Luther Allison has always delivered the goods for me, even through those years when I knew next to nothing of the man. I was blessed, back in the mid-1980's, to have seen Luther twice at club venues in Germany. It was an electrifying experience both times, explosive, riveting, and largely formative for me, a young white kid from Maine just getting into the blues. Imagine my thrill, years later, when a bitter, grizzled old convict handed me a copy of Blue Streak. At that time, I hadn't even realized Luther had recorded, much less that he'd actually been around for a whole lot of years. I've never said I wasn't a dumb-ass.
All my Luther Allison purchases back then were blind-shots because there was so little information readily available about the man. One of the first to find its way to me was a "Charly Blues Masterworks" edition of Sweet Home Chicago.
Through the years that followed, it had remained a bit of a mystery to me. The liner notes, of which I've always been a compulsive reader, were a mixed blessing. Its author, John Collis, did a fine job of summarizing the differences between the South and West Side schools of Chicago blues and for providing the standard synopsis of Luther's biography. As for telling me what I was listening to, where it was recorded, and who was playing, Charly failed miserably. Two and a half pages of liner notes and all that was provided, almost as an afterthought, was:
"Luther Allison: v/g
Rest Unknown
Recorded Chicago, ca. 1976"
I suppose we should be relieved that Charly at least correctly identified Luther as the vocalist and guitarist. The rest is shit. Recorded in Chicago, Gracie? During his rave-up Sweet Home Chicago Allison actually identifies Peoria as his location. As for the players? Luther calls out two by name during this set, a "Sidney" (who I'd always assumed was the sax player) and "Bernard," which had me immediately wondering if Luther had had his son on stage--and playing--for this one. But that just didn't make sense. 1976!?! Bernard would have been 11 years old at most. What I wasn't so easy to dismiss is the paternal pride in Luther's voice as they wrap up Willie Cobb's You Don't Love Me, "...Let's hear it for Bernard, ladies and gentlemen. Shit, yes!"
There's nothing like a sackful of inconsistencies to keep a man wondering for years.
So let's set the record straight.
Sweet Home Chicago was recorded as part of a two-night run, April 18-19, 1979 at a club called The Other Side in Peoria Heights, IL. Admittedly, Peoria isn't far from Chicago...but if you're going to be presenting documentary citations, get your fact right! Two albums were released from these shows, Rumble Records' Gonna Be a Live One in Here Tonight! and Power Wire Blues (part 2), both issued that same year. Neither album went anywhere.Gonna Be a Live One... would see re-release four years later on the Red Lightnin' label as South Side Safari. Two years after that, in 1985, Charly re-packaged and released Power Wire Blues as Sweet Home Chicago.
"Sidney" turned out to be keyboardist Sid Windfield. The feller blowing that mean alto sax was Mike Allen. Kenny Bordeau played bass on these gigs, with Kenny Arnold on the drums.
Turns out that not only did 13 year-old Bernard Allison play on two of the tunes from this disc, it was actually his first time onstage. Bernard remembers it this way: “When we moved to Peoria, Dad came home preparing to do his live album in Peoria, I hooked up the amplifier and guitar in the basement and started playing his first record, Love Me Mama, note for note. He freaked out and said tonight you’re gonna record with me. That was my first recording. I played “You Don’t Love Me No More” and “Sweet Home Chicago.”
We've logged some long miles together, this album and I. It's traveled with me from the days when the living was bad and the places truly dark. Curious though its inclusion may seem, Sweet Home Chicago became a sentimental favorite on impact and has never been far from my side. I consider it a "curious inclusion" because we'll not find it on a single Top 20 list. Ever. It is a bastard son recording for bastard sons. In the context of Luther's own canon, it will always (& admittedly justifiably) be overshadowed by Allison's Alligator releases, as well as his pre-Motown work. Still, after all these "qualifications" are mentioned, I just can't consider my blues collection complete without it.
With just six songs, most of them covers of blues standards like Dust My Broom and Don Nix's Goin' Down, and weighing in at just over 43 minutes, this disc will always seem like an outrider to me. It just shouldn't be as solid a Luther Allison outing as it is, but a smoker it remains. Luther's vocals throughout are as good as they ever got, brimming with soul and humor. As for those six strings? Well, you didn't put a guitar in Luther Allison's hands without expecting some great stuff to come flying back at you. He doesn't even begin to disappoint here. This is a "Quick-Fix" dose of Luther. In case of emergency, break glass.
Luther Allison
Sweet Home Chicago
(Blues Masterworks, Vol. 37)
Charly, 1996
1. Dust My Broom
2. I Got Worries
3. You Don't Love Me
4. Goin' Down
5. I'm Gonna Leave You Alone
6. Sweet Home Chicago
Lnk
...And just to finally, rightly, "reassemble" these recordings, 1983's South Side Safari presents 7 more cuts that are just a joy to the last. Among their highlights are Movin On Up, which was one of Luther's very first recordings when he cut it as "Gotta Move On Up" for Delmark's pivotal 1968 "Sweet Home Chicago" compilation (which also included material by Magic Sam, Louis Myers, and Big Mojo Elem.) Cat Blues is the real fun for this album, though, giving Luther the opportunity to poke fun at Peoria's Caterpillar factory, where Allison himself had worked at one time, as were a great many in his audience those nights. During this song we also witness one of the earlier occasions when Luther has a conversation with his guitar, a "gimmick" that would become a standard through the balance of his career.
Luther Allison
South Side Safari
Red Lightnin, 1983
1. Strokes
2. You're Gonna Need Me
3. You Upset Me Babe
4. Movin On Up
5. The Thrill Is Gone
6. Cat Blues
7. Messin With The Kid
Link
Peace, Mudcatz
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment