Chicago | All About Blues Music

CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE

Charlie Musselwhite and Paul Butterfield were the two white kids who took Chicago Blues across the colour line to a new younger generation. The authentic sound of wailing amplified Blues harp, as developed by Little Walter and Sonny Boy II, gave a focus to their self-named Blues bands and showed that this music is relevant…

EARL HOOKER

There are few more accomplished guitar players in the history of the Blues than Earl Hooker. Renowned as a slide player, his clear, eloquent single-string runs didn’t bludgeon the listener, and his use of standard tunings meant he could quickly slip back into using the frets. He mastered new gizmos like the wah-wah pedal and…

MATT ‘GUITAR’ MURPHY

One of the most respected side-men on the Chicago Blues scene, Matt Murphy is universally acclaimed for his sharp, eloquent guitar lines that seem to say ‘Amen’ to every tune they attend. He has played with some of the seminal figures of the Blues and added high quality to their work in every instance, in…

HOUND DOG TAYLOR

Theodore Roosevelt Taylor learned his slide-guitar around his native Natchez MS, playing at parties and juke-joints. He was already 20 when he learned to play and a few appearances on the King Biscuit Time radio show convinced Hound Dog to try his luck in Chicago. He relocated there in 1942, and played part-time around the…

JUNIOR WELLS

Junior Wells’ wailing harp lines became one of the iconic sounds of Chicago Blues, following the example of the men he most closely emulated, John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson and ‘Little Walter’ Davis. Junior had several spells in Muddy Waters‘ band and a long informal partnership with Buddy Guy confirming his place in the top rank of Chicago Blues harp…

BIG WALTER ‘SHAKEY’ HORTON

Shakey Horton was a giant of the Chicago Blues harp, a.k.a. ‘The Mississippi Saxophone’. His broad honking harp really did sound like a horn section, and the sense of space he created around his fluid, soulful solo lines was unique. Unlike his peers Little Walter and Rice ‘Sonny Boy II’ Miller, Shakey had little interest…

BLIND JOHN DAVIS

Blind John Davis was an accomplished session pianist who played on many seminal records in Chicago in the 30s and 40s and who was later a missionary of the Blues as it took root in Europe. John went blind at nine years of age and began playing piano in his father’s Chicago ‘speakeasy’ in the…

HUBERT SUMLIN

For more than 20 years Hubert Sumlin’s guitar was right behind Howlin’ Wolf on stage and on record. ‘Killin’ Floor’, ‘Smokestack Lightnin’, ‘Spoonful’ and ‘Ain’t Superstitious’ all had Hubert’s razor-sharp guitar lines behind Wolf’s rumbling vocals. Hubert played the diddley-bow back in Greenwood MS when he was a kid and he teamed up with local…

MAGIC SAM

Magic Sam was a pioneering guitar virtuoso on the club scene on the West-side of Chicago in the late 50s, where a new generation of Blues guitarists like Freddie King, Otis Rush, Luther Allison and Buddy Guy were tearing up the rule book. Sharp-edged guitar phrasing, honking saxes and hysterical vocals were the hallmark of this…

LITTLE JOHNNY JONES

Mississippi born Johnny was a stalwart of the post-War Blues scene in Chicago, as a session pianist and side-man for Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed and Magic Sam. He was a pretty good barrelhouse pianist when he arrived in Chicago from Jackson MS, at the age of 22, and was soon taking the stage…