Best CHICAGO Bluesman ever?

[Bundbuster]

Didn't have room for Otis Spann, Big Twist & The Mellowfellows, Junior Wells, James Cotton, Willie Dixon, Big Walter Horton, Pinetop Perkins...guess that's what "Others" is for.

We can do Texas, Delta, and Memphis Bluesmen another time.

[HEyHEY]

1. Dan Akroyd

Sorry, someone had to make that stupid joke eventually

[Bundbuster]

3. Hey - Dan & John made some damn good music

via Hollywood

[Placebo]

2. WILLIE DIXON!!!

C'mon, how can you not include him, HE is the big one, HE is the master, HE was the greatest! hands down.

[flamingyouth]

4. Hell yeah!

and his daughter Shirley runs the Chess studio museum at 2120 S. Michigan Ave!

[Bundbuster]

5. Well, I did put him in "Others"

Along with Robert Johnson, I'd give Willie "Best Blues Writer".

Never could warm to his singing though.

[Zomby Woof]

19. Dixon: Great composer, great bassist.

But as a performer, he was just okay. There was a REASON he had Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters cover his best songs.

Dixon deserved his accolades as a composer and a bassist, but he lacked the fire and excitement Wolf and Muddy brought to their performances of his songs. Dixon was best interpreted by those two.

C'mon... when you want to cite a great Dixon song, who do you go to? Wolf and Muddy!

[madrchsod]

6. there is no "ever"

my favorite is luther allison , otis rush,and jr wells . there are so many great players that hail from chicago it`s impossible to say "ever"....

[Bundbuster]

7. Has anyone seen a Live Luther Allison show?

Listening to some of his Live recordings today inspired me to do this poll. "It Hurts Me Too" and "Little Red Rooster" are as good as it gets.

[Gato Moteado]

9. i used to see luther allison play all the time....

in the late 70s and early 80s at biddy mulligan's on broadway. he was awesome.

[NightTrain]

8. Umm.... Howlin' Wolf?

Geez!

[Bundbuster]

11. Umm....my memory is fried

by 10 years of daily dope back in the day.

Someone give me 50 lashes for leaving the Wolf off the list.

[Gato Moteado]

10. i voted for fenton robinson...even tho he's not from chicago....

he played more of a kansas city style blues. a lot of jazz influence. soulful guitar player and an amazing voice too.

if you don't own his CD "somebody loan me a dime" on alligator records, i suggest you buy it asap.

[Bundbuster]

13. Amen

Fenton had one of the great voices - Blues or otherwise - and such a soothing style. I second your CD pick, worth every dime.

[Gato Moteado]

12. the other guy that should be in the poll is david bromberg....

originally from new york, he's a chicagoan now. and his style was always chicago blues. he looks like a big ol' square but put a guitar in his hand and he becomes a monster.

[Bundbuster]

15. Didn't he do a superb cover of "Kansas City"?

And I have to ask you, flush -
assuming you've also seen Buddy Guy, if I had tickets for either Buddy or Luther Allison in a good Chicago club (like Legends), which would you take?

[Gato Moteado]

18. well, i'd have to go with buddy guy....

....because luther died a few years back and probably wouldn't be much fun to see. but if he were alive, i'd take the luther allison tickets. i've seen buddy about a hundred times. luther was always one of my favorites too.

and as for a good chicago blues club....the best were: biddy mulligan's, wise fool's, blues on halsted, orphan's and lily's.

did you ever see blind john davis play at lily's?

[Bundbuster]

29. Only spent one week in Chicago

in 1995. The only club I made it to was Legends, but what a super town for entertainment of all sorts. I could have spent 2 months there and still had lots left on my "to do" list.

With your Luther Allison choice (of course those fantasy tickets were "in the living years"), my suspiscion that I missed one of the true greats is confirmed. Ranks right up there with passing down an invite and ride to Woodstock, living then only 2 1/2 hours away.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

14. Peter Cetera

[Spiffarino]

17. Nice hair.

:eyes:

[Zomby Woof]

16. How the fuck can you not have Howlin' Wolf?

That just kills the credibility of this poll. You cannot have a poll with Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon under the 'Chicago' category WITHOUT the WOLF. :nuke:

Fuck this poll.

[Bundbuster]

20. see post #11

When I was listening to Chicago Blues (and Duane Allman) in the late '60's and '70's, I was also consuming mass quantities of hemp, every day for 10-12 years. I pay the price of memory & concentration damage now, per your critique.

My VERY bad - poll has been edited.

[Zomby Woof]

21. lol

Thanks for that edit... and explaining better than I ever could why I think pot is the most overrated shit to ever sprout from the good earth.

[mitchum]

22. Howlin' Wolf (everybody else can fight it out for second place)

[Kat45]

23. Can't call anyone the best "ever", but Buddy Guy's my favorite

Especially love seeing him live.

[Bundbuster]

25. How about "best so far?"

And I agree - caught Buddy live in a small club in 1988. Besides being a superb player, he's a superb, down-to-earth human. I gave him 2 custom 90-minutes tapes I'd made for him, mostly old Chess stuff from the '50's that I figure he'd enjoy on his touring bus. He read all the titles and was completely blown away that someone would do that for him. As I suspected, alot of those songs - especially when he was backing Muddy Waters as early as the late '40's - were stuff he didn't even have himself anymore.

[Kat45]

26. That's great; I'm sure he did appreciate that.

I saw him in a small club a number of times in the eighties, and one time he was hanging out in the back of the club as everyone was leaving at the end of the night. A few people were walking up to him to shake his hand and say "good show" on their way out. When I walked up to him, he wouldn't shake my hand--instead, he gave me a big ol' hug. :-)

[Bundbuster]

28. Sounds just like Buddy

He has the most genuine, infectuous smile I've ever seen. When one reflects on the baggage of bitterness & anger a man like him must have overcome - born in hardcore, overt racist times (1920's or '30's Louisiana) - the smile of his soul is even brighter.

[Snazzy]

24. Harp--the master: James Cotton

Saw him a few times in the Checkerboard (I got to play, badly maybe, at his club once too, off Belmont; think he only had it a couple of years).

Anyway, he worked the room with class. Showmanship and a mean harp.

Junior a great character too. Overshadowed by Buddy. Even shitfaced like I remember him on a few especially cool nights, he owned them high notes.

[bobthedrummer]

27. Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson2, Paul Butterfield...

so many more-all great.