R.I.P. Chief
by Jim Crawford
NOTE: This is a reprint of an interview I did with "The Chief" on his 79th birthday.
Chicago blues master Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater will turn 79 on Friday, and he'll celebrate the occasion in the best way he knows: playing music. Better still, his performance at Evanston SPACE will be recorded for a live album documenting one of the last of the great Mississippi bluesmen still playing hard in and around the city he embraced as his home more than 60 years ago. Lest anyone think the singer-guitarist is taking the matter lightly, it's worth noting that Clearwater guitarist spent long hours in rehearsal last weekend, honing new songs and sprucing up old ones in preparation for the big event. "We're working nonstop on it," Clearwater told the Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich, after Saturday's marathon run-through. "A bunch of my fans have been asking me, 'Do you have a live album out? And my wife mentioned it ... she's asking me about a live album. "I said, 'Wait a minute, I'm going to be at SPACE, and they're already set up as a studio, why don't I just do it as a recording on my birthday?'" It is a treat to hear the surviving members of Chicago's Blues heyday recall stories about the legends who put the Blues on the map and made the music a permanent part of our modern lexicon. Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater is one of those survivors who continue to crank out intense, scorching Blues or he can reach down into his soul and lay it all out for the world to see. And, he does it with a sense of humor. "Left-hander Eddy Clearwater is a forceful six-stringer...He lays down some gritty West Side shuffles and belly-grinding slow blues that highlight his raw chops, soulful vocals, and earthy, humorous lyrics," said DownBeat magazine. "I was born in 1935, so I'll let you do the math," Eddy said recently (with a laugh). "Matter of fact, I just played a sold out show last night for my (7th) birthday at Space (an Evanston, Ill. venue). I've been around for a long time because I try to take care of myself. I drink very little. I might have a beer after a show once in a while. I don't smoke and have never done drugs. It's all about clean living and positive thinking. The key for me is positive thinking." Like scores of Chicago Bluesmen, Eddy's roots lie in the Mississippi Delta. Born Edward Harrington in Macon, Miss. in 1935, he was 13 when he moved with his family to Birmingham, Ala. That's where his musical career started to take shape. "I started playing guitar when I was 13," he recalls. "I played gospel music in the church. I moved to Chicago when I was 15 and stayed with my favorite uncle, my father's brother, who encouraged me to keep playing my music. Most of the early players migrated from the South to Chicago. There was a special feeling about the Blues here and nobody in my family ever tried to discourage me from playing. Everybody came here hoping for a better life." Being a southpaw, Eddy had to teach himself to play by turning a standard right-handed guitar over and starting from scratch, a style he still employs to this day. "I just turned it over and taught myself how to play it," he says." I know it looks kind of funny to the right handers but it works for me. Always has." Much of Chicago Blues is defined by the section of town a particular group of musicians might live. There's West Side Blues, South Side Blues, like that. "The West Side Blues I play has a raw, gutty sound to it," Eddy says. "Hound Dog Taylor was from the West Side. It would just be him, another guitar player and a drummer. He didn't have a bass player and it was just a real raw sound. Good stuff, too. Earl Hooker came from the West Side, too. He was a great slide player." The curious might ask where in the world would a Bluesman from Chicago come up with "The Chief" for a moniker. "When I was about 18 my stage name was Guitar Eddy," he recalls. "I recorded my first single in 1958 called, "Hill Billy Blues." It was on my uncle's Atomic H label under the name Clear Waters. Jump Jackson, my manager, called me that as a takeoff on Muddy Waters. It kind of evolved into Eddy Clearwater and stuck" Eddy started to pick up steam on the local Blues circuit in and around Chicago playing non-stop during the 1950, '60s and on into the '70s before recording his first album on the Rooster Blues label in 1980. "Jim O'Neal, the owner of the Rooster Blues label asked me what picture I wanted on the cover of the album," Eddy says. "I told him I wanted a color picture of me on a horse with a full Indian headdress and we'd call the album "The Chief." That's what we did and that's where I got the name." The Chief continued to make a name for himself, appearing alongside Buddy Guy and Junior Wells in Europe, playing with Chicago luminary Lonnie Brooks, rock 'n' roll icon Chuck Berry, being nominated for and receiving seven Blues Music Awards, the list goes on for miles. Having started from scratch playing Blues guitar, Eddy says he admired the legends in Chicago and wanted to create his own sound with a distinctive style. "I always admired Otis Rush," he says. "I was a big fan of Magic Slim. I always liked Chuck Berry and his rock 'n' roll. I even got to play with him once when I was younger. And, of course, there's Muddy Waters." Later he started toying with the idea of incorporating some rockabilly into his blues. "I kind of like to mix it up a little," Eddy explains. "Things just started to feel a little different in my head and I wanted to express it. I can usually visualize things before I ever play them. On my third album with Rounder (Records) the guy asked me what I wanted to do and I kind of whispered over the phone 'I want to do some rockabilly.' He said 'That sounds great,' and we went from there." The rockabilly idea led to the most unlikely of collaborations for Eddie. He teamed up with a surf-rocking, Mexican wrestling-masked group called Los Straitjackets. Together they produced "Rock 'n' Roll City,' which earned Eddie a Grammy nomination and added scores of Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater fans. "Eddie Angel from Los Straitackets brought a couple of his songs with him to Nashville and we recorded the album and even did a European tour together," Eddie says. "It was great. Those people in Europe really appreciate the Blues and treat you like royalty over there. It's amazing. They have a real feel for the music and the craft of being a musician. I really liked playing in Italy. The audiences there really get into it. "Being nominated for a Grammy for the Los Straitjackets album was one of the highlights of my career," Eddy says. "The nomination took me by surprise, especially for that album since I had a lot more real Blues stuff. Buddy Guy won that year but that's O.K. I was in good company." Eddy demonstrates his positive thinking when talking about the future of the Blues. "I really think it's going to escalate," he says. "It's coming back strong. There's a lot more upscale places featuring Blues and it's reaching different audiences more and more. That's not really my prediction at all; I just think it's the truth. "They had a big celebration honoring Buddy Guy recently at Millennium Park here in Chicago," Eddy says. "The mayor was there with all kinds of dignitaries. There were thousands of people there. I performed along with Buddy and Lonnie Brooks. It was really something to be included in that and see people's response to Buddy and the whole Blues community. "Another thing that is helping keep the Blues alive are the festivals and the Blues Societies," Eddy says. "The societies work hard to bring the music to everybody. They have nice festivals all over the country that allows everyone to attend that wants to. They're perfect for first-timers to get introduced to the music." Eddy's last album "West Side Strut," on the Alligator label, features Eddy once again coining another term to define his music. He calls it Rock a Blues. "I pitched it to Bruce (Iglauer, CEO of Alligator) and he wasn't too sure what to do with it," Eddy laughs. "especially the song "Rock-A-Blues Baby. He said he liked it but just wasn't sure what to with it. So far people have liked it." The album has been called the best album of his life and features his signature all-over-the-place guitar work, his rough and tough vocals and the old-school West Side sound. He's taken that West Side sound all over the world and he plans to turn 2013 into another banner year. Iglauer says Eddy's addition to the Alligator line-up is a perfect fit. '"It's a great honor to have an artist with Eddy's legacy and talent join the Alligator family," Iglauer says. "This (West Side Strut) is a special album; the combination of Eddy's soulful West Side guitar playing and Ronnie Baker Brooks' contemporary production and his tough, young band makes for some real fireworks. Plus, Ronnie's guitar playing really inspired Eddy to do some of his very best guitar work on record ever." It's back to work soon for Eddy and his band. He considers himself lucky to have Ronnie Baker Brooks, son of the legendary Lonnie Brooks, in his corner handling the production of a new CD. "We'll start rehearsing again in about two weeks," Eddy says. "It'll be me and my regular band and Ronnie Brooks producing. He'll also add some guitar in a few places. This is a real good group and everyone gets along real well together. I anticipate a smooth ride." It's hard to imagine a smooth ride with that West Side sound but if it can be done, Eddy's the man to do it. | 
