HOME > PRESS RELEASE FROM ALLIGATOR RECORDS
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Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater
- West Side Strut CD RELEASE PARTY |
Who would have given credence to a Clearwater revival? Two men did: the 73-year-old bluesman himself, Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater and Bruce Iglauer, president of blues’ biggest indie label, Chicago’s Alligator Records. After a decades’ long career, Clearwater has released his first album on Alligator, and it just may be his best ever.
“
It’s a dream come true. Recording for Alligator is a dream I’ve had
for many years, and it’s worked out ten times better that I expected,” says
Clearwater in an interview with Jeff Johnson, blues writer for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Johnson further mentions in the liner notes Clearwater’s “pride” with
the album “after previous efforts for the [labels] Rooster Blues, Rounder
and Bullseye, among others.”
He was born Edward Harrington (a cousin of late harpist Carey Bell
Harrington) on January 10, 1935 in Macon, Mississippi. With music
from Blues to Gospel to
Country & Western surrounding him, southpaw Eddy taught himself to play guitar
left-handed and upside down. After moving to Chicago in 1950, Eddy met many of
Chicago’s blues stars, namely “Magic Sam” Maghett, who would
become one of Eddy’s closest friends and teachers.
By 1953, as “Guitar Eddy,” he made a strong name for himself working
the South and West Side bars regularly. During the 1950s, Chicago’s West
Side was a hot bed of some of the world’s greatest bluesmen. Otis Rush,
Freddie King, Luther Allison and others ruled the clubs. He met and befriended
everyone from Sunnyland Slim to Earl Hooker, picking up licks and lessons along
the way. After hearing Chuck Berry in 1957, Eddy added that Rock and Roll element
to his blues style, creating a unique sound that defines him to this day.
Drummer Jump Jackson invented Eddy's stage name “Clear Waters” – later
just “Clearwater,” as a takeoff on the name of “Muddy Waters” (McKinley
Morganfield). “The Chief” is a nickname from often opening shows
wearing a Native American headdress as an ode to his grandmother’s Cherokee
ancestry.
The album’s title West Side Strut is a tribute to his old neighborhood. “West
Side Blues” is frequently mentioned in blues circles, but a good definition
differentiating it from other styles is as illusive as a good paying club gig
during a recession. The “Classic Chicago Blues” style was developed
by fully amplifying Delta blues, putting it into a small-band context. Adding
drums, bass, and piano to the basic six-string guitar and harmonica duo created
the now standard blues band lineup. Singers, guitarists, pianists, and harmonica
players can be the featured performer in front. Later, with newer and younger
guitarists taking their ideas from the lead guitar work of truly creative national
heroes, the “West Side” subgenre was born. Suggested to be the model
used by power-trios like Eric Clapton’s Cream, West Side Blues put the
guitar player out front in a strong and powerful role. “You had to have
a lot of energy....You had to come on strong, or you wouldn’t be out there,” says
Clearwater. With producer Ronnie Baker Brooks and guests, Clearwater demonstrates
his ability on the album to play several styles.
The smile inducing first track has clever Clearwater/Brooks lyrics
and a Classic Chicago Blues ensemble. With guests Billy Branch
on harmonica, Daryl Couts – piano,
RB Brooks on second guitar, and Brooks’ band regulars on bass (Carlton
Armstrong) and drums (Maurice “Moe” Taylor), The Chief plays lead
guitar and sings, I am going to give you (instead of a damn-good-whuppin’) “a
damn ‘Good Leavin’ Alone.’”
“
Hypnotized” showcases that West Side sound with Brooks peeling off scorching
riff after riff in front of Steve Herrman arranged horns. Horns were often used
in early West Side sessions, like for Otis Rush on Cobra.
Changing the tempo and mood, the third track, “Gotta Move On” is
a plaintive ballad featuring Eddy’s formidable vocals. This track was first
to catch me singing along on the second listen. It captivates with swelling organ
and horn harmonies and solos courtesy of Dennis Taylor’s saxophones, Earnest
Williamson’s clarinet, and Hermann’s trumpet.
Muddy Waters’ “Walking through The Park” and Lowell Fulson’s “Trouble,
Trouble” are the only covers with the former being a fun, full-ensemble
romp through the park and the latter a slower, heartfelt rendition.
Old friend and father of Ronnie Baker, Lonnie Brooks drops by the studio
for a humorous, burning guitar number, “Too Old To Get Married” (but
too young to be buried).
Reflecting his more serious side, Clearwater takes us to church twice,
first on a Leipziger/Flemming original “Do Unto Others” with vocal guests
Otis Clay and Jimmy Johnson on co-leads and Lonnie Brooks on background vocals.
The theme of altruism continues in the Clearwater/Brooks song “A time For
Peace” featuring what sounds like a full Gospel choir with accompanying
organ swells.
A Chicago legend who has recorded for 50 years, Clearwater is an intense,
flamboyant blues-rocking showman. With his fierce guitar playing, soulful
and emotive
vocals and wild stage shows, Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, and this album,
easily belong on everybody’s Chicago’s A-list.
James “Skyy Dobro” Walker is a noted Blues writer, DJ and Blues Blast
contributor. His weekly radio show “Friends of the Blues” can be
heard each Thursday from 4:30 – 6:00pm on WKCC 91.1 FM in Kankakee, IL