Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater
7-29-2017
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater is a Chicago legend; an intense, flamboyant blues-rocking showman who is equally comfortable playing the deepest, most heartfelt blues or rocking, good-time party music. DownBeat said, "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."
Between his slashing left-handed guitar work, room-filling vocals, self-defined "rock-a-blues" style (a forceful mix of blues, rock, rockabilly, country and gospel), boundless energy and his signature Indian headdress, Clearwater is among the very finest practitioners of the West Side blues working today. The blues world gave him the Blues Music Award for Contemporary Blues and Male Artist of the Year in 2001. And 2003's "Rock 'N' Roll City" was nominated for a Grammy Award. Now he's back with his very first Alligator CD, "West Side Strut," produced by hotshot guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks (son of the legendary bluesman Lonnie Brooks).
Born Edward Harrington in Macon, Mississippi, Eddy and family moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1948. With music from blues to gospel to country & western surrounding him from an early age, Eddy taught himself to play guitar (left-handed and upside down), and began performing with various gospel groups, including the legendary Five Blind Boys of Alabama. After moving to Chicago in 1950, Eddy's first music jobs were with gospel groups playing in local churches. Quickly he met many of Chicago's blues stars and fell deeper under the spell of the blues. And under the wing of blues star Magic Sam, who would become one of Eddy's closest friends and teachers. By 1953, as Guitar Eddy, he was making a strong name for himself, working the South and West Side bars regularly. He met and befriended everyone from Sunnyland Slim to Earl Hooker, picking up licks and lessons along the way. After hearing Chuck Berry in 1957, Eddy added that rock and roll element to his already searing blues style, creating a unique sound that defines him to this day.
"The Chief" has played everywhere from Russia, Turkey and Romania to Brazil and Alaska. He's still strutting his slicing guitar licks, blasting his rock-fueled blues, rockabilly, country and gospel gumbo in his uninhibited live shows to fans who are ready for a taste of the real West Side Chicago blues - played by a master at the very peak of his abilities.
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater is a Chicago legend; an intense, flamboyant blues-rocking showman who is equally comfortable playing the deepest, most heartfelt blues or rocking, good-time party music. DownBeat said, "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."
Between his slashing left-handed guitar work, room-filling vocals, self-defined "rock-a-blues" style (a forceful mix of blues, rock, rockabilly, country and gospel), boundless energy and his signature Indian headdress, Clearwater is among the very finest practitioners of the West Side blues working today. The blues world gave him the Blues Music Award for Contemporary Blues and Male Artist of the Year in 2001. And 2003's "Rock 'N' Roll City" was nominated for a Grammy Award. Now he's back with his very first Alligator CD, "West Side Strut," produced by hotshot guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks (son of the legendary bluesman Lonnie Brooks).
Born Edward Harrington in Macon, Mississippi, Eddy and family moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1948. With music from blues to gospel to country & western surrounding him from an early age, Eddy taught himself to play guitar (left-handed and upside down), and began performing with various gospel groups, including the legendary Five Blind Boys of Alabama. After moving to Chicago in 1950, Eddy's first music jobs were with gospel groups playing in local churches. Quickly he met many of Chicago's blues stars and fell deeper under the spell of the blues. And under the wing of blues star Magic Sam, who would become one of Eddy's closest friends and teachers. By 1953, as Guitar Eddy, he was making a strong name for himself, working the South and West Side bars regularly. He met and befriended everyone from Sunnyland Slim to Earl Hooker, picking up licks and lessons along the way. After hearing Chuck Berry in 1957, Eddy added that rock and roll element to his already searing blues style, creating a unique sound that defines him to this day.
"The Chief" has played everywhere from Russia, Turkey and Romania to Brazil and Alaska. He's still strutting his slicing guitar licks, blasting his rock-fueled blues, rockabilly, country and gospel gumbo in his uninhibited live shows to fans who are ready for a taste of the real West Side Chicago blues - played by a master at the very peak of his abilities.