Chicago’s Theresa’s Lounge has been closed for some four decades now, having shuttered back in 1985, but the club still very much lives on in the hearts and memories of those who got their starts playing there, learning from the likes of such legends as Junior Wells, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Otis Rush, and many others. After beginning his career playing for tips on Maxwell Street and then getting his first gig at Theresa’s Lounge in the 1970s, guitarist John Primer was one of those next generation bluesmen who honed his chops at the renowned establishment during its three decades operating, and, on the new Tribute to Theresa’s Lounge (Blues House Productions), has invited a few old friends who also came up in the club to join him in remembering and paying tribute to it, including such now-greats as Billy Branch, Willie Buck, and Bob Stroger, to name just a few.
While some of those friends join Primer for just one song, with, for example, Willie Buck on vocals for just Muddy Waters’ “Champagne and Reefer” and Mary Lane–the only regular woman singer at Theresa’s–providing the sweet-vocaled yet pointed lyrics of “Mary’s Song”, many others can be heard on multiple tracks throughout the album: Billy Branch joins on vocals and harmonica for a jaunty “Sugar Sweet” and then on harmonica for three other songs, including “Champagne and Reefer,” one of seven tracks on which Bob Stroger plays bass, while Carlos Johnson and John Watkins are also each featured on lead vocals and guitar for one song in addition to each playing guitar alongside Primer on at least other four tracks. Rounding out the band, Harmonica Hinds plays on the tracks that don’t include Branch, with Twist Turner and Tony Mangiullo splitting drum duties across the album and Jeff Brinkman covering bass on the half-dozen songs without Stroger.
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