For those of us who slog away our summer days indoors, the Turnrow jukebox is a crucial mix of eclectic songs. The acoustics are good in the store, and sometimes we just love to turn up the stereo and let it wail. Our aim has always been to treat visitors to good music they may have never heard, or good music they don't hear nearly enough. (Song most requested to turn off: "Goodnight Irene" by Tom Waits.)
Always weighing the balance of styles and moods, we recently decided we needed a bit more blues. We play a lot of blues, being in the cradle of popular American music, but the summer mix was getting top-heavy with obscure R&B and Latin jazz, so we asked our resident blues expert DJ Benedict to float us something we'd never heard. He reliably came through with someone we should have heard but somehow never had: Magic Sam.
It was like hearing B.B. King for the first time. How could we have missed this? And he was born just down the road in Grenada. We'll let the expert explain:
Samuel “Magic Sam” Gene Maghett (1937-1969) was one of the most influential and under appreciated bluesmen of the 20th century. Growing up, Sam learned to play the blues by listening to Muddy Waters records. At 19, he moved to the West Side of Chicago where musicians like Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon and others had electrified the blues. The end result of this pioneering achievement was termed “Chicago” blues and represents the style of most blues performed today. Sam's distinct style of guitar style was a direct result of this musical phenomenon and became one of the defining voices of Chicago blues.
In 1967, Sam released West Side Soul, which is his shining moment and considered by many to be the greatest example of electrified blues ever created. There are several musical characteristics which make this record unique; the first is Sam's incredible guitar performance. Utilizing a technique previously not heard in electrified blues, Sam forcefully plucked the strings with his fingers and thumb creating a staccato treble-heavy guitar timber. He accentuated this technique by plugging into a Fender amp with the reverb turned on full. This guitar sound, combined with his Otis Redding-style vocals, made for matchless sound which would later be imitated by countless blues performers.
Although the guitar innovations are important, what really makes this record extraordinary is the groove. Each track has as much, if not more, groove than any soul record you have in your collection. In fact, the grooves found on this album can be found in much of the blues music recorded since this record was released. An example of this is demonstrated in Sam’s cover of the Robert Johnson standard "Sweet Home Chicago." (Hear it below) This is one of the most performed blues songs ever written, and I would guess that 90 percent of the time the song is played, it is a rehash of the Magic Sam version and not the Robert Johnson version.
Ultimately, this record is important because we do not know how much further Magic Sam could have expanded his influence on music. Shortly after recording this and a subsequent record, Sam died of a heart attack at the age of 32. He left a legacy of great blues music with West Side Soul as his masterpiece. Pick up a copy and get some magic for yourself.
