- Magic Sam
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Magic Sam Birth name Samuel Gene Maghett Born February 14, 1937
Grenada, Mississippi, United StatesDied December 1, 1969 (aged 32)
Chicago, Illinois, United StatesGenres Blues Instruments Guitar, vocals Years active 1957–1969 Labels Cobra, Chief, Delmark Samuel "Magic Sam" Gene Maghett (February 14, 1937 – December 1, 1969) was an American Chicago blues musician. Maghett was born in Grenada, Mississippi, United States, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter. After moving to Chicago at the age of nineteen, he was signed by Cobra Records and became well known as a bluesman after his first record, "All Your Love" in 1957. He was known for his distinctive tremolo-guitar playing.[1]
Contents
Life and career
After moving to Chicago in 1950, his guitar playing earned bookings at blues clubs in Chicago's West Side. Sam recorded for Cobra Records from 1957 to 1959, recording singles, including "All Your Love" and "Easy Baby". They did not appear on the record charts, yet they had a profound influence, far beyond Chicago's guitarists and singers. Together with recordings by Otis Rush and Buddy Guy (also Cobra artists), they made a manifesto for a new kind of blues.[2] Around this time Sam also worked briefly with Homesick James Williamson.[2] Sam gained a following before being drafted into the Army. Not a natural soldier, Sam deserted after a couple of weeks' service and was subsequently caught and sentenced to six months imprisonment. He was given a dishonourable discharge on release, but the experience had undermined his confidence and immediate recordings for Mel London's Chief Records lacked the purpose of their predecessors.[3]
In 1963, he gained national attention for his single "Feelin' Good (We're Gonna Boogie)". After successful touring of the US, UK, and Germany, he was signed to Delmark Records in 1967, where he recorded West Side Soul and Black Magic. He also continued performing live and toured with blues harp player Charlie Musselwhite and Sam Lay.
Sam's breakthrough performance was at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969,[4] which won him many bookings in the U.S. and Europe. His life and career was cut short when he suddenly died of a heart attack in December 1969. He was 32 years old. He was buried in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. In February 1970, the Butterfield Blues Band played at a benefit concert for Magic Sam, at Fillmore West in San Francisco. Also on the bill were Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, and Nick Gravenites.[5]
His guitar style, vocals, and songwriting ability have inspired and influenced many blues musicians ever since. In The Blues Brothers, Jake Blues dedicates the band's performance of "Sweet Home Chicago" to the "late, great Magic Sam".
The stage name, Magic Sam, was devised by Sam's bass player and childhood friend Mack Thompson, at Sam's first recording session for Cobra, from an approximation of "Maghett Sam". The name Sam was using at the time, Good Rocking Sam, was already being used by another artist.[6]
Citation
"Magic Sam had a different guitar sound," said his record producer, Willie Dixon. "Most of the guys were playing the straight 12-bar blues thing, but the harmonies that he carried with the chords was a different thing altogether. This tune "All Your Love", he expressed with such an inspirational feeling with his high voice. You could always tell him, even from his introduction to the music."[2]
Awards and recognition
- 1982 - Blues Foundation Blues Music Award: Magic Sam Live (Vintage or Reissue Album of the Year (US)).[7]
- 1982 - Blues Foundation Hall of Fame: Magic Sam inducted (Performer).[8]
- 1984 - Blues Foundation Hall of Fame: West Side Soul (Classics of Blues Recordings - Albums category)[8]
- 1990 - Blues Foundation Hall of Fame: Black Magic (Classics of Blues Recordings - Albums category)[8]
Partial album discography
Year Title Label Comments 1967 West Side Soul Delmark recorded Chicago 1967 1968 Black Magic Delmark recorded Chicago 1968 1980 The Late Great Magic Sam L+R recorded 1963–1964, 1969 1981 Magic Sam Live Delmark live recordings Chicago 1963–1964 & Ann Arbor 1969 1981 Magic Touch Black Magic live recording Chicago 1966 1989 The Magic Sam Legacy Delmark out-/alternate takes recorded Chicago 1967–1968 1991 Give Me Time Delmark solo demo/rehearsal home recordings 1968 2001 With a Feeling – The Complete Cobra, Chief & Crash Recordings 1957–1966 Westside most pre-Delmark recordings; also available as Out of Luck, P-Vine 2003 2002 Rockin' Wild in Chicago Delmark live recordings Chicago 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968 See also
- Chicago blues
- List of blues musicians
- List of Chicago blues musicians
- List of people from Mississippi
- List of people from Louisiana
- List of stage names
- Mississippi Blues Trail
References
- ^ Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll ((2nd Ed.) ed.). New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. pp. 177–179. ISBN 0-306-80683-5.
- ^ a b c Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 143–144. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ oldies.com biography - accessed January 2008
- ^ casacadeblues.org biography - accessed January 2008
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 209. CN 5585.
- ^ Rowe, M (1981): Chicago Blues: the City and the Music. New York, Da Capo Press. pp. 178-179
- ^ "1982 Blues Music Awards". The Blues Foundation. http://www.blues.org/#ref=bluesmusicawards_pastyears. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
- ^ a b c "1982, 1984, 1990 Blues Hall of Fame Inductees". Blues Foundation. http://www.blues.org/halloffame/inductees.php#ref=halloffame_inductees. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
External links
Categories:- 1937 births
- 1969 deaths
- Chicago blues musicians
- Electric blues musicians
- American blues guitarists
- American blues singers
- Blues Hall of Fame inductees
- Blues musicians from Mississippi
- Delmark Records artists
- Deaths from myocardial infarction
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