NEG THe BLUES Power Trio Blues Cees By Dave Rubin Contents Dedication/Acknowledgements 2 Introduction Sere reeesoetaeae renee vein) West Side Blues 15 South Side Blues Texas Blues. en sinammeentO Selected Discography... 60 About the Author... 61 Guitar Notation Legend..... pee cO SRATION2 Acknowledgements ACKNOWLEDGMENTS T would like to thank Dick Shurman, Billy Boy Amold, Jody Williams, Kevin Vey, and everyone at Matt Umanov Guitars for their invaluable help with this book:Introduction 3 INTRODUCTION Power Trio Blues Guitar: From The West Side Of Chicago To Texas And Beyond “Barly in the morning, ‘bout the break of day That's when my baby went away Fightin’ and feudin’ won't do no good Come back baby, | wish you would” “] Wish You Would” (Vee-Jay 146) Wihaen Billy Boy Amold sang those words in Chicago in 1955, little did he realize he was waxing a track that would help usher in the development of Chicago blues from electrified country to electri fied urban. With Earl Phillips tattooing a “Bo Diddley beat" on his drums, guitarist Jody Williams twanged the repetitive octave figure that anchored the I chord vamp. Echoing Williams was bassist Milton Rector playing a Fender Precision bass. (This session is widely regarded as the first Chicago blues recording to feature electric bass.) Like the “modern” 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air that debuted that same year, it signaled the end of the post-Depression, agrarian society that had persisted even after WW IL Artists as disparate as Chuck Berry, with his rock 'n’ roll vision of youthful independence, and Miles Davis, whose "Round Midnight album in 1955 heralded the emergence of post-bop cool responding to the sociological shifts towards a more mobile, urbane society. were go, the decline of Little Walter as a major musical force and the rise of B.B. King advanced electric blues towards the smaller, harder combos that played what came to be known as West Side blues. Formed around a thythm section of guitar, electric bass and drums, these trios and quartets defined a guitar-driven sound that persists to this day in blues and rock. Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, and studio cats like Syl Johnson, Jody Williams, and Earl Hooker, as well as obscure guitarists Bobby King and Johnny “Hi-Fi” Zachary, melded rhythm and lead together. In emulation of a horn section from the swing era, they comped chords and riffs, punctuating their arrangements with, sharp, stinging solos. With the louder and more percussive electric bass, a master guitarist and singer like Magic Sam, the dean of the West Side sound, could warrant the musi | and economic efficiency that a trio engendered. When Muddy Waters sprang Little Walter on an unsuspecting blues world in 1950 with ‘na Blues,” his unamplified harp only hinted at the musical revolution to come. In 1952, Walter's sang out like a southern fried alto saxophone on “She Moves Me," and a virtuosic, instru- mental blues star was born, Never one to be shy about his ability, Walter moved quickly to stake out his own turf that same year, With Muddy and Jimmy Rogers on guitars, and Elgin Evans on drums, he cut the epochal “Juke” b/w “Can't Hold Out Much Longer.” As the record broke, Walter was in the pro of splitting from Muddy. Junior Wells was hired to take over the harmonica chair while Walter was sur- rounding himself with Junior's former sidemen, the Aces. Comprised of guitarists Dave and Louis Myers and drummer Fred Below, they ed the Jukes to capitalize on Walter's hit cune harmo echriste From 1952 to 1957, thanks to Walter's galvanizing presence, harmonica groups reigned supreme in Chicago. However, with the ascension of Chess rock ’n’ roll stars Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, from 1955 on, DJ's and record company moguls began looking for more pop-oriented material. Concurrently, south side bluesmen, led by Muddy Waters and Little Walter, began suffering a dearth of good bh songs. Coincidentally, Willie Dixon's tenure as songwriter and artist guru at Chess Records was entering a period of strain and estrangement.