About them shoes hubert sumlin biography

It's that period which informs this new recording, with most of its tunes penned either by Waters himself, or Chess Records' renaissance man Willie Dixon. Hubert now lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, though he grew up in Greenwood, Mississippi, picking up his first guitar at the age of eight. He doesn't use a plectrum, preferring to stroke out bass notes with his thumb.

Sumlin has used the same Fender twin-reverb amplifier for the last 30 years. There's certainly no shortage of guitars here, with old Muddy sideman Bob Margolin partnering Sumlin's lead licks on most tracks.

About them shoes hubert sumlin biography

So often, when an old bluesman makes a new album, he's joined by a stellar cast of rock acolytes, paying their respects. This album is no exception, with Eric Clapton and Keith Richards joining in on the first two cuts. A couple of the guitarists Sumlin influenced - Eric Clapton and Keith Richards - turn up for guest spots on this album, alongside the Band's Levon Helm, on drums, and David Johansen, contributing vocals.

But this is not one of those blues albums where the music is slickly repackaged for crossover success. This is the real deal: loose, effortlessly funky Chicago blues, powered by wailing harmonica. Richards's two guests spots, on Still a Fool and This Is the End, are among the best moments, both songs taken. Sumlin played on the album Howlin' Wolf called the "rocking chair album", with reference to its cover illustrationwhich was named the third greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo magazine in Upon Wolf's death inSumlin continued playing with several other members of Wolf's band, as the Wolf Pack, until about He also recorded under his own name, beginning with a session from a tour of Europe with Wolf in He underwent lung removal surgery the same year, but he continued performing until just before his death.

The Lincoln Journal Star praised "Sumlin's spare but emotional guitar work," writing that he goes "for a laid-back groove rather than overheated flash. The Christian Science Monitor noted that Sumlin "seems to be having the rollicking good time of his long and prolific career on this disc. No bad thing. AllMusic wrote: " About Them Shoes could have taken the marquee talent and gone for a glitzy platform to bring Hubert Sumlin into the mainstream.

Instead, they dive headfirst into what this music is all about, and in doing so have come up with a mini-masterpiece. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. Hubert Sumlin. Production [ edit ].