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Eddie C. Campbell
Happily,
Eddie C. Campbell returned to Chicago after spending a decade
entrenched in Europe. His shimmering West Side-styled guitar playing
and unusually introspective songwriting have been a breath of fresh air
on the Windy City circuit, reuniting the veteran bluesman with fans he
left behind in 1984.
Campbell left rural Mississippi for the bright lights of Chicago at age
ten, sneaking a peek at Muddy Waters at the 1125 Club soon after he
arrived and jamming with his idol when he was only 12. He fell in with
some West Side young bloods -- Luther Allison, Magic Sam -- and honed a
guitar attack rooted deep in the ringing style. Campbell paid his
sideman dues on the bandstand with everyone from Howlin' Wolf and
Little Walter to Little Johnny Taylor and Jimmy Reed. Koko Taylor
recommended Campbell to Willie Dixon, who hired him as a Chicago Blues
All-Star in 1976.
Campbell cut his own debut album, the rousing King of the Jungle, in
1977 for the Steve Wisner's short-lived Mr. Blues logo (now available
on Rooster Blues, it includes the guitarist's lighthearted Yuletide
perennial "Santa's Been Messin' With the Kid"). But he split the
country for calmer European climates, recording a nice 1984 album with
a Dutch group, Let's Pick It!, that first came out on Black Magic and
now adorns the Evidence catalog.
When Eddie C. Campbell finally returned stateside for the birth of his
son, he made up for lost time by gigging steadily around Chicago and
making a comeback album for Blind Pig, That's When I Know, that
contained some very distinctive originals. Gonna Be Alright followed in
1999.
-Written
by Bill Dahl
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