George ‘Wild Child’ Butler breathed new life into raw, old-fashioned blues

This stubbornly idiosyncratic harmonica player had lousy luck with recordings, but he thrived for four decades onstage.

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.

Six tracks from George “Wild Child” Butler’s 1985 compilation Open Up Baby, recorded in the late 1960s

A song from the 1969 album Keep On Doing What You’re Doing

The album Lickin’ Gravy, most of which was originally released in 1976 as Funky Butt Lover