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Luther Allison
Live In Chicago

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Luther Allison's career as a Blues guitarist began in the late 1960s in the United States, but didn't really take off until 1980, when he moved to France. Allison's albums and concerts had more success in Europe during the early 1980s than ever before in America.
The popularity of Luther Allison among American audiences started growing after he signed for the Alligator label, in 1994. The highpoint of his American career was his performance at the 1995 Chicago Blues Festival, which is entirely reproduced in the first CD of this double-disc set : "Live In Chicago". Luther Allison died from lung cancer in 1997.
The second CD of the set contains recordings from two club dates : Buddy Guy's Legends, in 1995, and the Zoo Bar, in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1997.
Luther Allison was not only an incredibly talented guitarist ; he litteraly brought his guitar to life. His soulful back-to-back performance between him on vocals and his own guitar in the opening track, "Soul Fixin' Man", almost sounds like a duet. On "Bad Love", Luther Allison gets his guitar to speak to him, like a ventriloquist does with a puppet. Some of Allison's greatest songs are featured here : "Bad Love", "All The King's Horses", and "Move From The Hood" are just a few. Allison also performs a rave-up cover of Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig", and a slow, heartfelt version of "It Hurts Me Too". He closes his Blues Festival appearance with a medley of two B.B. King tunes ("Sweet Little Angel" and "Gambler's Blues"), where he is accompanied by Otis Rush and Eddie C. Campbell.
While his Blues Festival ferocious, wild performance is backed by a big band, among which the Memphis Horns, his club acts are more soulful, and closer to the audience. The album shows how Allison's great ability to adapt his music to the situation. This posthumous record is a great tribute to the fabulous artist that Luther Allison was.

TRACKS - CD 1

1.    Intro (Marker) - 0:23
2.    Soul Fixin' Man (Allison/Solberg) - 4:03
3.    Cherry Red Wine (Allison) - 8:36
4.    Move From The Hood (Allison/Solberg) - 4:48
5.    Bad Love (Allison/Solberg) - 10:16
6.    Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is (Allison/Solberg) - 6:00
7.    Big City (Allison/Solberg) - 9:07
8.    Give Me Back My Wig (Taylor) - 5:22
9.    It Hurts Me Too (Whittaker) - 7:40
10.    Medley : Gambler's Blues/Sweet Little Angel (King/Pate) - 10:25

TRACKS - CD 2

1.    Party Time (Allison) - 5:20
2.    All The King's Horses (Allison/Solberg) - 12:19
3.    What Have I Done Wrong ? (Maghett) - 7:10
4.    Walking Papers (Allison/Solberg) - 6:48
5.    Think With Your Heart (Allison/Solberg) - 6:27
6.    What's Going On In My Home ? (Allison/Solberg) - 7:13
7.    Will It Ever Change ? (Allison/Solberg) - 5:48
8.    You're Gonna Make Me Cry (Malone) - 8:26
9.    Everything's Gonna Be All Right (Malone) - 5:30

(Audio snippets in Windows Media format)


LISTENER COMMENTS

  I love this CD.. borrowed it from a friend, another guitarist, and actually bought it the following week.. as a live performance goes.. its right up there with the best I've ever heard.. this is a classic.. buy it -- Lynne Leighting


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