Magic Sam
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| Magic Sam | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Samuel Gene Maghett |
| Also known as | Magic Sam |
| Born | February 14, 1937 Grenada, Mississippi, USA |
| Died | December 1, 1969 (aged 32) Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Genre(s) | Chicago Blues , Soul-blues |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Vocal |
| Years active | 1957 – 1969 |
| Label(s) | Delmark |
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Samuel "Magic Sam" Gene Maghett (February 14, 1937 – December 1, 1969) was born in Grenada 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 You Love" in 1957. He had several more hits and became very popular. Ultimately his tremolo guitar playing, although distinctive, was ultimately very limited in range. In 1959 he was drafted and found it hard to pick up his career when he returned.[1]
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[edit] Life and career
Magic Sam was a blues guitarist and singer[2].
After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1950, his guitar playing earned bookings at blues clubs in Chicago's West Side. He met his old childhood friend Magic Slim there in 1955, and gave him his nickname. Sam recorded for the Cobra label from 1957 to 1959, recording singles, including "All Your Love" and "Easy Baby." They never appeared on the charts yet they had a profoud influence, far beyond Chicago's guitarists and singers. Together with the records of Otis Rush (also a Cobra artist) and Buddy Guy, they made a manifesto for a new kind of blues.[3] Around this time Sam also worked briefly with Homesick James Williamson.[3] 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.[4]
In 1963, he gained national attention for his single "Feelin' Good (We're Gonna Boogie)". After successful touring of the United States, 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.
Sam's breakthrough performance was at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969,[5] which won him many bookings in the United States and Europe. His life and career was cut short when he suddenly died of a heart attack in December of the same year. He was 32 years old. He was buried in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
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".
In 1982, Sam was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
[edit] 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." [3]
[edit] Discography
- West Side Soul (Delmark 1967)
- Black Magic (Delmark 1968)
[edit] 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
[edit] References
- ^ Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll, (2nd Ed.), New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, pp. 177-179. ISBN 0-306-80683-5.
- ^ All Music Guide biography - accessed January 2008
- ^ a b c Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited, p. 143-144. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ oldies.com biography - accessed January 2008
- ^ casacadeblues.org biography - accessed January 2008
