Confessions of a Fanboy

It’s been a banner week for the blues here at Fanboy World Headquarters. My iPod is bursting with new blues music (more about my iPod later), and I’m just loving it.

You already know about my new Joe Bonomassa CD, courtesy of Joan. What I didn’t tell you is that she also hooked me up with a “Harmonica” Frank Floyd CD in that same package. I once again heap thank you’s and hosannas upon Joan.

Next, I ordered three CDs and two of them have arrived (the other has shipped and will be here next week). I ordered a 3-CD Sun Records blues anthology. This set includes some Frank Floyd, James Cotton, Little Milton, Walter Horton, Joe Louis Hill, Rufus Thomas, and many more. It also includes a song by Pat Hare – played with Cotton and Muddy Waters – called “I’m Going to Murder My Baby.” Turns out he did just that some nine years later. Hare spent the last 16 years of his life in a Minnesota prison after murdering his girlfriend and the investigating police officer. Chilling.

I also bought a James Cotton solo album called High Compression. I’m listening to it now and I really like it. Cotton’s not the world’s greatest singer, but his harp work is fabulous. That’s the reason to own this record and it is well worth the price. I haven’t proclaimed a favorite harp player of all time, but Cotton has to be among them. He’s amazing.

The CD that’s on the way is a Blues Master CD that features music from Little Walter and Otis Rush. I’m not sure of the origins of these sides. I don’t know for which label they were recorded or their relative timeline. I just know there were some songs I didn’t recognize – meaning I don’t already have them – and that will not do. I’m on a quest to own as much Otis Rush as possible. It won’t hurt my feelings to have more Little Walter because he, too, would join Cotton as one of my favorite harpists.

The surprise of the week came in the mail yesterday. One of my wonderful blues contacts has sent me Bobby Rush’s new CD, Raw. I’ll admit I know Bobby Rush more by name than by music. That won’t be the case much longer. I’m eager to hear this new album and you will be hearing more about it in the coming days.

How great is this? I’m submerged in the blues and I couldn’t be happier! Now all I need is the uninterrupted time to listen to it and absorb it all.

Filed under: Bloggin' the Blues, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush