oer S200 13 {evel 1 EDITION - yy 4 ss Vi SS ea , | BLUES Ny Mek 3327) Pro an , s se al es Pe rts Me Ret eet Pert D) ae ee = CAYMAN EVILS GM aN aa Le BU LTAAURVEN ANNAYou can read articles from The Blues magazine ~ along with articles from Z Classic Rock, roe THE ONY TERME Metal Hammer and 3 (Tj : Prog magazine - by subscribing via at LouderSound.com ESCompinlyChares Grae Sean Wlos vir at Eo oy Dees ns he Blues magazine started offs an offshoot of Casi Rock magazine in June 2012. Clasic Rack had been covering blues rock artists for years, with the ‘occasional feature on an original bluesman like Muddy or Wolf, but the burgeoning new scene macle us wonder ifblues needed it’s own magazine, Sure, Clase Rock could cover Joe Bonamassa every now and again, but to also cover Walter Trout, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, the Reyal Southern Brotherhood, Joanne Shaw Taylor etc ete was going to take quite afew more pages. ‘Thesuccess of Classic Roc’ first-ever cover story with Joe Bonamassa gave us confidence ‘thatit could work. That tory is included inthis collection, asthe tory that gave birth to The Blues magazine. I, and the story about fimi’s Are Yeu Experionce, are the ony stores here ‘that werent originally published in The Bucs mag itself) ‘The magazine ran from 2012 t0 2016 under the editorship of Ed Mitchell (and special ‘mention must be made here of Art Editor Steven Goldring and Dep Ed Emma Johnson). What you havein yourhands sa collection of some of the mag's finest moments and there are many fine moments to choose from. There's great writing on and some amazing photographs ofthe genre's biggest star: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, ZZ.Top, Howlin’ Wolf... And their storiesand voices resonate sill honest, authentic, talented, aware, musical... You can alwaystell real music fans. tdoesn’t matter what got them into music inthe first, place, theirnatural love and thirst for fresh sounds and greater understanding turns them, into time travelers. They may bea teenage guitarist who picked up a Tecaster because of Green Day, but they soon read that Green Day reference The Clash, and that sends them backwards, where they lear tha the Clash liked The Who and The Who liked Mose Allison and R&B and... everything ends up atthe blues From the Deltato the guitar shops of London's iconic Denmark Street, these are just O {- Scott Rowley, Editor In Chief casero 3Features 6 The Birth Of Heavy Blues tealondeorspanoptie wfomofecr 18 Bo Diddley: A Buyer's Guide Theanseget i bce colt strode cody tem 20 Howlin’ Wolf annette satin tert es, Pace inlpetenmactutowteclepel 32 Peter Green em ery rer ta prose sdeapne en ee eames ir ten nema nape 70 Johnny Winter: A ‘Bayer’ Guide etre ome greater ode fae, Sibir 72. 23 Greatest Live Albums ‘Lng my Gy a aesndatestip teat ‘uae nessa bade 80 Blues Brothers Seale Sciancerieate am 88 Big Mama Thornton: ‘A Buyer's Guide Simi an eects Siimeuie scene enon ‘Siena stam Dowie. 102 Walter Trout a2 fee amet ‘Sects eos lore (gece ebb bots patos 112 Gary Moore ‘tances ta 12 Dr. Jolin: Guide nt? odo mite poo tig ew fracas? 124 Stevie Ray Vaughan 134 Gospel ‘edema ie mscwely 146 Leslie West ‘eMac kph arp ‘eeetwacngceomen3.4 FEATURE When Jimi Hendrix arrived in London in 1966 he blew the ofthe ‘ish vr i ng Erie of electric blues... Words: Johnny Blake (a castro 9ikeall the great overnight sensations jimi lend took years to gt ofthe ground, His was along road to fame: from thelileboy wi, in 1958 used his beat up guitar ‘oimitate TV cartoon sound fet, tothe 1964 guitar Slinger who hited out his talents to Lite Richard, The sey Brothers and others, othe calandish paychedele sicstring shaman who few into London ate 1966 However, within weeks of Hendrixbeing launched to the Big Smoke’ gogole-eyed media The Bag O'Nails club on Friday vember 25, 1966, virally every major British blues guitars found himsel rethinking his musical dincton Inevitably the purists would continue to recyele the past and the unimaginative woul lavishly emulate Hendris, but a hand of inspired innovators would choose to fashion theirown, unique styles uni out ofthat seething maessom of erativity, heavy blues would be born, 1966, NOVEMBER 25 ‘Having created a buzz with a handful of ‘small-venue appearances, including the ‘now legendary jam with Cream at Regent ‘Street Polytechnic which had left Eric (Clapton gobsmacked at his prowess, Jimi Hendrix was officially launched with showcase gig in The Bag O'Nails,a tiny but influential music biz Mecea in Londons Soho, As well as key journalists invited by Hendrix's manager Chas Chandler, Bag O’Nails appearance ensured that the fledgeling Jimi Hendrix Experience would be seen by the venue's regular clientele, which included Paul McCartney, The Who, Eric Burdon and others. JOHN MAYALL (The Bluesbreakers): ‘When jmifstcame to England, Chas Chandler tad put the word out that he'd found this ‘Phenomensl guitar playerin New York, and he ‘ool ply the guitar behind hishead ana with Fisteth and everything The buzz was out before Jimiad even been seen here, so people were anticipating his performance, and hemorethan lived up co what we wereexpectng "TERRY REID (rock vocalist) allbanging out at The ig O'Nal Keith, Mick re Brian Jones] comes skipping through ‘llhappy about something Paul MeCartney walks in, elf ock walkin fmm Page (Ed nate Page don having he tho. though, "What's this A bloody convention or something?” Here comes im, one of his military ck hail over the place, pulls out this left handed ‘Stratocaster, ea toll, ook ike e's heen chopping wood with it And hegetsupallsoft-spoken. Anda of sasudden,“WHOOOR-RRAAAWWRR"” And he breaks into Wid Thing and it was all ove. There ‘were guitar players weeping. They had to mop thefloor up He was pling ton, solo after sob could se everyone's filings filing out Whe he | finshed was lence. Nobody hn what odo, Everybody was dumistruck, completely in shock KEITH ALTHAM Gournalist, NME): jm’ ‘wasalimost too mich, to beabsoltely honest. Heer ae pases He breaks into Wild Thing andit wasall over. Guitar players were ‘weeping. They hadtomop the floor up; swascverwhelming i that smal space. You knew someting special was going on, youknew the guy was obviously abriliant gatas buts ‘very dfcutto takeinasa journals. JERF BECK: The thing noticed was noconly his amazing blues but hs physical assault on the gitar. His ations were al of one accor, anexplosivepackage, Me Fricand Jimmy. were cursed because we were rom Surrey. We allooked lke we'd walked out ofa Burton's shop window. He hitelikean earthquake When hearrived, had think ng ai hard about what Idd next [MICK JAGGER: lov ir Hiendi rom the beginning The moment sa him, ought he -was fantastic Iwas an instant convert. Mii Hendrix isthe best thing ve ever cen as ‘exciting, sex interesting, He didnt havea very ‘ood voice but made up frit with his gular. or alms alfa decade, Hendrix had cris-crosed Americ, honing his lens sa sideman and studio guitars, chetng up credits with itl Richard “Thelsley Brothers Sam Cocke and many others. His wa an impressive résumé; but fame and fortune bard seemed any clserin 1966 than, they did atthe start ofthe decade. Inthe autumn of 1966, has Chandle, previously best-known asthe basis for The Anima, hd ‘discovered Hendrix plying in |aGreenwich Village club during night ot in ‘New York and immediately decided tobring him tothe UK. Chandlersinstines were absolutely right. Not only would Hendrit’s musicianship and image make him stand out from London's axe lt, but had he remains n America, he would probably never have got is head above water. JOHN LEE HOOKER: Eric Capion Joh Mayall andallthose other people ver in England made theblues abigthing Inthe Sates, people didnt want to kno "TONY GARLAND (assistant to Chas (Chandlery: White America we listening to Doris Day. Back American music got nowhere near white AM radio. jimi was too white for black radio. Here, there were aloof white guys listening to blues from America and wanting to sx lige their heroes. ‘STEPHEN DALE PETIT (contemporary blues guitaristégenre expert: The British conrbution to the blues is equal, in my eyes, ‘what Robert Jolson or Blind Lemon elrson «ida ofthose guys through to Muddy Waters. think it’s certainty dat without the Bish biuesboom, the music would nochave anything remot lie the profile does, Remember oo that when Chas invited jimi to London, Jimi did notaskabout money or contracts Heasked if (Chas would introduce him to Beck and Clapton. sing his extensive contacts network, Chandlerhad engincereda huge profile for Hendrix since the day hearrvedin London, but from ‘November 1966 he shifted into overdrive. nthe next two months, woul playa The Marquee “TheCromvelian Blises, The Speakeasy and a *, \ Pee Eee eau oon sett treet ee ney Coe se a eeEt lo ier oes ot Eee err Tide ec) Cees rie Geet pus sere cee pS Piet ees cas eee yar) ene re Peer rt Pete Neate ony a een ers eens es Sener an te cussmoaucnancou 1966, LATE NOVEMBER Hendrix jamsat The Cromwellian with organist Brian Auger, This is reputedly the first gig at which Jimi played through ‘Marshall equipment. ANDY SUMMERS (guitarist with Zoot ‘Money and The Police): He hada whiteSiat and, as walked ip, hehaditin hismouth. He hnad age Afro and he had on sor of buckskin facket with ringes that wereto the floor. Yeah, ‘ewasintense and itwasrelly great. Irkind of ‘urmedll he gutarissin London upsidedone, 1966, DECEMBER 13, ‘The Jimi Hendrix Experience tape Hey {joe for popular TV show Ready, Steady Got Watching is effects wizard Roger Mayer, ‘hot already built eustom fuzz boxes for jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, and would soon sive Hendrix the Octavia octave doubling device heard at the end of Purple Haze. ROGER MAYER: [si "Damo,thisguy's ‘ncrolible” He wasthe pitomeof what any rock guitarist should be—we had no oneof that calibre 1966, DECEMBER 16 Hey joes released, It will peak at No.6 daring its 11 weeks on the singles chart. ‘Stephen Dale Petit makes the valid ‘observation that, fora black man steeped. in blues tradition, the marketing of fms launch in the UK was as revolutionary as his music. “The idea that Hendrix was a psychedelic guitarist more than a blues ‘guitarist was partly down to how he was "reasons Pett. DAVE GREGORY (guitarist, XTC):I as 14 years old. been paying guitar for about three months when [heard FJ. thoughtit ‘wasa drge—a oul singer with a doomelen backing chorus. When finally got old ofthe 445some months late, turned these over and found Sion Fre onthe B-side, which was another thing entirely —the wiles guts playing Fd ‘ver head. as so dazzled by his brlance that did immedacly identi hisplaying as bles STEPHEN DALE PETIT: tychedela wae the burgeoning rend and Hendexin those flamboyant clothes wasa ready ftforit sos not surprising lots of fans did see him as bluesman, but guys ike Clapton and Beck ‘would have known exactly where Hendeix was coming from, They realised Hendrix personified ‘everything that every English blues scan spite to. Hewas leo their worst fear, because he ‘wasn 60 years ol and from the plantation, He ‘waste same ageasthem but what they'd learned second-hand he had learned on the circuit, playing with he originals {JIMI HENDRIX. Blues. man. Bles. Forme ibarsthe only music theres. Hovis the bes version ofa one-hundma-yearold cowbay song. Srietly speaking tint such acommercial song and vas amazed the mumberended up sohigh ‘inthechars. MIKE VERNON (British biues record producer Aithetime, never eally thought ‘of himasbeing abies guitarist. The blues hardly needa reboot ait was already on its ‘way with thee of Clapton, Peter Green He was,undenahly. refreshing change from alluhathad yonebefore him, although to some degree his antes were only extensions of ary performs ike Gaternouth Brown, But abies guitars? Mmm... wel be certainly could ply fad sing the bls wae he chose to, bu rely, hhewas an innovatorin what was o become therock markeplace. To my way ofthinking more guitarists were influenced by Eric Clapton And Peter Green and then Stevie Ray Vaughan, ‘than Jimi Hendrix MARK KNOPFLER: The firs timet heard Hg Jocon the radio, completly freaked and ‘immediatly ron out and bought the record. ld even havea record player 1966, DECEMBER16 (On the same day Hep Joe hits the shops, Hendrix playsat Chisethurst Caves, ‘London, where he first meets Roger Mayer, ROGER MAYER: went thereand brought some of my devices such asthe Octavia, [6 shown it tommy Page, but he thought twas oo farout jimi said, the moment we met "Yeah, fd keto ry thc seuf 1966, DECEMBER 21 ‘The Jimi Hendrix Experience play at Blaises Club, London, UK. (CHRIS WELCH (reviewer, Melody Maker): Jimi Hendrix fantastic American gitar, blew ‘theminds ofthestar packed crowd wh... heard Jims trioblast through some beautiful sands ike Rock Me aly, Thin tone From The St, Hey Jovand even an crsual version of The Troggs ‘Wall Thing fin has great sage presence and an ‘exceptional gitar technique which involved jphying with isteeth on occasions and no hands talon other! Jim lookslike becoming one of thebyclub names of 7. 1967, JANUARY 24 (On their first appearance at‘The Marquee, London, The Jimi Hendrix Experience break the house record. Support band ‘The Syn will later evolve into Yes. PETER BANKS (guitarist, The Syn/Yes: asa very peculiar gi. All The Beales Were there, and the Rolling tones Clapton and Beck and every other guitar player in town camealong ‘and wed to play tall hese people. They were ‘waking for Jimi Hendrixbat we had to play once, comeoff andl then play another set. So people ‘were going “Well, think God they've gone” ‘Then we camehack on agin. ERIC CLAPTON: He definitly pulled therug ‘oat fromuinder Crean, to people ike Pte “Townshend about him and we po anal see him, PETE TOWNSHEND: Th thing thst cell stunned Ercand me was the waye took whit ‘wedidl and madeitbetter. And really startet ‘ry toplay thought Fd never ever eas great ashes, but ther’scertainlynoreason now ‘why [shoulda try. fac, remember saying {ob Tm going to play him off thestageone day. But what Eric did was even more peculiar, He sid, Wel, fm going to pretend that lam Jini end” 1967, JANUARY 29 ‘The Who headline agig at The Saville ‘Theatre, London, UK, supported by TheJimi Hendrix Experience, Koobas and ‘Thoughts. In the audience are Erie Clapton and Jack Bruce of Cream, plus Brian May (ater to play guitar for Queen). BRIAN MAY (fan):1id heard hesolo on Stone Fre and refused to belive that someone could actly play this It had to besomeking Blues, man. Blues. Forme, 0 that’s the only Slituitistkehaiaies «| MMusicthereis. Rented cinwten | Ley Joeisthe I ersecaleita cei raat ae blues version Kime cTisay siemens | QA, LOOnyear= old song: Tveever seen” Ani he did the Sone Fre soo ive absolaty perfelyItwasbacktothedrawing | | 1967, repRuaRY 3 ‘At Olympie Studios, London, Hendrix. board forme ERIC CLAPTON: | don’ hink ck hd realy ‘completes the recording of Purple Haze, | which includes the First use of Roger taken hin in befor... and when jack lid seit Mayer's Octavia pedal. ‘that nigh afer the gig wenn home and came ‘up with the if [Sune Of Yur Lv) twas strctyadedicationtofmi. And then we wrote ‘song ontop oft FEATURE er meer cone ae EDDIE KRAMER (engineer) Aitheend ‘ofthe song, the high-speed guitar youhear was actually an Octavia guitar overdue recorded first aslowerspeed, then played backon higher speed. The panning atthe end was done toaccentuat theft. ROGER MAYER: Tiicbasis was thebles but the framework ofthe bles was too tight. We'd talk first about what he wanted the emotion ofthe song tobe, What's the vision? He would talkin colours and my-job was to givehim the dlectronic palette which would engineer those colours so he ‘could paint the canvas, 1967, MARCH 8 six plays at The Speakeasy, London. BECK; For me, the st shockwave was Jimi Hendrix. That was the major thing tha shook ‘everybody up. Even though weall established ‘ourselves as fil salen the guitar field hecame along and reset all ofthe rules in one evering [Nextthing you know rie was moving ahead with (Cream anditwaskicking offinbigchunks, GaBt a eC ees a eer Pere ena Lee c CL enue cer ore Deo eter RC ge ee meniiiatcot ue ad al open earmurie | eer deste TLs Ca Dea eee ae Peet) ue ener ratte SMU ge nen Ce Sel ca ee ict Serie areal eer wari ca ars Pi ead A Fe La eee ale Pere rer or Poe ad Re Me cat nna pated aerate Renee See cecal ere eg ee NMI ‘aught ic cel py chums, remembered sim Marsha, "and Mich breugt his guy along eee ery Cleat ead Pe ey eee ete eoueat Conny Putco) Cosine cue Ce eee tas Preity: eee earn eee) ects Corer res et Cenc e RUC secu cc Retr eee eee Pati mol eigen tents Ceo Sad ES emeaeies rue te) direct eee ener ey pa ae) ee cer ies Pee ey Peete e ee RN Cee ta 2 cxsiemcncAzac 1967, MARCH 23 ‘As Purple Haze enters the UK singles chart, Hendrix sells Stratocaster at Selmer’s Music Store in Central London, ‘where Paul Kossoff ater to form Free, ‘works asa sales assistant. PAUL KOSSOFF: chs anol ook about himand smelled strange. He started playing some ‘chord stu Hkein Litle Wing and thesalesan looked stim and couldnt beleveit ust seeing him realy freaked me ou. just ved him to death. Hewas my hero. 1967, MAY 11 Erie Clapton buys his first wah wah pedal at Manny’ guitar shop in New York City. ERIC CLAPTON (guitarist, Cream They ‘si that i had one and so that was enough or re. hadto haveone oo. ith the release of A You Experi, epested pays ‘made it posible or rites and Flow musicansto examine Hendrix's oeuvre greater depth, Now, aspects ofhis playing which had ist seemed covally revolutionary could clearly be seen to have Toots rot justin radiionl bus, bin riish bls, 1967, MAY 12 Are You Experienced is released in the UK. ‘The album includes Fory Lady, which includes a Jimmy Page riff lifted from the October 1966 single Happenings Ten Years ‘Time Ago by The Yardbirds, STEPHEN DALE PETIT; Los Or Cofsion takesa couple of British tings cements of The Beales Tomonow Newr Knows and The Yardbirds! Shapes Of Things, bth of which usea home key, {go downa sep and theneturn to thehomekey Using Marshall amplification, sonically and texturally Hendrix could sound very ciflerent than his influences and heroes, bu thea. threelicks ofthe soloin Hoy oeclealy display the el andthe phrasing of Albert King, Sone Fvexhibits the approach, ate and composition including melodic content and vibrato of Hubert Sumiin Generally bea Hubert Sumlin and Wale Jolson allthrough Hendra’ paying a clear Tine can be drawn feom Wille obason through Hendrix to whitebluss based hard rockand heavy mal. JOE SATRIANE: ei awe wasa nod this biues roots. think the most anderrsted part of his playing his sense of melody in evrything he played his way-in-the-pocke hythm playing, and his combining ofboth into memorable pars that defined each song asa unique pice of music JOHN LEE HOOKER: Ive always oved that song [ed Hoa] Heved the way ii did it never se him pay. know he was seen assomebody in the rocksideofthings but underneath he wasablues man, He played AAmean bes guitar. LESLIE WEST (guitarist, Mountain): heard Hendrix plying re You Experi and [ssid "What the ck s this" eblew my mind! “The way heed that whammy bar? Forget about it Hei kock those strings ext of tune and then heddsretch them right hack into tune. The guy vwasunrel ona oma Perce he hen Hendrix returaed to \ \ ] America,on une 18.1967, 0 ply ot Monterey Pop Festiva, A wholenew transtlantic crop ofgaitarists was exposed tothe phenomenon for the first time. Mike loom, Johnny Winter, Stephin Sillsand Billy Gibbonsof2Z Top arconly andl ofthose who subsequently acknowledged Hendrix's powerfal impact on them. Having achieved massive succes at Monterey, Hendrixsnext began touring Americ when he opened with Kling For ha heard ‘Wolf and tuber play itso many times in Chicago, and.when saw what jimi did oi iewas asif what Thad been eying to do for years suddenly became perfectly lear. | immediately undersood what Thad been longing an searching fr,Hendrix ‘was seenas someone on the rock side ofthings, but underneath hewasa blues mans 1967, aucust 9 ‘The Jimi Hendrix Experience pay at The “Ambassador‘Theatre, Washington DC. In the audiences Nils Lofgren. E NILS LOFGREN: When | sw jn Blends, {just was possessed realse, “Oh my God, thisis ‘what want wo do. It's going tobe my career” And there was noturning back, 1967, ocropeR 17 ‘Bi Hendrix jams with John Mayall Bluesbreakers, standing in briefly for Mick Taylor, at Klooks Kleck, London. JOHN MAYALL: Wheniesat in with you. be ‘woul just fl sght to whatever you were doing Hewasjustantura musan and don think cpsagng was ay para is persona. He loved to play edge and heloved the aerion hows geting MICK TAYLOR: jos hohe was amzing, Fora gtarisetohave hat energy ispayng, andalso thecontlandthertythm. You kno foe ‘most quits isincribly dil play he thst, ortoeve play anywhere nearthat standard ‘nathrce pce group. mean, re Capo ii with Cea. And Hendx wage he wayhe Switched rom rythm to leads Hisguitar ond his Woiewerealmos ikethesamething 6a FEATURE ‘The essentials Our pick of the 20 heavy blues bos Rete arteries Reais ed Teicher aks ae el eae ee Peed 2) eee bite alalaain eit cen Praerar eeesrr a et Nieeenr tr eo Cilaania aera ead Ce oy are er ry Rocke mere ne ty rca ar eer es FREE tons of Sobs (1960) ee ey Pern arent Pea ern foot ees aap ere erties Seen eee te fe rreheeerere an So ee Te CO: cient i datas Pee aera ene ee eee rd Noe eee tu Deena Pett een) Peenner cra) Erected La) bicreamerecnaneen etero Ar ecere mere gre pitas eee ee rc) Corer atari irene ee eta Rent) prolate Bey Pape fee oo 6 zoe ed irre ere Pere hed ag abun euler,” cvssano ancien 13eee) ener erect a eal) Dale eyo) ene De tL nto US) Ph Loe eee Sok ot Jn pana ceri second album, Disndi Gears. A psyches quant leap ae of thel debut, Sonically much heavier but ill dominated by (Clapton's bes guitar sols, it delivered their American breakthrough, reaching No.¢on ‘he Bilboard char. fHendex wasthe rigger the fst heavy Tues bull out ofthe gun was Creams 1967, NOVEMBER 3 Cream release Disraeli Gears ERIC CLAPTON: We wentoito America to record Disuel Gears, which Ithought wasan ‘incredibly ood alum. Andwhen we got back, ‘no one was interested becasse Ar You Eprencad Inid come out ane wiped everybody else out, fnlading usin had t sewn up. He'd taken the blues and made incredibly cutting-edge [was inawe ofhim: 1967, DECEMBER 15, "The Who release The Wbo Sell Out STEPHEN DALE PETIT: think: as i’s rival hat made alead guitar player aus of Pete | Townshend, because when he go into his oiler- | suicerahe was suddenly soloing realy fying, playing some amazing shitasa soloist, which he ‘ever before. 1968, FEBRUARY 10 ‘The Jimi Hendrix Experience headline at The Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. ‘Support band The Electric Flag feature guitarist Mike Bloomfield, ‘MIKE BLOOMFIELD: for years.ll the Negroes wh makeit into the white market smadeit through servlty, ke Fats Domino lovable, jolly fatimage~or they had been spades whe had been picked upby the white ‘market Now here's thicat. you knave"Iam ‘super spade, man. Lam ik, blckand tough: 1968, MAY 10 ‘The Fillmore East, New York City, USA. PAUL STANLEY (guitarist, Kiss) gow ‘up going a Fillmore Es, seeing J Henle, Led Zeppelin humble Pie, Henarixwas ike | scrmody rom another lan Godless |_ stevie Ray Vaughan, butthere wouldnt be | ansiv wot Hen 1968, JULY Deep Purple release their debut album, ‘Shades Of Deep Purple, which includes cover of Hey joc in the Hendrix style | RITCHIE BLACKMORE (guitarist, Deep Purple):twasimpressedby Hendrix. Not Gaey 4 Fae | a wg‘The Real Me Rae aay him best... as ro10 7 pavip sinerain Peete even iy ee i Aenea eur Cuan Teter Se A esl mi’ reas ae Ce one tin te ei Comer iran nnd oer iene eA Ueber ene Deer ou oy Coe Ce) eg Perera a ny Per ery enue) Poco) PORE) Poratenrrny Peete oer es creates Ponies diny Pee fe ert ene ere ar aes Curette ene erect ete a Ce eu Ree Peco eal ae eae recone nd Rea CU a sheer volume ofthe gta Aone poi esa Re ioe een aie tea! Pace aC) ee Sierra Poeun rn nan etre al aa ee ad er Soiree enh tea tina tt ae aout Spinone aed eee) Rotel ot Come erg kT Se Sere eee ne Er) tot pei ena renee poet er Paleo Cee Ue ro) 1 cwsscracmncamneco somuch by bisplaying, ashi ainade, He wast great player, ut everything ese about him was bilan. ven the way e walked was amazing 1968, AUGUST. ‘The Jeff Beck Group release their debut LP, Truth. Along with Cream and Led Zeppelin, they would prove pivotal ‘aking rock into heavier territory and paving the way for heavy metal. AL KOOPER: fix My Pinal uses quarter ‘ote triplet turmaround which very elective and the track bounces around lke a pinball machine Beck soundsaloclke Hendrix on this. sthe decade entered its final year Hendrix was osing focus, but stunning debut LPsby Led Zepplin, Free, Tastesnd others confirmed thachoary blues was fat becoming the name ofthe game. This innovative form ofblues cschowed authenticity dd not ery to remain true {oMissssipp or Chicago, and was more excited by the posites of creating aconkemporary music that reflected the pasions and interests of therising generation, 1969, JANUARY 12 Led Zeppelin release their eponymous debut LP, which scores73 weeks on the Billboard chart and 79 in the UK. Its most obviously blues-oriented cuts are You Shook Me, Can't Quit You Baby and How Many More Times, but these ‘were interwoven with intimations of ‘what would become heavy metal and shades of art rock, dragging the blues superstructure into pastures new. All of this was rendered aurally fresh by Page's innovation of placing an extra microphone 20 feet away from the band to gather their ambient sound. Contemporary erities hated it, but time has proven this to have been a groundbreaking leap forward. JIMMY PAGE: There wereacof Timprovisations on the fist album, but generally swevwere keeping everything cut and cried ‘Consequently by the time wed finished the ist ‘ous theriffs which were coming ostof these spces, we were abl use forthe immediate cording ofthe second album. JOHN MAYALL: Peopleliejimary Page ‘Gary Moore jf Beck and several hers, you could tel they were incorporating things that Jimi was doing into ther music. Hisinfluence ‘was very strong that heavy bises direction, 1969, MARCH 14 Free release their debut LP, Tons OfSots. ‘More minimal and less eclectic than Zeppelin’ debut, itwas nevertheless ‘another radical fusion of blues structures with hard rock attitudes, delivering a vibrant attack to the banets distinctively ‘melodie songs. PAUL RODGERS (vocalist, Free): The songs {Usad writen up tothat point were bus songs. ooked aroun and saw everybody —the bands {hat had rel credibility and meaning somebody like in Hendx and Cream wha they were | boing wastakingthebivestoa diferent place “They were making ther own suppose Henri swasalimoslike a psychedelic blues and Cream. Well thats whatitwasina way psychedelic blues And I sai o Paul [Koss Free guitarist) “Thatswhat we have to do~take what we have now and rite our oun songs aed find our i ‘own identity: basically" Sot grew right out 7 ofthe Bucs, 1969, APRIL ‘Taste, led by guitarist Rory Gallagher, release their eponymous debut LP. Arguably the most traditionally blues- ‘oriented album ofthis burgeoning new generation, Taste was nevertheless infused with the restless energy that was. supercharging blues as the decade closed. Hendrix himself was evidently impressed because, when asked how it felt tobe the sreatest guitarist in the world, he's said to have replied, “I don't know, goask Rory Gallagher.” RORY GALLAGHER : ore Hendrix Jef eck had distorted his guitar and sohad Keith Richards and there was distortion on theeaiy Sosblues records. They didnt useitasatechnique bbuthey had small amplifiers that were turned ‘up very loud and stbecame part and parcel ofthe Chicago ues nei timed ‘made into sn ae form, 1969, JULY Leslie West releases his debut LP, ‘Mountain, a decidedly heavy blues offering, clearly inspired by the Cream/ ‘Hendrix power trio format, and produced bby Cream collaborator Felix Pappalardi, who also played bass. LESLIE WEST: Led Zeppcin,Cramand Hendrix were huge at tht ime. Being fom [New Yor, was neverinto the San Francia soundthe Dead the Airplane andal that ‘But when these guys started coming over from England, a dierent world opened up. mean the Stones had great biues ifs inthe smi 60s, lke Satsction The Las ie Bul ‘when Creamand Hendrix camealong, knew ‘twas time for meto star practising Cream ‘was probably the most influential on me. It was wei because the British guys were imitating Black American blues guys.and hen we were Sniating the Brish guys 1909, AUGUST ‘Humble Pie release their debut LP, ‘AsSafe As Yesterday Is,on Immediate ‘Records in the UK. PETER FRAMPTON (guitarist, Humble Pie): Clapton's blues syle was very sophisticated and charming Very'on the money’ Hendrix ‘comes ove. [His playing] wasn ugly, butt “| ‘wasmore ball. litle outof tune, but it was {allot passion think isis passion that love smostofal 1969, NOVEMBER 7 Hendrix sat the Record Plant, New York City, USA, working on Habela and Room Full Of Mirrors. LESLIE WEST (guitarist, Mountain: 3 When we werersconling Maman Clinbigin the Record Pant imi wasrecoing Rad Of pin thenext doorstuda Sohecameinandlsional =Sas hea bles fan fd ena dsc toNoerln My Lifer helocked a meand si, ‘Nicer man." He gavermeacompliment. That swasall needed to her JOHN MCLAUGHLIN. theend ofthe 1960s, imi Hendrix and Eri Clapton had tuned themnckinvoll generation on its collecivehead, ‘Ofcourse, that woul not have heen posible without the music created by the great black blues players suchas Robert Jobnson, Mody Waters, Fred MeDowel Baddy Guy and the great. King imi Hendeix ded just months ltr on September 18,1970, bat the heavy blues ‘boom initiated lived on and thrives. ZZ Top would release thei fist albumin January 1971, thesame yearin which the Stones gotnoticeably heavier with icky ges Kiss ‘would unleash ther debut in Fe and proof ofthe lasting appl of heavy blues ‘muse came wih the emergence of StevieRay ‘Vaughan in 1983and Joe Bonamassa atthe start ofthe new millennium, The attraction | with Jimiwas | justthathe hadthis uninhibited, fluid style that | basically screamed: | JOE RONAMASSA:1 don’ thinker ony rs that your on the radio toy hat would be possible witht ini Hendrie JOE SATRIANE: twas the deep blues layer Heplayed theses ul and he pay FEATURE the funnies. He played the mos outside stuf, but icwas really from the gut He srayed from the tradkonal bes playing toincorporatethe moans and thecriesinto ‘aphasing tat was completely blues ‘SLASH: Ithink theateracton with mi wasjust thache had this unifbited, sid guar style that basically screamed. thad this overthe-top sound. toitthatjustkind of drew mein. ‘STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN: |e imi He wasso mach more than just ablues guar. Hecoulddo anything {JIM HENDRIX. [ve been imigated so wll ve heard people copy my mistakes, he always seemed ol ase Wes, inthis fae Seuss wi on Ni ques com om archi (Gitar Weld, Rok nd Fa The Ques ling Stn, Un Frm ifrmaton nf Hendi bet neji, the oflBo Diddley Gunslingin’, cigar-box guitar-totin’ cool cat who wrote the book of rocking R&B, covered by them all. Now hear the judge. TH HIS THICK, Witte. ‘irate anblck plaid jcket and custom made Gretsch guitar with ts rectangle shape, Bo Diddley cuta striking presence as did whathe called his “freight tran sound’, combination of distorted, frenetic Hhythm guia playing and ferocious maraca ‘Shaking, thelater thanks to hie ‘musica partner, Jerome Green. atthe most proifc ats, preferring to concentrate on live performance he, nevertheless, feleased 24 studio albums six live albums and 37 singles ins Iifsime, mostof which were recorded forthe Chess abel with ‘whom he found sucess fromm the off wth his 1955 debut single, the self mythologising Bo Didiey bck with nA Mor. landed him a US R&B number hit and ltsinfluenceisincommensurable. Along witha string of fture class including Didiley Dus, Who Do You Love, Roadrumer and Say Man, itnotonly aided the smooth passage of blves and R&B torocknoll, but also gave rise tothe 6 British beat boom. The Petty Things named themselves after o's song ofa similar name; the Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, Thekinks, The Animals and The Yardbirds all covered his mater “Mone recently The Strypes have | also paidtribut, ‘Hor Oa Ells Bates in McComb, Missisipin 1928 Bo Diddley moved to Chicago, started playing violin ats boy nthe Bape church, then tookup the gitaand pied histadein The lpsersand he Langley Avenue jive Cats onthe cis ste comers. Asa ob, he graduate frombusclubst0 New York's Carnegie al playing therein 1935 In 1957 he wrote Loves Stange a UShit for Mickey {Sys 1967 and with Maddy Waters he recorded Super hss The Soper Sipe as and 1965 Oc aby provided his ast. hicsingle His finals, 19965 ‘AMan Among Mer fstring Ron ‘Wood and Ket Rares, made the US Top 10 Bes Chan. ESSENTIAL ‘The perfect introduction THE STORY OF BO DIDDLEY: THE VERY BEST OF Chess Whore itll began plus ‘Nbestf ote sas ac ou, ts tak ule Dray is onal bat th Bo oop ae comin Frat, cots tw ney cf BoD is 988 it ta ‘ath Case 2c omaaton ier sks, ts where ial ben rt st But ‘orvkno ant R88. Soa is ‘agra td singe os ith 45th uh Yur Moth ‘aii ety Ting, i Wo Di, Do outie?et a th fect encepasthnof het nate him so gant Tee's str utr sau, Jour Gem's nance shokingan te Bo ie et, lean athe sa Seale es. a6 rom one nscale, te cle ‘tytm—geesbonp b-boy amp, ton-to09 proton he rine hog. Thoreto Tho Sty Beoy ‘res his donne ashes his creat i rth Pepys ten ihe Ducess row suczasf gerents non, cou kant a ~ Soy Mais sob US ep Tep 20 cane een abt tt rw its ick wa pai. “The ample emotes isha morta, jitnthe in bck mis tine rock ~as Brits hes cast ping goatee tn andthe tres ith som he Yes Cando A Bok Th aver reer Bo ‘By Mongand as apurk andro ‘er, Th lw te ol coed ‘he savy seein te ky Gan Te Te Cash ok Boon te 1e cusscacancamccoFEATURE go os Boek B eer arg HAVE GUITAR WILL TRAVEL Checker Malkin history with guitarist Pega Jones Peony tesa ited Boon pat on 195 oo yb ons 1960 fw pth se on rst gts. Pein pate eri conesateral stig Silla rary qua siete tes ses Cs 8 rts cmt ta ue stra Say, Baka, the ipspeskflow up tS Man Murti’ Gata. a rmbing instume etn grey toe cain. ation aD worth rhe peg south abun, ao tom 1960 aati ie, BO DIDDLEY IS AGUNSLINGER Chess His frst UK Top 20 hit album. He rab te rd ins hae sto nVastingtn DC an ifthe ‘yt en Cus cues Lend ant Prins, 1960s abun caet Bo 2 ‘eure ger oni ori and ver fr Ferd Sito an 20 asd pee eon Su Tost FT Tow TV sto 1968. He pe Ns then curent sie o Ditey nt andthe ness totes to hae mon he shot gan ace rom peng the doe sek to, wit Bos conto ok inp Te Maite Seen GooD emer Say ET THE BLACK GLADIATOR Cheeker Bo gots the funk ty ars ade Bc Mt Ho Wot Tow Wor Abu ardso The Otero wih ois, kro Sind The Fay Soe an Patan Funkadelic is 1274 aun car rk ‘eons. Si rsa Bo, it asad onto anda ea, batts inate canasa opus Honors, ues tass, id dns ae cal ae "epee gospel bakes. Stand cut ks: te fod Eph a te re Bo Dade upd, You Bo De, c ‘“ Cae TWO GREAT GUITARS Checker ‘Bo and Chucks ony int recording session. ord at Ter Mar Rag Statoin cage in 1064, i gtr ben andl and Ges ial mate Chuck Berry apes outst ts rast ase ‘econ the ae abu ‘Wks, To, Ch’ Beata Bos Bet ae spectaarof -cfjans eckingin at stone 0 ard ites respec: Aso Ines ous oni Te ‘Sah Go acing ps Ck Bary Ingres orga spo rie. BO DIDDLEY'S BEACH PARTY Checker Bo caso atin in the ted South, Css goths tt Bach Cup nye Bo, Sau Carmen Jy and, 1063t0 cape Bo ge ‘Se, neat its came an art haar th ptce wore cale wun Jame (hoon pe oh ond ed dnd wo wi falar mendes asa segepd ye but ees si Fenty f nate cose ton, eg ‘rok Fn AUG cna ‘he Sos, psa rnd non of Gk Bays Megs BO DIDDLEY Checker ‘Trading under false pretences ey wast sr fo ako pu on st burl 2 aks is 1963 atu, Torte Sinai ily Lo lead he Nena, wich nears the lpr yo mss sts Bo, ‘mati irl ram «ass ht es Poo Back ‘Siro, Sua Cha Oar Thin Nos) Ths aoa ried ala vers waning itunes BO DIDDLEY YOU DON'T LOVE ME (YOU DON'T CARE) "THE STORY OF Bo DIDDLEY BRINGIT TO JEROME, "THe sToRY oF Bo DIDDLEY WHO Do You LOVE? COPS AND ROBBERS: HAVE GUITAR WILL TRAVEL MONA (1 NEED YOU BABY) BEFORE YOU ‘ACCUSE ME SAY MAN MUMBLIN' GUITAR HAVE GUITAR WILL TRAVEL ROAD RUNNER IVTHE sPOTLAGETT RIDE ON JOSEPHINE Wo DIDDLAY 18 GUNSLINGER GUNSLINGER. ‘Bo DIDDLEY 18 A GUNSLINOER PILLS YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER ELEPHANT MAN PRETTY THINGFEATURE —. KILLING Now revered as a linchpin moment in the history of the blues, Howlin’ Wolf’s 1970 London Sessions with asuperstar assemblage of England’s rock royalty, started with a chance encounter several months earlier atagiginSan Francisco. c —_ Words: Johnny Black ‘essczoanasanecat 24ackstageat the gig blues gutarist Mike Bloom ofthe Hectic Hag ntrexaed Erie Clapton to Chess Record producer Norman Dayton nd, nthe course oa rambling conversation abou their bas eros, LA diyron fosted the idea thathe might beable to put together an album ‘Saywhich Clapton would pay withthe kgendary Howin Wal ‘Clapton's yes it up but there was one catch, Nobody had yet sugested the ideato Howlin Wal May 1, 1970 : Howlin’ Wolt, Hubert Sumlin, Jeff Carp, Norman Dayron and others fly to London. [Norman Dayron: When had fis tld Weif what wasthinking of he thought ewasaborible idea, Hed’ know who these guys we ‘wed worke together, and he trustaime s» hecameround oie Inallthere were about 10 peoplein our party, professional Ditsmen from Chicago, incase any ofthe English guys Clapton had organised didntshow up. Asittared ext. only nesdedto se Hubert andor year-old harmonica wizaed ef Carp. ‘Myselfandall of my musicians stayed at The Cumberland Hotel and wed small Net oftais ‘organised to deve them downto Olympic Studios very day. Hubert Surfin: The company {Chess Records in the States just wanted Wol with Eric Clapton andthe restof the guys. They was going o kavemeback. Ec mmadea statement, legraphedthese people. fl wasnt going to be onthere he wasnt going tobe on there So they said tome, “Hey man, pack your =yougottogol™ Norman Dayr Hubert would come withus.t was bythistime,an independent predcer sol corto the bid bookedthe tickets I's conceivable tha Leona Chess may have hada private conversation with Hibert an may have said someting ike att im, buat wanted him there. Huber ad been concemmed about whithisrelewas going tobe. explain, before wee Chicago, that wanted him to playehythm guitar and e was pert happy aout that Erie Capron: The guy that organised the session wanted meto paylead instead of Hiibert Sn. Hubert endedup supplementing playing sytem, which Ithoaght wasall wrong because he knell the pars tat ns ore Howlin’ Wolf hadthis guitarist who ‘wasjust so fuckin’ * incredible. Ericjustlet = the guy take it. RINGOSTARR were mecesairyand didnt, Ringo Stare: Two memories are that Howlin Wolfwasincreble! Andis agutarist—hehad this guitars with him who was just so fuckin incredible Eric was onthe sessinsande just kt the guy taket y'know twas ely ‘moment to se, Mr Guitar bimself bowing lothis guy who relly played he way [Ere] played May 2, 1970 : Olympic Studios, London, recording I Ain't ‘Superstitious, Goin’ Down Siow and | Want To Have A Word with You. ‘Glyn Johns (engineer: had received cal rom the elow who, so-called, prodied it He was an American His name was Norman Dayron and he prove to bea complete inadequate. He said that he ‘wantad to re-record How’ Wolf using «bunch ofglsh rockntol ‘musicians, Hed booked Olympic Stados anu asked engineer i an Isa would "Norman Dayron: When | ot to Olympic. one ofthe fist things realised was that heir econding techniques were more designed for classical music than bes, They usd eso condenser microphones ‘which did nor givethe kindof focused, sharp sound ‘hae we were gattingat Chess. Regrettably. was not sue in making iggestions about how tochange thesound. ‘Gly os was famous talented engineer with bisown syle anlto havea brash young kid sing, “Tate not the sound want” put us at ode. dont dink heknew fd been working at Chess sincethe mid-60s, starting as janitor hen becoming an engineer and finally a prelucer had oen tained by Wille Dizon and knew exactly how to get the Chess sound. Gyn Johns: hrew him out ofthe contolroomen theirs day. remember. banned him because he'd comein and pay what we were going to do next. Hel the [origi] ‘ecordoutand pur iton theturtable a the wrong speed and not else ‘hat wasae the wrong speed. Can youbeleve $0 said, You! Out «can't deal wi you anymore. Get out of here [Norman Dayron:I’struethat ve de get longa fs but heneve thee ‘mc out ofthe contra room, Forastar was rot the kindof producer wio sat behind the deskin the contol room aes, “Takeo” prefered tobe out therewith themusicians fan youcan see that inthe photographs ofthe But Glyn andi did havea numberof gaz PeFEATUREtbacksd-orth discussions and finaly Lacepted that he had gotten enough of| anda ofthe kind of sound I waslookng for that ould trast him t flow ‘those precepts and it would be OK. lalsokinew could wok fartheron the sour when got back to Chicago, ‘Hubert Sumlin: Wol as on a daly machine right in thestudi, swith doctors tending him night and day [Norman Dayron: cant imagine where Hubert might have gottha from, WolPsproblemsat that ‘ame were wih his heart, noch kidneys, His problem was aretha, which was easy controlled by prescription drugs. had gone with him in Chicagoto see hisdoctr, who knew him wel She give the green ight for him coming London because otherwise he'd probaly have taken his band downto playin some juke joint Greenwood, -Misssppi, which would ave been much worse for bishealth Sopa ofmy responstbity on that trip wasto make surehe took hispil ‘bigger problem on the fist day was that Charlie \Watts, ho Eric had organised forthe ssson, couldnt be thee. think Bill Wyman dd show up, bute wasnt kesnto play without Chae We put ‘tan argent calor muskiansand thefirst pairto ‘um up were Ringo Starrand Klus Voormann. Klaus Voormann (bassist: Bill Wyman was aint there that first. remember because was surprised by how talkaivehe was. fd onl seen himson sage where he tod therewith a straight fice. "Norman Dayron: Bll wis very keen to supportibe project but Ringo and ‘Klaus knew each other and had played together often, sothey were the obvious choice or that isda. ‘Klaus Voormann: Wolfson chair but there was no contra coming for im. Inf, there was no contol rom anywhere Trememberthe whole band siting there afer having payeda few takes. 66 ‘Wolf tookthe microphone offthe mike stand, walked uptous.. 99 FEATURE How Wolf was saring athe floor, siting thereikea statu, nec moving an inch, Hegaveus nocommen,so we didn know, “Wasi goode Was ita? Whatshall wedo” venta Ringo very cautious spoke nto the drum mike in the rection ofthe contol rom: "Shall wetry ital. Athat point, Howin’ stopped Rigo by ling his ight han, wath hislefe posrxing atthe contol room siying,"Hesthe producer” [Norman Dayron:waskind of pushy: soll through the sessions, when people would ook to Wolfand ask for guidance, he would sy,“Ask Norman, He knows what he wants, He the boss” Theyhad to askne Klaus Voormann: Once we got started, Welftock themicrophone off the mike and, walked up tous, bending down el close, ooking usin the face with bis dark ees singing his ase off, What poser! What mig What agreat guy! Ringo Starr:He wa grt Hews the WolfMan. He svasHHowin’ fuckin Wolf Wehadallthe bales round the drums and had thecanscon andmy eyes ‘ose plying to him and then suddenly jase, seemed. the air washot coming across face and! looked up and hewasrightoverthe bales ‘Singing, right imo me and the drums, soe dnt care about separation and wethat So theyrethe ‘memories. He was just yo agente gant on those sessions, [Norman Dayron: Ringo and Klauscaughton right ay'to what we ‘were tryingto do. Oneof the bes scmgson there Aim Sapestos, features Ringo and Klaus. They didagvodjob, Eric Clapton: For heist couple of ays, was scared of The Walfbecausehe wast sing anythingto anyone, Hejust st there ina corer and it this yourng white ki kinda run the show and tell everyone what todo. twas bit ssninge. * Glynjohns: Eri Clapton in those days was’ quite the hero that he became. « casserooacneco 25Inthe summa of 1970, Narman Daye ened to inSpin, and st dn to make Sense of tere from Londo pro isto lhe pons out Wa wing 12-rack eames thy cul Ima at Oympic | deed to use RCA en Naw Pe boca hey ta he gt tuipment and otine engineers ike aco engnees, who realy ken how toget ‘eat moo sound so, by ung tage day cadre th Cess sound Hold the sessions al CA hd a soon nuh as treat spender posucer, Darn oad marian coal ofthe sud and pre rom Chess irtrting wth he vec procs sk Wot hea ated he CA sesso, Ojon sas," sto, bute si No just t me hear when ave go what rd syting hed ke, he wad have ode, the eve. cago reser a olday 20 eal of maser pes he | played tor Sod armani player Jt oer sessonees on gua and aro, ‘Shige’ tumget player rc Sack who, ke Crp was til ateenager, reenter, hwasme on tune, wih Jo Mller ferrari sss], Doris Lansing fos] Pau Ase utr and Joe Sif pao), lo us ok pat in obs, thug ol the hos got cet, Paul ard Jee got masoned in he Thanks’ on he gira vy pressh, ‘Sane de arom the Dayan version of evr in whic the hadalnas cis, sang, ‘ASI eenbe I thereason he overs were add as thal the orga masters An Supersious and Bait fer Cone ware rae kr! an using paps because te Gish rmuscan ot iiated by We oe of tha gress hoes and jst cul ela enough oly a te ures eve Dejan eal, sang th pas Ianto tha, an pled the carson he ano. had worked wih ther ble ani tha rue exact the kn of arangomers| adn mind. They'd a te opp tolisten tthe ugh cus tom Lond, so they fered tar nn efnemerts and sugeston a add sae things in ‘Sanda conf athe ad theater Srgers hen merase ha ars and taped te, wh very ile further dectn. "was ut ste to play tuet and it ih rls a thei te...hich was a aay oa) for me back Ben: Arar pebem ding the Landon Sass had Bae hat Hitert Sun amp eon tare soting ot might see oa hen trae than ating Hue comets pars at he cre tage, Cayo og inte estmatle Fi Upc "Not at al says Dan, "Pil was avery sot jz player who ‘aud nity pero, Hubert nla Haber as ote owing vata Wl, and ntaiar wth cing cop ced tan ove ack whereas Pi ‘auld do thal easy, raul hare taken moh rger wth bet. Daj also teu nerd Chass singer Last Lene to “fx up afew gino res that wee, oi of tune” bu the mn Keooard conten wee add iter when Stee Winwood aed in Chicago ply wit rat atthe ra Ballon. ora th Winaod on fis oun in yet nate suo” eas Daron, ding that ecan'temember whic, "Thad en pas cua ad ao, nid, and thee was noone at Chess wa callbecasse | gu {het tune plano in Superstar Boy, Highway 49 anda couple mre, is that in the ‘pei Tanks hak yout an eigmatic ‘Bop Sam who sears to hae ma ro ter mpactin sly ofthe bes. Daron chucks tte men, "Peple thnk he must Rave payed gta cn the album, Actual 8e-Bop Sam was nt obscure ay, someting cf alegend in Chicago, but urkrann use. He usa pay flit rom tne ona, anon Newell Set Ho was’ areal gua Bu Re vas areal prorat nd everybad ke hin Ithrked i nthe cred ut he ot payaso the seis, as kt an ise joke" ror Peers irreHekept saving, “What the hell am doing this for? Hubert Sumlinsin the contrel room, Why dnt you gt him to comeand doit” Exicdidat want to ddoic He was very modes and was quite embarrased to, [Norman Dayron: At the eof theday, Clapton asked fheshould bother coming bck. Isai, Dont worry. il be better omorro May 3, 1970: Olympic Studios. Bill Wyman and Charlie ‘Watts take over as rhythm section, with Rolling Stones. planist lan Stowart on piano Jan Stewart (keyboardist, Rolling Stones): The producer phoned sme and asked mst lp him seit ap. Peopledo this. They come and pick yourbrains, they want yous tolpandthensay,-Well fyou doit, you can ply piano” You know, rhubarb, rhubarb, splayed piano fnall ofthat andthen he went away andtook the tapes to Chicago and go hold of Seve Winwood and said "Would you overdub piano because theres 00 Pianoon i? [Norman Dayron: On the second day in Olmpe, ‘Wolf gor sul. dontthinkit was about the musicians. I hinkitwas just is mood. He was working with peopethat he had noreal connestion with, think he was uncomfortable, ad the way heexpressed that was by being rather lune andaggressht, Hewasliea fish outof water. ‘Wolf was prepared to work, but hewasyping tobe surly about ‘We got through some good takes bu there wes sill no eal connection, there nas that magi inthe room where people werehaving fun paying together and, without that, youve got nothing Tater found ous that he was drinking heal and not taking is medicines, However blew this wastheday when we made breakthrough, because ic asked Wolfto show him thechanges to Lit Ref Renter Original chicago ‘los: Te ol wat is eat band, Wolf got surly...the way HCEXPLEssed ye hitisns curd sutecinteccarl that was by beingrather bluntand aggressive. NORMAN DAYRON FEATURE ‘Glyn johns: We were goingo cut Lie Ref Roser ane Exc sa, "Wel, cat play that” Wolf look across athim and si, "Youve more orlessgot it” Eric Si, “Ther’sno way [can do that” An so Woll go outa besteup old hole acoustic gitar an he looked outa xian sud Wel, gogo teach yous howto play Somebody’ gota doit when Im gone” The whole place froze. Erie Clapton: Ie was.ahairy experience. Hecame over and got hold of smyvistand sid “You move your hand up HERE!” He was very. very ‘vehement aboutit ang done right. "Norman Dayron: Of cours, ricknew the song backofront, but the ‘way he pat himself cut, chats what relly broke the ice nthe eons, termed Wolfp, to fel that hey realy needed him to show them what to do. They couldn doit withoxt him. Johns [Wol] sat nd ol stories forabout 190 room with me onenight after the session ~ alot of hich [did understand because hisacent was Unbelievably broad and some fisterminology was quite strange. just nodded and laughed at the appropriate moment, justo keep hi going, May 4, 1970 : Olympic Studios, recording ‘Wang-Dang-Doodle, Rockin’ Daddy and Poor Boy. [Norman Dayron: Once illand Carlie tookover therhythm section, Mick Jagger was therall the time He was very enthusiastic about getting volved but realy didnt know what instrument hecould ply. So,overthecourse ofthe sessions, fered him varity of iflren percussion instruments ~guio, maracas, tambourine and range. He had reat timing and he dda goo jo. remember having confrontation with Mick Jager, which didnt ven knew was confrontation because was not well-versed inthe subtleties of English societal rony andso on. [think David Bawieand Lennon were ete too that night. Mickhad his a cussc0aunneco 29handonhiship.and his tips stuck out adhe said, "Wel Your Majesty fou Fad ogo to adesrt island and could ake only one record with yu, wt would tbe?” Igaveitalitde thought ansaid would probably ake The Gest Hiacof Ray Chats becass could listen to that reve. He sai, How boring wharan afl choice” So Lased what he woul take and he ‘mentioned. David Bowicalbumy hint was Ziey Start. twas awkward moment, but we both ended up kaghing about tad, again, lewasanjce-reaking moment which bonded usa lieben May 5, 1970 : Recording at Olympic ends in ‘te early hours of the moming... ‘Norman Dayron:ie was maybe wo or thre inthe ‘mcening when we finished up the session and, asimy ‘musicians were geting intothe cabs, noticed thst Howlin Wolf was ising Sol went back nto the studio looked everywhere, called out for him vary loudly andcoulda' find bi, nally Hooked in he ois, tured the lghts on, and there was row of wooden sallswth the one st thefarthest end witht door sed, had to bend den and look thtough the space, about eight inches athe botiom ofthe door andl saw this gigantic pair ‘of ie V4shoes, withthe whic sweat socks that he always woe, ‘Butte cubicle was locked and there was no response when I ale out his name so Tadeo bang ‘onthe door. suck my bead right under and could sec him shamed cover evidently unconscious, He had turned an alos whitish grey ‘olous his trousers were down around his knees, oll could do was Squecte into the stall with him, and stared to shake his, bwasthinking hems have had a ear attack aa was going to g0 ddan stony asthe man wo killed Helin’ Wel ‘uakly he came sround quite quickly, and got quite angry. That should be 2 cxscrocawaxmecon Iwas goingto godownin history asthe man who killed Howlin’ Wolf. NORMAN DAYRON inthe cubicle with him was beyond his imagination. He bellowed out, “What ‘hehell areyou doingin ere” That was big rele because at east he was alive and had plenty of energy ‘Wespentthe next eight hours or soin the nearest hospital where they ge him everyimaginable test, hu ther was nothing to suggest hhedhadaheatatack. Hehad simply passed out He'd had along day, hewasan elderly man. think he had been drinking again, so maybe be just nodded out Astrea after hehada few hour sleepin The CGambesland se went into Olympic but nothing we recorded tha night go used. May 6, 1970 : Olympic Studios, recording ‘Sittin’ On Top Of The World, Do The Do and Highway 49. [Norman Dayron One guy who rly deserves credit on these sessions is} Carp. He wasa brillant chromatic harmonica player win leda band called the rd Set Snipers. had used him when | reduced Muddy Waters Fathers And Sons album, fal I regarded him asthebest your harmonica player around Jef dd some wonderful stuf on the London sions, snd ad got his band signed to Capitol Records, so he hhada grea fuureahead of him, Tragically he wasso slate by what he had achiewed a Olympiethat he ‘went off on holiday nthe Caribbean with his gilriend, Saree Grey, daring which thecaptain of the ship wentinsane He had taken an anil trnguiizer, PCP and was chasing people around in psychotic rage with big butcher kif, So some people, ncading Jel jumped oeernoar, Benga New Yor City ‘Kid he had never eared to swim, ands drowned 1 fot of waterby thedockwherethe boat wis moore Sohisalbamnewercame out, and here went nec the greatest harmonica players whocverlived atte ageof 18.May 7, 1970: Olympic Suds, recording Lite Red Rooster, Kling lor, Worried About My Baby, What A Woman, Bul For Comfort, Who's BoonTaking? ‘Norman Dayron: Tha final day was wry productiveand, witha ofthe roxigh edges smoothed out, everybody was locked in and enjoying themes Hubert Sumlin: On Lit Re Roosr Wolfs playing the gar and fm ightin the background, Wol ended wp playing the slide with 3 maik bole but he ‘wasn a mess! Because he dnt have aside he'd broken the end off and he'd cut his fingers bad, there was blood everywhere! ‘Norman Dayron: On the CD reissues, youl notcethat the section with {Wolf showing Eric how to play Lit Red Rooter immediately precedes the fullband version, but’s worth remembering that itactually happened several days earlier Twas happy with what we'd achieved but realy there was no celebration for the end ofthe sessions, The English musicians di ask me ‘what they might give Wolf asa parting gift and I suggested a fly-fishing ro, because he was a keen fisherman, but | elly don’t know fr certain if they ever gave him one, ‘Wejust went back to the hotel, packed up and went home, just aswe ‘would have done at Chess a the end ofa reconding Sesion Nobody came to se us off atthe airport or anything like tha, I made sure that Wolf andthe others got on ther ight, and then my grfriend and {went off for 10daysin Spain before ying back co Chicago for ‘mixing and overdub sessions ‘When the album came out, initially the American purist blues magazines, which were all run by young white guys, didn't ike the idea of ‘mixing white mascians with black musicians. It realy was kind of racism, they did like white musicians being brought in, They were really snobs. In later years, tm pleased to be able to say, people have learned to listen tothisalbu forits mosial values and, on that bass iis now regarded 3s eal breakthrough moment FROM LONDON SESSIONS TO LEGENDARY SESSIONS. {When the London Sesion album was released in August 1971. tachieved producer Norman Dayron's aim of dramatialy improving Woll’s profile bby becoming his stand last album to reach the Blbard Top 100, Albums char. Despite the participation of sundry Stones and Beatles, it Alisappointingly made no impact whatsoever on the British albums char. Peaking on the Billboard chart at anone-too-excitng No 79, which ‘would have been disappointing for almost any of Woll's white rack’ roll sidemen, twas nevertheless leap forward for Wolf and the bives in general Indeed it did well enough that in February 1974 Chess released London Revisited, ag-bag cas-n project bul around the original's success, consisting of thre outtakes from Olympic Stadio pls a few leftovers rom Mudsy Waters 1971 London sessions. also spawned several simile London-based collaborations, the most memorable being by Muddy However, as Dayron himself admits, The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions was snot welcomed with open arms by the entire blues commit Just as WolF himself had expressed reservations about the notion of| playing with white rockers, and Clapton had wondered out loud why he twas needed at the sessions, so the blues pists ofthe ettical raternit ‘were not best pleased by the collaboration. “The era of spersessions had been ushered in back in July 1968 with the Mike Bloomfield, A Kooper and Steve Stillsalbum Supe Sesion, a spontaneous se of livein-he-studio jams by hot young players al of them blues oriented all of them white. I's worth remembering though that Chicago's pioneering Paul Butterfield Blues band wasa mixed-race goin 1963. tg Stone review of London Sessions was kinder than mos ofthe blues mags rating it WolP'sbest album in years" halig tas "among the most successful ofthese black-meets-white get-togethers” and describing the contents as“13 Blues-stellar performances" ‘The UK's pop weekly Dis, however, wast so convinced. The whol of sideone was dismissed 38"disappointing all bit samey” nd the fal ‘comment was, "Dont expect too mich, Bill McAlister’sreviw in Resort Mirror was headlined "Wolf without teeth? and summed it up ast an exceptional alba But times and opinions change, 30 by 1992 the Rolin Sineslbum gue FEATURE ra pore iies Eero was giving four stars and calling it“a good late colaboration ‘Come 1994 Robert Santelli ig Book Of The lus devote almost three pagesto WolPs recorded tpt and incaded London Sesionsas"essetal listening” idence hi interest inthe London Sexbashas never since waned came in 2003,svhen the swo-dise Deluxe Eton pt togetherby Universal sold we ‘enough to hit No iin theBilad Blues Albis char. “The controversy: however, continues to rage, The redoubtable Kub Coan the all asic webste pansit saying, “whileits nowhere near as awful as some blues piss makeit auto be, the disparity of energy levels between the Wall andhis UK acolytes not ony palpablebut downright depressing” Reverend Keith A. Gordon of About sm acknowledges the controversy bburconelides,"thismostmalgned of albums rom the great How’ Wol's cater sounds better than sme oa rics dare to ai ‘Wasi truly greatlbu? certainly wasnt Wolf at thepeak of his powers \Wekknaw from contemporary reports, for example that Norma Dayzon ha to hod yi sheets up for him and sometimes even whispered lines sear just before he sing because Wol couldnt remember his ownlsries, His voice ‘wasa itl ss powerful and he wast entirely comfortable with his ‘sccompaniss, but the end result stened toate remove af ome 40 years sillcooks, simmering with thesameairof menace that made hisearSer clasicsso gut-wrenchingly powerful.From psych-rock rave-ups with The Yardbirds to heavy rock pioneer and jazz fusion maestro, he wrote the blueprint. born}une24, | Reckstamped his authority with Ashford and Simpson's Cant Give 1944in Wallington, Surrey | psychedelic rock ni Back The Love [Fe For You and Stevie isasingular talent. He Us ‘Wonders 1 Got To Hane A Sg started out playing biuesand R&S | Yen Altera brief sojourn in Bec, before helping emplatehardrock, | thelatter featuring Beckon lead | Bogert & Appice supergroup heavy metal ind zz fasion, vocals. His 1967 debutsolasingl, | of sores, with Tim Bogert and Enamouredl with Les Pal HiHo SlberLining, madethe UK Top | Carmine Appicehe launched Gene Vincent,B..King and Steve | 20,proofhecould achieve success | his slocaret. On 1975 Blow By Cropper he honed hiscraft irom | asamainstreamartstshouldhe | Blow and 1976% Wie he cemented 1963in The Tidents,a four-piece | wish, He dd’, instead forming the nasa azz fusions ledby the Lucasbrothers, bassist | Jeff Beck Group where he hanced Legs paid homage to i} andvocalstPaulandahythm | gukarist John. Theyblased their | | to Rod Se Gene Vincents 1999 Who he FelPieisand audiences with R&B | 1969's ReckOls, provided the hard | most recent album, 2010's Eniton futureclassicsand,whilethey never | rockand heavy metal procerype. |. & Conmotion placed himinan releaseda45,theirdemo tape (ear | Later,1972s|ef Beck Gro album, | orchestral setting Ielanded him is iton clay, see oppesite) proved | recorded with areconfigured highest charting lbum in the UK at they were ones co wate inexpin Memphis nd produced | number 11 proving he's silvery ‘On joining The Yardbids astric | by Stove Cropper,sawRecktzyhis | mucha forcetobe reckoned with Clapton’ replacement in 1965, ad at soul on coversineluding ALICE CLARE auth oe 2 gullar genius. ut oun eet ts-CO bc fe Bek are somin thera The Tite 2 88 rap end Chic hich Beka Pret Theos, aks an ates fens ted hn Tole ey Arma aig cage alg Bock ad mas of tment a using bona ith vt The Yar ro 1965 crs iat ard ck Ht ase on esl ck tho ape Of Tangs an Her ise? cnn acing is of eck on bus, 1685 hard Beck taker tty anthesis rearing The Yar’ Shares (fogs an ain Ah woh nes nea meta Fear get poe iB Report & oie feature bse Tier an emer aaie Api ora mons Vana Fe ant Cah), ‘Siete bin td toa doe, feck yo iMod hee George Marinara, sd Iintabums cin Ps thee ae aks By Bl eyTRUTH ‘The bluse rock blueprint Asi an thet oft bs 19685 Mee Nee rues isto to Alay te J Bek Ge kl eg ‘ort od Sonat, base one Wend tl dare Mek Wai proved ‘toni Zen bun. 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Andto Peter Bardens ere, hepulled me aside and sid, You'te wrong, this guysspecal April 29, 1966: Peter Bs Looners play at The Carousel Club, Farnborough, with an augmented line-up including vocalists Rod ‘Stewartand Beryl Marsden, They have been atthe behest of Flamingo owners Rikand ohn Gunnell, hoping notjust to ‘expand the band's musical range, bt to create white soul ‘supe Dave Ambrose: Wien Rod Stewart and Bery ‘Marsden camein assingers, the band changed to ‘Shotgun Express, doing mainly soul and Tamla ‘Motown songs May 6, 1968: shotgun Express play at the Beachcomber lub in Nottingham. Beryl Marsden: The music hada happened ‘organically. We had been rather manufactured. ‘There was Jot of money out there to be earnt in theclshs we payed like The Flaming in Soho, and The Ram Jam Club in Brixton, but we did't ‘Seebig wage packets atthe end ofthe hard weeks ‘work, an that eto discontent, 00, Dave Ambrose (bass): We did asngle on (Columbia [Cou Fe The Wale Worl Trn Round] which was.a minor hitb, shortly after aloe of sul searching on his part, Ptr left. June 17, 1966: With Eric Clapton having sbandoned Mayall’s huesbreakers again, Peter ‘Greens drafted into replace him once more. Jolin Mayall: With Peter backinthe band, he ‘way we played stayed prety much thesame. As Jonas you ave the sime rhythm section then things don tchange that mach —It's when you lose ‘bas: player that you're trouble Peter Green| bumped into John Mayallon the read andhe sad, Eri Clapton’s going to orm (Cream, with Ginger an Jack, Doyou want to ‘come with meand get some experience? And bbeablues band again instead of trying tobe Booker 8 the MGS? John Mayall: Hews ali! estat firs 2 cusscroonaanccant cause hebeen ‘offered ajob with Exc Bardon which entailed going to Amesia, ‘which Per had always wanted todo, ‘patthe msc Burdon swasplaying wasnt se tractive Peter as Paying blues, so he ‘opted to comeback wath me, ly 22, 1966: John Mayalt's Bluesbreakers release anew album, Blues rears: Jon Maya ‘WithEre Clapton, which had been recorded before Peter Green ‘replaced Clapton, John McVie:It was done at Deecastudosin West amps in ess than amonth, We played together lotasaband, so wed jus goin and do tekesliv, wih overdubs And ss soon asthe session vas finshed, wed beoutto gg. After the album came outa strange situation developed, ‘because this upstart guy named Peter Green started plying with Mayall. There were guitar style wars going on between them all hat ‘ull about Clapcon Is God! being sprayed on the walls was reall ly 24, 1966: john Mayall'sluesbreakers play their first proper gig with Peter Green, at ‘the Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham. “Mick Fleerwood: He went immediatly forthe human touch, and that's what Peters playing has ‘represented 0 millions of people~he played ‘with the human, not the siperstar touch, {am reasonably sure that had not met Petr Priorto hisareival at West Hampstead ‘Meand Gus were looking at him and thinking “Who the hel this? Where’ Eric? John Mayall just said,’ eS rics replacement had ‘even head that Eric had ee The bluesbreakers October 11, 1966: John Mayal's Joli said Peter wasas good a rc, which was a ‘Bluesbreakersarein Decca studios with Dithandto believe unt he actully plugged in and producer Mike Vernon recording A Hand thea we thought Ummm, hecan play abi” Road. The sessions take five days in total, Inia, Peer seemed ikea very quiet and spread overa month, ‘somewhat reserved kindof gu. not outspoken Mike Vernon ll ire Decca stuos were custom-built by Decca oflins. The smallest, 0.2, was used primarily for pop and _groupsessions and had a ell coal vibe it ‘was compact and vision betwen the control oom andthe mai studio ares ‘wasexcellent. Thesound achieved was never Jess than great butt id depend largely on the ‘engineer Working with engineer Gus Dixlgcon made enseto meas he was very ‘much int the music ‘oraggresivein any way: Hemusthave fel somewhat awkward, though, following in Clapton's footsteps. Asthe sions progressed, Pterbecame lie more certain of hisroleasa bluesbreaker. especialy when he was given the chance to exerise is weal chords. He ‘erainly was not asreuctant to sng as is predecessor had been he seemed really enjoy that oleand he was very god. ‘When heard Peter sing The Same Way forthe firseime,I thought "Wow! Hereis a grea blues singer, no inhibins about singing with an English accent, expressive and inva had .fecing that Peter was destined to make hiemark inthemsc business. John Mayall: Peter was every bits good nthe ‘studio ashe wason the road. He ust nailed [da ned 0 give him any instructions. chose him forhis individuality, forthe way he played, so why would ryt diret him? The only thing he actually wrote forthe album wasthe instrumental, The Supematual, bt hac was great piece of musi Peter Green: Mike Vernon cameup with theidea foe The Syrnaed. He sid he'dsen thisguitarit whoid played ahigh not sustained cand then et