Magic Touch (Magic Sam and Shakey Jake album)

Magic Touch
Live album by
Magic Sam
Released1983 (1983)
VenueSilvio's, Chicago
GenreBlues
Length50:58
LabelBlack Magic
Magic Sam chronology
Magic Sam Live
(1981) 		Magic Touch
(1983) 		The Magic Sam Legacy
(1989)

Magic Touch is a live album by the Chicago blues guitarist Magic Sam, accompanied by the harmonica player Shakey Jake. The set list only included one Magic Sam original, "All Your Love", his signature tune first recorded for Cobra Records in 1957. Four feature Shakey Jake on vocal and/or harmonica, including his composition "Sawed Off Shotgun". Several of the songs are contemporary 1965–1966 R&B blues-style songs popularized by Junior Parker, Little Joe Blue, Jimmy Robins, and Jimmy McCracklin performed in Magic Sam's distinctive style.

The low-fidelity recording was made by George Adins, a Belgian blues and amateur field recording enthusiast.[1] The Dutch Black Magic label released the original album in 1983 and indicated that the performance was recorded in 1968 at Silvio's, a club in Chicago.[1] The 1993 Black Top Records CD reissue notes that it was recorded in December 1966.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]

In a review for AllMusic, blues historian Bill Dahl commented:

Another rare glimpse at Magic Sam hard at work, this time at another fabled West side haunt ... Sam launches into another terrific set of numbers that for the most part he never recorded in the studio – songs by Freddy King, Albert Collins, James Robins, Junior Parker, and Jimmy McCracklin that briliiantly suited his soaring pipes and singular guitar style.[3]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
1."Juke"Walter Jacobs a.k.a. Little WalterHarmonica instrumental3:05
2."Hate to See You Go"Aaron Walker a.k.a. T-Bone Walker[a]Magic Sam3:45
3."Just Like a Fish"Pearl Woods[b]Magic Sam2:50
4."Dirty Work Goin' On"Ferdinand Washington[c]Magic Sam4:32
5."Rock Me"McKinley Morgenfield a.k.a. Muddy WatersShakey Jake4:38
6."I've Been Down So Long"J. B. LenoirMagic Sam2:35
7."I Just Can't Please You"Unknown[d]Magic Sam3:30
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
1."I Just Got to Know"Jimmy McCracklinMagic Sam3:35
2."Tore Down"Sonny ThompsonMagic Sam3:20
3."Scratch My Back"James Moore a.k.a. Slim HarpoShakey Jake4:10
4."Sawed Off Shotgun"Jake Harris a.k.a. Shakey JakeShakey Jake2:40
5."Back Stroke"Albert CollinsGuitar instrumental2:28
6."All Your Love"Sam Maghett a.k.a. Magic SamMagic Sam4:25
7."19 Years Old"MorgenfieldShakey Jake5:25

Personnel

  • Magic Sam − guitar, vocals
  • Shakey Jake – harmonica, vocals on side 1 tracks 1, 5 and side 2 tracks 3, 4, 7
  • Mack Thompson – bass
  • Odie Payne – drums

Notes

  1. ^ "Hate to See You Go" shares many lyrics with "Reconsider Baby" by Lowell Fulson.
  2. ^ Junior Parker recorded "Just Like a Fish" in 1966.
  3. ^ "Dirty Work Going On" was recorded in 1966 by Little Joe Blue.
  4. ^ Jimmy Robins recorded "I Just Can't Please You" in 1966, who is also listed as the songwriter.

References

  1. ^ a b Sacre, Robert (1983). Magic Touch (Album notes). Magic Sam. Netherlands: Black Magic. BM 9003.
  2. ^ Magic Touch (Album notes). Magic Sam. New Orleans, Louisiana: Black Top Records. 1993. CD ST-1085.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ a b Dahl, Bill (1996). "Magic Sam: Magic Touch". In Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Koda, Cub (eds.). All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. p. 176. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.