Sugar Blue - Blue Blazes

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Harmonica player and vocalist Sugar Blue isn't a singer who doubles on harp; he's an extraordinary instrumentalist who's also a quality vocalist. Blue covers tunes by Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, James Cotton and Sonny Boy Williamson (II) classics, presents a decent, if disposable version of The Rolling Stones' "Miss You," and adds the good-natured original "Country Blues," co-written with his guitarist Motaoaki Makino. But it's those harmonica lines and phrases that make the CD. One of Alligator's best contemporary albums in a long time. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide Biography One of the foremost electric blues harpists of the modern era, Sugar Blue was born James Whiting in New York City in 1950. The son of a singer/dancer who regularly performed at the legendary Apollo Theater, he was given his first harmonica at the age of ten, and by his mid-teens had already performed in the company of Muddy Waters; in the early 1970s he made his first recordings, sitting in on sessions by the likes of Johnny Shines and Louisiana Red. Sugar Blue relocated to Paris in 1976, where he was introduced to the Rolling Stones; he went on to play on the group's LPs Some Girls, Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You, lending his skills to such hits as "Miss You." He also played on jazz dates for Stan Getz and Paul Horn, and in 1979 cut the solo effort Crossroads. Upon returning to the U.S. in the mid-1980s, Sugar Blue settled in Chicago; after signing to Alligator, he cut Blue Blazes in 1994, followed a year later by In Your Eyes. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

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Track Title

01 I Ain't Got You (02:37)
02 Help Me (05:36)
03 Miss You (06:10)
04 I Just Got to Know (06:05)
05 One More Mile to Go (04:00)
06 That's All Right (06:08)
07 Country Blues (05:21)
08 Back Door Man (07:01)
09 Just to Be With You (06:30)
10 Out Till Dawn (09:21)


Personnel:
Sugar Blue (Harmonica, Vocals)
Kenny Anderson (Trumpet)
Henri Ford (Sax (Tenor)
Bill McFarland (Trombone)
Lurrie Bell (Guitar (Acoustic)
Rico McFarland, Motaoaki Mokino (Guitar)
Roosevelt Purifoy (Keyboards)
Charles Hosch (Bass)
James Knowles (Drums)