Henry Cook and I hope you will join us for Time For The Blues this Saturday night at 9:00 as we present one of our signature Legends show. Every so often we like to look back at some of those great artists that make the blues so special. This week we take a look at Little Walter and Magic Sam.
Marion Walter Jacobs, better known as Little Walter, was such an influential harmonica player that you would have to describe him in the way you would talk about Django Reinhardt, Charlie Parker, or Jimi Hendrix. He changed the way the harmonica was heard when he played with Muddy Waters and when he went solo.
Dying young – he was only 37 when he passed away – there’s only speculation of what else he might have achieved during his time on earth. Harmonica fans will greatly enjoy the selections we have from an album of his best as well as one that he played on as a member of Muddy Waters’ band.
Samuel Gene Maghett was born in Mississippi but moved to Chicago when he was 19 and quickly found himself working the clubs in the West Side. He was signed to Cobra Records and alongside artists like Buddy Guy and Otis Rush gave rise to the West Side Sound. His name came from his bass player who was calling him “Maghett Sam” which soon became “Magic Sam.”
Maghett also died young – he was only 32 when he passed from a heart attack – leaving blues lovers to wonder what else he would have accomplished. We have music from his Cobra years as well as some from his better known Delmark recordings.
We’re also dropping sides from Otis Rush, Lafayette Leake, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band that we just may include in future Legends show.
But we’re not forgetting recent releases, as we have music from Joe Bonamassa and Danielle Nicole for you as well.
All that and a few surprises to boot! All in all, it’s a great show and we would love to have you join us for the fun if you care to join us at 9:00 this Saturday night. That’s February 3rd, and you can find us on one of these great VPM Stations: 89.1 WCNV, Heathsville; 90.1 WMVE, Chase City; and the flagships, 93.1 and 107.3 VPM-Music and 88.9 HD2, Richmond, and online at VPM.org where it’s always Time For The Blues!