The Aces are best known as a backing band, but they took the lead when it came to the future of the blues.
Tag: Bo Diddley
Posted inMusic
Thirty-five moments that brought Chicago music to the world
The Year of Chicago Music has had less music in it than anybody anticipated, but we still have plenty to celebrate.
Posted inMusic
Billy Boy Arnold helped the blues give birth to rock ’n’ roll
Billy Boy Arnold might be best known as Bo Diddley’s 1950s harmonica player, but he’s 25 years into a comeback of his own.
Posted inMusic
Muddy Waters drummer Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith never escaped the sideman shadow
Even when Willie “Big Eyes” Smith won a Grammy at the end of his life, he shared it with pianist Pinetop Perkins.
Posted inMusic
Blues drummer Sam Lay has made five careers’ worth of music
Sharp-dressed drummer Sam Lay has played with Dylan and Howlin’ Wolf, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Posted inMusic
Otis ‘Big Smokey’ Smothers recorded with Howlin’ Wolf even before his own first session
Guitarist Big Smokey Smothers wrote for Muddy Waters and partnered with Freddie King, but his traditional style of Chicago electric blues didn’t help him make his own name.
Posted inMusic
Add blues pianist Barrelhouse Chuck to the list of greats lost in 2016
Barrelhouse Chuck built upon piano traditions established by the likes of Sunnyland Slim, Pinetop Perkins, and Little Brother Montgomery.
Posted inBlogs
CIMMFest opening night: The Smart Studios Story revisits the Madison recording studio that helped birth indie rock
The Smart Studios Story, opening the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, revisits the Madison recording studio that nurtured the indie rock of the 90s.
Posted inMusic
Arvo Zylo of Blood Rhythms on songs the Cramps taught us
Current musical obsessions of Arvo Zylo of Blood Rhythms, WZRD DJ Sarah Moskowitz, and the Reader’s Leor Galil
Posted inMusic
The Secret History of Chicago Music: Captain Walter Dyett
DuSable High School band director Captain Walter Dyett taught generations of future stars.
Posted inMusic
The Secret History of Chicago Music: Jody Williams
Lead guitar on Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?”, Jody Williams is gigging again after 35 years.
Posted inBlogs
Music-driven movies a cure for festival angst
Three movies about music lift spirits at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival.