Ludella by Jimmy Rogers Blues in A Chicago Blues Lesson

Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers and Little Walter laid the foundation for electric Chicago blues in the 40s. By 1950 Jimmy went on his own with a string of hits like "Walkin' By Myself", "That's Allright" and others. He dropped out of music during the 60s and then made a comeback with some fabulous records such as "Gold Tailed Bird" on Shelter and "Sloppy Drunk" on Black and Blue. They really show some beautiful guitar interplay with Freddie King or Louis Meyers. I'm a huge fan of Jimmy's playing and singing-- I hope some of you blues veterans out there will leave some memories of Jimmy in the comments.

This tune "Ludella", is a companion piece to last week's lesson, "I'm a Roaming Stranger" by Louisiana Red. They are both slow/medium blues in the A position, but that's where the similarities end. While Louisiana Red has a loose style in a Lightnin' Hopkins vein, Jimmy's playing here is more like a Robert Johnson style chordal piece but with a more laid-back picking style-- Robert really carries the rhythm with the bass notes with his right thumb while Jimmy just gently suggests it. It's great to have an early side that has Jimmy's guitar so much in the forefront due to the sparse trio setting so you can really hear what he's doing. Jimmy recorded another great version of this tune on "Chicago Blues at Home" with Johnny Littlejohn adding some hot sauce. Correction: I mention a Scrapper Blackwell influence on Jimmy and mistakenly said he played with Walter Davis (who Jimmy was a big fan of) instead of Leroy Carr.

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