One of the most underrated of the modern-era Chicago bluesmen, Eddie C. Campbell is a soulful vocalist, solid lyricist, and a skilled guitarist. The last of the true so-called "West Side" blues guitarists, unlike many of his contemporary colleagues, Campbell was there in the late-1950s and '60s, sharing a stage with fellow guitarslingers like Magic Sam and Luther Allison.
Spending much of the 1980s and early-90s in Europe, Campbell isn't as well known as most of the other bluesmen of his vintage. He can boast of impressive credentials, though, having earned his blues degree playing behind greats like Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, and Little Walter, and during the mid-1970s he was a member of Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues All-Stars band. Campbell has recorded sporadically through the years and Tear This World Up is the guitarist's first album in a decade. It's clear from the album's first note, however, that Campbell hasn't lost a step during the ensuing years.
Eddie C. Campbell's Tear This World Up
Campbell hits a mean funky groove from jump street, "Makin' Popcorn" sporting a menacing boogie-blues rhythm similar to John Lee Hooker's sound, Campbell's black cat moan vocals accompanied by Mojo Mark Cihlar's high lonesome harp. It's a mid-tempo song, characterized by a slow-burning fuse, but when Campbell cranks up the axe it's like he's poked a hornet's nest with the guitar headstock, stinging notes flying around your head like shrapnel.
Campbell throws a bit of swamp-blues into the gumbo with "Voodoo," a hard-luck tale with wiry guitarwork, madly syncopated rhythms, and mournful vocals that are, at times, echoed to create the claustrophobic feel of encroaching cypress vines and bad mojo hidden deep in the Louisiana backwoods. The original "Vibrations In The Air" is a slice of pure-D Chicago blues, the song opening with Cihlar's flying harmonica notes before Campbell comes in with his smoky vocals set to a swinging beat. The tempo here isn't slow, and it ain't fast, if you know what I mean, just a wall-to-wall nightclub jam with a purpose.
Remembering Magic Sam
Evoking memories of his best friend, "Magic" Sam Maghett, Campbell's inspired cover of Sam's "Easy Baby" stands as a showcase for his six-string skills; barbed-wire taut and ringing clear as a bell, Campbell's frequent between-verse solos are masterpieces of elegant brevity and powerful subtlety. Campbell tears into Magic Sam's classic "Love Me With A Feeling" like a tiger into raw meat, his vaguely rockabilly-tinged fretwork driving 90mph, Campbell's soulful vocals trying to keep pace above the band's frantic rhythms.
The energetic "Care" stirs a little bit o' soul and blaring R&B hornplay into the mix, Campbell's vocals and lovelorn lyrics evincing a blues feeling, while his scorching leads and the big band sound play out on a larger stage. An up-tempo rhythm and rolling harp blasts, combined with a little old-fashioned piano pounding and muscular leads turn "I'm Just Your Fool" into a cross between 1950s-styled Windy City blues and '60s-era soul. Campbell travels back to the Delta with the acoustic, autobiographical "Bluesman," a nifty lil' slice of country-blues that name checks Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Percy Mayfield, among many others.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
In the album-closing "Bluesman," Eddie C. Campbell characterizes himself as a "pied piper" leading people to the blues, and warns that you should stop listening or "you'll be addicted." Of course, he doesn't provide these words of warning until the very end of the album, after you've already listened to 13 songs and nearly an hour of the artist's tasty Chicago blues sound. Thanks a lot, pal!
Campbell's right about one thing, though - his spirited fretwork and time-tested style of Chicago blues is quite addictive, and a few minutes after the end of the album, you'll be hitting the 'play' button to start listening to Tear This World Up all over again. It's just that damn good.... (Delmark Records, released May 19, 2009)
