B.B. King - Live in Cook County Jail (1971)

Folkers, folkers, folkers.  What's up folkers?  Jeff the Intern here, back after a brief holiday hiatus, when the internet shuts down and people go back to doing whatever the hell it is that they did before the internet was a thing.  

I know most of you have probably been pretty bummed, dare I say blue, over the lack of meaningful content posted here recently.  But never fear, B.B. King and his old girl Lucille are here to demonstrate just how blue you can get.

Recorded live in Cook County jail, during the halcyon days of 1971, this is an incredibly soulful set.  Like Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison, there is something pretty stirring about a mainstream artist performing in front of a bunch of prisoners.  It really brings out the best in both groups.  B.B. King holds Lucille high on his chest, and coaxes out some really heart-rendering wails.  But I was even more impressed with King as a vocalist.  He belts these tunes.  The prisoners are a game audience, they serve almost as a set of background vocalists, their cheers and applause seem to season the down and out jams.

Highlights include the stop-time interlude three quarters of the way through "How Blue Can You Get?", the "3 O'Clock Blues" medley, and extended jam on "Worry, Worry."  Get this one while it's hot folks, who knows how long it will last.  

Skip James (1931) - Compilation Album

Mississippi sharecropper, turned bootlegger, turned Baptist preacher - Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was said to be one mean and cold-hearted son of a bitch.  Luckily for him, he could also play a mean guitar.  This is the deep delta blues -the devil's tunes- some kinda strange mix of brutality and beauty.  Give the "Cypress Grove Blues” a listen, it gave me the chills.

Lazy Lester - Lazy Lester (196?)

So, this is probably cheating, but it is worth it so I'm going to just go ahead and do it.  We have here 12 superb "swamp blues" tracks from the incredibly talented harpist and multi instrumentalist Lazy Lester. This is not an album, per se.  Rather it is a collection of singles and one off recordings.  Problem is, I'm not really sure where or when these recordings were made.  I do know that most of the tracks were first pressed by Excello Records, out of Nashville, Tennessee.  Unfortunately, most of the songs on this collection aren't from those original sessions.  Either way, the songs are pretty boss, and it's certainly worth a listen or two.

Lazy Lester is just one of a class of incredible bluesmen coming out of the south in the late 1950's.  In fact, when Buddy Guy left Louisiana for Chicago in 1957, Lester stepped in and took his place as lead guitarist in a local band.  Which would have been fine if Lester actually owned a guitar.  Which he didn't.

Lester's big break came by way of Lightnin' Slim, whose harmonica player no-showed for a session at Excello studios, and Lester was invited to sit in.  Lester's playing caught the ear of producer Jay Miller, and he was invited back to blow on the records of a bunch of Excello talent, including Lightnin' Slim and Slim Harpo.

Eventually Miller invited Lester to record solo, and these tracks are a sampling of their incredibly fruitful partnership.  In fact it was Miller who gave Lester the nickname "Lazy" due to his laconic, laid-back style.

As for the songs themselves, they run the gamut from up-tempo "Lover Not a Fighter",  to easy-breezy blues like "They Call me Lazy", and the haunting, unsettling "Late, Late in the Evening".  This is a perfect anytime record, and it pays dividends after a couple of spins.  

Magic Sam - West Side Soul (1967)

John Belushi, a.k.a. Jake Blues, dedicates the Blues Brothers performance of "Sweet Home Chicago" to the "late, great Magic Sam".  The dedication is earned.

Samuel Gene Maghett came to the city of Chicago in the late 1950's from his native Mississippi. When he arrived he was known as "Good Rockin' Sam", a talented guitarist who learned to play by listening to the Chess Records recordings of Muddy Waters and Little Walter.  At only 19 years old, he was invited to record for Cobra Records.  The subsequent sessions gave birth to the 1957 single "All Your Love" as well as a new stage name, Magic Sam.

This record, released by Delmark in 1967, is pretty much pitch-perfect Chicago blues.  Born of a decades worth of dues paid, both on the road and in the studio.  Technically sound, impeccably produced, with a healthy dose of hard-earned, dance-ready pop licks, it's tough not to gush about this incredibly talented bluesman.

But enough from me, check out Magic Sam starting with the incredible opener "That's All I Need".  Other highlights include "Every Day and Every Night" and "Mama Talk To Your Daughter"