Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater
Once dismissed by purists as a Chuck Berry imitator (and an accurate one at that), tall, lean, and lanky Chicago southpaw Eddy Clearwater became recognized as a prime progenitor of West Side-style blues guitar. That's not to say he wouldn't liven up a gig with a little duck-walking or a frat party rendition of "Shout"; after all, Clearwater brought a wide array of influences to the party. Gospel, country, '50s rock, and deep-down blues were all incorporated into his slashing guitar attack. But when he put his mind to it, "The Chief" (a nickname accrued from his penchant for donning Native American headdresses on-stage) was one of the Windy City's finest bluesmen.
Eddy Harrington split Birmingham, Alabama, for Chicago in 1950, initially billing himself on the city's South and West Sides as Guitar Eddy. His uncle, Rev. Houston H. Harrington, handed his nephew his initial recording opportunity; the good reverend operated a small label, Atomic-H. Eddy made the most of it, laying down a shimmering minor-key instrumental, "A-Minor Cha Cha," and the Berry-derived "Hillbilly Blues" (both on Delmark's Chicago Ain't Nothin' But a Blues Band anthology).
Drummer Jump Jackson invented Eddy's stage moniker as a takeoff on the name of Muddy Waters. As Clear Waters, he waxed another terrific Berry knockoff, "Cool Water," for Jackson's LaSalle logo. By the time he journeyed to Cincinnati in 1961 to cut the glorious auto rocker "I Was Gone," a joyous "A Real Good Time," and the timely "Twist Like This" for Federal Records producer Sonny Thompson, he was officially Eddy Clearwater. Things were sparse for quite a while after that; Clearwater occasionally secured a live gig dishing out rock and country ditties when blues jobs dried up.
But Rooster Blues' 1980 release of The Chief, an extraordinarily strong album by any standards, announced to the world that Eddy Clearwater's ascendancy to Chicago blues stardom was officially underway. The next decade found Clearwater waxing two encores for Rooster Blues, Help Yourself for Blind Pig in 1992, and Mean Case of the Blues in 1996 on his reactivated Cleartone Records, followed by Cool Blues Walk in 1998, Chicago Daily Blues in 1999, and Reservation Blues in 2000.
With consistently exciting live performances, Clearwater cemented his reputation as a masterful showman whose principal goal was to provide his fans with a real good time. Keeping in that tradition, Clearwater teamed up with like-minded showmen Los Straitjackets, releasing Rock 'n' Roll City in 2003 on Rounder, followed five years later by his first session for the Alligator label, West Side Strut. Clearwater continued performing up until his death in June 2018, having played a show at Buddy Guy's Legends club just a couple weeks before.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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Rock 'N' Roll City
Blues - Released by Bullseye Blues on 12 Aug 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
West Side Strut
Blues - Released by Alligator Records on 4 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boogie My Blues Away
Blues - Released by Delmark Records on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues Hang Out (1989) (Blues Reference)
Blues - Released by Disques Black & Blue on 3 Dec 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Help Yourself
Blues - Released by Blind Pig Records on 15 May 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chicago Daily Blues - Eddy Clearwater
Blues - Released by Wolf Records International on 1 Jun 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chicago Blues Session Volume 23
Blues - Released by Wolf Records International GmbH on 18 Jun 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Presents Da Hundred
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by The Chief Music Ltd on 11 Sep 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tomorrow Could Be Better
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by The Chief Music Ltd on 26 Nov 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Recipe, Vol. 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by The Chief Music Ltd on 1 Oct 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
How Does It Feel?
Alternative & Indie - Released by 669977 Records DK on 4 Mar 2023
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Rick Sanchez
Trey Christie, Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater
Alternative & Indie - Released by Trey Christie on 9 Apr 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Today's Worse Than Yesterday
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by The Chief Music Ltd on 12 Jan 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Live at Culture Container (Live)
Alternative & Indie - Released by 669977 Records DK on 26 Dec 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Power Of The Pound (feat. Proj DRK)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by The Chief Music Ltd on 15 Oct 2023
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Athens Meets London Up North
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater, Terpo41
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by The Chief Music Ltd & 41Drillaz on 5 Feb 2024
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In The Game (feat. Proj DRK)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by The Chief Music Ltd on 2 Sep 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Folk Apocalypse
Alternative & Indie - Released by 669977 Records DK on 23 Jan 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo