The history of the blues is one of stars and sidemen: the artist on the microphone, charming the audience, and the players standing, sometimes literally, in the shadows. To be honest, blues legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf were larger than life figures with great charisma. But blues music is often a collaborative effort, and the talents of an artist's band are crucial in shaping the star's sound. While many sidemen often go on to moderately successful careers in a spotlight of their own, their work behind the legends is often overlooked. Here then, are the six most underrated sidemen in the modern blues era.
Big Walter Horton
Photo courtesy Alligator Records
A pioneering harmonica player and one of the prime architects of what we today consider to be the classic Chicago blues sound, Big Walter "Shakey" Horton's achievements are often overshadowed by the more flamboyant work of contemporaries like Little Walter and James Cotton. A shy, unassuming musician, Horton was more comfortable performing behind other bluesmen than in forming his own bands. Because of his sparse catalog of recordings, Horton's contributions to the blues are unfairly ignored, yet his signature three-note turnaround can be found in the grooves of dozens of sides released throughout the 1950s.
Hubert Sumlin
Photo by Annie Leibovitz, courtesy Hubert Sumlin
An unassuming musical genius and one of the most important and influential of the modern era Chicago blues guitarists, Hubert Sumlin earned his stellar instrumental reputation backing the larger-than-life blues legend Howlin' Wolf for better than two decades. Although he has pursued a successful, albeit understated solo career for almost three decades, Sumlin's enormous influence can be heard in the playing of blues and blues-rock guitarists like Eric Clapton, Otis Rush, Jimi Hendrix, and Michael Bloomfield, among many others.
Jimmy Rogers
Photo courtesy Geffen Records
One of the greatest of blues guitarists, and sadly one of the most underrated, Jimmy Rogers was both an accomplished solo artist and, as a member of Muddy Waters' original band, one of the architects of the Chicago blues sound. As a session player, Rogers lent his great tone and bass-heavy rhythms to recordings by fellow Chess artists Koko Taylor, Howlin' Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson, among others. Still, Rogers' contribution to the development and success of the Chicago blues style is often overshadowed by his legendary musical partners.
Otis Spann
Photo courtesy Geffen Records
Otis Spann is widely considered to be the greatest of the Chicago blues pianists. With a tempered sound that seamlessly melded boogie-woogie with a more soulful blues style, Spann's contributions as part of Muddy Waters' band are inestimable. As a solo artist, he was a solid songwriter, a dynamic performer, and an underrated singer who, lucky for us, got the chance to record a number of albums. Sadly, a lot of information about Spann's life and career is apocryphal, based mostly on interviews given by the bluesman, who often changed his stories depending on the circumstances at the time.
Pinetop Perkins
Photo by Paul Natkin/Photo Reserve, courtesy Telarc Records
Although he seldom is afforded the respect given fellow blues pianists like Otis Spann, Sunnyland Slim, or Champion Jack Dupree, Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins has quietly forged a career that has spanned ten decades and seen the Mississippi native perform behind many of the giants of the blues, from Muddy Waters and Koko Taylor to Buddy Guy, James Cotton, and Sonny Boy Williamson. An underrated vocalist with a rich, soulful voice, Perkins' mix of boogie-woogie blues with elements of jazz, barrelhouse, ragtime, and Chicago blues has influenced several generations of blues piano players.
Willie Dixon
Photo courtesy Getty Images
Willie Dixon's impact on the blues world may not have been as immediate as that of friends and contemporaries like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, but his role in shaping the future of the blues is no less vital. Arguably the first professional blues songwriter, artists like Waters, Wolf, Little Walter and Koko Taylor had hits with Dixon's songs. Dixon also made his mark as a session bassist and a producer, working with talents like Bo Diddley and Otis Rush.
