Magic Sam - West Side Soul
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Free Music Notes for West Side Soul
Free Music Review: West Side Soul
Hit: 5 Stars
This is without doubt one of the finest Chicago
blues albums of all time by the late great Magic Sam.
A must in any blues lover's collection
Free Music Review: Dated
Hit: 3 Stars
Came off more dated than I was hoping, but you have to admit this man can play a guitiar.Free Music Review: A monster of a record.
Hit: 5 Stars
Let's keep it simple: This is one hell of a blues album. Released in 1967, West Side Soul hearkens back to the glory days of the Chicago blues scene, when artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf were changing the world on a regualar basis. Just like the greatest songs of those visionaries, the music found here is pure bone-chilling electric ferocity, a violent incantation that'll shoot straight to yer soul. Sam is every bit as Magic as he's made out to be. For one thing, he's an incredible lead guitarist- his playing is nimble and emotional, constantly darting over, under, and around the songs, shooting strings of melody with freewheeling abandon, offsetting grooving rhythms with fleet-fingered leaps into the stratosphere. The ferocity and emotional intensity of this playing is nothing short of sorcery. Sam's also an astounding vocalist- his cavernous, ringing bellow is bewitching in its intensity. He's capable of hitting sky-scraping highs stomach-churning lows with equal power, and with every bit as much bewitcihng emotional intensity as his guitar playing. Combine that with a rhythmically gifted backing band and you've got a one-of-a-kind musical force.
The songs show this formula taken to its ideal extreme: "That's All I Need" is a shambling stunner with an undeniably soulful lead vocal and a gritty guitar line. "Lookin' Good" is a dense, churning instrumental with an irrisistably greasy juke joint feel. The cover of Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago" is a guitar-slaying burst of energy, and the slow-burning "Every Night And Every Day" features some truly stinging leads from Sam. "I Need You So Bad" is a fiery, explosive vocal showcase, and "I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie)" is a grooving, hypnotic monster with some shimmying guitars and a chugging bass line. "All of Your Love" is a simmering concoction of shouted vocals and brutal guitars, and "I Don't No Woman" is the epitome of angry, uncompromising blues.
So, here's the deal: West Side Soul is one of the best blues albums ever made, and a key addition to any blues collection. Get it now.
Free Music Review: Sam's Best - One Top 10 Blues Albums Ever
Hit: 5 Stars
This is one of Magic Sam's best albums and it could easily be one of the best blues albums of all time. This album should be in everyone's top 10 blues list. Like all great classic blues, this CD has aged very well and sound great today as it did 30 plus years ago. Sam vocal abilities are under-rated, his guitar playing is fantastic, and and his an excellent backing band. This is one of those albums that has grown on me the more I play it. There are two albums that I put on when we have company that always get people asking 'who is this?' It is this album and Lowell Fulson. They don't make music like this any more. It's a shame his career has cut so short. Buy this CD - you will not be disappointed.Free Music Review: They don't get much better than this........
Hit: 5 Stars
In the history of the blues, there are many great names whose lives were cut far too short (Robert Johnson dying from strychnine comes to mind), and Magic Sam is another great bluesman whose life ended far too soon, dying at the age of 32 from a heart attack. But simply because they lived a short time on this earth in no way means their music will fall by the wayside; if anything, they are legendary in part because of this.
"I Don't Want No Woman" is easily comparable to any of the great hits put out by the Beatles, The Rolling Stones....and the many other famous groups of the time. For some reason or other, the Blues get little to no recognition from the public at large, and this has always been a mystery to me since I discovered the Blues myself only a few short years ago. For fans of the Blues, I guess this is a good thing, since we have a treasure which few people know of......and Magic Sam's "West Side Soul" truly is a treasure.
His version of "Sweet Home Chicago" is probably the best version of the famous Robert Johnson song, only to be outdone by Johnson's original.
"Lookin' Good" is an amazing instrumental piece, and if you are like me, you will wear the replay button out on this song. And there are song's on this in which I wonder how his vocal chords hold up to the stress; namely "I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie)" among them. He would have been a truly entertaining figure to see perform live. "My love Will Never Die" is one of the more haunting pieces, one which shows his fantastic voice on display.
When I first heard this album, I was not overly impressed with it, as it did not seem to define the blues for me. However, the more I listened to it, the more it became an integral part of my Blues collection, one that I will indeed forever treasure. This album taught me that the Blues are not monolithic in any sense of the word; rather, they are composed of many different pieces and sub-genres. West Side Soul is probably the best example of Chicago Blues west side sound.
A must have for any lover of the Blues.
Long live Magic Sam!