John Brim was a Chicago bluesman who didn't discover fame until late in his career. His most famous song 'Ice Cream Man' was covered by Van Halen on their first album in 1978, leading him to more fame.
He recorded for several labels, including Chess. He died in 2003.
Here's a classic Chicago style blues by Brim for your enjoyment:
Chuck Berry, the legendary blues and rock guitarist, has announced on his official website in celebration of his 90th birthday, that he would be releasing his first album in almost four decades.
From the description:
"Comprised primarily of new, original songs written, recorded and produced by the founding rock and roll legend, ‘CHUCK’ is Berry’s first new album in thirty-eight years. It was recorded in various studios around St. Louis and features Berry’s longtime hometown backing group – including his children Charles Berry Jr. (guitar) and Ingrid Berry (harmonica), plus Jimmy Marsala (Berry’s bassist of forty years), Robert Lohr (piano), and Keith Robinson (drums) – which has supported him for over two decades on over two hundred residency shows at the famed Blueberry Hill club. More details about ‘CHUCK’ and other Berry-related events will be revealed in the coming weeks."
This is very exciting news, and I look forward to hearing some new music from Chuck; if you live under a rock, Chuck Berry was one of the main pre-cursors to rock n' roll, with many of his tracks making it to the top of the charts. As a side note, did you know Muddy Waters introduced Chuck to Chess Records? The rest is history!
As a great start to the musical season, I'll be performing not once, but twice, this Thursday at Al-Sadu House.
This event is a casual get together, organized by Khaleejesque Magazine, in collaboration with Jumo Coffee.
The first set will be my own blues set with my mates Hashim Al-Nasser and Tarek Kabbani, and then with our superband The Watertowers as the closing set.
This is a rare tune from Georgia bluesman Frank Edwards, which was recorded by Music Maker Relief Foundation, who have recorded for many blues musicians to help them pay their bills and receive recognition and proper management. This comes from a compilation album called "The Last & Lost Blues Survivors". Enjoy this raw deep blues from an old-school bluesman.
Every once in a while you see a shining glimmer of hope in an inspiring individual in this world; today it's my good friend and blues brother, Buddy Ayache, otherwise known as "Buddy Blues". He has taken his music and the blues from Beirut to Orlando and has positioned himself to be a formidable force in the blues scene there. He has released an album and is playing almost everyday. He also won 2nd place at a blues battle of the bands there.
You see, my story with Buddy starts when we were neighbors, when I was in AUB (he was still 16 when we met 23), we got together and he was very curious to hear the music I was playing after blasting it in the house. After I told him about the blues and gave him a few pointers about guitar etc, he took off with a great passion that I haven't seen in a long while.
He rose the ranks of the local scene and eventually landed himself in the USA, where he enjoys a popular following and is very active. I am very proud of Buddy and I'm very happy I was able to inspire and assist someone with the music we call the blues. If only one person got the message I preach it's enough for me, and I wish Buddy more great success in the future moving forward.
Buddy will also be featuring on my debut album "Gonna Die With the Blues" so stick around for that!
Here's Buddy's official music video "Wrong Side of the Blues", followed by a short documentary about his story, featuring a few blurbs about me (shamless plug):
