Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge

by Little Arthur Duncan

Overview

Some of the most Chicago-sounding bluesmen didn't grow up in the Windy City but rather were people who moved there after growing up in the Deep South. Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, and Howlin' Wolf are perfect examples; all of them were born in Mississippi, but ultimately, Chicago was the place that did the most to shape their musical identity. Despite their Mississippi roots, all of them became closely identified with electric Chicago blues instead of acoustic Mississippi country blues of the Son House/Robert Johnson/Charley Patton variety -- and Little Arthur Duncan is another example of a Mississippi native who moved to the Windy City, was greatly influenced by Chess Records, and wholeheartedly embraced the electric blues of his adopted home. In fact, electric blues don't get much more Chicago-obsessed and Chess-influenced than Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge, which documents a Windy City gig of August 18, 2007. This 65-minute CD underscores the fact that after Duncan made Chicago his home, he didn't look back. The veteran singer/harmonica player isn't a major name in the blues world, but he has been around the Chi-Town blues scene since the '50s -- and spirited, gritty performances of Reed's "Pretty Thing," Wolf's "No Place to Go," and two Dixon favorites ("Young Fashioned Ways" and "Little Red Rooster") leave no doubt that Duncan lives and breathes electric Chicago blues. Vocally and technically, Duncan (who turned 73 in 2007) doesn't bring a tremendous amount of stamina to his Rosa Lounge performances, but he still has enough spirit and enthusiasm to make Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge a meaningful, worthwhile document of his live show. ~ Alex Henderson

Product Details

Release Date:	12/18/2007
Label:	DELMARK
UPC:	0038153079321

Tracks

1. Leaving Mississippi
2. Pretty Girls Everywhere
3. No Place to Go
4. Pretty Thing
5. I Got Love If You Want It
6. I Got to Go
7. Little Red Rooster
8. Young Fashioned Ways
9. Blues with a Feeling
10. 44 Blues
11. Bad Reputation
12. Back Door
13. I Got to Find My Baby
14. Blues I Got to Leave You
15. Trackmarks

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Little Arthur Duncan   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harmonica
Twist Turner   Drums
Rick Kreher   Guitar

Technical Credits

Dave Katzman   Mixing
Steve Wagner   Producer,Supervisor,Mixing,Engineer
Bob Shad   Composer
Chester Burnett   Composer
Scott Dirks   Liner Notes
Little Arthur Duncan   Composer
Roosevelt Sykes   Composer
Robert G. Koester   Producer,Supervisor
James Moore   Composer
Willie Dixon   Composer
Eric Butkus   Mixing,Engineer