Apr 04 2010

Open Blues

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    • Edger on April 4, 2010 at 7:26 pm
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  3. Fascinating story about the early days of the blues.  

    Two of my favorite blues numbers were performed by artists whose earliest roots were in the Delta blues tradition, but later become better known as Chicago blues artists.

    Elmore James (1960) may have written and definitely first recorded “The Sky is Crying.”  The first recording listed James as the composer, however, later recordings listed others as well. This blues standard perhaps reached a wider audience when it became one of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s signature songs, as a title track of one of his more popular albums…

    Muddy Waters, referred to as “the Father of Chicago blues”, also traced his roots to the Delta blues tradition.  I had the privilege of seeing him open for George Benson in 1978, five years before his death in 1983.  Although “Got My Mojo Working” was first recorded by Ann Foster in 1956, it was popularized by Muddy Waters in 1957.  Here is his rendition at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960…

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