Eddy Clearwater

by Bill Dahl
Once dismissed by purists as a Chuck Berry imitator (and an accurate one at that), tall, lean, and lanky Chicago southpaw Eddy Clearwater is now recognized as a prime progenitor of West Side-style blues guitar. Thats not to say he wont liven up a gig with a little duck-walking or a frat party rendition of Shout; after all, Clearwater brings a wide array of influences to the party. Gospel, country, 50s rock, and deep-down blues are all incorporated into his slashing guitar attack. But when he puts his mind to it, The Chief (a nickname accrued from his penchant for donning Native American headdresses on-stage) is one of the Windy Citys finest bluesmen.
Eddy Harrington split Birmingham, AL, for Chicago in 1950, initially billing himself on the citys South and West sides as Guitar Eddy. His uncle, Rev. Houston H. Harrington, handed his nephew his initial recording opportunity; the good reverend operated a small label, Atomic-H. Eddy made the most of it, laying down a shimmering minor-key instrumental, A-Minor Cha Cha, and the Berry-derived Hillbilly Blues (both on Delmarks Chicago Aint Nothin but a Blues Band anthology).
Drummer Jump Jackson invented Eddys stage moniker as a takeoff on the name of Muddy Waters. As Clear Waters, he waxed another terrific Berry knock-off, Cool Water, for Jacksons LaSalle logo. By the time he journeyed to Cincinnati in 1961 to cut the glorious auto rocker I Was Gone, a joyous A Real Good Time, and the timely Twist Like This for Federal Records producer Sonny Thompson, he was officially Eddy Clearwater. Things were sparse for quite a while after that; Clearwater occasionally secured a live gig dishing out rock and country ditties when blues jobs dried up.
But Rooster Blues 1980 release of The Chief, an extraordinarily strong album by any standards, announced to the world that Eddy Clearwaters ascendancy to Chicago blues stardom was officially underway. Two encores for Rooster Blues, a set for Blind Pig (1992s Help Yourself), and Mean Case of the Blues, released in 1996 on his reactivated Cleartone Records, along with consistently exciting live performances, cemented Clearwaters reputation. He became known as a masterful blues showman whose principal goal is to provide his fans with a real good time. Cool Blues Walk followed in 1998, followed by Chicago Daily Blues the next year, and Reservation Blues in mid-2000.