Live In Chicago

Luther Allison | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: August 24, 1999
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Alligator Records
• Copyright: 1999 Alligator Records & Artist Management, Inc.
• Total Length: 2:11:34
• Genres: Blues/Chicago Blues, Blues/Electric Blues Guitar, Blues/Live Recordings, Blues/Modern Blues, Blues/Regional Blues, Rock/Live Albums
• ASIN: B000RGFYIK
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,335 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)
  • #37 in MP3 Downloads > MP3 Albums > Blues > Live Recordings
  • #92 in MP3 Downloads > MP3 Albums > Blues > Chicago Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chicago axe wielder attacks thousands of listeners !, February 1, 2000

By 

Michael Bowyer (Brentwood, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live in Chicago (Audio CD)

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I' ve been lucky ...., October 24, 2001

By 

M. Bernocchi "mbernocchi" (Old Windsor, Berkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Live in Chicago (Audio CD)

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!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God I miss this man!, February 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Live in Chicago (Audio CD)

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.