Magic Sam

Together with recordings by Otis Rush and Buddy Guy (also Cobra artists), the West Side Sound was a manifesto for a new kind of blues.[6] He continued performing live and toured with a band that included blues harp player Charlie Musselwhite, future Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen bassist "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow and drummer Sam Lay.[9] In February 1970, the Butterfield Blues Band played at a benefit concert for Magic Sam, at Fillmore West in San Francisco.Author Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes: He [Magic Sam] not only makes "Sweet Home Chicago" his own (no version before or since is as definitive as this), he creates the soul-injected, high-voltage modern blues sound that everybody has emulated and nobody has topped in the years since.[11]For the performance of the song in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers,[12] John Belushi's character announces, "dedicate[d] to the late great Magic Sam".
Magic Sam at the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival. Photo by Jeff Titon.
Magic Sam at the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival.
Grenada County, MississippiChicago bluesDelmarkMuddy WatersLittle WalterCobra RecordstremoloOtis RushBuddy GuyHomesick James Williamsondishonorable dischargeDelmark RecordsWest Side SoulBlack Magicblues harpCharlie MusselwhiteCommander Cody and His Lost Planet AirmenSam LayAnn Arbor Blues FestivalShakey Jake Harrisheart attackRestvale CemeteryAlsip, IllinoisButterfield Blues BandFillmore WestMike BloomfieldElvin BishopNick GravenitesWillie Dixonblues standardSweet Home ChicagoStephen Thomas ErlewineThe Blues BrothersJohn BelushiBlues FoundationBlues Music AwardHall of FameTampa RedBoyd AtkinsFats DominoDave BartholomewMel LondonJessie Mae RobinsonAl BensonP-VineEvidenceMagic Sam LiveMagic TouchThe Magic Sam LegacyGive Me TimeWestsideRockin' Wild in ChicagoLive at the Avant GardePalmer, RobertPenguin BooksGillett, CharlieDa Capo PressOmnibus PressErlewine, MichaelBogdanov, VladimirKoda, CubMiller Freeman BooksTobler, JohnErlewine, Stephen ThomasAllMusicAtlantic Records