Usually when someone says something like, "I don't know much about art but I know what I like" it's an indication that their preferences are for black velvet or dogs playing poker. On the other hand when a person is faced with the barrage of sub-genres in music that seems to be the vogue these days, it's perfectly understandable for them to say, "I don't much about it, but I know the blues when I hear it". I've stopped counting how many supposedly different types of blues there are, as it seems like every region in North America, if not the world, now deems the blues played in their territory significantly unique to qualify for its own sub-category.
However, unlike painting where there is more than just a stylistic differences between a black velvet poster of Elvis and a Chagal, beneath the surface of every blues genre beats the same heart no matter how it's played. How else could you explain so many different styles of music rightfully calling themselves blues if there wasn't some sort of common denominator tying music played on a solo acoustic guitar with that played by a five piece electric band with a horn section? I don't mean the chords played either. There are who knows how many, rock and roll bands, from the heaviest metal heads on down, that use the standard blues progression in their music, but you'd never call them blues bands,
No, there's an almost indescribable something blues bands and performers have that hits you solidly between the eyes letting you know they are without a doubt. a blues band. Such is the case with the latest Eddie C Campbell release on Delmark Records, Tear This World Up. Stylistically, it veers all over the place, from R&B, funk, to standards like Gershwin's "Summertime", but each and every cut on the disc is an undisputed blues song. Campbell has a long history of playing, starting off his career at a young age sitting in with Muddy Watters and proceeding to play with a who's who of Chicago blues stars throughout the fifties and sixties. However, he didn't release any recordings of his own, aside from a couple of singles with small labels, until 1977 brought King Of The Jungle.
Like so many other blues people before and since, Campbell sought out the bluer pastures of Europe for nearly a decade, spending most of the 1980s recording in England, Holland, and Germany, only returning to the States in 1992. Tear The World Up is his fourth release since then, and it shows just how versatile a player and singer he is. After years of playing with a variety of people, from James Brown to Howlin' Wolf, he's developed his own unique style that incorporates a little of everything he's picked up along the way. Binding it all together is his deeply felt awareness of the blues.
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