Blind Dog Radio

Sweet Home Chicago! 10 Killer Chicago Blues Riffs from Muddy, Wolf, Buddy and Seven More

guitarplayer.com - In September of 1950, 15-year-old Eddy Harrington boarded a Greyhound bus in Birmingham, Alabama, a $15 one-way ticket in hand, and embarked on a northern journey that would change his life dramatically. The migration of Harrington, who’d one day be known as bluesman Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, wasn’t altogether unique, but it was undeniably one with purpose. Between 1900 and 1960, nearly five million other African-Americans did the same thing. They brought more than their dreams and worldly possessions to Chicago. They brought their culture, and their blues. When Chicago blues came to life in the late ’40s and early ’50s, it was essentially amplified Delta blues worked into the framework of a small band, usually drums, piano, and bass. It eventually grew to encompass a subgenre, West Side blues, which often featured a louder, minor-blues sound anchored by gutbucket guitar. READ MORE