Black Magic (Magic Sam album)

Black Magic
Studio album by
Magic Sam Blues Band
ReleasedNovember 1969 (1969-11)
RecordedOctober 23 & November 6, 1968
GenreBlues
Length39:04
LabelDelmark
ProducerRobert G. Koester
Magic Sam chronology
West Side Soul
(1968) 		Black Magic
(1969) 		Magic Sam Live
(1981)

Black Magic is a studio album by Chicago blues musician Magic Sam. Delmark Records released it under the name of "Magic Sam Blues Band" in November 1969, shortly before his death.[1] The album was a follow-up to Magic Sam's highly influential studio debut, West Side Soul (1968), and also includes a mix of originals with songs written by his contemporaries.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[3]

Bill Dahl, in a retrospective review for AllMusic, gave the album its highest rating – five out of five stars. He called it "another instant classic" and noted some R&B-style influenced songs.[4]

Blues historian Gerard Herzhaft commented that the album, along with West Side Soul, "brought unanimous praise from the critics. Today [1996], they are considered classics of the Chicago blues".[5]

In 1990, Black Magic was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame as a classic of blues recording. The induction statement includes:

Black Magic follows in the same vein as Magic Sam's first Delmark LP (and first Hall of Fame album), West Side Soul, combining burning West Side blues with heartfelt touches of soul. Again, most of the songs are covers (Little Milton, Otis Rush, Lowell Fulson, Freddie King, et al, with the more obscure Andrew Brown cut "Stop! You're Hurting Me" a definite highlight) and there a couple remakes of Sam's 45s, but again, it all sounds vital and up-to-the-minute.[6]

Track listing

Side A

  1. "I Just Want a Little Bit"[7] – 3:03
  2. "What Have I Done Wrong" – 3:10
  3. "Easy, Baby"[8] – 3:54
  4. "You Belong to Me" – 4:05
  5. "It's All Your Fault"[9] – 4:50

Side B

  1. "I Have the Same Old Blues"[10] – 3:32
  2. "You Don't Love Me Baby"[11] – 3:29
  3. "San-Ho-Zay" [instrumental][12] – 3:53
  4. "Stop! You're Hurting Me" – 4:47
  5. "Keep Loving Me Baby"[13]– 3:30

Personnel

References

  1. ^ O'Neal, Jim (1994). Black Magic (CD reissue notes). Magic Sam. Chicago: Delmark Records. p. 1. DD-620.
  2. ^ All Music
  3. ^ Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
  4. ^ Dahl, Bill (1996). "Magic Sam: Black Magic". In Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Koda, Cub (eds.). All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. p. 177. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
  5. ^ Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Magic Sam". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. pp. 215–216. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
  6. ^ O'Neal, Jim. "1990 Hall of Fame Inductees: Black Magic — Magic Sam Blues Band (Delmark, 1969)". Blues.org. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Rosco Gordon wrote and recorded "Just a Little Bit" in 1959.
  8. ^ Magic Sam first recorded the Willie Dixon composition "Easy Baby" for Cobra Records in 1958.
  9. ^ Lowell Fulson is credited with "It's All Your Fault" on Magic Sam's Rockin' Wild in Chicago album (2002).
  10. ^ Little Milton wrote and recorded "Same Old Blues" for Bobbin Records in 1959, with an additional credit for Oliver Sain.
  11. ^ Willie Cobbs recorded "You Don't Love Me" in 1960, which was adapted from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "She's Fine, She's Mine".
  12. ^ Freddie King wrote and recorded the guitar instrumental "San-Ho-Say" in 1961.
  13. ^ Otis Rush wrote and recorded "Keep On Loving Me Baby" in 1958.