John Primer - Call me John Primer: His 15 Best Songs

(Wolf 120.823 – Austria)

John Primer is one of the finest Chicago Blues artists still around: a guitarist singer with an impeccable curriculum. His former bandleaders were guys like Junior Wells, Muddy Waters and, more recently, Magic Slim. Primer knows how it works being a real bluesman, true to his roots, and put his blueprint on the contemporary Blues scene.

Call me John Primer: His 15 Best Songs is a compilation of previous Primer’s recording with the addition of five unreleased live tracks. It goes without saying that Primer is born in Mississippi and grown up in Chicago. He went through the emblematic career and ordeal of an ordinary bluesman and found in the late Sammy Lawhorn his major musical influence. To make along story short, his years with Magic Slim and the Teardrops ultimately shaped Primer’s talents. By mid-nineties he was ready to start his own musical experience, nowadays called the Real Deal Blues Band. Whoever has seen him in one of the major Blues festivals around the world may testify about Primer’s terrific showmanship: tight sound, sharp solos, compelling vocals. He plays any concert like it could be his last one in take no prisoner performances. In this CD, you will find him surrounded by a bunch of excellent bluesmen in their own right: the master Magic Slim, Johnny B. Gayden on bass, Detroit Jr. on piano, George Baze on guitar, Little Mac Simmonds and Steve Bell – son of Carey Bell – on harp, the Austrian Mojo Blues Band, a living monument to the European Blues. Even worn-out standards like “Shake your money maker”, “Going back to New York”, “Evil” spring as shining brand new from Primer’s hands. Timing, attack and intensity: Primer got them all with the addition of great personality that makes all his work absolutely fresh if not innovative. Enjoy an acoustic, razor-sharp version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Red house”. Look no further: John Primer is Muddy Waters’ legitimate heir.

Luca Lupoli