1ew up with is cither dead of in ail.And I think \'|,c atched onto the guitar as a r,ayout pretty early on. The $itar took Stevic ar.oundthe world. It introduced lim to his heroes. t r ashis i r ls t rumcnt of l iberat ior , his magic sword.Trmeanre\ , _yrhing: c in l r \ . r f r t \om Sre\ ewi thout a gui tar . I t r l lowed hi l ] l to erpresshirnself iike never bcfore, to have ar identit\'.When Stevie played, his guitar literally talked.I fvou l is tcn,you can heer t . You can hear h imspeaking through his guitar. I showcd him theu.ayinitially, but he found his voice himself5iv Jirnmie showed nlc a lot ofstuff, but thereu'asalsoat ime. ( 'hen ewarDed,, , I fyouaskmcto shou'vou an] ' th ingagain, l ' l l k ick,vourass."$rel l , I d id and hc d id.DoYLI BIA||HAII JiNnie ard I \\.ere ir a bandcalled thc Chessmen together when \i e wcreteenagers n Dallns. He r,as 5 and I u,as 1Z so Icould drive and he couldn't, and I rvould go byr n L l i , r r i r nu p .O n e i n r r t h i . $ l s . o n r e r i r n , . r1966-he \r 'asn' t rcadyso e naved ne in. I was. i t r i n p n r he i \ ' r g f o o - n .w a i r i n g . n d J i n r n i ewalked ifom the back bedroom to thc kitchenand I heard this $ritar playing going ot frorn

    theotherdi rect ioD.Iwalkeddon'nthehal l andabedroom doorrvas alittle ajar I looked andther.clvas this little skinny 12 )'ear-old kid sitting orthe bed, playing J f Beck's 'Jeff's Boogie." Assoon as he sa\\.n1e, e stopped pla)'ingerd I saici,"Don't stop." He gaven1e his shr little sn leard: r . J . H i . m S r e r ' e . n d . a r L l . " H ' .n . D o ) l < .Keep ph 'ing. You're verygood." Thirlv secondsl r ter , J immie ran up andsaid, Let 'sgo."rofMY sHAI{t{ot ln 1969, I was playirS wrflrJ o r r vU i r . t e r . i d u u . 1 . r o c k d e \ e r \ h i n g .wher \, c broke up,I flewback to Dallas nnd oneda)' dropped by this club called the trog, u'hereI had met Johnny. walked in and heard thrsunbelio.able guitar player. A burch of people\I,eretalkingiome and I ustigr1oredthcm tauseI w a \ l o o l i r r l j , , c u h o u r . n r a k i r r g' r i . h i gsound. looked up aDdsaw his scfawny l i t t iel,l or ls-year-old kid just $ ailing a$'ay. It wesStevic.He1, as ealawk\relcl alrdsh_v nd ookinguD t thebi Frry \ xrounJhi r , r . r l l l ) i l l l imiddreJ.In f|ct, he said once n an nten iewthatlwas theollly one rvho rvouitl talk to him, and I told himthc truth. I said, "You'rc already better than alllhesegu] s-"He gaveme abigsnil andu,e madefrienclsrightthen and there.Dl iY ritlrial| Jimmie and Stevic were bothbct ter than nrostpcoplevefget the f i rs t t ime Iheard thcm plav-$'hen thcyrvere t6 or i7B R A M H A L Th , f c u . r ' r e a l l l u n l ) n n e p l a c e nDallas, he Cellar, whcr-eyou could plat' t4LrdclvWaters on 10. So in about 1970,Jimmie al,ld Iand a bunch ofother guys decided o move toAustin, where thcre were more places to playal1d t 1, s cheaper to liv- It was like a lrttleSanFrancisco;you ould come down her.e ndexpressyourself, and people leftvou alone to do

    cl$TFl|tntctt$wlt naY tucl t{8om rlobor,1954 allas,Iexas, ied ognstZ gg0,fastTroy, isconsin.llquolos,ilhinrkenronouitarWorrdinleryiews,Jtf rEvtucflfllSloYhay's lderrothrndDdmaryguihrinlloonc6DoYla mfiflrltSonprilingainor ndlonSlinofioidand andmateT0 [YSN tX0tooutlo roublasslayerIIEIIIIYff,TENAilGuitafit, ollowoallasmtiveandbandnaloofbolhSloYioandJin|niBDt. J0llllletvodoanshlmspianktand ilarist,and RVfiondB.8.t0xGKiIIg hhe luos.odgodlathorallbluesguila lsMYflfltXtG0wnrtHoafl l 6xasnusichoniold tsYiois'l{unbor0i'Strat

    lGtmsrnEfltllosllrbluosingeriaughlSlorlo'Texaslood"weGunItusrin uitrd.twho Ly8dbass[ and o-faontdhoTdplehreatovuoilhStvh nd ligorouAmEanonclrRtsltw0raooublororblrunmerB0I EI TtSlidegoilarivandlosolriondofSnVERIGCLAPIOIIBdri6iluosritarroatfricndnd dtdrurlSRVIGI(IYBEITSoultarlst/liontnanor0reatSoolhom,ndornfiAlliranBmthercenditafistIEESEWYI IS0oubloTroobleoyboardisrJr[ G ttsh SfoprcducorIUOOYGUYChlc4o lms riraregondiftlrdot and oroo,SRV

    H rE popularity ofvintage gearand straight-forward, ear-ringingtone,both of which were consideredpassebeforeStevieoroved thatthere rvasplent-voflife left in Stratocisters and tube arnpi.

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    th iDg. Jcstar tcdhrv inga l i f t lc scene. : rndyear r ter , s tcvie mor.ed hc lc wi th h isBlnckbi rd.I \r'assiill ph,\rnrg\r.ith Jimmie, doinli mostlv

    rut Stcvic and I both \rrnred toout a little mole. \{re $,crc listeniDc rc

    big\ , r 'or ld. nfor unrte ly ,howe er,music ook ebackscatn) dr ink ing rnd dlugging especi : r l l ,vl o r n c . . " , J r l r u . 1 i . ' r , . 1' r r , c , ' , . 1 r r i . .it wrs prerty nruch i:r n1ess,and I g.Llesshelabl hated i r . so rve ended up back in Ausnn.rnd Ltcc idcd o kcep the band togedrer, s he'til]|til

    llltuu,ntl]|tln0'PRl[tlilJ0Y'11HEl0l0,rsnr$TiI|Eilt|J0l|rlr|lr0Lrflilr0r0LyR0|J0l|r|JrilR'lr0BtUt${RlElllE0lU$|ClCl(0l]|tltfilftTPll0t,'0rcrry8rilsikc Nlarvil1 ayc an.l Sl Srone nd r,anted

    f r l r . s | , I f t | | | r ' '| | | n . | . iSte ieaDd foundeuchotheIget t ingtogethcr-n. ln atc '72, ecnl led reupandtolc l re

    h|d goftcr aphonc call from l,lafc Bcnno.c lealu, i th &M andabigfoLrr l i r red p,nceded o pur togerher-a eres blues ockto do it. \\'c $cntoutto L.A. to record, anLl rkick lorus justtobc outof :ttxas. Othcrf ips o Oklahonla r -ouis iaDa, l on ' tof us h:rdeven ef t he s t i te.

    Wc were irlL.A. for two \r'ccks, iding aroundend i r ing L ikc ock s tars.we fccordcdDir t ) , l ,ool , "whrch s asStclic xnLl u,rote logether andof then . t le . rc tuai lygood, and shouldu,e went on i r short rour l r r rnPie ind the J. cei ls Tland. Ie praveorrc ightg igsDphces ike Detro i t ,Chicagoit lvas our filsttirlc olrr rn rne

    Nishtcr r \ \ ' lers . hat Iasted whiLe, nd rvheni t fc l l apart ,Stev ie vent brc l i to Cr l i forn ix Ior : r$4rile, thcn canc back andjonrcd Paul Ral andlhe Cobras, i th l )enr i ] l reenan.FntEf iAr I r ,as he Cobres 'sole gui tNr p l rverbcforc Stcv ic oincd, so t rvasa l in le tough tohavchh jonr. But i t \ ras i lso rcalh crc i t ingtophy r';11,1',t,',,.DR. oH Stev iehad his rer l bov ishchar 'n. Hekcpt th is ver apper l img hi lc lhood nnocenceabouthirrr cl.cnr-hcn hc l asn't nnocent at ail.B.B. (l c fle femin.led mc oflnv sonswhen thevwe c rbout seven r e igbtyealsold. Hejust haclso mary qucst ions,and nould just fo l lon mearound,hrppv and smi l ingand eagrr o plcasc.FtEtMAN Ste ie r lmost d idn ' t te lk ebout. ' r \ . l r i l i . \ . e f , S I i r : r r . l " I | , i . H e s r . j l | . lcolnplctclvobscsscd rvith it, and so\\'as . Those*,ere just fun, exciting dals bccausc r-c v'crcjust d iscover ingstufT nd q'ere exci ted rbout

    evcrything, ndwc would ust si t a lound orhours r lk ingaboutmusic.laY HE illG I ve oir Dd r g1litaf store siDce 1960and har.csccn a lot of grcat nusic ians. bui tdon't belicve l've evel corte ircr'oss nyone halfas obsessedvi th the gui tar rsstev ie \r , is . Ieused o hang out in m,vstore, ust noodl ing onguit:rrs all thc timc.I would sa,v hathc \r'xs oncofnl bcst custolncrs, cxccpt he didn't havc anynolev he rvrs br'oke all tlre tine so he never'pr ic l oIanl , th ingi r thoseda)s. I e used o conrebyon his rv:r1'o agigand:rsk fofafxck ofstrings.l'd toss him onc and hc'd sa)', Hc), if t lnake anvnonel ' tonight , I ' l l p ly ) ou."Andhe vould. entI i r r . r r ' t r - . l , h , , i n p . H . J r " l e r r o r r ' ^ . rt cck o l tnrr , hcn bl ingthcm back.(he dav r'7.1, hc trroushtback a nicc Strat hehrd becnborxr$nr. and *'as looknrgthlough lllthe nstrunentswherr ecame uhisol 'beNteI IepicLed rup and must ha\.eplayed around l ith ittur half an hour. ust makingcholds, tLrrningitover',lookirrg.rtit,s eighingit,bef0r'ehe.rskedf hecoultlf lug i t in . I said, Sure,but i i sure s ugl ) ' . " o h eplLrggcdn ard pla_vcdt)r xn houfor so hcn t(tdrrlc he wrntcd it, and askcd lhe could su'ap t firrthe onehe hrd just returned. s . l id , wt l l , )o l11er ' ' tp ' rg rnur ' 'e l 'n f i T l r l ' hr- g^r rn be c\ee- ie ' rstmt I'\'c cvcr ifadcd for.It's rxggcdl-asscd xndbeatto dedth. \'\'hdr do vou lv.rnt it fbr?'He said,"It jLlstfeelsgood,Ra). tleels realgoocl." fi gufeclhc dbr i rg i tbacL in adn) of tu() ,but ho ncvcrdnl .Ihatbecame lis 'Number Orc 'Strat.

    TffiIRITTilRtIIRIIUIFRrEriA Stcvic$'rs alfcxd)'g"rc:rl\l.hcnhc oinedthc Cobr is . r fact .our dnrnnler just sentme a

    ore. \{re $,crc listeriDg to

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    tapeofsomesideswe cut, andhis eadplayingsounds antastic and mmediatelydentifiableasStevie.He maybewasn'tasstronga rhlthmplayerashe wouldbecome, nddidn'tunderstrndchord hangeshatwel lyec,uthis ead layingwas her.When hedecided o leaveand 'ronrhis own band, which becameTriple ThreatRewe, twasn'tsurp si[g. He was e ady, ncl twasobvious o all ofus t hathe had somesoIIofdestiny.At{cllA STtEHll was doing "TexasFlood" foryears.And when he decided o start agroup, tobecomea rontman,he knew hat he reallyshouldbesinging.And hecame o me,said hathe always

    and I was so mpressed y how muchhe hadalready mproved, hat I wante d o seewherehe could take t. So joinedwhat became heI nple I nrearKevlewor.roB My fiiend DocPomuscomposer/suchR&B classicss ThisMagicMoment"ana"Sayethe LastDanceor Mel kepttelling me aboutthis Texas uitarplayer had o come o seeatthe Lone StarCafe n Manhattan.Steviewasstill playingwith Lou Ann [Bd,"ton] ndhe wasa hell ofa goodguitarplayer, ut \.vasn'teallyspecialyet.He was ust playing n a Houstonstyle la Pat Hare,WayneBennettand AlbertCollins.A yearor so ater, sawhim againand

    whothehellhewas.Aboutayearlater,ouAnnleft andwebecamejust trio with meandJackieNewhouse layingbehindStevie.IHAI Oi ln December 980, was iving inHoustonandwent o seeDoubleTroublewhentheywere n town;itwas ikea revelation.said,"That'swhere belong, ight there:' Hecalledmeup ojam,andsoonafteraskedme fl wa ntedtojoin. Hisguitarplayinghadcomea ongway,andhe hadcrossedthe ap rom straightbiues,incorporatingsomeockand oll,someHendrix.Hewasalittlescaredtostep utof heblues, ndI reallyencouragedim. Hegotsome hit fromtheblues uristsor har. utwhocares? eing

    liked"TexasFlood,"andasked f I could e achhim the words,which I did. He neededsomeencouragemento sing; ewasstilla ittle scared.But he took the songandmade t soassociatedwith him that I quit doing t, because, fterawhile, everyonehought was mitatinghim.wCClAt( I wasworkingat McMorrisFord asamechanic, ndStevie eptcomingby nd ellingme hathe'ddecidedo putaband ogetherandtharheneeded eroplaybass.wasn\lookingfor agig,because wasgettinga steadypaychechand elaxingorachange,urhe eplpesler ingme.lhadseenimaround lot,and knewhowuniquehe was-how cleana one hehad,hownastyand owdo#n hecouldbe,how hecouldplay icksexactly ike ChuckBerry,Albert Kingand B.B.King. I knew he was or real, hat hewas a seeker, warrior.And that'swhy I notonly agteedojoin hisband,but toplaybassorhim, eventhough hadgivenup he nstrumentto focuson guitar. really had no interest nplaying ass gl in.bur Sre\ e hadsucha f i re,

    noticedhow much his kid hadblossomed. ehadgotten hiswholeAlbertKingbendingthingdown stone oldandhisplayinghadjust akenoff.I thoughtanyonewho mproved omuchsofasthadsomething oingon.lAyIoI I startedplayingwithStevie ight afterwC Clarkleftthebandn'78.Thebandwasnolongera "triple threat,"so Steviechanged hename o DoubleTrouble,after the Otis Rushsong.The next all wegotboohed oplayat heSanFrancisco luesFestival. helpedbook allthesegigsaround hat, andnone ofthem paidmorethan2O0ucks.Wehadonlyenough oneyto buygas or the vanand oaves fbreadandbologna.Wecouldn'tafford o eata squaremenl,butitwas alotoffun.Weplayedthe estival, ndwe did a ive radiobroadcast n KFAG, n PaloAlto,wherewe opened p for RobertCray,whowasstartingto ave bignameonthecircuitoutthere.Webecame ood iiendswithhim,andwestarted o makea nameor ourselves,eta itde

    apurist s ike beinga eligiousundamentalist.It'sreallylimiting,andfyoucan'tseebeyondhelittle circleyoudraw aroundyoursell how areyou gonnamoveout of it? And aflyhow,he nevereverabandonedheblues: e ustadvancedr,took tto another evel.DR.roHiStevie tarted eallyblowingmeawayonenightwhenwewashangingar ispad.Heputonsome rippy,difficultHendrixalbumandstartedplayingalongwith it, which impressedme.Thenhestarted layingoff gettingdown,improvising,and I thought, Man, this kid isjammingwithJimi Hendrix.That'swhen sawsomelhingealunique n whrt he wasgoingfor, and realized hat this g]ly was somethingaltogether ifferent.8ot{[lr nArrr Just when you thought therewasn't anyother way to make his stuffyourown, he came alongand blew that theory tobi ts.Soul is noverusedword,utthe f i re andpassionwithwhich he nvestedeverythingherouched a5jusr stounding.swas heway nbuzz,becauseanyoDewhosawSteviewondered :

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    synthesized is nf luencesihcm irilo somcthing sopclsonal . I r las emazedaLeael ,v eard a l l about h imguvs l ike Albef t Col l ins a ldlvho kept running into

    and beingblorvn au, . rv .Slevie neveffailed to impress,that finally starred to pav off inblc naf in latc ' l l l . F i rs t , ourv ideo of a

    Jaglier, and the nextplayil]g afbr the Rolling Stores

    \bfk. That was a gas.ThenBarton had a solo record

    on a nrajor label and u'etthe biglelease party at ihIVetei?nA&Rmanri, n?x ler,u ho hadu-as here, and he reall,v

    at the Montreux Jazzand got us booked there. we

    supposedly he f i fs unsignedo everpla i i r , and ots ofgoodhappcncdasarcsul t .

    Drv id BoM e was nthe rudienceu'as blo{,n an'ay by Ste\'ie,h im the best urban blueshe'dcvcrhcard.Hccamebackand \r'e all hung out in

    bar wi th him for an hour. Hestev ie that he wrs going to beand skcd hinr

    l ike to be on i t . Stcv ie said,g i e lne Nc 11." , {eal rwhi le,n igbt wc bookecl urselvesthat same bar. wc played al l

    rou,ne nd hisbrnd came rd sat n v ' i th us. \ :e nrmedncl hen Jackson aidhe hade-p odLrct ion tudio n L.A-,Do$nTo\r ,n,andt imc \ r 'c .antcd to comc rccold somc

    fee ofcherge, ,e \ \ ,erewelcolne,

    TLUUUI don' t th ink Jackson expccteLl s to

    on his of fer ,but s tev ie c : r l ledhrnrc {a11, nd hc agccd to givc us 72 hours oftirne ovcl I'hanksgiYiig \\.eekend 82. weust hol r ing het mrybe we rver 'c

    demo thet vru lc l actual l i be is tenecib r rcal fecofd conlpan ll tumcd oLrt h:rt,r'er.erc recordingouf deburJe ust rolled in. The guys

    \ r s t l . e r u r r r l . l l r , ' , r , . d l r r r r r ' rThanksgiYirrg rr'eckcnd, and n'e werc likc,

    uh, lou gu\'s got anv tepe?' Thev Eiave suser l tuf f ;ue acrur l lv ccolc lcd vcrsonretd$',ycrs tu lolc.oN Do\rr T{r\r'n \r'as rcally jLrst a trigwith concrete lloors and some rugs, s " . \ , r e n r l , l l , r r l " ,o n r c - . . e r r r , r

    istcningto cach othcr aDdike N ive band. w'e di.ln't reaily do rn) hil1gfirst de]', then u,e cr.rt wo sonlls the secondcight tho thifd. Thc lasttLurc $.c cuiwasFl(xxl," rightbcf(rrc our-tirnc r-enout.Wc stiycd in L.,A..and plaved a ferv' r r Jo n , r r ; \ ' ' r r h c c i r r l r e r , r ' r r g

    the phonc frng i r oLn pal tnent , and th is 4r1wirh an Engl ish ccent sked of s tcv ic . saidhcu,as slecpnrg:rnd askcd \rho it w.rs. 'lr's D.tvidtso\\'ic," hc said, "and I'd likc to spe.rk o hirrl ifposs ib le." got Slev ieup rnd Bou, ieaskedhimi fhe u,rDte l o conre o Ncw York and cut sorretracks o lh is ncw lccord.sHAf,t{OtrSte\.ie \\'ent and did it and enjoyedi t , ard saiL l o$ ' ie wrs a real gent lenr: ru. hefeelings\\,ereobviouslymutu:rlbccauschc askcd: . , a i r , , , , , i . h . . , , f , , : r u l , i t u u r . s L c , i r

    it \,r'nsn't 4rerc hc w.ls hexded end Stevie courorot do vhl t he d i ln ' t o ,e.AYIotl I u'eso't surprised \r'hen Slevio quit,but Isure n cs hrpp1,.TcouJiln'rbclicvc thatjust\\,hers . r r r r , , l t , , r . r r , r l l l r . r r u n r e r r t . r . n ,r e e\r'asgoing to be gooe for lrt lecst r yexr, nravbcn o . , \ \ . h i . l ' \ ' o r l , l . o I t d r ng e t . , r r r r i r . .whef i t sccnrcd ikc somcthing was going t . )happcn, har I just l igrred that , someho$' . hes,hole hingivould nor conrc o pass. hcn, srncenough, e oundout that .k t rn Hamrrrondrcal l )

    'l|t$EE]r|[00 tll0Pill}|lllll[L.urrusrrJUSIO|JRED}IROlJOl||I[I.IIOI IIEIEfiRIEOP.'tRIcCTIPTOIfin:rlll agrecd becauso hc {.:rs gctting a lot ofprcssulc rom aLrtofpcoplc .Stcv ie vassoingk,J , i t l l ' r " r ' < . r . c r h c n ' o e ' - r J t . I r . t ^ k 'e tthe bancl ogether.Then he rsked Bowic i f wccould opcnsolnc datcs, nd that \aassupposedt ' , h r f p q r r . h c n < | ' l , r o r g \ \ n J I \ e r 5 F \ "g,es old het be coulc ln ' tment ionhis orvubandor music n i r terv ic \ r 's ,aDd hat $ as t . Hc qui tthe n ightLrcforeihc ()Lrr es supposed o s tar t .H u , r . r . " r ' J l J . . \ , , " . r . c t u : . r ' r s r r elo 'ed hying. I Ie l ikedD:rv id nd his music , ur

    l ikcd our tapc.and \ ,as ushing o get uss ignedbi Columhi . r .Al l of r suc lden.n 'c hat l a dcalwith Epic rnd thc)'\\'cfc goingto release :lc:rds-Flood.Andwe itc'tnlore rttentjon beceusepeopleu rntecl to knou'rvho rhis u n {no\rr gui'rl ho toldDavidBowic tot ike a h ikc u as.Al ld h is pla l hgon rea srdn.got Lreol r le r t tentron,oo,E R l c a A F T Or ( \ . " - : " r r r o f l r ' . e o r ' f o u _ r I rrv,hoI heard Ddhxdtokno\r'\l'lnr itwxs.rightthcn.I u',Ndrivingind "Lcfs Danc{r"camconthc radio.I srqrycd n crrand s.rir], t have o krou \\ ho this

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    glitar player is today. Not tomorrow, but today:'584[ O ferds Flood came out and we startedtour ing behinJ r . Wp could . lou l t le . i rh ingschanging, the crowds slowly getting biggcr. andbigger Thenwe got rid ofthe milktuckwe had beerdriving around in andgot a bus. t was a really shittybus,but we wer-e n heaven dding around in it.laYTot{We roured rhe u hole counrn. p l ry ingevery 11ight, ellingout 5O0-seatclubs,with 20Opeople stardingoutside tryingto get in. And allofa sudden, "Pride and Joy" was bcingplayedon MTY and it wasjust unreal.DI(KEY Erls When I heard "Pride and Joy" onthe radio,I said "Hallelujah " StevicRay Vaughansingle-handedlybrought guitar- and blues-orientedmusicbacktothe marketplace.He was ustso goodand strongthat hewould notbe denied.

    ClullnITrr0ttErrrilEnSotttoSottrlAYtO Wc went to Ne\l' York to record oursecondalbum and twas a kick,bccausewewerestayingat the Mayflower Hoteland recordinfiatthe Power Stalion,produced byJohn Hanmond,who had discovered everyone fronr CharlicChristian to Bruc springsteer and Bob Dylan.And we had a real budget to work with for thefirst tim. We were all doing our fair share ofdrugs andpafiying, but it wasn't huring us yet.we were prettygood at rll ofit aboutthat time.lf,v We ran into Clapton on a tour ofAustralia.He was eaving the hotel and I wenroutto talktohim. hangor - rnd al l . He u a' "ober,ofcour"e,and reallycalnrvhile Isatthere downinfi two orthree shots ofCrown Royal.And he just sort of

    looked at me wiseJy and said, "Well, sometimesyou haveto go through that, don'tcha?" IfI hadbeell readytostop, he would havegone ontothcnext part blrt he understood thatl wasn't.Another time we were doing a show withAlbert King, and hewalked backstage and said,"we gonna have a little heirrt ro heart. I beDwatchingyou wrestle with the bottle ihree, fourtimes already.I tell youwhat, man: llike to drinka little bit when I'm home. Bur the gig ain't notimetogethigh." He was tryingto tellmetotakccareofbusiness,give myself abreak,but I did myusualdeal oftryingto acr ike I haditall together:- H e ) .r i n r n u r h i n w r o n g , m a n , l n l e a J i n g I h elife," and all thatbullshit.SXAI O By the time we got to recording Soullo Sodl n'85, itwasgettingprettybad. we werepaying for the studio time and spendinghoursupon hours playing ping pong waiting for ourcocaine to arrive before we'd pla],. think SoultoSo&l is a good record but you call kind ofrellthatwe're a little out ofsorts.RI5EvYxA[t When they were recording SouIfo Soul, Stevie called and said they wanted meto come add some keyboards.They wanted melo playacour| ' i r 'p iarn n _Lookar Lrrr c s . rer ,but itdidn'treally workbccause they had sucha strange setup. The studio was set up like alive performance, with an entire P.A. and allthe amps and mics running through it. lt rvasscreamingloLrd ndyou could nothear apiano,soI suggested hatwetryaHammondorgan,whereI could isolate the cabinet. we played "ChangeIt" and the instrun1ertals, and itwentgreat. wee n d c d r p e c n r dn gu n r i l r e n r Ih e m o r n n g

    and rheya.ked me ro come back h( ne\r n ighr.The guys told me they were glad I cane ovctbecruse heyhadbeenha\ nS r hrrd ' ime getr ingthe projectofftheground. TherStevie asked mei f I wanted ojo in theband.l,AYTof,We were in abit ofa drugand alcohol fenzyby then, and when you go into the studio you have toconfront whatyou really sound ike.You can't ustwalk offthe stageand have t over and donewithjyou're under a microscope.SoulfoSoulcame outwell, but it was very difficult to make,and I thinkthat had a ot to do with askingReese ojoin. lt waslike, "We need some help here,"somebody o helpcarry evel.thing. we had actuall]' addcd anotheriuitarist, Derek O'B en, who's just wonderful,for a few shows, but our manager felt that tookthe spotlight away from Stevie. AId n ot ofpeoplewere urging us o keep he trio thing, but we reallyneeded a new pcrspectire. We had beer on anendless hree-yeartour purctuatedby dme in thestudio, and we ure gettingburllt-

    ButStevicwas continuingto stretch out, ryingdifferenttonesandweirdstuflweusedtocalllim"Modern Man" becausehc loved to fool aroundwith clectronics, take things aparl and put thembar:ktogethetandhelovedtojusttrycrazystuflLike on 'Ain't Gol1e n' Give Up On Love," Stevictookasix-stringbassandputpapcrmatchesunderrhebr idge adJle n ruf f le rhesoun, l rnd rh:r 'sr a \ r ty o uh e a r o n h e l i n ) e s r r u m o nh e d o w n b e r r .wewouldgetcrazyideasafter-u'ehadbeerruptoolongand ourminds were racing.Suddenly,you go,"I wonderwhatl would get f I putahalf cut Cokec r n u n d e rm ' b r r s d r u r r p e d a l .A n d " o m c r i n r c .those thi ngswould actually r.r'ork.

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    lLrs iness. isr . I \ . rs jLrs t hocl .or l rh, r $ rs goingon \ r i rh thcm ofnotgo;r l l ron.l crc so "ucccs"f i r l s a l . rnc i . ussLrrrret ls . r " in o l t ler . l lur rhe\ L l ic ln

    rn knor l r r r r rnLrch nono\ hc l hrd. And thc\ \ ' ls gct t ing so b.rd hr t I r ' . rs rc l l lvgLr l hc.r l th.sLc\ c $ rrs Lrst odrrwn,hc obvioLrs l r ccr l : t l r lesL, rr t t so s t r4.s or l i , rg r hcrr ou l inclout \ 'ou ' r 'coLrt hcfc rnd i lot \ { ) rscl 'o lsc l rd prrn rbl l rex(hed sofr o l r l , r$ 'r t v)nrc of thc \hrrvs u'c u oto t c 'cort ing

    \ \ : rs t thr g igs hc f r r i ) f ( lcd | t fhcOtcr. r HoLrse. /u/ r t& /8.1 i ) . ' l6 l .i r rc | r ' t, r r l r le , nd I rer l l r r r rs d isrLubcds h N r s r $ . r h o u g h t . lh i s s : r r u s i c r l m c s s ,hev * oLr ld o into thescch.rot ic ulscontro l . d idn t kno$ \ '1)x le\ r(11\ $ r s

    on.L.Lr t \ . rs corcel |e 1.

    SHANNoNrcnrcml)rr s i r t ins brc l . :srrgc t theOfcr. r Housr lD( i sr \ i r i - t o r)Lrr l rnxgcr. r \ lexI l (x l i r - t t . re\ cr l ld I r fc 'herdcd i , r hr icku r l l . 'l s r \ i rcr inr i rg, l )ut i thcr ofus coLr ld top udwc t f icd. s tcv i r krcr hc N,rs n t r1)ubic . oo.bctuuseNc q e|c rcr l l r gctL i r rgI i l c t ic .sRv hrd been n' in l t to pLr l lnr \ 's l l l Lrp v thcboorstr ' . rps. ur rhc l ucr-c brrrkcn. I voLr ldr i rkc Lrp r t l mzzlc soDrcth ins.Lr l t n, sc l f idof thc prr in r 'us icel i r tg. \h i rke\ . hecr ' , r r i r .u ' l r r rc \ f \ \ . rsh:rnLl \ :t gor i ) hc fo int lvhcrc fl L lh. r to s. r \ ' 'FI i ro somcbodr I \ \1,Lr lc lLrs tu l lnfxr t c f r ins- . r s rrs j l ( . . .srn ld rxrn.wYNAi l tSte\ e l rd Tournr\ \ c fe iustconrplc tc lvoutofconnol rrhcu rrc d id t l roscOpcf . rHoLrseshorvs, ur t i nr asgrt t ing rrur \ ' . l l re i rs t \eNr Ir rs in ihctrrnd, I iL \ people$ ho\ele.rbLrsrrgsLrLrr(rnccs.rnt so$ ere )n () l o l i t nrus i r l l lv .{ ' L ' . r , | 1 | r ' . ' $ . , r - , , }1 . , . r l r r l . . . r ' l : t , r , . ' . " . 1 ' r r , t r "

    } r1x inr \e11inn)ofncrs:rndnot knolv hos t i lchc l l he \ ' . rs oingtr)gct oLr i .sRv ioc l , $. rsn ' t n \ ' r , r ' rgoocl hepe$ten t cfc(ordcd th l t . , \ t the t ime, I d idn ' t fcal izc honbrd rrshrpe I r r as in. Thcrc l ere more f ixi t iohs Lloncon thc.r lbum thrr I r r ru lc l halcI ikcd. Thelc r .ere sonregood nights . rndsoncgoocl g igs. but i t \ ' . rs r rofe hafh.rzxrd thrnu r : s o u l d h . r l c i k c d . s o m c o f t h c g i g su c l cokrv, but somc of thcm soLrnd i le the 11 fcthc r olk of hr l l t l r rd people. Of coufsc. mrhink ing s. rs . I ]or , L lorsn ' t hat soLrnd {oo( l l. \nLl thr fc $ crc soDrcgrcr t l l ( ) fcs hrr crrr rcout . bLrt iust \ lsn t in (or) t fo l r nobodr \ \ 'as.\ve s er 'e l l e \1] . rLrsteLl .L A Y T o N , l l r . 1- , ' . " r ' I J r . \ ' $ . f i , . ltnr lg ing r iong, r lont lcr ing l u,c u.oul , .1 . r le itLrnr i lhc l f tc I11o()n. l tNusikcbei l rg in henr iddleof thc dcsel t . r rndel i rg i f rh re\ ts tcp$'ould t rcthe rtne . l refe s e ust fe l l o lcr rnd d icd.tHANnoN tcr ic rd I ah\ ' r \ 'shrd.rd jo in i igfoomso n t h c r o a d , . r n d N c i l l e N v c t h e d o o r b e | \ \ c c n u sopen so l $ rs l ikc one big roonr. \ 'c \ \ 'cn i on aEufopern t(ruf, :urd \crc ai r hotcl in Cerm.rnr..I $: rs h ' ing on my bcd. s ick s . r dog, nd I coulL lsccstcv ic o l l ing roLrnd is bedmurrtb l ingshi r .ind justs t ick i r rshisherd el rnd lonr i tnrgLrLxx ll l loveI the loor: oo $ er1i o gc i Lrp nd vr lk tothe ) . r throour. hcfe \ \ 'asn much l cotr ld o d0to hc lp h im bcc.ruse r \ r r so s ic l nr)sel f .b l r t Is cnro er. Hc wlrs r . l \ ' .o c : r l led n innrLr l :u1ccurd lhe\ crnre nd gorhinr .raYrol Thrfc \\'crc ill thcseglr\'s r Nhite llelrch. . I I r f I ' ' | 1 | l ' r , r t r ' c : r l \ . . ' r ' r 'Stc if tn 'as cl l l \ s (rr ' . Ie \ eurto drchost i ta lrnd rhcr)$. $enr to Zuf ich, sr | i tzcf lanLl , . rndfef l i r fnrcLl hr ncxt n ight , bLrts tc l ie soLrrrdcdsc:r i r ,Lroth " . r p lu cr unr la pelson. I c . r l lc 'c lur 'nrrn.rgcrflrd srid, \\ic hrle t(rdo sonrething. \\rc$ efeor ouf \\,r\ nr Iindrncl.so I sulscstcdih.lt r'ec l l l 1 l f . J loonr. ho hrLlhc lped 'ete lbwisIerrc l. l l ld r r ic lhpn)n n s in i l r rs ; lor t io i rs .Ste e r 'cntthcrc tol ,r is rlli s of rest, rlier u,hich rvc ilidn\1) sh{)s i r r -oudon.Belorc hc scconcl ightcncofe. 'her1 e efe r l l l { ingbrck f t he s t rgc,s tc \ ' ieNr lkcd onto rh isgoof \ .g. r fgpl rr r rkr t heI 'ackcorncr of the srugt rnd cl l o l f i t . That \ rxsthcstr . rs rhN(bfokr hec:rmcl brc l { , nd hc justsr id, l ln nr) t i rcc l . I ccd cstrn i l l Iccd churge."So$'c c :urcc l lc . lhc rcsrof the tuurrrrd he\r ' tntt i ) r chi lb l in ic in At l r r l t . r .Tts rs l fe l io f , er lh:I fcmcInbef l r i r r l ing,Thr nhi r lN inLl h ls f inr l lvl toppcd. \nr lu r ' fc i ln 'c .wvrrAN9 (nr l r th inghxd to gi |c , ard \ \ h. r tgrr \$ rs s t r ic . Hc ju5thrLl bfcxkdo$ n, rrr t r N rs. rhugc Ic l ie l knon i l lg th. r t he r | rs going to gctsomc hc lp.sHAt{ t loNStcv ic \ \ 'cnt to ihc Chrf lcr Lr l ret | L - , t r , , r r r . ir l r ' r \ r l r r ' r ' r : r ' . r t. ' i r ' r . r ' iALrr t in .\ c $ efcboth rhere S di l 's . : rnd hatu ' . rsjLrs t Ie beginningof thc da\ to L la\ 'Lr foccss.ltlril/{lEVAUGHA{ t di(ln t cve 1occ$ nr nrc rhet: r , r i r , ' r l r r . r . l ' " l t r r . . l r r . ' r l 1 . r . rdo h is30 lnys )scre\ c | r 'onc 'of fh isbach,hcngobrc l r r ) r . l lu thc\ \ s scf ious. nc ldcdicated.nLi reshowcd i rcr ' .1 iormc, .u l l r I r t ofotherpeoplo.RAlr l I \ \ . r : p l rv i r rg r1 t l : rnt r : r t l r r cnd of h isfchfb s t . r \ , nd hc c imc to src mc. i r1\ . i tcd 1n1onsrrgo, s r i .cwrmld.r l r \ ls do faf one nother.I t i )und our lutc | thr t he r ' . ts rer l l t ' rcnousbccaLr-ct s rs his l i fs t r iDrcth| ing sol rer . Lr the p1,r1cd rcr t , . rn. tdrcr-c rcnt mr last ercuse|) f r r l l tgct | ingsot)cr .

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    tRvThe musichasbccome really mportant lsincci'rebeconesober].Music js awaytorench outandholdon to one anotherinareall,vhealthyway Ir'shc lpedmeto openup nor.eandtakeachanceonlovirUpeople. t's a r-hole new world for me.Morcsothanever,f I don' tp laythebest possib lycan,andreel ly t ry topla,vbet ter thanlr ink can, thenI'vcwasted it. BccauseT'mplaying on borr.ou,edime. Lcftto m) own devices, would havekilledmyself. sut fof some reason 'm notdcad.

    lnsH

    sor lgs or h is new album,$,hrtbccame In Step,anddid $f iatwealways did: spendafovdaysjusthangingout ta lk ingrnd catchingup, ,hrch\vould point us n the d i rect ion \ ' "-e 'eregoingr o h < r J . e h 1 J h u r l * , h p r e d L f $ i t h i r . n u lmorths, end we kne$, hat u,as omethi l1g eha. l o dealwi th. t rwas important for us o ta lkabout and wr i te about our expcr iences ,r , i th: r d J : c Iu r . u c \ v - I f L l , d : r p c r l u r o n I r h eissues hat sur lounded our d iug rnd alcoholda1's ,.h ich led to songs ike "Wal l ofDenja l , 'and "Tightrope."srv I l ras afra id that l 'd turn people of l burs n c s l - < r L l u r r r \ F s a \ r l r : r l r i r r r r r c l r s .It secms ealimpofianrto me to s,ritc about thatstuf f . I had spentso ong$' i th th is ma$ oi " I mcooler han soand so because get highcr. than

    He said, "Don' t $orr l I t 's onh fo l r r n inutcsiong." $ie dimmed the lights alld they strrtedplat . iDg his gorgeous song, rvhich went onto s lx nl r rutcs j seven mmutcs. seven and i lhal l . . The songis absolute lv rcrcdib le, tota l lyinspi rec l ,dr ippingrv i themot ion andhL'rewe\ l 'ere,about ro r l r r out of tape. I u as jumplrgup and dos r , u-av ingnr arms, but evertoncnras o rr r rppedup in thei f p l . ry ing hl r t no orcr l , is pa] ng rre any miDd- I f inal l l gor Chr is 'r t tenr ion and crrphrt ical l l gave him thc cutsirlr. He stlrfted ryingto flali do\rr Stevie, ruthe\vashunchedo er h is gr i taf wi th his hcnd bentdou,n.Final ly .he looked up, and they br.oughtthc song- orvn ust in t ime. t cnc lednnd, fcwseconds ater he tapc f in ished . lnd h studiou,assi cnt ercep t for th sound ofthe empr,t reel

    raYro lt \r'assort ofa crucl iron,v hairilcAli1,ecamc out right $.hcn Tomlny and Steviegot out oftreatmcnt. Oneofthc first times wc got rogetheragain was to make avicleo lor "Supcrstition.,' So

    :i : .

    /f. t 'e\.er),one$,asclearhearlccianclhealthy ancl uerveretry ingtoplayalongtoth isdopeandbooze-laden une. It v.ls ike. "cod, can't\\cutthissong:rgain?" twas r \reifd conh est,but irwas a $eatfcelingto har.ccr,eryone eallyinto iragain, rcndvt . p L r r l e u h u , r l r i | l g h . . c ", , . r e - . r $ : r . r l ) Fstalt of something rcal goocl.wyrarr St\.ie 4'ascr'\.ous bout plai'ing h s ir.sts ^ h e f . h , ' $ . h u r $ < l , i r , , . r " g e n . l i , u " . j J . rmagicrl. \ rithir thfee nights, he conpletel .hirhis stlide ancl vasplayingbetter fhan :rnyofu s hadeverheanl hinr. Ile rvasplaying rhe way he rlu al,swanted to and wasjust ecstatic. Everv sorg\rasexciting, and ide.rs\r.ef onstaDtlt,popp ng up.ClAPtoN He seerned o be an opel channel. I'hcmusic ustpoureddrroughhim. nd i tncvcrdr. iedup.B R A M H A T Ll , \ i r 1 r . l I e u . n v p r h c r , ' r f i r (

    he does." nd ir 's jusrnot tN-LAYIoNYe \\.cnt o Memphisto staf recoidinglnr(p | ] . l re i r o i bb. : , d r r . ' er t r . .1,^u.rr , l -*rTl e-e $ r ' .o . rer e i .J- l r ," r l \ecJu-e . krFu i .u asou proying grouncl, iat u.c had ro sho$ thatr c , , , r r ld ra lcr . .d cco-. r . ' \ thuur n\nneoL r jhigh.l know Srevie cltthe doubt.I think itenueoLrpproduciri rhe tightest band pefomrances oiour career,buiwe reallyworked arit.tHAxi rot Stev ic u,ould do al1 ' rh ing to gctn e $ .J i f l e r e n r r F , c f - n L r t r , l 5 .f ) g I n N i f cdifferent amps together or u'hatevef. and hesccmed o spendalot of t ime messing$ th s tu l fonJnSrcp.Buthis.rctxal pla)ingjustfl o\i edoncehe got do{,n ro it .Jt|/lCArf,r5Stcrie told lneLchad an nstrumcntalcalled 'Rivicra Paraclise"hc \r,antecl o tr\,, andI said hr t I onlv had nine minutesof tape ef t .

    : spinning a|ouncl .Wc cut the song I fc*, nrore: t imes,but i t sounded ike tuzak coI11par.cdo: t i rat i rs t , n1agic i l ers ion.JHAIIgI{ We flnishcd thc fecord and\r'cre reallvh,rppy with it. Then u.c $.cnt brck Lrn hc road,and i t $ 'as a \ r .holenerr 'qork l - The rTrus i r ,asgreat, we had a ir-orrorgrnizatiur, I jreat roadlnanager, Skip Rickcrt. a ireatcrc\r-. We werca l l u , t r e , , r l r : p r ' . r . s r p i c \ . \ , r p , r , rr r r . j u s r [ r i . - l r r , i g I I l L \ r r r , , r . e J r u p l : r \ i r Ewith Stevie. I ncvcf took it for gfxntecl. it waslike, " Oka1., vhere the hcll is he going tonightbec:ruse gor {r follorv."Stevie never s,rid, "Nowpla]' this." He.iustplayed antl u e follo$ ecl,and itonl ] got more nd norc exc i t ing.IAYIo \4ttourddtroughthe$,interof '90, thentook a break for Stevie o Ij{) recofd lhnrily.Sr.,,1cwi thJ immie.

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    t lo{ Stev ie eal ly enjoyed cut t ingFdmi l_r ,and spending al l that t ;me u ' i th h isHc said t was ikc cominghomc.Af tcr

    a i t t1cvacat io and hene g o f b a c k o g e ( h e r o I ' u i . l r o m s r 6 u . ; n g .ended the summel tour with the tu o sho$ s

    outs idc Chicago. t i rvoh,edwi th Clxpton . r rd Robert crs ] , andand Budd,vGu] 'came up to be specia lt $'as ust great fun, feallyexciting. sorta l l thc good t imcs \ .e 'd

    for the last yel rr or two. And, rsas vehad been play ing, hose rvo shon'saucltAr Stcvic ust srnole.l. t \r'xsone ofgigs lvhere vou seesomeone play and )ouyou're hearing. They're justnakingi thappen,mis ing.aslikethatnight

    a l l c \ . t ( r , r $ r . u I r ( r l . H c $ r r i L ' ranotherplane, ndM,e l lknew i t .The first niiht at AlpineValley I u.|ls hercanditwas justt'rcattosec c\.Lryone.perhapsthe greatestand hejustshowed it that night.Man, first of a]l, Stevie rvas one ofPeriod. B t those nights, he \l'as

    somethirg clsc. And I remember standinghi rnontheside of thestagewhi le Er ic was'CltntsctliltltToilYooit.l$il0,'$tturthElD,'It0|tJu$t0$tn0,'-Toirilrsl|rilroil

    n J h e s i r : . u f l o f p l r ) i n g c i r g u i r t r r .played.After heor some eason kept th ink ingof that ,h impla_ving hantom rotcs.first iight I stuck ar'ound for the

    at the end, but the second night I rvanted toback to Chicago, so I took a helicopter Lracki r f Rc, ' . I u cnr ru Jr cp rrdsut rrok. r upby.rone call from ourtour manager at 6:301. r,Hethat we had to lT ve a nreeting in my roomas rv . .a id. - l ' .^ :J0i r . l -e n orning. or in 'emeeting. Whatthc hcll isgoingon?"Andhe"It's very i portant." I started feelirltj\.erynd a fes rn inu-e. r tef I gora cal l f ronrHodges,savingthat one ofthegone dorvland Stcvic was on it,rvere no survivors. In the blink of aln ' r l i fewa- r rker ru i I nm n e. $ a. . in ingand Chdscame into my room,goil]gon. t sait, "Stevie'sdcad,"

    was in denlai, didn't belie\,e t at ell, socr ' 'eJ .ecu' i r ) Jrd I fnrceJ hen rn er ne into:r ' . r , ' , rn.I , J1) rhuuSlr l r 'Jb, rh, r , s1, p i l i , .

    the,\'opeied the door', hebed was stillIjustrealized, "Mycod, it's true."

    tevie's coat u'as laic] out on the bedoJJr1. hecloc l rudiow-. ph\ inglharErgle.neverseeyou gain."playingleal softly,but itmightasu.ellhave

    been a bullhor'l into ny ear'.Then ive all u'entback o my loom, andJimmie was hele,andrververc all a wreck, sobbirrg and dazcd.ltu,as thcnost holliblc nomcnt irr my lifc.l'1lner,er iuvcan,vthinghult that bad:rgain,ever.rAyrox I felt like a crr had fallen on me orsonethirg. I felt like a bab,v, ust completclyhelpless. Then we renernbered that the leu'sreporr- .a id hJr ster ;e. lnJ i isbands er. l , . l leJ.llnd I realizedthatl had to getaholdof m,vfrmil,vand tcllthcm that I was still alivc. So rve spent abunchoftime callingourfamilies, and ustsortoflioinion autopilot. Because f I started thinkingabout it, 11,',ouldn't c able o tunciion.DR. oH l played at his fu[elal nfiich *'as really$lFwrench ing. playedeverl h mn I knerv, henStevie wonder came up cnd said to me, "Ald

    Mdrid in G," and I doD't know it in any ke} So Ijusts topped nd ethin l s ingacappel la, ndonceI wasn'tplaying,I got really awnre. Man,I'm withhis coffin," and rventinto that zonc, $hcre it*,asa1lhittingme like gangbusters.Beingin tha litdechurch xnd realizingthatStevie's feetwer justafc*'fect away rom lne was so damllhearl'Icouldhardlybreathe.FREEltaiYou know, sirlce Stevie died, he's beene l e v r t e d o . r i n r h o o d . r - o u r d . . r . . r r g p , u r i ra wcird way i think it dintuishes hh, becauseStevie wasn't a saiit, He was a pcrson, al1d hehad faul ts ,but he *as su 'eetand funny and au n n d e r n r l u r t oh r n g u i r h n r d d i r o n . b e : r gan exceptio11al alel]t.,lMltlEVAUGHAil he $,or1dmisseshis music, butI m i s s m y b l o t h e r B t

    2r LlltS t$tt0

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    snume,?=I'i)

    snume,?=.f'l)

    to melodicphasesthat functioned aspartof eachsongis abric. Wherever two talesof the same ongexist the versions realmost dentical, he alternate ales beingessentiallybackupcopies ecorded n theevent he master ake was darnaged,Johnsonplayedboth standard inger-styleguitarand slide.He usedstandardtuning when ever he was not playingslide, althoughon some ecordingshemay have tuned the whole guitar downa halfstep oow to high,E* Ab Dbcb BbEb) or up a half step(ow to high, Ef A*n* c$ sl r*), perhaps singacapowhenraisingthepitch.when heplayed lide,he used either open Gtuning (low tohigh, D G D G B D), ason "Comeon inMy Kitchen"and CrossRoadBlues," ropenE tuningoow to high, E B E Gf BE),ason "Rambling on My Mind." Agsin,somerecordingsnodd keysarecapoedortuned to a higherpitch.His rhythms were undoubtedlypianoinfluenced.One in particular,adaptedfrom a typical left-handpianoboogie-woogie figure (FIGURE), became hebasisof so mary guitar players'bluesrhlthm styles hat it's like having he pat-ent on dift. Theqpical embellishmentatthe end ofbar I shows hat he was hink-ing a cut abovehis contemporaries,evenwhen poundingout the beat. Johnsonused a thumb pick and bare fingers, butthis tlpe ofphrasecanalsobeplayedusinga "hybrid"pickingapproach@ass otesplayedwith flagick held between humband ndex finger, and high notespluckedwith bare second nd hird fingers).Johnsonused hisOpeof rhlthm pattern,withvariations,on manyofhis songs,ncluding"SweetHome Chicago"and"I Believe 'llDustMy Broom."Probably the single lick that mostquicklyevokes ohnson's uitarstyle sa figure that heused as an intro, endingand umaroundonmanyofhis recordings(llGURE ). He playeda number ofvaria-tions on this phrase,adding rhlthmic ormelodic embellishments o customize itfor agiven une.Again,apick-and-fingers,or fingerpicking approach s necessary.

    But it was another riend of Brown's, Son House,would becomeJohnson'sprime inspiration.yet30himsel lHouse as r experi-performerwith recordingsunder his belt andaemotionally ntenseplayingand singingwatched him on everypossibleocca-songs, icks and attitude that wouldhim for the rest of his own short ife.At the ageof 19,Robert Johruon found himself atunction in his personaland musical ife. Married,wiuh childon heway.hefehhemourringpres-down and work on(he arm, A career nseemed ong shot, at best.But thedeath of his 16-year-oldwife and their babythrew all assumptions bout John-to the wind. Not long afterward, he Ieftand returned to his boyhood home ofoking for a new start.what he found therewas a guitarmentor-IkemusicianshipHousehaddone or his spirit.within theof a singleyear,Johnsondeveloped o dramati-aroseof a midnight handshakedevil. rhe likely truth is moreprosaic-thatplayedguitarnonstop, inlingup ttre musr-nts hat foryea$ had been oosely loatingsurface.UnderZinneman'sutelage, eandbegln to main-a ogbookoflyrics nd deas. he next imeSonandwillie BrownheardRobert oh nso8 hehadbeen umed.By the time Johnsonbecameaprofessionalbluesn the earl] Thirties. he Depressionassouthernblackswere hit especiallypaychecks,here was mon-and lile dozercof oth-Johnson ook to the mad inpursuit of his share.Helena,Arkansas,home o a thrivingand hereJohnsonmet andplayedwithof the Delta crop-Sonny Boy williamsonNighthawk, Elmore James,Howliri Wolllimandmanvothers.

    reach he next level he had o make ecords.An audi-tion fora ocal musicstoreo\(ner resulted nan ,rta-tion to travel to SanAntonio, Texas,where Johnsonhad his first recording session n November1936. na hotel room before a single microphone, he beganlaying down what would become he most famousrecordings n the historyof Deltablues.After threesessions eld over he courseofa few days, ollowedby two more in Dallas ess han ayear atet RobertJohnsorfsentire musical egarywas n the can.Theonly"hic' to comeout of these essionsas"TerraplaneBlues."The record sold a few thousandcopies,a respectable umber by Depressron-era"racerecord" standards. ogetherwith his otherreleases-ll in total-it boostedJohnsoris reputationandput somemoney n his pocket. t also attractedthe attention ofJohn Haryunond, New York-basedcolumbia Recordsexecutivewith a egendaryear ortalenr.Hammondscredired i th "discovering'-amongothers-Count Basie,Billie Holidat BobDylanand Bruce Springsteen)Hammond was assemblingthe lineup for th e 1938spirituals o Swing"con-cert,a majorshowcase f Afiican-Americanmusrcpresentedn New) ork Ciq/s CirnegieHall.andhewantedJohnson o appearas he finest contemporaryrepresentative fDelta blues.The word went out, butunknownto Hammond,RobertJohnsonwas alreadydead.On August 16,1938, oisonedwhiskeypouredby a ealoushusbandhad aid him down.

    sffirrillrcililr0|JrASWITH ANYGREATA.RTIST,he geniusof RobetJobnson'swork is in the totality-Othershaveplayedhis guitar partsto perfection,or sung he words, ormatched he vocalsnote or note.But fs the sumof allthesepartsandmore iat ma}eshis recordssoundsoalivemore han 60yearsafter hey were recorded.As aguitarist,Johnsonknockedout his contempo-raies with his ability toplay ull, driving rhlthm witha hurnbpickwhile simultaneously ickingoutmelo-dieson he high stringswiti his bare ingers.He didnt

    0ilnTHE TWO KNOWN PHOTOGRA?HSOfRobert Jobnson show him with two different ound-hole, l attopsl.(-stdng uitars.Undoubtedlyheywerestnmgwid heaw-gaugetrings theonlygpe available t dnttime), and he s shownwith a humbpick.Hisbotdenecknot n thephotos)wasprob-ably ashioned rom an actualbotde, sincecustom-made ccessoiesdidn't exist.Noreverb,no amp,no distortion-the effectsareentirely emotional.

    $tr.rclE0Lr$ilrIsJOHNSON'S CATALOG IS SO SLIM thatit fits on one CD: Tfte Complete Recoril-ings.A1129 songs and 12 alternate takesJohnson'segionaleputation asgrowingbut o i recordmanyimprovisedsolospersqinstead,hestuckare ncluded.Bl

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    some idesor rival labelCobrr,Chesshe ecordedhele orears sa side an,aspartofacelebratedwith singer,/h-arpistunior Wells,and asartist n hisownright.cuy becameone ofthe starsofthe Sixties'and finished out t he decadewithuddJ cuy & Junior wells Play thcerformancesy Eric Clap-aDd he J. Geils Bard, and co-y Clapton, he albumwas supposedcuy andwells into the big time.Butwasover,aDdCuyspeDtxt cwu c,:adt ' n thc i lderncsr.His fortunes hangedn 99l afterClapton e-hat Guy akepart n hjs 24 Nights il-uitarextravaganzatLondon'sRoyalHall. culs starwas again sing,andheRecords.He subsequentlyhe besFsellingecordingofhis career,Got heBlues,which featulediom Clapton, eck,MarkKnopflerandButperhapshe inestgen1Guy's ecentoutput s his 2001 elease,weetrcinventcd imself n thc vernNorth Mississippi luesrnen. e changedgain n2005 with the soul-inflectedDredins, n *'hich hisput his distinctiveon tracksby egendsike wilson Pickett,FloydandJohnnyTaylor.In mattersofblues history,Buddypossessesandvivid memory.He seemso feel h eofeach ripoffand theglory of eachesterday.on someof hisgreates ecord-tom the lale Fifties to t he presentday,

    grooveswith the ivil1gtruth hel'theblues."

    nn nrru rursl'958GoUNTS uddy's ery irst single.CobraRecords, hicago.Therewas astore n front with 45sand 78s,""You walked througtr o somegaragen the back,and hat was CobraReJust a cargarage,man,but that'swheregettir' that real soundyou herr on that

    ers n it or aSearsRoebuck," uddyadds.KEY LAYERillic Dixon 19151992) rote hesongandplayedbass n the date.This was hefirst of manyBuddycuy recordingshatwouldbepenned1 Diyo,r.heblue- u ncolePo"ref.Irving Berlin and william Shakespeareolledin oone.Dixon's ongs ere ecorded yMuddywaters,Howlin'woll lheRollingStones, edZeppelinand manyothers.Buddystill vividlyrcmernbcrsisnf5tnreeting i rhWil l ie. rr rnposinglyargemanwhodwarfed hebiguprightbasshatwashissignrtule nstrument:"willic Dixor comeandgot ne and old n1ehewasgonnatake etodinnef.I igured,I justgothereromLouisiana;Ion' thave neduca-tion; now'smy time to ust be cool watch andlearn.so we walks nto this barbecuejoiit andWil l ieorder.c r hole ucl , i rr 'h icken. m lgrin' we gon' akea fork andknife,carveup thechicken, nd neandhim wouldeat t. Butwhenr h e l r i c l e r ro m c u r . l r e : c k r r u p . f e a L srin halfwith his barehandsand start o eat hewhole uckin ' h ing himself.He looksat melike, whatyou gon'have?"POSTSCRIPThotly aftcr his scssion, uddy's

    oneof the greatestand most nflucntial bluesrecordilgs ofalltime; belovedby Jimny Pageand manyothersSTUDIOhe.\Records.1205. 4ichigrnAve..chicagotnow a historic alldmarkBACKSTORYfter wo singles nArtistic,Buddyeasilymade he ump o Chess,wherehewenton to cut a series fsinglesandserved sases-sionguitarist o immortals ike Muddy watersandHo$l in wolf. _Youd ger$3U or nlakingsession," uddy ecalls.And that was he bestmoneyyoucould make n Chicago. olkinginclubsyou'doynake,four,f iveorsixdol larsanight.Even Muddy was only making$12."Buddy'sprcducers rd bosses t his new a-bcl wcre the b.othersPlil and LeonardChess.Polish nmigTants nd ormer iquor salesmen,the chessbrothers uilt the chessandcheckerlabelsnto a bluesempire, eleasinglassic iscsby Muddy,woll Little walter, SonnyBoy wil-liamson,ElmoreJames nd Jinnny Rogers, otto mentionseminal arly ockand oll sides yChuckBerr],and Bo Diddley.Buddy didn't al-wayssec ye o eyewith the Chess rothers,butthe entrepreneurial iblingsnonetheless ro-

    'CotRtRtutRuslt$Ustctn [Rt0E,ilil,BUTI|IT'$ilERtlw[$ EITtil'ttttTttLotllnotlttln l um tcnRD."-oilRtcon0tto'illronyiltBtl|$|"

    nat ive Louis ianaChicago on Septen'rber25, 1957,

    to land a contract with premiere bluesh e , s R e c o r d \ . n i r i J l l \ .C f p \ s t l s \ e d .r ival label Cobra, headedb-vEl i Tosca o,the new arrival to jts subsidiary

    A slow, mour[fu] blues lreditatiolpunctuatedby lachrymose saxdrones andpiano. Buddv 's unrestra ined vocalahcady vel}' nuch irtact on this debutald the express ive gui tar ' l ines and

    12 bar solo ably serve as counThe song's s l ight ly un-

    chord s t ructure audib ly confoulds thepoints , especia l lywhen theybr idge. Buddr mrke' r . r 'nng shorv ing

    A Gibson es?aulcoldtop,purnstal lmentack n Louisiana.Thewaseither a ittle cibson with two speak-

    LesPaulwas tolen iom tlle bandstand ta clubu.herehewaspla,ving.obraRecords idn't astmuch longereither. "I think Eli Toscanogotkilled ordrownedorsonetling," Budd-\7ays.lhearda ot ofdifferentstories bout hat."

    : lfltF|R$ttilt ilil lt BLU[$'I DAIERecordedMarch 6. 960i wxy tt coultts luddy's firstsingte or Chess;

    duced some of his finestrecordings and playedan important role in de-veloping rnany ofhis keystylistic tradenrarks.rHE TRACK A chi l l ingblues al legory, "Thetr i rs t Time I Met theBlues" recounts a fatefu l crossroadsencoun-ter wirh the blues itself,here personified as alo m i r o u s m a n i f e s t ation of all life's suffer-ings. Buddy's plaintivevocal is under-scoredby sone of the moststinging g itar playingever committed to tapelfrenzied bursts of pent-up emot ion del iveredwi th a razor- th in tonethat cuts like a suicide'sarterial slash.P R O D U G T I O N { O T E SSpeakingof razorblades,the Chessbrothers were

    by no means averseto slicing a mnster tape tosuit length requirements or other comnercialexigencies. Deft tape editing produced the ee-rily powerful opening to "The First Time I Metthe Blues." There is no instrumental prelude ofany sort. we're plunged straight into Buddy'sagonized vocal, immersed in the nrlrativ be-fore *'e knorv what's hit us. "There originallywas an intro," Budd]' rcveals. "I could neverstart in singing like I did on that track without

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    an intro. I had to get into it first. But I hadabadhabitback hen:some fmy introswere oolong.So hey'dcut'em out."The Cheis sibl ings also suggestedhekeening, igh-pi tched.ocal egisterBuddye m p l o ) o n th e r r a c l a n dwh i c hwo u l db e -come a signatureelementofhis singingstyle."Little Brother Montgomety lwho wrote thesonglhad madea hit of'The first Time I Metthe Blues' in ]9J6l," Buddy remembers.TheChess rothers old me coulddo he songin ahigher voice.Theywere kind oftrying to leadme n the direction fB.B.King.Ain ' tbutoneof them. But they want me to sing it kind ofhigh. It's oneofthe most alked-about ongsever did for Chess."BUDDY'S EAR his is perhaps he earlresttrack to featureBuddy'sSunburst 957 enderStratocaster,neofthe nost sacred rtifacts nallofblues history.Theg itar waspurchased-just barely-shortly afterthe theft of Buddy'sLesPaul n '58."I had o getdown on my kneesandbegthisladyat this famousbluesclub calledTheresa'sLoungeat 48th and lndiana,"he remembers."And she inally oanedme the money or thatStrat. I think it was $149or $150,with case,strapandeveqthing."Buddychosea Stratocaster ecauset wasthe nstrument fchoice or hisax hero,Gui-tar Slim, whosehighly theatrical stageperformancesnspired he styleofshowmanshipthat Buddywould latr passon to Jimi Hen-drix. Buddy'smuch-battered57 Stratwashismaingu tar until 1976,when t too wasstolen.Before hen , it wasmost often mated with a'59FenderBassman mp.These wo piecesofgearare very much the soundofearly BuddyGuy recordings.Buddy quickllr got into thehabit ofcrankingthe Bassmano themax andusifig he Strat'svolumeand tone cofltrols oachieve he rich tonal variationsheard n his

    "when I would record with Muddy andthem,we used o drink wine, beer andwhis-key andset t on the amp.Soal l the controlknobson my amphad rozenwith dirt, booze,cigarettebutts andallthat. Butthatwas okay,'causeI didn' tneed o move hem anymore.All I had that worked on that amplifier wasthe on-and-offswitch."KEYPLAYEnSTheFirstTime Metthe Blues"was the first of ma ny BuddyGuy sessions ofeature he redoubtable ack Meyerson elec-tric bass, till a relatively ew nstrumentwhenthe recordwas made. The first commerciallyavailableelectric bass, he trenderPrecisron,was ntroducedn 1951.)When he fenderbass irst camealong I rememberseeing hlskid Jack Meyersplay ir with kxitdrisfl EarlHooker'sband,"Buddy rcounts./lHookerac-tuallyowned hebass, o heonly ime hatboycouldplay,he hadto work with Earl Hooker.But I foun doutthatWillie Dixon hada Fenderbass hat he'dpawnedat a placeon 47th andState. o told thatboy,'lfyou wannaplaywithrnc. l l go get har Fender urof prwn iromDixon.' And I gave t to Jack, causeh wasagood ittle bass layer."OnBuddy's ecords,Meyerwasoftenpairedwith aceChess essionrummerFredBelow(pronouncedBr-E ou), who herepounds hetoms ike some ost soulcondemnedo play

    the strip clubsof Helt for all eternity.Apparently,Belowwas bit ofa cutup n the studio."Th e y i n a l l lh r d o b u i l d p e n r o u n d i m .l ike a cardboard ox,"Buddy ecal ls,sohecouldn mes\wi(h an\bodv."iltJ|0ilE$xTflEtLTl'rilultrrmsDATERecordedn September, 963WHYT CoUNTS istoricpairingofBuddycuywith blues con Muddywaters on a track thatmarksMuddy's etum to his MississippiDeltafolk blues o otsSTUDIO hessRecords,2l2O .MichiganAve.BAcKSToRYhe mid-Sixtiesolkboomcreatedan enthusiasticnte.est n rural bluesamongpredominantlywhite college ouths.Eager oreach hisnewaudience,he Chess rothers e-cided o "reposition"Muddy Waters-thenthe

    quintessential harp-dressed,mooth-talkingurbanbluesman-as humbleDeltasharecrop-per.Thus, heclassicMudd Waters o[k Singeralbumwasborn."Chessheard about the college kids buy-ing folk rrusic,"Buddy ecalls, so they calledMuddy n and heywanted o rushone ofthoserecords uton him.Theygave imatrain ticketand told him to go downSouthand find someofthose olderguyswho play hat kind of stuff.And Muddy said,Setthe uckin' session p fortomorrow. got t.' They hought Muddy wasgonnacallsomeold-timegly andput him on atrain.When eonardChess ame n thatmorringandsawmesitting here,hatguycalledmea'motherfuckeisomanytimes,I lmostcdedandleft the studio.But Muddy told him, 'Shut thefuck up and isten.'After we gotdoneplaying,theystood herewith their mouthswide open.

    E

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    could ;y to rre wa., Vorherfucker.youknow hat?"'TRAcxWith Clifton Jameson the drunrs hardlyauthenticDelta olk blues.composit ion eceivesan elo-understated coustic eading, en-supported y wi l l ie Dixon'ssupplebass.with Muddy playingmostlynBuddy s essentia l lyhe maing i tar-He provesa confidentandnterpreter of the acousticbluesgraceful iff somewhatnof Robert Junior Lockwood oAs Buddy

    KEYPLAYER cKinley Morganfie ld,a.k.a.Muddywaters (19I5-1983),eallydid growupin rurr l \4 s. issippi . eworked naplanrarionandwas ecorded y olklo stAlanLomaxbe-fore he travelednorth in 1943andbecame hepdncipalarchitectandundisputed ingofChicagoblues.Muddyhadahuge nfluence n theRollingStones, ho took their name tomoneof his songs, ndcountless ther rock and oll-erswho have ound heir hearts n the blues.POSTSCRIPThe folkbluescrazewasnotcon-f ined o bookishwhitekid. in Ameficaj heirEuropean counterparts were arg ably evenmore anatical.And so Buddy irst touredEurope n 1965 spartofthe AmedcanFolkBiues

    '[RtcCltptoilot0tt tEttnutyttil ttEtBER$'tttflilotttt EcoRn.[|tutsHt0HLLllE lilt.'ortrlnililltl]tr,Itil'llrlrusnillEil,lts" I know how to back Muddy up{OTESSession hotos depict averyjust one mic for

    cuy and Dixon.As a result, the track hassound ofthat hal-at2120 S. MichiganAvenue.

    GEARAt the time of this recording,own an acousticguitar.Muddyone ofhis archtops or the date.

    Festival, packageour organized y cermanpromotersHorst Lippmannand Fritz Rau andfeaturinggeatsikeMississippi redMcDowell,BigMamaThornton,EddieBoydandRooseveltSykes. t wason Germansoil, ronically, hatBuddy irst metoneofhisgreatestblueseroes:John Lee Hooker.crowing up in Lettsworth,Louiiiana, uddyhadustaboutwornout acopyof Hooker's lassicBoogieChi l len' ."whenBuddy'sparentsconfiscated ire phonograph

    needle, e'd takea stickpin-a pieceofjewelryfol.securinga necktie hold it in his teethandplacet on the e|ord. .n ing Hooker's r i r ngrhythms esonaten his skull.And on one atetul morningin BadenBadenn 1965, uddycuyfinally came ace o facewith his hero althoughhe didn't realize t wasHookerat first."Everybody was heavy dr inkers backthen,"Buddysays. And when I wentdownto b r e a l l a s tn t h e m o fn i n g h e yh a dwh i s -key eggs. sat n the corner with an acousticg u i r r r n d \ r a r r e d l a y i n B o o g i e h i l l e nwhich was the first thing I'd learned how toplay by myself. AlId this guy comes up. Hewasdrinkin 'andstutter in ' ad: 'Y-y-y-yout-t- tryin ' o playJ-J-J-ohnny... ' say,Yeah,I guessso. 'm just trying to figure out whothe fuckyou are,stutter in 'so. 'Final lyFredBelow said, 'That'sJohn Lee Hooker r ighttherel 'AndHookerjust tarted o augh.Boy,he aughedso hard he cried. Vebecamebestfr iends rom that day i l l the day he died.wasat his uneral ."

    llu 0rlmUmm'r&J00rl i,tfirontNDATE ecordedn October,19TowHY T coUNTsA stapleof the BuddyGuyrepertoire ndoneof Buddy own compo.i-tions; his first significant collaboration wrthEric claptonsTUDloCriteria Recording, 755NE l49th St.,aacKsToRY udd y i rst reamed p u iLhhar-monica ace Junior Wells in the mid Sixtles.They becamea popular ive act and by 1970had landed a high-visibility opening spot onthe Rolling stones our. During this period,Eric Claptonwas usr inishing ff h isclassicDerekand he Domino alb|um dlla anal therAssorfedtoveSonSs hile gettingdeeperanddeeper nto what would becomea debilitatingheroin addiction.Clapton was an avid BuddyGuy an andback n'65 had slept n a van withother membersofthe Yardbirds o be amongthe rst in a venuewhereBuddywasplayingonhis maidenvoyage o Euro pe.Fiveyears arer,as final mixes ofrayla were underway, EricClapton decidedhe wanted to make a recordwith Buddycuy."Ahmet Ertegun headof Derek and theDominoes' Idbel , Atlantic Records] wash a n g i no u rw i r hC l a p r o n ,B u d d y r p l a i n s ."At this time [Atldntic recoriling artistl Are-th a F r a n l l i n $ a s p o p p i n a n d e v e r y r h i n gErtegun ouchedwas urningto gold.Claptontold him, 'I don't know why you want to re-cord me. The bestguitar player n the worldis touring with the RollingStones ight now.'So hey grabbed plane, lew t o Paris andwatched mc and Junior wells open he showforthe Stones hat night. Afterward[Erfegrn]justwalksup andsays, ' I ' l lmake uckin 'hi trecordon you.when you get off th is tourwith the Stones, ome straight to Miami andrecordan album or Atlantic Records. 'wewentdown here, ndEric old me ateron hehardly even remembersmaking that record.He was high all the tine."IHE TRAGK n upte mpo unk soulworkout hatmarriesan insistent 7 guitar riff to a wicked,syncopated ass ine. Buddybusts oose as asoul-preachin'overman.l was istening o a ot

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    , , 1 ( ' , i . R e J J r u r . r l r , , . r g u r .u h u ' r u r r r r . 1 6.r ot of rccords then," he rccalls of his inspif rtr(nl1or l r i t ingthc tune. "Cruse back hcn, ust ikenon', you cal makc dre best blues record in theworld, but i t won'rgr t no a i rphy."The s l ippery, open endcd gr love pr.ov idesr t J e r l . r l r ' l , f n - . n n e . l r h ' n r u . r r ' r t . : r . " . 1mirric soloirgcvcr-to issue i ol11he fingcr-s ndi+ritrr of Budd_v luy. Ycah, he flubs a fcw rotcs,but thc rvhole th ing berut i fu l l l encapsul r testhe blcczy u-i1denergl ofthrt hastily organizeddate dos,n n Mirmi .PRODUCTIONOTESThcre \ rere no rehcar: r l . , " I ' r ' ' r o d u c o n . \ r ' , r \ ' , r . c r r : - J l " e ( L )much what Budd,v ancl rhe b.url thlcu, riou'nin the studio. he $41ole h ing-wasa l i t t lc tooronch:r lant for Ai iar t ic , u 'ho in i t i l r l lv shelvcr lthcproject.It w asn't until nvo yea s Iater, vhenItuddv recoltlecl ru,o extfa songs r.ith the J.cei ls I t rnd. that the label i inal ly had \ r 'hat tdocmedwas rn ent i rc a lbunrofre lease wor- thln. t tef ia l - Man of N,hny Words" became helead track orl l972's llx.ldy Guy andJwtior WcllsPldy tlle Blues.SUDDY'SGEARHis '57 Strat anLlBassmatlurlrK E Y L A Y E R Sr ' ( c l r L , r ' l . , , r , p c n r J g L ( r i .Nerv Or lcans keyboard egend Df. . Iohn (MrcR e h c n r r r r ' L ', , r f i . ' r ' , I h L l r \ r h r , . , . r i n lfcarures lerek a l1d he Dominos bassis tCaf lRaLl lc nLi d lumnrer J im cordon an al l s tarcrst crpturcLl on t rpe by enginccr ing legendTorn Dowd.

    "iltl$ttilB[LfDATE199IlvHY T couNTs Histor ic pr i r ing of tsuddy al ldhis fc l lorv gui t r l legtnd Jef f Beck on BLrddy 's"coneback ' e lbum, Donrn R+tf i . I Got r / reSTuDlo I la t ter) ' Studios, , l /16 Chrpl in Rd. ,BAcKSToRYThe Sevent ies nd Eight iesu,eree r n 1 e . r . l u I B I J , I \ C u \ . U i r h U q I r c r i . x nr . , o _ J u g o I r r r , . - c ' " _ e1 e o rb r r r ' 1 ' r i . i r ghis past tliurrphs for-various Dln.ope.rr abcls.His ltrck changedwhen E c Clapton invited himto take paft ir the rll-slar 24 Nights concefts etLondon'sRo) 'e l l t rcr tHxl l in l990.rnd'91. hisled to r contrrct with Silvcrtone Recor.ds stillBuddy's labcltoda,v-rnd a major comebacl"This tsritish 'u)' comes ulr to mc brckstcgel r l , , R o \ l l A l b r 1 . r . n . r . J J . . u . , ' : r . i g lv l ru to do rh is . r lbul l r . ' I 'm sayin ' ,Okay suddy,this is British glr)'s r1o\\..Hcre s your Johnnv,conre-lrter Jitrri Hondri:t ch.ncc. facnilrr-r rr,as"discorrrcd" 6y ]n,,llish rrdnd.gcr Cids (lhdn,d1t .l You c:rn do youl o r'n thing now. I wcnrto Bettery Studios in F.ngland,cut Ddrrn Rryhtl Gor tfie ltlucs,:rnd that w,rs the biggcst recordTHE TRACKA stomping. uptown rendi t ior oflhe R&B chssic niade famous by \\rilson Pick-et t . i luddv Cuv 's 'N{ustang"boasts big hornscct ion, soul s is tcr b: rck ing vocals aDd, orcour-sc,he over thc top gui tar sry l ingsofJef fBeck, 'hosc e lectr i ly ing Leads o l ine for l incrvith Buddy's b1.ash ocal. Beck is another Strarh r . r r B r i , i . h o , ( r r i r . r c ^ , 1 $ h u L . u ,, j , , linspi rat i (D \rhen Buddy la ldcd in Erghnd i ll'65. I le fe he rc tu lns rhe rvor.PRODUCTIONOTES Beck l l1d are the bestof f r iends,"s . tvsBuddl . "FIeconle n thc s tudio

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    $,e cut the basic track and thct pluggedguitar through the ergineer loom [i.e. conwas n the engineer oom when hethat guitar track (m there. Man, that $ryPlay."GEARFor most of the ,dr ln Rr8tr f ,rhc Blucs sessions,Buddy played anClapton Signatufe Model Fender s t rat ,flom a Londol mLrsicshop. Hc likedguitar so nuch that it became the basis for

    cuy Si l inature Model Stret ,comtncrc ia l ly n 199s.PLAYERSseckand tsuddyare nore thal

    bul the massi e l ) rrding r-as providedLittle -eat drumlller Richie Hairvald.

    Accofding to Buddy's g itar techMessner, the gui tar is t current ly ownspolka-dotStrats ,many of them equippedhcsamcbuilt ir preamp found in the Eric

    signature stfat. Four oftsud.ly's polkabv the t render Custompickups ranlging from Lace sensors

    Specials.'l hc rernainingthlce are prol ine uddy cuy Signatulemodels fom

    n Mexico.On es equippedwi th '59 hum-has vintagc noisclcssprck

    Buddyoflen uses he larterguitar rvhen het h is egends club,which hassigni f i antaccolding to Mcssrcr'.Most recent l , Buddy has aken o play ingae l u \ e o n c r a g e . i . l i v e r n r p i go l J I e . l d e rJ q r e r . : l r e " . . n " n L T D ,

    :r ribraverb xnd :rn EiChries Iafsh:rll JCM800head through a Tonc Tubb,v x12 cube. The lrt-ter is isolated and niked oilstage.,"BmtLttstotTrnt lt'DATE OOIWHY T COUNTS LrddyGuy f inds the n1iss ingl ink benveenbluesand punkSTUDIO wectTca, Oxford,X{ iss iss ippiBAGKSToRY v lhe start ofthe 2lstcertury, Budd) Cuy u r . rprd\ Io re i r e, r h inr .e l lorce"gai rr .For his 200l album,Swcet Ted, 'ecordproducerD e n n i .H e r r i r r g L n , r J t i m r p u i t h r . u r r l i ,o younger-players fron lhe world ofpost punkand al tcrnat ive rock, inc lu l iniSqui rre l NulZippers/Knockdo\r'n society gritarist JimboMatllus and El\.is Costcllo's hlthm scction con-sisting ofbassist Davey Faragher and drunmerPeteThomas. In tbe cozy conf ines fHerr ing 'sSweet Tca studio, ocatcd n the pic tufesquesmal l o lvn of Oxfofd, Miss iss lppi , uddy andhis neu,backup mr.rsicians ug into a selection ofsongsdla*-l principally from the rcpertoires ofNorth Mississippibluesnlen Junior Kirnbroughand T Model Ford. Both a|tists lecord fLrr FaiPo. .un Record\ ' l he nrr \er ic l r r* h lue, i rnpr int , d is t r ibuted by L.A. punk hbel Epi raph,has been responsible for tulning a u'holc ncwgeneralion ofpunk rockers on o the blues."\\'hen I first came to Chicago, I found thewoli Otis Rush, Otis Span and all those guys,"saysBuddy. "I thoLrght rloDe lrrgup evervthi11gthere s .But when I u,ent down lhefe l to Mis

    s/ssrppr'1, ennis Herril]g started brirgirg upthis . Iunior Kimbrough sruf f . He's a gu\ 'neverhardly dict cave Mississippi. I snid,'wou,, man.I didn't dig deep enough.'It goes to sho$,,,vounever get too old to learn,"THE TRACKA slorv, bfooding, seven minuter ' r . r r i l r, ' ' f r H F r l - i \ l i l e $ r ' r : r lriffand a gra y, subsonic bass that never ven-tures too far fron thc toric. Liberatcd ftorn thcr2-bxr grid, Buddy soars irllo the stratosphere.Fanci fu l , u l l -b lown lock product ion valuesflang,v, echoed vocals and a soaking {-et, sus-ta in ing ead one-br ing out aspects f Buddy 'sprodig ious alent never qui te captured bv themore docurnentary approach ofhis rccordingsfrom the Nineties and earlief.PRODUCTION OTES I cut rhet record in thehal l ofS$.eetTea,"saysBuddy. "The b:rnd vasset up i r ihc s tudio. could see'em through aglass door. But I \\-as n the hall \r'iih all thcscamps.Dennis I {err ing lT s a 1otof t l ,esegreatold amps.A lot of those lsr i ta l sounds ou heefon that record hacl somcthing to do \rith hin1.I{e's iotone of them old fnri-rinll boalds that hegot oul of L.A. someu'here. Tt's as close as youcan get o the o ld studios. 'x E Y P L A Y E R l \ . o r t L e . e , . i o r . r r e . r h edrummer Span1, eterrn ofmary Fat Possunrecordings.Al though he had suf fered a mi lds t r ' , , 1 r . p . r n n r r r r r g , e d o i n t r F " B u d d ) .who to ld h inr , "Shi t , i f I rvoulda sarvyou bc-fore y ' 'ou ad the st roke, I probably wouldamoved do*,n here to Miss iss ippi ust to playrv i th you." B[

    3T BIUTSEOEIOS

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    E--JOIINLET--9l|00rEn

    TttEfinsruBnnmUIEOttELUEsoRlOREttIiltILFcIITllRY.VER THE YEARS,any number of bluesguitarists have beenable to lay claim toa personalstyle, butscant ew could ght-fully claimpossessionof an enti re musicalatt i tude. John LeeHookercould-he wasthe original ploprietor of the grooveknown as boogre.More than just arhlthmic feel, boogie san attitude-one ofsex combinedwith danger, flife on the edge n a world that'sraw,down an d extremelydifty, And itpermeates ooker'smusicno matterwhat dre setting or style.In the 50yearsduring whichHook-er made ecords,heexplored hebluesin its various ormsboth on acousticand electric guitar. While words like"organic," "earthy' and eve[ "pdmi-tive" have frequentlybeenused odescribe is alenton both nstrumeds,theguitaristhimself remainedmodest

    on the subjectofhis abilities. I believeI wasbom with thegift C.od aveme,"he once aid.ButI had odevelopit.',llnronrmnltruzutsHE WASBORN n 1920 nto a large,sharecroppingamily in Clarksdale,Mississippi,the heartofDeltabluesountry. nspirationor hisearliest musicalexplorationscame rom hisstepfa-ther,Will Moo.e,apreacher ndmusicianwhosehomeprovideda stopover or someofthe era,stravelingbluesegends,ncludingCharley atton,Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson.Lack-ing cashor the means o get it, Hooker followedthe time-honored, ountrypoor-boy raditio[ offashioninga "guitar" rom availablematerials. vstretchingslr ipsfold nner ubeso a barndooi,

    BytflTl|llilHooker created a crude instrumentupon which he began o emulate hestyleofMoore and his riends.As Hookergrew into his teens,hismother and stepfatherdiffered overthe wisdom of his musical pursuits.His mothe/s continued esistancefinally drove Hookerout ofthe houseandoffto Memphis,where the BealeStreetmusicscenewas hriving.Afterspendinga ewyealsworking asa mov-ie usher andplaying or sparechangeinw.C. HandyPark wherehe rubbedshoulde$ with a veryyoungB.B.King),Hookerwas ready or anothe rmove,this time to Cincinnati.Seven ealsater,anotherrelocationproduced hepayoffheneeded.Hookerlanded n Detroit n 1943, ttractedbytheprospects fwell-payingworkon awartime assemblyjne and newmusi-calopportunitiesr the umpingHast-ings Streetnightclubs. A lot ofbluesplayemwent o Chicago," ooker said."I went to Detroitbecausehere wasless ompetition."

    His persistenceinallypaidoff in 1948when a talentscoutbroughtHooker o he attentionofBemard Bes-mar ownerofunited SoundStudio. n his rst sessionfor Besman, ookerplayed will Moore-inspiredguitarboogieoverwhich he sangan autobiogaphicaldescription fayoungmusician'samilystilggles. Theresulting ecor4'tsoogieChillen',"was an nstanthit,and t putHooke/s nameon themusicalmapHooker continuedo turn out hit recordsat an

    lrl It waswhile performins in the clubs/I that hebegan oplayelechic guitar, try-I ing to makehimselfheard above heI noiseofthe patrons.The new nsrumenr put asolid, electric kick into his boogie,Z much o le deliehtofhis audience.Hooker plugpd away at the Dehoitclubs,building his chopsand a hard-won reputation.

    -;;li

    astonishing ace. Crawling King SnakeBlues"

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    Oper A Tuitrs (ow aohi8h, tr A E A Cl E){A)

    Mdiumhumc.? = i'll

    2 Shndrrd toniDgN.C.(E)

    MediumShutneff: = ,l 'll

    $rurrr0T[Hril0|JrJoHN LEEGAVE ull props o his step-father,will Moore,when t came o theoriginsofthe boogie.Moore and otherpractitioners of what Muddy waterscal led "deep blues" str ipped musicright to the bone, creating a trance-like atmosphere n which repetition,surrounded by empty space, ocusedthe listeneron the feeling behind themusic. Next to a propulsive rhythm,unadorned yrics and no-bullshit vocaldelivery,elements ike chord changes,melodies ndguitarsolos ecome rna-mental ratherthan essential.By the standardsof modern guitartechnique,Hooker hangsby the slimmestofthreads.Regularbar ength,predictablechanges nd repeatablehrasesall bythe wayside, and the voice ald messagebecome heguiding actors. n Hooker'smusic, hereareno mistakes ersebecausethegoal s not to play he sameway everytimq thegoal s to capture tle moment"FIGURE is the shu{fle phrase hatdefines boogie." t's notated n openAtuniflg 0ow to high, E A E A C# E), thesame uning Hooker uses.The phraseis pluckedwith the thumb on the fifthstring,and he ndex inger s usedon allother strings.Play he ffiplets with onefinger, sliding from fret to fret up the fifthstring. This rhlthm has been a source ofinspiration for countlessartists, romSlim Harpo to CannedH eat o ZZ "top.Though Hooker is forever inked toboogie, e recorded n manystyles, ndmostof his biggest hits were more hadi-tionalshuff1es. neofthese, Dimples,"is built around a unisonguitar/vocal licksimilar o that shown n FIGURE,whileanot}}er,BoomBoom," eaturesa distinc-tive call-and-response rrangementofvocalandguitar ike that sho\rn in FIGURE3 Goth examplesareplayed n standardtuning). These wo phrases orm part ofthe basicvocabularyofblues guitar.

    tming MdhrmShumeN.C.(E4

    n a heme extendingback evenbeyondBlindJefferson),JohnL's HouseRent Boogie""I'm in the Mood" (avery oblique reference oMiller's swing chestnut In the Mood")arethree ofhis titles that made he chafts n the nextyears.Hooker, t seemed,would record anpime,place, or any abel and underpracticallyanyncluding ohnLeeBooker, ohnLeeCooker,Lee,Johnny Williams and Birningham SamHis Magic cuitar.Like his Chicago contemporary Muddy Waters,up an unpretentious,own-homestyleresonatedwith displacedsouthemerswho hadhebignorthemcitiesduringandafter he war.playingacousticor electric,he could evokepastandpresenqand ocations rom the Deltaojust hisguitar,voice and ooL The forceshone lrough evensuch ather bizaneas 1952'snvaking the Boogie,"with itsand sped-upguitaroverdubs.In themid fifties, Hookerbe ganworkingmorehat includedvery ablegu iasEddieTavlor(tetterLnown asJim-Reed'spartner) and Eddie Kirkland. What'shis recordings rom thisperiod or the Vee-extend his influence overseas.

    "Dimples"and "BoomBoom" madeyoungB tish musi-and inspired severalsuccessful lues rocl

    bands, ncludingthe Animalsand heYardbirds.As the musicbusiness hifted tsproductionftorn78 pm records o singles ndalbums, ookercon-tinued to crank out material for various abels rightthrough the sixties, introducing standards ike theMuddy waters-inspired "Big Legs,Tight skirt'' and"OneBourbon,OneScotch, neBe er." is 1970 ol-laboration with CannedHeat Hool.,er& Heat, cameat the high-water markofthe blues ockera andwasa big seller acrossAmerica. Evenduring the Seven-ties and Eighties, after the blues ost its commercialappeal, ohn Lee Hooker recordscould still be oundin suburban ecordstores ext o thoseofotler peren-nial sellers, ile B.B.Khg and Jirnmy Reed.Remarkably,Hookeis careerenjoyeda new waveof success, eginning n 1989wilh TheHealer, a col-laboration etweenHookerand a crew ofhis dis-ciples hat includedCarlossantana,BonnieRaitt,Robert Cray, Los Lobos and ceorge Thorogood. Itwas ollowed by the aptly namedMr -Lucfty nd sev-eralother ecordings ade n thesarne ll-srar ejn.Hooker ivedourhis inalyearsn SanFiarcisco.where he openeda club calledJohn Lee Hoole/sBoomBoomRoom.He beca me ll prior to a 2001European our anddied shortly after at the age of83. I've had agood ime,"Hooker said n late ife,reflectingon his career. I got two generations ipeopleisteningtomy music,andmaybe 'll getmea hird." Mostcertainlv ewill.

    0rtnHOOKER'S OUND AS moldedby theforceofhispersonal tyle, otbyhisgear.He alwayssounded ike himself, whetherplayinga varietyofacoustics r a selec-tion of cibson and Epiphoneelectrics,includinga Les PaulGoldtopwiih P90"soapba/'pickupsand, n his inalyears,ES-335 ndES-345 emihollowelectrics.He usedboth openA andstandard un-ings.Beyo[d that his setupbasicallycon-sisted of a cordplugged nto an amp.

    $rn0rr0tl$rEilr0MUCII oF HooKER'sDIVERSE atalogis stillin print.Some fthe best ncludelTheUltimdteCollection n Rhino,JofinLee Hooker Pldysdnd Sings he Bluesand TheHealer, a modernproductionwith an all-star cast.8L

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    "I reallylearned alot about guitar playingjustby watchingand headngB.B. play," saysBumett,himself a well-regarded arman. "I learned a lotabout heedom, ease and grace. And I learned a lot{iom Dr. John about communication. I learned alot about the way blues is orchestrated and theway it grew in the firstplace. t's throughcommunicationamongmusi-cians hat tgrew ntothisthingwe call he blues."And onahotsumme/sday in Reno, Nevada,severalmonthsafter ses-sions we.e completed,B.B. King finally heardthe fin ishedproduct-edited,mixedandspikedwith deeplysympatheticbrass rangements ver-dubbed y ongtimeBur-nettcohortDarrellLeon-ard. The disc had beenin King's possessionorabout wo weeksnt thispoint.He ust hadn'tgot-ten aroundo isteningtoit. The man ours relent-lessly somehavespeculated hat touringis whatkeepshim al ive), andentertaining udiencesl ike the casinocrowdhe'd face ater that eve-ning in Reno s everybi tas mportanttohim asanalbum hat hashad crit-ics, ournalistsandbluesafic ionados oi


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