Concert Photography by Nick McCabe
The Mannish Boys were first up. Assembled from the cream of the crop of today’s blues veterans and young bloods, the flexible and rotating cast of vigorous musicians and entertainers keep things interesting and fresh.
Elvin Bishop was next. Growing up in the 1940s on a farm in Iowa with a loving but non musical family, Elvin seldom heard music as a kid. "This was before TV," Elvin says. When rock and roll started up in the mid-'50s, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Little Richard showed up on white radio.
Mavis Staples followed Elvin Bishop. Mavis Staples began her career with her family group in 1950. Initially singing locally at churches and appearing on a weekly radio show.
Then came Jimmy Johnson. His first solo material appeared on Alligator Records and Delmark Records in 1978-79, when he was fifty years old. His career continued to pick up until December 2, 1988, when his touring van crashed in Indiana, killing his keyboardist St. James Bryant and bassist Larry Exum. Johnson was injured and took an extended hiatus from music, but returned to record for Verve Records in 1994. In 2002 he cut a record with his brother Syl.
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater was next. A Chicago legend, Clearwater is an intense, flamboyant blues-rocking showman. He’s equally comfortable playing the deepest, most heartfelt blues or rocking, good-time party music. DownBeat said, “Left-hander Eddy Clearwater is a forceful six-stringer...He lays down some gritty West Side shuffles and belly-grinding slow blues that highlight his raw chops, soulful vocals, and earthy, humorous lyrics.”
Over the course of his career, guitarist/vocalist Lonnie Brooks has come a long way. From his early days backing zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier to his years as a hit-producing Gulf Coast rock and rolling R&B singer to his emergence in Chicago as an innovative blues man in his own right, Lonnie shaped a signature sound and style.
Elvin Bishop was next. Growing up in the 1940s on a farm in Iowa with a loving but non musical family, Elvin seldom heard music as a kid. "This was before TV," Elvin says. When rock and roll started up in the mid-'50s, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Little Richard showed up on white radio.
Mavis Staples followed Elvin Bishop. Mavis Staples began her career with her family group in 1950. Initially singing locally at churches and appearing on a weekly radio show.
Then came Jimmy Johnson. His first solo material appeared on Alligator Records and Delmark Records in 1978-79, when he was fifty years old. His career continued to pick up until December 2, 1988, when his touring van crashed in Indiana, killing his keyboardist St. James Bryant and bassist Larry Exum. Johnson was injured and took an extended hiatus from music, but returned to record for Verve Records in 1994. In 2002 he cut a record with his brother Syl.
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater was next. A Chicago legend, Clearwater is an intense, flamboyant blues-rocking showman. He’s equally comfortable playing the deepest, most heartfelt blues or rocking, good-time party music. DownBeat said, “Left-hander Eddy Clearwater is a forceful six-stringer...He lays down some gritty West Side shuffles and belly-grinding slow blues that highlight his raw chops, soulful vocals, and earthy, humorous lyrics.”
Over the course of his career, guitarist/vocalist Lonnie Brooks has come a long way. From his early days backing zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier to his years as a hit-producing Gulf Coast rock and rolling R&B singer to his emergence in Chicago as an innovative blues man in his own right, Lonnie shaped a signature sound and style.
