Music of the Moment: J.B. Hutto & The Hawks
I finished Pearl Jam Gorge #3. I’ve listened to Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited to celebrate its 42nd anniversary. Where to next, oh iPod of mine?
Hutto time!
You’ve never heard of J.B. Hutto? My friends, you have been deprived and I’ll not let one more day of your life go by with you in this pitiful condition. He wasn’t an innovator nor was he a songwriter of note. He, like countless others before and after him, played a style of electric slide guitar based on the work of Elmore James. Instead of trying to stretch the limits of the blues or expand the sound, Hutto found a sound and stuck with it.
Oh, but that sound… It is one of the loudest, hardest, rawest sounds imaginable. Hutto’s slash-and-burn slide spews sonic profanity before the man himself has sung a word. A visceral sound like that demands a voice of equal ferocity, and Hutto delivers. He has a voice like a razorblade trumpet cutting across the strings of that huge guitar sound. I defy you to understand more than three words in any song he sings other than “alcohol.”
Hutto was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame two years after his death in 1983. My favorite sampling of his work can be found on the essential compilation Chicago! The Blues! Today!, which can be heard at iTunes.
Filed under: Tags: Music of the Moment
Not to sound harsh, since you get kudos for writing about the man, but saying J.B. Hutto was not an innovator exposes you as an amateur listener and reviewer. Nobody rocked the slide, either on wax or at live shows like J.B. I saw many of his shows. His exuberance was unlike any other performer before or since. His sound was unmistakeable. Like Hendrix, he started with something that was done and took it somewhere that was never done. He was a true innovator of slide guitar, a master of the open tuning and had an unmistakeably original soloing style. Yes, everyone, by all means buy some J.B. and find out what true blues mastery is all about.
check this link to see the man in action. Not to mention his vocals are incredible, and comparable or better than Buddy Guy at his prime.
http://malenablues.multiply.com/video/item/8
Chris, I respect your opinion and am glad someone else out there loves JB and wants to talk about him and his music. I never had the privilege of seeing him live, having still been quite young when he passed.
I stand by my opinion that Hutto isn’t an innovator. He’s a great slide player and he had a distinct sound, but I don’t think he took electric slide playing places it hadn’t been before. He modeled himself after the great Elmore James like so many other electric slide players. His intensity and exuberance distinguishes him from those fellow followers, but it doesn’t equate to innovation and that’s okay. Innovation isn’t an essential element of greatness. He found something that worked for him and he ran with it. He’s a great listen and an underappreciated bluesman.
Anyway, it’s great to hear from a fellow Hutto fan. Which are your favorite sides?