Luther Allison - 'Live In Chicago'

 

‘Live In Chicago’ is a 2CD set that was recorded at the 1995 Chicago Blues Festival, a sold-out gig at Buddy Guy's Legends and four tracks from the Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska.  It was released in 1999 (two years after Luther’s death) on the Alligator Records label.




At the time of his sudden death from cancer on August 12, 1997, Allison was finally reaching the mainstream popularity he had always desired. Allison began his major American comeback when he signed with Alligator in 1994, following 12 years of living and performing in Europe, where he had grown from a club artist to a major headliner.  1994's Soul Fixin' Man and 1995's Blue Streak provided a launching pad to American stardom for Allison and his searing brand of hard blues.  With the Grammy-nominated Reckless in 1997, Allison soared. He won three Blues Music Awards in 1998, five Blues Music Awards in 1997 (including the coveted Entertainer Of The Year award), scored a total of 15 Living Blues Awards in the same period, and was featured on the covers of the three major national blues publications: ‘Living Blues’, ‘Blues Access’, and ‘Blues Revue’.  He appeared on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and The House Of Blues Radio Hour.  Even People Magazine ran a rave review of his new CD.  He was performing in theaters and concert halls rather than small clubs. And no matter where he played, he left audiences open-mouthed in amazement.  In just three short years, Luther had gone from the latest rediscovery to, as Blues Revue magazine declared, "The New King Of The Blues."

See that look on Luther Allison's face on the cover of this CD? Well, that's exactly how it sounds, too, all throughout. The man gives it his all, and we're lucky he made this scorcher shortly before his untimely death.  An intensity in blues singing and playing that is rivaled by few! If you're unfamiliar with Allison, the best way I can describe him musically is a combination of Buddy Guy and B.B. King, both in his singing and guitar playing. But of course, he's his own man, and definitely has his own sound and style.

Throughout it all, Allison delivers one show-stopping performance after another.  His boundless energy and fierce guitar attack combined to make him a blues superstar who reached rock fans like no bluesmen since Freddie King and Albert Collins. When the news broke that Allison had been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in July 1997, the blues world was shocked.  When he died just four weeks later, they were devastated.  Without a doubt, Luther Allison's death robbed music fans of one of the most exciting and popular blues performers ever.  With 'Live In Chicago', Allison lives on, as he tears through the songs with the single-minded desire to give everything he has to his audience.

This is blistering Blues.

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