Blues Brief - April 13
What is it that makes you want more? Money? Food? Drink? Adventure? For me it's travel, history, other's stories, and music. My appetite for more music - more of the same, more of the originals, more trivia/history, more of the different or new - has been a driving force in my life for as long as I can remember. My parents exposed me to swing, big bands, and country. Thankfully I had older siblings that gave me folk, pop, and rock. I grew up loving The Beatles and found The Police, Joe Jackson, The Talking Heads, and Elvis Costello on my own. But it was always addition, not replacement - I always wanted more (well, except for Lawrence Welk!) I found reggae from ska and new wave, soul from pop, and blues from rock 'n roll - mostly. Laugh if you will, but I heard the music of the movie Crossroads (1986) and I had to have more. Somewhere along the way I bought one or two blues CD's.One of the first - I can't remember when I bought it - was 'The Best of Muddy Waters.' I had heard the rock version of the first track many times - loved the guitar. When I first heard the original, written, of course, by Willie Dixon, I had an epiphany. I was astounded, dumbfounded, like I had made this great discovery which opened up a whole new world for me. I have learned so much in the 20-plus years since then and have volumes yet to learn - I hope to be learning new things about old music for the rest of my life.
On this day in 1954, Muddy Waters, the composer Willie Dixon on bass, Little Walter on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Otis Spann on piano, and Fred Below on drums got together and recorded my blues epiphany - the song I had known previously by Foghat - "I Just Want to Make Love to You" - I want more!