''Magic Touch'' is a live album by
Chicago blues
Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cen ...
guitarist and vocalist
Magic Sam
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
, with harmonica player
Shakey Jake
Shakey Jake (sometimes “Shakin’ Jake”; August 24, 1925 – September 16, 2007), born Jake Woods in Little Rock, Arkansas, was a street musician and storyteller well known to students and residents of Ann Arbor, Michigan, from the time of hi ...
. The set list only included one Magic Sam original, "All Your Love", his signature tune first recorded for
Cobra Records
Cobra Records (together with its Artistic subsidiary) was an independent record label that operated from 1956–1959. The label launched the careers of Chicago blues artists Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy and "signaled the arrival of a new g ...
in 1957. Four feature Shakey Jake on vocal and/or harmonica, including his composition "Sawed Off Shotgun". Several of the songs are contemporary 1965–1966
R&B blues-style songs popularized by
,
Little Joe Blue
Little Joe Blue (September 23, 1934 – April 22, 1990) was an American electric blues singer and guitarist. His musical style was often compared to B. B. King.
His most notable track was "Dirty Work Going On", which was written by Ferdinand "Fa ...
, Jimmy Robins, and
Jimmy McCracklin
James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career tha ...
performed in Magic Sam's distinctive style.
The low-fidelity recording was made by George Adins, a Belgian blues and amateur field recording enthusiast.
[
] The Dutch Black Magic label released the original album in 1983 and indicated that the performance was recorded in 1968 at Silvio's, a club in Chicago.
The 1993
Black Top Records
Black Top Records was an American, New Orleans, Louisiana-based independent record label, founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand ...
CD reissue notes that it was recorded in December 1966.
[
]
Critical reception
In a review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
, blues historian Bill Dahl commented:
Track listing
Personnel
*
Magic Sam
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
− guitar, vocals
*
Shakey Jake
Shakey Jake (sometimes “Shakin’ Jake”; August 24, 1925 – September 16, 2007), born Jake Woods in Little Rock, Arkansas, was a street musician and storyteller well known to students and residents of Ann Arbor, Michigan, from the time of hi ...
– harmonica, vocals on side 1 tracks 1, 5 and side 2 tracks 3, 4, 7
*Mack Thompson – bass
*
Odie Payne – drums
Notes
References
{{reflist
1983 live albums
Magic Sam live albums