Eddie
C. Campbell (born May 6, 1939, Duncan, Mississippi) is an American blues
guitarist and singer active in the Chicago blues scene.
His
parents, sharecroppers, moved to the Windy City when Eddie C. was six years
old. His mother helped him buy his first guitar at age eight. She would take
him to the 1125 Club on Madison Street, where he met the legendary Muddy
Waters, who told Eddie C. he could sit in if he learned to play. After
relentless study, Eddie C. learned "Still A Fool", and Muddy allowed
him to sit in with the band. Eddie C. Campbell was twelve years old!
In
the mid-50's, when Eddie C. was still in his teens, he was jamming around on
the blues scene with Luther Allison and Willie James Lyons, Big Monroe, drummer
Willie Buckner, and harp player Pee Wee Madison.
The
versatile performer was one of the most flamboyant and popular musicians on the
West Side scene, riding around on a purple motorcycle, sporting a red
Jazzmaster guitar, learning karate and winning sixteen knockouts as an amateur
boxer. By the late 50's, Campbell's band was backing up Percy Mayfield, Lowell
Fulson, Tyrone Davis, and Little Johnny Taylor, and Eddie C. was performing
with Little Walter, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, and Mighty Joe
Young. It was also during this period that he became close friends and running
buddies with Magic Sam, who lived two doors down and was to prove influential
on Campbell's music.
In
1963 Eddie C. became the band director for Jimmy Reed, a gig he held
periodically until Reed's death in 1976. Shortly thereafter, Campbell began to
work with Koko Taylor, who recommended him to Willie Dixon. Eddie C. played in
Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues All-Stars for the next four years.
In
1977, while with Dixon's band, he recorded King of the Jungle, which was
released on the Mr. Blues label and reissued on Rooster Blues in 1985. In 1979
he toured Europe for the first time with the American Blues Legends Tour. He
moved to Europe in 1984,
working at first in England, then moving to Holland, and finally to Germany. While he was in Amsterdam, Eddie C. recorded an album entitled Let's Pick It! for the Black Magic label (reissued on Evidence in 1993). While in Europe he also toured in a German stage adaptation of William Faulkner's Requiem For A Nun.
working at first in England, then moving to Holland, and finally to Germany. While he was in Amsterdam, Eddie C. recorded an album entitled Let's Pick It! for the Black Magic label (reissued on Evidence in 1993). While in Europe he also toured in a German stage adaptation of William Faulkner's Requiem For A Nun.
Campbell
returned to Chicago in December 1992 so that his son could be born in the
United States. He soon resumed work on his latest album, That's When I Know,
released on Blind Pig in October 1994. Gonna Be Alright followed in 1999. His shimmering West Side-styled guitar playing and
unusually introspective songwriting had been a breath of fresh air on the Windy
City circuit. Campbell's latest album is
Spider Eating Preacher (Delmark, 2012). It was nominated for a Blues Music
Award in 2013 in the category Traditional Blues Album.
In
February 2013, Campbell suffered a stroke and a heart attack while on tour in
Germany, leaving him paralyzed on the right side of his body. His wife, Barbara
Basu, raised enough money to fly him back to Chicago for further medical
treatment. By 2015 Eddie although still
undergoing therapy began to perform again even without full use of his right
hand. (Info
mainly from Blind Pig Records.com)
2 comments:
For “Eddie C. Campbell - King Of The Jungle” go here:
https://cloud.mail.ru/public/GY4D/pLF1mdZYj
1 Santa's Messin' With the Kid
2 Still A Fool
3 Cheaper to Keep Her
4 Poison Ivy
5 The Red Rooster
6 Smokin' Potatoes
7 King Of The Jungle
8 She's Nineteen Years Old
9 Look at What You Done
10 We Both Must Cry
11 Weary Blues
12 Blues on the Highway
Good, good music. Thank you Bob.
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