Sammy Blue - A Blues Odyssey (2012)

Tracklist

CD1
01. I Got to Have My Way
02. If I Knew Then
03. See See Rider (Traditional)
04. Dancing in the Moonlight
05. Doing What You Do Best
06. I Miss You Baby
07. Spice in My Life
08. Rock Me (Traditional)
09. Vitamin P
10. Riverside
11. Whole World Blues
12. Every Musician's Lie
13. Day Job
14. Watch Out!
15. Bluesville

CD2
01. Holy Roller
02. Everythang & Mo'
03. I've Been Fooled
04. I Been Hopin'
05. Ever Love
06. Modern Woman
07. Reason to Live
08. Selam's Song
09. You Win Again
10. Disposable Love
11. Come On Baby

This 2CD album is a collection of Blues music and Americana derived from an odyssey of significant events that affected the life of Sammy Blue. From his early childhood in the segregated South when he saw his first live concert to the present day, real life experiences and cultural changes are reflected in his songs. As a teenager in the 1960s surrounded by the turbulence of desegregation in his home state of Georgia, he was one of the few, if only, black kids to see super star "white acts" such as the Beatles by volunteering to be an usher at concerts in Atlanta. A chance meeting with one of the icons of American music both piqued and established his interest in the Blues at one of those events. In a sea of white teenage fans at a Monkees concert in the City Auditorium, Sammy stood out as the only black kid working as an usher and backstage security. Probably due to a natural affinity, another black in the auditorium who had opened the show for the Monkees invited Sammy into his dressing room while he was backstage. Amazingly, Sammy a novice who had been interested in playing guitar was shown how to play "Red House" by Jimi Hendrix while the Monkees were onstage performing for an audience of screaming fans. The Blues die was cast that night for the young teenager. After graduating from high school the late, great Muddy Waters recognized Sammy's avid interest in Blues at another concert that he was working security. Muddy asked if he would like to travel with his road band back to Chicago and Sammy's unique odyssey with the Blues continued from there.
It was in the Windy City that Sammy met many of the Blues greats performing at that time while working a day job at Alligator Records. From Chicago he ventured west to California where he became a protegee of Taj Mahal and met many other greats in the Blues. His travels took him back to Atlanta and eventually into Texas where he met the legendary Lightnin' Hopkins who could often be found hanging out at a local taxi stand with friends. He became immediate friends with Albert Collins, another Texas Blues icon after which the two men often played shows together. This musical odyssey combined with the location of his birth and upbringing influenced his three styles of music interest - Electric Blues, Acoustic Blues and Americana. These styles are all represented on this definitive release of his creative output over the past four decades.

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