Chicago Blues Session Vol. 33
Eddie Shaw is a real
rarity in the blues world today. He' s horn man who fronts a band. And
not just any band, Shaw fronts one of the hottest Chicago blues bands
active today.
Eddie Shaw was born in Benoit, MS on March 20,
1937. Benoit is a tiny town just twenty miles north of Greenville on
Highway 1. Shaw began his musical career in a somewhat atypical way for
a bluesman, no cigar box guitars, no broom wire one-strings. Eddie began
playing at Coleman High School in Greenville in music classes. Here he
fell in love with horns and learned to play the trombone, clarinet and
saxophone. Shaw' s influences during this period were varied. Sure
there was the deep Delta blues sound that permeated the air in
Greenville but there was also the jump blues and R&B sounds that
were being played on the radio and by bands that passed through the
area.
Soon Shaw was blowing with some of the local
bluesmen at the area juke joints adding his own octane to the already
explosive sounds of men like Willie Love, Charlie Booker, Ike Turner,
Oliver Sain and Little Milton Shaw made his first recordings in 1952 at
the WROX radio station in Clarksdale for DJ/ producer Ike Turner.
Although the session never was released it put a fire in Eddie Shaw that
hasn' t burned out yet.
Shaw, unexpectedly, took a leap into the big time
in 1957 when he sat in with Muddy Waters at a gig in Itta Bena, MS.
Waters hired him on the spot and took the young sax player to Chicago.
There he made the rounds working with many of the Chicago blues legends
like Otis Rush, Jimmy Dawkins and Magic Sam ( in fact Shaw recorded with
Magic Sam in 1966 ). But it was another Chicago blues legend who would
make the biggest mark on Eddie Shaw' s life. After various stints in the
band Shaw became bandleader for the legendary Howlin' Wolf in 1972.
During the years that followed Shaw was forced to take on a bigger and
bigger role in managing the affaires of Wolf. As the great man" s
health deteriorated Shaw would pace the show
and direct the night to make sure Wolf s image remained powerful
and positive in the minds of those who saw him.
When Wolf died 1976 Shaw carried on with the band
and soon was touring and recording as Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang. He
has recorded a number of albums through the years including sides for
Simmons, Black & Blues, Alligator and Rooster Blues. In addition to
this Eddie has run the famed The New 1815 Club on Chicago" s West
Side for a number of years. This is Eddie Shaw' s second album for Wolf
Records and once again he handles production chores as well as saxophone
and vocal duties. The musicians on these recordings are solid veterans
of the Chicago blues scence and most have played with Shaw for years.
Guitar chores are handled by one of the hottest young guitarist on the
scence today, Eddie' s son Vaan Shaw, ( Check out Vaan' s two releases
on Wolf Records, Morning Rain and The Trail of Tears ), and by the
talented Johnny B. Moore. Other longtime Wolf Gang members found on
those sides are bassist Shorty Gilbert and pianist Detroit Jr., both of
which were played with Shaw when he was still bandleader for Wolf. Song
selection on the disc is wide ranging with most of the numbers being
Shaw originals. Shaw covers the geographical map with downhome
Mississippi originals like " Lickskillet, Mississippi" and
" Hey Mule Boy ", uptown numbers like his own special"
Paris in the Fall" and real everywhere tune like " Motel Six
" Eddie' s hard driving sax sound makes your feet begin to boogie
while the guitar work from Vaan Shaw and Johnny B. Moore drive the
message home. Throughout the disc you' II find good solid Chicago blues
played to the hilt by one of the hardest working blues bands around.
Brett J. Bonner Living
Blues Magazine
