Magic Sam

Great Vintage Blues 19: Magic Sam

A.V. Club (Free subscription) | 02/10/2008

The “rules” for whether a musician qualifies for one of these Great Vintage Blues posts are just loose guidelines, to keep myself...

A Study In Blues: From Delta To Chicago To Texas

RegnYouth Archives (Free subscription) | 30/08/2008

To evaluate almost a century of blues recordings and narrow it down to thirty albums takes much thought. First and foremost, you must include recordings that were important for their wide influence. Early Delta musicians like Charlie Patton and Son House influenced Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, respectively, who themselves started in the Delta and [...]

2009 NBA Mock Draft

Beale Street Beat (Free subscription) | 13/07/2008

With the 2009 NBA Draft more than 11 months away, it might seem a little crazy to begin projecting where next year’s elite players will land on draft day. Still, I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge and I’m interested to see how much my selections change as the year goes on. **For [...]

Veteran bluesman’s Philharmonic date

Liverpool Daily Post.co.uk (Free subscription) | 26/06/2008

UNDISPUTED blues legend Buddy Guy comes to Liverpool this weekend, playing the Philharmonic Hall on Sunday night, just a day after he will have wowed the crowds at the Glastonbury festival.

Syl Johnson - Come On Sock It To Me

Funky16Corners (Free subscription) | 22/06/2008

Mr. Syl Johnson “Listen - Syl Johnson - Come On Sock It To Me - MP3″ Greetings all. The work week is upon us once again, and I don’t know about you, but I need a lift. Though the mighty Syl Johnson has appeared in this space before (and likely will again) today’s selection is one of those [...]

SYL & JIMMY JOHNSON: Two Johnsons Are Better Than One (2002)

BLUES TOWN (The City Of Blues) (Free subscription) | 21/06/2008

A rollicking vocalist and gifted harmonica player, Syl Johnson has forged a career in both blues and soul. The brother of bassist Mac Thompson and guitarist/vocalist Jimmy Johnson, Syl Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, and Junior Wells in the '50s before recording with Jimmy Reed for Vee-Jay in 1959. He made his solo debut that same year with Federal. Johnson toured...

Not so Magic, Sam

Liberal Conspiracy (Free subscription) | 06/06/2008

I’m in a good mood this afternoon… so good, in fact, that I’m going to save Iain Dale a job and embarrass a political journalist Sam Coates (he of The Times and not the one who writes for Tory Home) has a ‘leaked’ Tory strategy document of which he seems inordinately proud. All of which makes it [...]

eddy 'the chief' clearwater - mean case of the blues

nongseynyo (Free subscription) | 01/05/2008

Clearwater comes up with a compelling mix of tunes on this 10-track outing, his first for the Bullseye Blues imprint. The southpaw guitarist covers a wide range of styles (as befitting a true West Side guitarist, where versatility is a badge of merit) including Magic Sam's "Look Whatcha Done," and Nat King Cole's "Send for Me," Gene Allison's "You Can Make It If You Try" and Clearwater originals like...

EARL HOOKER: Simply the Best

BLUES TOWN (The City Of Blues) (Free subscription) | 06/04/2008

Back in the late '50s and early '60s, Chicago blues was at its peak, and for the price of a drink or two one could hear the unbearably exciting guitar work of Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk, and Hubert Sumlin blasting out of small clubs along the south and west sides of the city. But if you were to ask any of these fretboard whizes who was...

The Friday Flashback: Syl Johnson

Chicagoist (Free subscription) | 28/03/2008

Howard Bedno and Peter Wright founded Twinight Records in 1967. The R&B/soul music label would go on to release fifty-five singles over the next five years, with five of them charting. The label's undisputed star was Syl Johnson. The Mississippi native played with Magic Sam, Howlin' Wolf and Junior Wells, among others, before he launched his solo career with a series of Jimmy Reed-produced sides for...

South By South Wanderings: Day Three

Living in Stereo (Free subscription) | 17/03/2008

For more of Roy Kasten's SXSW coverage, see the A to Z blog. There were two soul acts on my must-see list: the legendary Darondo and the unknown Black Joe Lewis. I was shut out of the former, but the latter was playing a free day party in the parking lot at Club Deville and I [...]

luther "guitar junior" johnson - country sugar papa

nongseynyo (Free subscription) | 11/02/2008

Gospel and blues intersected in young Luther Johnson's life while he was still in Mississippi. But after he moved to Chicago in the mid-'50s, blues was his main passion, working with Ray Scott and Tall Milton Shelton before taking over the latter's combo in 1962. Magic Sam was a major stylistic inspiration to Johnson during the mid-'60s (Johnson spent a couple of years in Sam's band). The West side...

Ford Transit Connect Hits the Right Note with Legendary Blues Man Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang

Auto Spectator (Free subscription) | 08/02/2008

CHICAGO, Feb. 6, 2008 – Ford's Transit Connect is nimble enough to get legendary blues man Eddie Shaw, his band the Wolf Gang and all their gear to the hottest music clubs in cities around the world.When the blues resurgence was in full swing in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Eddie Shaw was in the mix. Shaw, a tenor sax, was right in the midst of some of the seminal blues recordings going down in a few Windy City...

1969 - Blues singer "Magic" Sam Maghett collapses and ...

VH1 (Free subscription) | 01/12/2007

Gilman's The Crowd You're in With Extends Debut Run at SF's Magic Theatre

PlayBill (Free subscription) | 27/11/2007

Gilman's The Crowd You're in With Extends Debut Run at SF's Magic TheatreThe Magic Theatre's world premiere engagement of Rebecca Gilman's The Crowd You're in With has been extended through Dec. 22. Amy Glazer directs the production, which began its run Nov. 10 and opened Nov. 17 at Magic's Sam Shepard Theatre. The show — "hailed by critics and audiences alike," according to an announcement — was originally...