Customer Reviews

Live in Chicago

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first C.D of this double set was recorded at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1995. I first heard this concert while I was living in Chicago and I taped it from the radio. I didn't even hear it at the time but I played it on my car cassette player a few weeks later and I had to pull the car over and just listen. The soulful singing, the diamond sharp tone of the guitar, the lightning fast fretwork simply blew me away. It's hard to pick out any particular high points on a record with so many of them but the guitar solos on both "Cherry Red Wine" and "It Hurts Me Too" will leave you gasping for breath. Not just because of the skill of his playing but for the sheer intensity, power and gut wrenching emotion that pours out of every note. Towards the end of the set he pays tribute to Hound Dog Taylor. "Give me back my wig" features some of the most ferocious slide guitar work you'll ever hear. It's a tribute to the rest of the band that they actually stay in touch with him on this form. Also, the Memphis Horns can sometimes be intrusive but on this C.D they embelish Luther's guitar work, add texture to the sound and are so tight they squeak when they walk. He was probably on his finest form ever at this gig as it was his first big date back in his hometown since he left to live in Paris several years before due to a lack of recognition in the U.S.A. He had a point to prove and boy did he prove it. The second disc, recorded at Buddy Guy's Legends Club in Chicago, shows a different side to Luther's playing because it's a small, smokey, sweaty and intimate club and he seems really intense and more introspective. This second C.D. would probably have won a W.C Handy award for best live blues album in it's own right but it pales into insignificance when placed alongside the first one. Beware because this record will haunt you. Every time you browse your blues collection your hand will be drawn to it. And you know what ? You won't care. I was fortunate enough to catch him playing live a year after I returned to England and the friends who came to the gig always talk about it when I see them. He played a three and a half hour set almost non-stop (except when he paused to talk for five minutes to three young kids in the audience)in a small club and if I'd died the next day I would have died a happy man. That's the effect his concerts can have on people and this C.D will do it for you too. I'm finding it hard to come to terms with the death of this man. Like many people I'd never heard of Luther Allison until just before he died and now I miss him as though he were one of my own family. If you're going to buy one blues C.D this year, this is the one.

I have been lucky to have the opportunity to see him playing at one of the most famous Blues festival in Italy many years ago.
His performance was absolutely outstanding! I thought at the time that it would have been impossible to do any better than that. I was wrong! This is by far the best live Blues performance I have ever heard. Highly reccomended!

I can't believe this man is gone. We are fortunate he left us with Live In Chicago. As said in another review, Luther Allison is Blues....he's Rock and Roll...he's Funk...he's Soul. But beyond all else he wraps these all in an unequaled energy and passion. The two performances are quite different due to the venues. He was a master at adapting to the space. The disc from the Chicago Blues Festival is more wide open, the second at Buddy Guy's is more soulful, pointed at reaching deep into his audience. I must second a comment made in a prior review...you will be haunted by the power of Luther Allison. Over the years I never missed a chance to see him live. We'll never be able to see him again...but Live In Chicago is a marvelous set of memories of this masterful artist. I salute the Alligator Records people for bringing it to us.

I'm gonna make this short, I own thousands of cd's and have seen hundreds of live performances over the last 30+ years so I feel qualified to make this statement, Disc One of this 2 cd set is the greatest live performance I have ever heard! I have no doubt about it. Everytime I listen I am reminded of his greatness. Listen to how intense he does "Cherry Red Wine", I just wish I could have been there. Does anyone have a video of this?

After listening to this CD set I can understand why Luther is so missed. The live recording of Bad Love is the best. All the songs make you know why you love the Blues. James Solberg you sre right Luther is the Blues.

Bluesman Luther Allison grew up on Chicago's west side, learning his chops from such legends as Freddy King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Magic Sam. After several successful records with Delmark and Motown, Allison moved his base of operations to Paris in the early 1980's, and from there he toured and recorded extensively, becoming a blues favorite to European audiences.

Absent from the American blues scene for many years, Allison crossed the Atlantic in 1994 to retake stateside audiences by storm and promote his then-new Alligator Records release, "Soul Fixin' Man." I was one of the lucky ones in the audience when Luther rocked the house @ Buddy Guy's Legends. I was a freelance writer at that time, and my notes of that gig read something like this:

"Around 9:45pm on Friday June 10th, seismic monitoring stations as far south as Joplin, Missouri reported tremors registering as high as 5.1 on the Richter Scale. Small boats on Lake Michigan were swamped by huge waves....politicians, fearing that The End had come, repented and gave spontaneous confessions of perfidy to tabloid reporters....Christians fell to their knees and praised God, shouting "The Rapture is here!"....others cowered like dogs and wept bitterly, knowing themselves damned....and fearing a massive rupture along the New Madrid fault line, the National Guards of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri were nearly mobilized before anyone realized -- it was just Luther Allison tuning up."

It was wall to wall and floor to rafter with stone-drunk blues fans (most of which still hadn't sobered up from the Bluesfest) when Allison and his wrecking crew took the stage, playing with total abandon and whipping the house into a frenzy with two sets that were marked by long winding solos and incendiary guitar work. The fact that Legends still stands after Allison's earth-shaking performance is some kind of tribute to Chicago building codes.

Sitting at the bar taking it all in were Buddy Guy and the father-son double whammy of Lonnie & Ronnie Brooks. There was much speculation in the crowd that one or more might join Allison onstage, but such hopes never materialized -- and Luther didn't seem to need any help anyway, except maybe someone to hose him down every half hour or so.

All too soon, the lights went up, the band stepped down and all that was left to do was to go outside and watch an unidentified taxi driver hose down several panhandlers with a super-soaker watergun....I walked to the bus stop, feeling the last rumbling echoes fade, knowing that, for sure, I had been in the presence of greatness.

This is Luther Allison live, in his element, at the very height of his considerable talent. This recording belongs in any serious blues collection.

BEING AN AVID ADMIRER OF LUTHER ALLISON WHOS BEEN FOLLOWING HIM SINCE 1971 THIS IS THE MOST HEART FELT CD IVE HEARD SINCE HIS UNFORTUNATE DEMISE.IF YOU FOLLOW HIS HISTORY THIS MAN HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUND BLUES ARTISTS OF OUR TIMES!IVE SEEN HIM LIVE MANY TIMES AND WAS A GUARANTEED OUTSTANDING SHOW EVERY TIME!THIS MAN ENJOYED LIFE AND PERFORMING WAS WHAT HIS LIFE WAS OBVIOUSLY MEANT TO BE.IF YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS MIDWEST LEGEND "LIVE IN CHICAGO"WILL WAKE YOU UP TO ONE OF THE REAL BLUES MEN OF ALL TIMES! ENJOY

Luther Allison is one of a kind! You can literally feel the passion Allison put into this perfomance. Solo's like the one in Cherry Red Wine are hard to come by. Allison melts the frets away during this solo. This live performance in Chicago is unique and certainly worth getting. For any Blues, Jazz and Rock fan or any person that appreciates fine music this is a must have for your collection

This was my first intro to Luther's music. I heard a couple songs at an in-store listening station and had to get the album. Each time I listen to it, I like it more and more. This is a definite must have for any fans of Buddy Guy and that Chicago screamin' guitar sound. I only sorry I never got a chance to catch him live. I'll be buying more of his music, but this was a great place to get started.

Let me just start by saying I truly do miss Luther, Alot! I have never seen a better showman in my life. It was a total joy to see Luther and the band play. I was in Chicago in '95 and saw Luther play at Legends. I'm not sure any of that show is on this CD, but lets face I think you could probably pick anyone of Luther's shows during his long career and put it on CD. He played with such fiery and intensity. This CD captures that intensity. Everytime I listen to this CD, I catch myself with a huge smile on my face. It brings back the memories of some of the best shows I've ever seen a man play.He will be sorely missed by blues lovers around the world.Thank you Alligator for a wonderful CD! Let me also reccomend his son Benard Allison. particularly "Bad Love". Also his other guitarist James Solberg, "LA.Blues" and "The Hand You Are Dealt".