James Cotton - Vanguard Visionaries - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

James Cotton - Best of the Vanguard Years [COMPACT DISCS] UK - Import date 11/29/1999

James Cotton stands as a towering figure in the blues explosion of the 1980s. Always rooted in tradition, he remains an innovator, keeping his contemporaries and their fans on their toes. Born in Tunica, Mississippi, in 1935, Cotton moved to West Memphis, Arkansas, at age ten, where he learned harmonica from Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II). By 1953, he found his way to Sam Phillips and SUN Studio, recording as a sideman for artists like Howlin' Wolf and Willie Nix. This album showcases Cotton with a big blues band - echoing Bobby InchBlueInch Bland - for the first four tracks, followed by a return to his country blues roots with old-style folk blues. Joined by Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop on guitar, along with harmonica legends William InchBilly BoyInch Arnold and the late Paul Butterfield, the three weave intricate lines on InchSouth Side Boogie,Inch a standout track. Recorded in Chicago in the mid-1960s by producer Norman Dayron, these cuts superbly represent the blues.

EU collection. The harmonica as a lead instrument for rock and roll! Yeah, sure, why not? Especially when the mouth harp is wielded by James Cotton, the man who grew up with blues giants during the formative years of rock 'n' roll and went on to have one of the first R&B bands to play on the white rock festival circuit. Cotton - one of the most celebrated figures in the world of blues harmonica - was also a rock 'n' roll man. For that reason, this is one of the most significant discs in our 'Rocks' series. Growing up in a world where rock heroes, and most blues heroes, were singers, guitar players, sometimes piano players, maybe sax men, Cotton said he modelled his harp playing on the saxophone parts in rhythm and blues and jazz. He was championed by rock bands as both an influence and a comrade in the electric blues-rock years. The 'Chicago Tribune' reviewed his harp playing as gritty, gutsy, ferociously uninhibited, and what great harp work is all about. This CD of superfine music shows where the blues came from and where R&B and rock 'n' roll took it. The tracks are full of invigorating harp riffs and solos but they also contain excellent vocal performances by James Cotton himself and by his one-time boss, Muddy Waters.