Nekronomicon Magic

To call West Side Soul one of the great blues albums, one of the key albums (if not the key album) of modern electric blues is all true, but it tends to diminish and academicize Magic Sam's debut album. This is the inevitable side effect of time, when an album that is decades old enters the history books, but this isn't an album that should be preserved in amber, seen only as an important record. Because this is a record that is exploding with life, a record with so much energy, it doesn't sound old. Of course, part of the reason it sounds so modern is because this is the template for most modern blues, whether it comes from Chicago or elsewhere. Magic Sam may not have been the first to blend uptown soul and urban blues, but he was the first to capture not just the passion of soul, but also its subtle elegance, while retaining the firepower of an after-hours blues joint…

Chicago blues drips from the raw and gritty music of Magic Slim. His vocals are delivered like a champion boxer punches. His sharp, fast lead guitar notes are drenched in sweat. His rife rhythms rock like a ship that’s tossed about by a hellacious storm. His potent backing band – comprised of Jon McDonald (guitar), Danny O’Connor (bass), and David Simms (drums) – is more than capable of supporting the master. Together with Slim, they are considered to be one of the last real Chicago blues bands. Magic Slim doesn’t need to rely on guest stars in order to make a great CD. Still, eight confidant colleagues, including Otis Clay and Elvin Bishop, appear throughout the 47-minute disc. This is practically a 100% pure Chicago blues record. It was recorded in Chicago, it was produced by a Chicago blues artist, the cover photo and CD design were created by a Chicago graphic artist, most of the songs were written by Chicago artists, and the guests are all associated with Chicago.

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…

This raw-boned LP captures Slim's unpretentious houserocking sound about as well as any studio set possibly could. Among its highlights: the hard-shuffling "Early Every Morning," and a surreal "Scuffling," and Slim's tribute to his late pal Magic Sam, "She Belongs to Me."