Page 90 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2015

8 – Albert King, Live Wire/Blues Power, Stax Records
This album is an all-time fav. What’s really interesting
is that it’s almost entirely instrumental. King was a master
guitar player, and this album recorded in 1967 at the
Fillmore West testifies to that. His career was in a bit of
slide at the time, as black audiences had almost completely
forgotten the blues players. All of a sudden, these hippie
kids with their free love and good reefer were hanging on
every lick from his Gibson Flying “V” guitar. Even if you’re
not the world’s biggest guitar fan, you’ll grab ahold of this
little gem. Seriously – I get real bored with long meandering
solos, but this one never gets that way. King told the story,
not needing words.
9 – Etta James, Rocks the House, Chess 9184
This album is the best example of how blues sounded
in the black nightclubs of the ’50s and ’60s. Jimi Hendrix
grew up in these joints and a teenaged Etta James grew old
in them. This is another album recorded when blues was
yesterday with blacks and not yet with whites. Etta covers
B.B. King, Jimmy Reed, Jessie Hill and even does a secular
take on James Cleveland.
The band is the house group at The New Era Club in
Nashville. She purrs, growls, scats and even mumbles her
way through an incendiary set. The cover shows her clad
in a cocktail dress, with Cleopatra eye makeup and an ace
bandage on her arm. According to legend, the bandage
covered up the needle tracks. No matter, it adds even more
grit to this classic document of a night on the Chitlin’ Circuit.

10 – Various artists, The Best of the Chicago Blues,
Vanguard, VSD 1-2
Vanguard was one of the very first folk (white) labels to
begin recording blues in the ’60s. I’ve always loved this
collection. I’ll bet I’ve heard it over 1,000 times. It features
cuts from Jimmy (as he’s listed on the album) Cotton, an
extremely young Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Otis Spann,
the king of post-war Chicago piano. It’s just a nice selection
of various styles. It features lots of harmonica, guitar and
rolling piano. This double set is a great introduction for
friends and family members who’ve never heard the blues.

A final note: These are all albums I’ve listened to for years.
This list isn’t meant to be a list of all-time best, just a few that
I never grow tired of. All of these are available on CD, MP3
and vinyl. Go to Amazon.com or any of the online spots for
the best deals on CDs. Better still, go to Discogs.com and
spring for the original issues on vinyl. Trust me, Muddy
Waters sounds great on a CD. However, listen to The Real
Folk Blues on vinyl and you’ll pee yourself.

The Rev. Billy C. Wirtz is a singer-songwriter, pianist,
musicologist and comedian who lives in Florida.
revbillycwirtz.com

88 Blues Festival Guide 2015