Best of BluesWax 2004
It is customary that our end-of-the-year issue is a
"Best of..." issue where the editors attempt to select the best of
our work that we published on this page, our ezine, the Blues Bytes page, and
the new Blues Beat page. This year it was once again very difficult and we hope
that you will go BACKSTAGE
to our ARCHIVES
and make your own choice. In our PHOTO
GALLERY, you will find some "Best of..." photos from our
editorial and photo staff. On our BluesWax Picks review page, you will find the
CDs that our reviewers deemed to be worthy of a perfect score of a
"10." At BluesWax every year is the "Year of
the Blues" and we are hard at work on next year. Don't forget to vote for
your BluesWax
Artist and Album of the Year; nominating closes soon and the final ballot
will be out in a couple of weeks. We are proud that you read our work, look for
some cool changes and more great Blues in your inbox every week!
We had so many great Blues events this past year that it is
hard to sum it up in a quick intro paragraph. In February BluesWax was
honored with The Blues Foundation's Keeping the Blues Alive award at the annual
KBA event in Memphis. But perhaps an even greater event in our little world was
the celebration of our 200th issue. Passing the 200-issue mark not
only signified a great accomplishment in publishing a weekly zine for more than
four years, but more importantly we have built a family of contributors and
readers that share the same passion for the Blues that we all have. Thank you
for making 2004 our most successful year yet!
With the addition of some incredible writers to our staff
and the addition of thousands of passionate readers 2004 was truly a "Best
of" for us. We look forward to another great year in 2005. Happy Blue
Year!
Best of BluesWax Ezine
Once again the decision on what the "Best of"
article should be on our ezine was a difficult choice. After a nominating
process by our editorial staff and re-reading all of the most common nominees,
a few certainly rose above the rest. It would be a disservice to all these
great articles if I didn't at least mention some of the other nominated pieces
[click on the issue # to read these other great articles]. Our Founding Editor,
Don "T-Bone" Erickson was nominated several times for his review of
the American Folk Blues Festival DVD in Issue
#170 and his review of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in Issue
#187. Two of our new contributors also had nominated ezines with Dave Good
being nominated for his interview with Carlos Guitarlos in Issue
#211 and our European contributor Vincent Abbate was nominated for his
interview (and a BluesWax first) with the great B.B. King in Issue
#186. And finally from one of our most senior contributors at BluesWax,
Bob Gersztyn was nominated for his interview with Deborah Coleman in Issue
#205. But the overall winner was an interview conducted by our founding
editor, T-Bone, and the subject of his interview was another of our new
contributors for 2004, Mr. Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin from Issue #192.
We hope you enjoy your holidays and we will see you in 2005!
See you on the Road,
Steve Sloan
Editor, BluesWax
BluesWax Sittin' In With
Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin
Talkin' 'bout
Muddy Waters and the reissue of
Muddy's Blue Sky
albums on Sony Legacy
Part One
By T-Bone Erickson
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Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin
Photo by T. Michael Stanley
Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin played guitar, both in
the studio and on the road, with Muddy Waters from 1973 (when Bob was
just 21 years old) until 1980. Bob was part of all four albums of Muddy's that
were released on the Columbia/Epic Blue Sky imprint and produced by Johnny
Winter. He was also part of the same band that played on Winter's 1977 Blue
Sky album, Nothin' But The Blues.
Margolin has since recorded several of his own albums, the
most recent - All-Star Blues Jam on the Telarc label - garnering a W.C.
Handy nomination for Traditional Blues Album of the Year. Bob Margolin's
All-Star Blues Band was up for Blues Band of the Year, as well. Bob missed
out on winning either of those particular prizes, but he did have the distinct
honor of stepping up to the podium and accepting the Handy award for Historical
Blues Album of the Year, which went to Muddy "Mississippi" Waters
Live, the third of Muddy's four Blue Sky albums. It was reissued on Sony
Legacy last year and it not only includes the tracks from the original 1979 LP,
we now can enjoy another complete disc of 11 previously unreleased cuts from
the same club shows.
Bob not only played on the original tracks, he helped
oversee the reissuing of the albums and also wrote the excellent liner notes
for all four. Sony Legacy has now re-released the other three albums at the
same time - Hard Again (1977), I'm Ready (1978), and King Bee (1981)
[ED. NOTE: Be sure to check out the reviews of these three great albums in this
week's Blues Bytes section!]. Over the years, Margolin has developed into one
of our planet's best ambassadors for the Blues. He not only writes a regular
column for Blues Revue magazine, he is now a major contributor to BluesWax.
He has also been active in the Blues Foundation, in addition to his many gigs
around the world that keep the spirit of Muddy Waters alive, often performing
with fellow Muddy alumni Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Pinetop
Perkins, and Carey Bell.
I got the chance to get Bob's unique and intimate insight
into Muddy Waters, the landmark Blue Sky/Sony Legacy reissues with the
previously unreleased tracks as an added bonus.
T-Bone for BluesWax: Before we get to the albums,
let's begin with a little background. What were you doing at the time that you
got the call to play with Muddy and how did that come about?
Bob Margolin: I had been playing in Blues bands in
Boston and met Muddy when we opened shows for him. He could see I was trying to
play "old school" (Muddy's term) Chicago Blues and was very
encouraging to me. I didn't actually "get a call." In August '73, I
went out early to the first night of Muddy's gig at Paul's Mall in Boston.
Muddy's harp player George "Mojo" Buford saw me first and told
me, "Muddy fired Sammy [Lawhorn] last night - wait
here..." Muddy came out of the dressing room and presumed, "Come to
my room at the Bradford hotel tomorrow, and bring a guitar." Muddy didn't
ask if I was interested, he knew I would be. I instantly realized that not
making the most of this opportunity would be a mistake. When I went to the
hotel and took out the guitar (a white Gibson SG with P90's and a tweed Fender
Deluxe that I use often these days), Muddy said, "Play it." I had
Muddy scoped out pretty well. I played some nasty old slow Blues in E and Muddy
sang along - what a thrill. He called in his girlfriend and said, "Listen
to this boy play my shit!" - more like I was a puppy doing a trick - and
he called in Willie Smith who said, "Welcome to the club."
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Bob Margolin and Muddy
Waters 1978
BW: I know that your experiences with Muddy must be the
most important and cherished times of your life. Those times and his legacy
must still echo loudly in your head and reverberate in your soul. You could
probably write a book on all of that (and you should), but can you give us the
essence of what it was like and what it meant to you?
BM: I get asked this so often that I wrote a story
about it for Blues Revue ten years ago. I still get asked so often that
I posted the entire double-wide story on my bobmargolin.com website under a link
called "What was Muddy like?" That's the long answer. The short
answer is that Muddy truly had charisma, he affected people spiritually both
with his music and personally. It was a thrill to be on the bandstand with him,
and I carry that around inside me when I play. But in the 24 years since I was
in Muddy's band, I've done thousands of gigs on my own and indulged and
developed my own music. I'm proud to be a link to Muddy for people that love
him, and you can hear it when I play, but I hope folks will enjoy my Blues,
too.
BW: Like so many other Blues lovers of our generation, the
first Johnny Winter album for Columbia was one of the first beacons shining the
way to the real-deal Blues. He had both Willie Dixon and Big Walter
"Shakey" Horton as guests on the album and the hype surrounding the
release went a long way towards exposing hard Blues to a much wider audience. I
became a huge fan of Johnny's, and subsequently a huge fan of Muddy. So it was
pretty exciting when I first saw Muddy's face smiling at me in that classic
photo on the cover of Hard Again, then to see that Johnny was not only
playing, but also producing. Of course, you, Pinetop, and Big Eyes were on
board, as well as the great James Cotton and his bassist at the time, Charles
Calmese. I knew it would be good and the results were astounding. Muddy hadn't
sounded so strong in a long time and the sound of the album is what really
grabbed me. In fact, I would have to say that it is my favorite sound mix on
any Blues record. It sounds so alive and Willie's drums, in particular, just
hit home for me, right to the bone. Tell us about the room that it was recorded
in and how you all managed to capture such exuberance and energy that just
grabs you and brings you right in.
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Muddy Waters and Sonny
Payne, circa 1976
Photo by Bob Margolin
BM: I wrote about that in detail in the liner notes
to Hard Again. Actually, T-Bone, I used to think the sound on Hard
Again was slightly too reverberant. There are a lot of instruments playing
at once, Cotton used a particularly distorted harp sound and I thought it could
use some more clarity...until I heard the actual original recording in the Sony
studios last year. I was knocked out and the remastering done by Sony/Legacy -
no remixing - makes the album's sound better than ever, especially the bass
response, while retaining the original sonic flavor that you found so
attractive.
BW: I've read that Hard Again was the favorite
album of Muddy's. Can you relate the story about what Muddy would say when
asked about the title of the album?
BM: Well, to be honest, I heard Muddy answer the
"favorite album" question with the Chess Best of Muddy Waters album,
though that was before Hard Again was released. Whether it was
"best" or not, Muddy was very happy about his newer album. Muddy used
to joke that the album "made my little pee-pee hard again." Though
Muddy was known for his dignity, his sense of humor was often evident too,
usually sexually oriented.
For Part Two of this great interview with Bob Margolin
click HERE
to check it out in our Archives. Both Bob and T-Bone may be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED].
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This Week in BluesWax:
Best of 2004!
- In the E-zine:
BluesWax is Sittin' In With Bob Margolin. Founding Editor Don
"T-Bone" Erickson interviewed Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin back in
issue #192. Check out this Best of BluesWax Ezine for 2004.
- On the News
Page: Son Seals' Funeral; Guitarist Hank Garland Passes; Cool News From
Bluesville; Important New For Blues Festival Organizers; Handy Voting Is Open;
Blues Cruise News; Bandana Blues News; Tampa Bay Blues Festival News; Freedom
Blues Festival News; Mark Hummel Blues Harmonica Blowout Dates; Blues Summit
News; and more!
- On the Photo
Page: BluesWax Onstage in 2004.
- On the Blues
Bytes page: BluesWax is Sittin' In With Watermelon Slim. Mark
Hummel interviewed Watermelon Slim on August 25, 2004. Check out this Best of BluesWax
Blues Bytes for 2004.
- On the Blues
Beat page: A review of the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival. Blues
Revue Editor and contributor to BluesWax Ken Bays gave us a great
picture of the Telluride festival and all the activities that surrounded this
unique Blues fest.
- Under BluesWax
Picks: All the albums of 2004 that our contributors considered the best
of the best with perfect "10" ratings. Check out this year's top BluesWax
albums.
- One
Year Ago Today In BluesWax: Best of BluesWax 2003.
- Don't forget to play the Blues Trivia
Game: Remember, everyone who plays is in the drawing for the prize!
This week's prize: the CD Jelly Roll All-Stars: Must Be Jelly, courtesy
of our friends at Severn Records. Play Today!
