Magic Sam – An Introduction to Magic Sam

As the title would suggest, this is a compilation, but since I found this at the library I thought I’d pick it up on see what it has that I don’t have on the two Sam albums I own (West Side Soul and Black Magic), since this cat is one of the greats! There are a number of tunes from those two fabulous records, but lots more, as well.

Since everything I have heard from Sam is pretty damn phenomenal, it’s always a pleasure to find more. He is truly soulful in his delivery and playing and he is not afraid to mix things up with different tempos, from cool and slow to swingin’ grooves to frantic stompers. There are several songs in a similar vein (his homage to Muddy Waters’ “Same Thing”), but they all have some hip differences, though they were obviously trying to cash in on the popularity of the first one. That was common with all of the blues cats though – case in point, Elmore James and his million (all cool) variations on “Dust My Broom”. “Do The Camel Walk” takes Freddie King’s cool instro “Hideaway” and adds sax, glockenspiel (!) and Sam’s personal touches, making it into its own thang.

It is a sin and a shame that Magic Sam isn’t bigger in the pantheon of Chicago blues, cuz he was another master of the genre. As an introduction, this does a great job. Pick up whatever you can by the man!