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MIDWEST BLUES BEAT |
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by Eric Steiner GET
THE BLUES (Again!)
“Get
The Blues 2” is scheduled to hit the streets on July 8th, and
if it is anything like its predecessor, this disc will satisfy longtime
blues junkies and win over quite a few new followers to the blues.
“Get
The Blues 2” is
the sophomore joint effort from the National Association of Recording
Merchandisers Classical/Jazz Issue Forum and the Blues Music
Association. Ryko will handle the distribution, and with these marketing
and distribution engines behind Get the Blues 2, I have high
hopes. Last year’s disc sold
87,000 copies in the U.S.A. and remained on the Billboard Blues Chart
until all manufactured copies were sold out, and it ranked as the #4
blues record of 2002 on the SoundScan year-end sales chart.
“Get The Blues 2”
is priced at $1.98. That’s
not a misprint! This CD
costs less than the price of your vice of choice, be it a double tall
latte or a pint of microbrew, and you’ll get 18 tracks of some of the
best that the blues has to offer, both old and new.
There’s the traditional blues artists I’d expect, such as Howlin Wolf’s “Worried About My Baby” (MCA/Universal); Muddy Waters’ “Streamline Woman” (Sony/Legacy); and Koko Taylor’s “I’m a Woman” (Alligator). Get the Blues 2 stretches nicely with some younger blues talent, including E.G. Kight “Sad Sad Sunday (Blue South); David Jacobs-Strain’s “River Was Green” (Northern Blues), and Rick Holstrom’s “Pee Wee’s Nightmare” (Tone-Cool). THAT’S
DR. IGLAUER TO YOU…
Last month, Lawrence University, in Appleton, Wisconsin presented Bruce Iglauer, founder and president of Alligator Records, with an honorary Doctor of Music degree. I’ve heard that when
the late Frank Sinatra was
awarded an honorary doctorate, he said something like – “You can now call me Doctor Blue Eyes.
That’s all right by me.”
Well, honorary or not,
I think that Bruce Iglauer is truly Doctor Blues. He is a Lawrence U. alum, and shortly after earning his
degree in Theatre, he formed Alligator Records in1971 to record his
favorite blues band, Hound Dog
Taylor and the HouseRockers. He
had been working for Chicago’s Delmark Records, but decided to go out
on his own.
Call me biased, but I
hope the well deserved recognition doesn’t stop for Bruce.
Last year, Chicago Magazine named him a “Chicagoan
of the Year,” and in the Blues Hall of Fame inducted him in 1997.
Even the prestigious Montreaux Jazz Festival committee honored
Iglauer with a “Lifetime
Achievement Award.”
Iglauer is also this
year’s President of the Blues Music Association. Does that mean I have to call him Dr. President Blues?
If so, that’s okay, too.
Bruce has been at the
helm of Alligator for 32 years and the label’s new Crucial Blues
series is right on the money at just the right price.
Check out Crucial Chicago Blues or Crucial Harmonica Blues and
you won’t be disappointed with these great samplers that retail for
$7.98.
Whether you crave Son
Seals, Luther Allison, Carey Bell, or Charlie
Musselwhite, these samplers are worthy of any blues survey course. Just consider it part of your blues education.
Talk about blues
bargains: three blues CDs
for under twenty bucks. Pinch
me, I’m dreamin’. JULY
IS HOT… WXRT will host a free
concert at this year’s “Taste of Chicago” starring –– The Wallflowers, Pete
Yorn, Guster, and Alligator recording artist, Shemekia Copeland! The
show will be at Grant Park’s Petrillo Music Shell on Friday, July 4th
at 2:00pm. The concert will be broadcast in its entirety LIVE from Grant
Park on WXRT.
Later this month on the
18th, I’ll be celebrating the 25th anniversary of my 20th birthday,
and if I were back in town, I’d head for the Tweeter Center to do “LOOPFEST,”
featuring Journey, Heart, REO
Speedwagon and Styx,
among other blasts from the past. I
saw each of those acts either in Chicago or at school at Illinois State
in the dark ages of the 70’s, and I’m sure that Loopfest would bring
back memories. After
that show, I’d head over to see Alligator recording artist, Michael
Burks, when he’ll bring his considerable blues chops to Buddy
Guy’s Legends downtown.
Next month kicks off
with Bob Dylan, The Dead,
songwriter Robert Hunter and moe.
on August 2nd at Joliet’s Route
66 Raceway. This is one
show that will be well worth the trip, literally and figuratively.
The Dead’s summer tour line up features jamband guitarist
extrordinaire Jimmy Herring,
songbird Joan Osborne, Rob Barraco and Jeff Chimenti
on keyboards, and of course, Bill
Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart
on drums, Phil Lesh on bass,
and Bob Weir on guitar.
Until next month, let’s celebrate my birthday by playing the blues!
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