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Hubert Sumlin
CD – About Them Shoes
This is the real blues, by Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar
player who is now a solo artist in his own right.
Sumlin overshadows his backup, which on different tracks includes
Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, James Cotton, Levon Helm, Bob
Margolin, and David Johansen. Sumlin does not try to outplay
them. It’s the authority that he brings to the table that
lets him dominate the proceedings.
Every note of his guitar counts. And his voice has a lived-in
feel, but it belies his seventy-five years. Most of the thirteen
songs here are pretty upbeat, like Muddy Waters’s “Evil”,
that implies Sumlin has a lot of time and energy left to do
some dirty deeds.
Sumlin does not try to update his sound, fortunately. The Chicago
blues have been overdone by many artists, but it sounds fresh
here being done by one of the scene’s originals. All the
songs are either written by Muddy Waters or Willie Dixon, except
the last, which is by Sumlin.
“About Them Shoes” is the best of the blues.
http://www.hubertsumlinblues.com/
- Dave Howell
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