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Billy Gibbons recommended The Chess Box by Muddy Waters in Music (curated)

 
The Chess Box by Muddy Waters
The Chess Box by Muddy Waters
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Album Favorite

"This goes up to the Chicago stuff. When all the Mississippi guys made it up to Chicagoland, the Chess Brothers started picking them up and made it possible for them to record some stunning material. “There’s so much good stuff here that I don’t even know where to begin. Louisiana Blues, Rollin’ And Tumblin’, Long Distance Call, I Can’t Be Satisfied – all of these recordings were turning points in that, once electricity entered the picture, bands with three and four people in them could do battle with Duke Ellington and Count Basie and 10-piece horn sections. “Muddy Waters had a very distinctive guitar tone. When he played a Gibson Les Paul goldtop, you could really identify the sound, and you knew who it was. Compared to BB or Freddy or Albert, his playing might not have been so fanciful, but his licks were stinging and ferocious. And he laid down a lot of Delta-based slide guitar, too. Just because he was in Chicago, he didn’t leave his humble beginnings behind."

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[Last Days of Last Island] by [Bill Dixon] shows that being rich doesn't always come with common sense. In the mid 1800 in America the rich were looking for new ways to enjoy their wealth. In Louisiana the plantation owners found a beautiful island off the coast. It had great views and fishing. Also the breezes were a nice change from the temperatures inland in the South.

The catch is this "island" was little more than a large sandbar. What we know as barrier islands. This did not deter them from building it up as a resort for the well to do. What could go wrong?

There was no weather forecasting as their is today and the Gulf Coast was as prone to hurricanes then as it is now. There also was no easy escape since the only way to the island was by boat.

[Dixon] tell the tragic story of life and death on Last Island during the Hurricane of 1856. The research is well done and the narrative makes the saga of the inhabitants real in this pre Civil War natural disaster. Although he does get quite repetitive with details it was still a very informative read.