RE: [Harp-L] Hubert Sumlin and who is left from the Golden Era of Chicago Blues?

[chicago bluesman <chicagobluesman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Who else is still around from that era?  Well...it depends in part on which Chicago era you're talking about.  Let's see...Sam Lay is still performing, often not on drums but on guitar.  He's got an amazing collection of home videos of the blues greats, especially his time with Wolf.  I saw Jimmy "Fast Fingers" Dawkins not long ago--he's still around.  Jody Williams is a contemporary of Hubert Sumlin and also played with Wolf--I saw him not long ago, too, and he sounded great.  Eddie Shaw, Wolf's tenor sax player, still gigs regularly here in Chicago.  Eddie Clearwater and Lonnie Brooks, both whom came into prominence in the '70's & '80's, are still somewhat active.  Billy Boy Arnold sounds great these days and is doing a blues retrospective show with a number of other players--he looks great and sounds very strong.  The guys who were once the younger generation of players--Lurrie Bell, John Primer, Sugar Blue, Billie Branch, Eddie Taylor, Jr--are now approaching elder statesmen status.  Guess that's how it goes...

> Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 17:16:32 -0600
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Hubert Sumlin and who is left from the Golden Era of	Chicago Blues?
> From: michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx
> To: mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx
> CC: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> 
> Saw him more times than I can count.  I love how he would leave notes
> out of the middle of his famous licks and my ear would fill them in
> anyway.  He always had a big smile.
> 
> Who else is left from the Golden Chicago Blues era?  Cotton,
> Musselwhite, Guy, Portnoy, Oscher, Bishop, Naftalin (is he still
> alive?), Margolin.  I know Piazza's first album came out around the
> same year as Musselwhite's, but I do not associate him with that
> group.  Who else?
> 
> On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 4:53 PM, Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >   A little surprised no one mentioned the passing of bluesman Hubert
> > Sumlin a couple of days ago.  Best known for his work with Howlin' Wolf,
> > Hubert probably worked with a lot of harp players throughout the country
> > over the years.  Hopefully, some will write in with remembrances.
> >   When I was first starting out, I was fortunate enough to play a dozen
> > gigs with the great blues mandolinist Johnny Young.  I wasn't much of a
> > player back then but, since I booked the gigs, I made myself the harp
> > player.  We always used pick-up musicians, many of whom came out of
> > Johnny's extensive address book.  I often never knew who I'd be sharing
> > the bandstand with until I picked Johnny up at his house.  One night we
> > were playing a high school dance and following us to the job were the great
> > blues drummer S.P. Leary and the guitar genius Hubert Sumlin.  They took
> > the job on short notice and informed me that they had to get up early the
> > next day to drive to the East Coast with Howlin' Wolf.  They had a gig at
> > "the Boston Philharmonica."
> >   It was an extraordinary evening and Hubert was just reeling off
> > one burning solo after another.  For a gymnasium full of sixteen
> > year-olds.  On break, we had a chance to chat and I quickly realized that
> > this was a extremely gentle, warm human being.  I still don't know where
> > those incendiary, nasty guitar solos came from.  They didn't seem to fit
> > Hubert's personality.  Just a goofy, brilliant guy with a whole different
> > way of playing blues guitar.  I will miss him.
> >
> > Mick Zaklan
>