I’ve reached the final destination on this trip – I’m in Chicago, the windy city.
This is a special place for me. Chicago blues is my favourite of all the blues styles.
In the 1960s, the south side of Chicago was the hub of blues. Artists like Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and Howlin’ Wolf were at the height of their powers and leading the scene.
The sound is urban, amplified, and raucous. You get harsh guitars, harps amplified to distortion, walking bass, uptempo shuffling rhythms. The vocals have Southern-style soul in them but you also get fierce, dynamic shouting, capturing urban anger.
It’s this Chicago scene that really took blues global – this is the style that hooked Alex Korner, John Mayall and the Rolling Stones, kicking off the British blues scene.
The Yardbirds were rooted in this style and a training ground for two guitarists that went on to rock supremacy; Eric Clapton with Cream and Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin.
The king of the Chicago was Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield). He grew up in Clarksdale, where he learnt slide guitar.
He moved to Chicago and formed a band in the 50s with other players who were influential in their own right.
