West Side Soul | ||||
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Studio album by Magic Sam Blues Band | ||||
Released | 1968 | |||
Recorded | July 12 & October 25, 1967 | |||
Studio | Sound Studios, Chicago | |||
Genre | Chicago blues | |||
Length | 44:26 | |||
Label | Delmark | |||
Producer | Robert G. Koester | |||
Magic Sam chronology | ||||
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West Side Soul is the debut studio album by Chicago blues musician Magic Sam. Released by Delmark Records in 1968, it is often cited as one of the key modern electric blues albums. [1] [2] [3] The album includes a re-recording of Magic Sam's first Cobra Records single, "All Your Love" (1957), and an updated "Sweet Home Chicago", which became a popular blues anthem.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [4] |
In an album review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album five out of five stars and commented:
this isn't an album that should be preserved in amber, seen only as an important record. Because this is a record that is exploding with life, a record with so much energy, it doesn't sound old. Of course, part of the reason it sounds so modern is because this is the template for most modern blues, whether it comes from Chicago or elsewhere. [1]
In 1984, West Side Soul was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as a classic of blues recording. Blues historian Jim O'Neal wrote in the induction statement:
Magic Sam's soaring vocals and sparkling guitar work enliven the remake of his own Cobra classic "All Your Love," propulsive boogies, and covers of nuggets from Little Milton, Otis Rush, J.B. Lenoir, and others. Sam's "Sweet Home Chicago" is one of the best versions ever recorded, long before the song became the overdone sing-along theme of every Windy City blues band. [3]
Side A
Side B
Musicians
Production
Otis Rush Jr. was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s artists Magic Sam and Buddy Guy, his sound became known as West Side Chicago blues and was an influence on many musicians, including Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green and Eric Clapton.
Samuel Gene Maghett, known as Magic Sam, was an American Chicago blues musician. He was born in Grenada County, Mississippi, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter. After moving to Chicago at the age of 19, he was signed by Cobra Records and became well known as a bluesman after the release of his first record, "All Your Love", in 1957. He was known for his distinctive tremolo guitar playing.
"Sweet Home Chicago" is a blues standard first recorded by Robert Johnson in 1936. Although he is often credited as the songwriter, several songs have been identified as precedents. The song has become a popular anthem for the city of Chicago despite ambiguity in Johnson's original lyrics. Numerous artists have interpreted the song in a variety of styles.
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Black Magic is a studio album by Chicago blues musician Magic Sam. Delmark Records released it under the name of "Magic Sam Blues Band" in November 1969, shortly before his death. The album was a follow-up to Magic Sam's highly influential studio debut, West Side Soul (1968), and also includes a mix of originals with songs written by his contemporaries.
Lurrie Bell is an American blues guitarist and singer. His father was renowned blues harmonica player Carey Bell.
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Hoodoo Man Blues is the debut album of blues vocalist and harmonica player Junior Wells, performing with the Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band, an early collaboration with guitarist Buddy Guy. Released on LP by Delmark Records in November 1965, the album has been subsequently reissued on CD and LP by Delmark and Analogue Productions.
Aaron Corthen, better known as A.C. Reed was an American blues saxophonist, closely associated with the Chicago blues scene from the 1940s into the 2000s.
Lafayette Leake was an American blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chicago blues. He played piano on many of Chuck Berry's recordings.
John Grimaldi, better known by his stage name Studebaker John is an American blues guitarist and harmonica player. He is a practitioner of the Chicago blues style.
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Odie Payne was an American Chicago blues drummer. Over his long career he worked with a range of musicians, including Sonny Boy Williamson II, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Little Johnny Jones, Tampa Red, Otis Rush, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Minnie, Magic Sam, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Guy.
Give Me Time is an album of home recordings by the American blues musician Magic Sam, recorded at his house in Chicago in 1968, that was released by the Delmark label in 1991.
Robert "Big Mojo" Elem was an American Chicago blues bass guitarist and singer. Although he recorded only one studio album in his long career, Elem was a part of the Chicago blues scene for over forty years. He variously backed Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, Lester Davenport, Freddie King, Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Shakey Jake Harris, Jimmy Dawkins, Luther Allison, and Otis Rush.
Magic Sam Live is a live album by the American blues musician Magic Sam, recorded in Chicago in 1963/63 and at the first Ann Arbor Blues Festival in Michigan in 1969, that was released by the Delmark label in 1981.
The Magic Sam Legacy is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the American blues musician Magic Sam, recorded in Chicago between 1966 and 1968, that was released by the Delmark label in 1989.
Magic Touch is a live album by Chicago blues guitarist and vocalist Magic Sam, with harmonica player Shakey Jake. The set list only included one Magic Sam original, "All Your Love", his signature tune first recorded for Cobra Records in 1957. Four feature Shakey Jake on vocal and/or harmonica, including his composition "Sawed Off Shotgun". Several of the songs are contemporary 1965–1966 R&B blues-style songs popularized by Junior Parker, Little Joe Blue, Jimmy Robins, and Jimmy McCracklin performed in Magic Sam's distinctive style.
Rockin' Wild in Chicago is a live album by the American blues musician Magic Sam, compiling tracks recorded in Chicago between 1963 and 1968, that was released by the Delmark label in 20021.
Live at the Avant Garde is a live album by the American blues musician Magic Sam, compiling tracks recorded in Milwaukee in 1968, that was released by the Delmark label in 2013.