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Samuel Gene Maghett, known as Magic Sam, was born 80 years ago today. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting combined to make him one of the greats.
What follows is a combined Otis Rush/Magic Sam playlist,** two people who had instruments and intensity in common. There are 3 videos of Magic Sam near the beginning (numbers 3 through 5), then a collection of them beginning at number 360. Number 3 is the one “everyone knows,” playing Earl Hooker’s guitar at the 1969 American Folk Blues Festival, because his was lost in transit between London and Berlin.
Magic Sam was only 32 when he died of a heart attack on December 1, 1969, but he’d already produced enough music to be remembered as one of the giants. Both of the Delmark albums released while he was alive are classics. West Side Soul from 1967 is often called a desert island disk, and Black Magic, which Sam himself thought was a better record that represented his sound even better (released at the end of 1968). The records that have been issued since have only enhanced his reputation.
**I should have made 2 playlists from the git-go. I’ve made several other multiple artist lists like this. Someday I’ll break them all into individual artist playlists.
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NOTE: I’m sorry, I’ve been sick (with a sore throat and slow-moving cold, nothing serious, just annoying) and work has been really busy, this is my first sustained break today. Due to this, I’m afraid I’m not going to have a Blues Roots post together by Thursday (this made me realize that Brian has been putting his lessons together for something like six or seven years and I don’t think he’s missed a lesson). Next week’s will be twice as nice. I do plan to collect a few things for Thursday, but by this time on Tuesday, I should have something together. Thank you for your understanding!
Don D.
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Thanks for the good words, guys! Slept in today, and I plan to continue that for another couple days.
This biography is even better than the one in Wikipedia because it talks more about his early musical experience. The Mississippi Blues Trail website covers a lot of musicians born or living in Mississippi and shows the locations of relevant landmarks and museums. Good resource!
Don D.
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Thanks for your comment, Steve!
I don’t think it is. The music sounds more recent than 1969, for one. And while Sam’s playing was versatile, it doesn’t sound like him to me.
Here it is for anyone else to hear.
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=ZMn7Ps1aUpYDon D.
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Hi Mark, those are great! My favorites shift around but I’ve gone several days many a time just listening to Magic Sam.
The riff in “Easy Baby” is really cool.
The first song you posted, “It’s All Your Fault,” and his “All of Your Love” share a very nice riff, which I’ve attempted to learn. It’s not a hard riff, it’s great for comping, just becomes a hypnotic pattern, and it seems like the same riff can be used to mark two different positions a fourth apart (but I haven’t tried it in the same song, marking both the V and I).
There are some home recordings in that playlist, they sound like he was demoing song at home, just him and a guitar, a string of about 7 or 8, there are children’s voices in the background on a couple, never saw them in commercial release. If anyone is interested, I can put a direct link to them.
Don D.
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