John Primer Teardrops

At the time of this recording, John Primer had already established himself on the who’s who list of Chicago blues. He had finished a long stint with Muddy Waters and was in the middle of a 14 year stay as guitarist for Magic Slim and the Teardrops. This CD is John's fourth for Wolf Records and his very first full-length live album.
After the Wolf Records manager listened to the Zoo Bar recordings he got the idea to make a CD just with John Primer, because he always opened every set at the Zoo Bar and it was great! So the musicians here are just Nick Holt on bass, Michael Scott on drums and John himself! The three had a great sound and played songs like "Gambler's Blues", "Easy Baby" and "Walkin' through the Park"! Great!

Recorded in the 90's in Austria.
John Primer was part of the legendary Magic Slim & The Teardrops for over 10 years. 2013 Slim died, but his spirit is still there in the Blues world. During his days with Slim, he always opened the show with his great voice and guitar performance. Wolf Records manager Hannes Folterbauer recorded most of Slim’s shows which includes John’s songs. John Primer is now one of the greatest Blues men in business and if you listen to this album, you know why. Together with the King of the Lump Style Nick Holt and Earl Howell on drums they play the real deal - Blues at its best!

By any yardstick, Chicago guitarist John Primer has paid his dues. Prior to making The Real Deal for Mike Vernon's Atlantic-distributed Code Blue label, Primer spent 13 years as the ever-reliable rhythm guitarist with Magic Slim & the Teardrops. Before that, he filled the same role behind Chicago immortals Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. All that grounding has paid off handsomely for Primer. His sound is rooted in the classic Windy City blues sound of decades past: rough-edged and uncompromising and satisfying in the extreme. He's one of the last real traditionalists in town. By the time he came to Chicago in 1963, Primer was thoroughly familiar with the lowdown sounds of Waters, Wolf, Jimmy Reed, B.B. and Albert King, and Elmore James.

This is another great CD by John Primer for Wolf. One part is recorded in Chicago with a Bluesband, the other part is recorded unplugged with Billy Branch on harp! "Dreaming" and "Cold Blooded Blues Man" are great songs by one of the best!
By any yardstick, Chicago guitarist John Primer has paid his dues. Prior to making The Real Deal for Mike Vernon's Atlantic-distributed Code Blue label, Primer spent 13 years as the ever-reliable rhythm guitarist with Magic Slim & the Teardrops. Before that, he filled the same role behind Chicago immortals Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. All that grounding has paid off handsomely for Primer. His sound is rooted in the classic Windy City blues sound of decades past: rough-edged and uncompromising and satisfying in the extreme. He's one of the last real traditionalists in town.

This is John Primers second CD for Wolf Records. These are great studio recordings with the best sidemen you can find in Chicago! All great songs on this CD, like "1839" from Elmore James, a swamp blues song "Good Morning Heartache" and the title song "Blues Behind Closed Doors" are by John himself!
By any yardstick, Chicago guitarist John Primer has paid his dues. Prior to making The Real Deal for Mike Vernon's Atlantic-distributed Code Blue label, Primer spent 13 years as the ever-reliable rhythm guitarist with Magic Slim & the Teardrops. Before that, he filled the same role behind Chicago immortals Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon…

Another solid Slim set with an additional emphasis on the considerable contributions of second guitarist John Primer, who handles vocals on three cuts (including covers of Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle" and Eugene Church's "Pretty Girls Everywhere"). This was a particularly potent edition of Teardrops, pounding through Slim's own title cut and "Please Don't Waste My Time" and Albert King's shuffling "Cold Women with Warm Hearts" with barroom bravado.

The Wolf record label has served Magic Slim & the Teardrops well, producing eight CDs between 1986 and 1992, when the band was emerging from Chicago to tour the world. They are deserving on many fronts as the self-proclaimed "best blues band on the planet," and these tracks, marketed as "Magic Slim's best 14 songs," certainly go a long way to proving that assertion. Of the album's 14 tracks, 11 come from the studio and three are previously unissued live concert sessions in Austria, all with Slim, the remarkable second guitarist John Primer, brother and bassist Nick Holt, and different drummers. Only one of the tunes was written by Slim, the others taken from classic blues songwriters and heroes of the lead vocalist and guitarist, whose distinctive sound comes shining through from start to finish. Albert King for sure is a favorite of Magic Slim…

Another solid Slim set with an additional emphasis on the considerable contributions of second guitarist John Primer, who handles vocals on three cuts (including covers of Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle" and Eugene Church's "Pretty Girls Everywhere"). This was a particularly potent edition of Teardrops, pounding through Slim's own title cut and "Please Don't Waste My Time" and Albert King's shuffling "Cold Women with Warm Hearts" with barroom bravado.

Wolf manager Hannes found 12 songs, which have never before been on CD or LP! These are live recordings from 1992-1995, when Magic Slim played together with John Primer, Nick Holt and Earl Howell! There are great Albert King covers and a wonderful version of "Since I met you, Baby".