Biography

Guitarist Eddy Clearwater is one of the most versatile, colorful, and unique entertainers to have emerged from Chicago's blues scene. Eddy, aka "The Chief," has recorded Country & Western singles for the Nashville market, as well as rockabilly and Chuck Berry-derived rock, while also creating some of the finest, most original Chicago blues.

Clearwater, whose real name is Eddie Harrington, grew up listening to Delta blues and Country & Western records in Macon, Missisippi, where he was born in 1935. At age thirteen he moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and started playing guitar in church. He was still playing gospel music when he arrived on Chicago's South Side. But by 1953, having come from a family with a rich blues background (he's related to Carey Bell, Lurie Bell, and Lovey Lee) Eddy had made his move into blues. Performing as Guitar Eddy, he and his band worked the South and West Side taverns. And when he would finish his shift as a cab driver, he would spend hours in clubs listening to Otis Rush, Magic Sam, B.B. King, and Muddy Waters (Clearwater's stage name was later given to him by a booking agent as a word play on the name of Chicago's king of the blues.)

Eddy happened upon one of his major stylistic influences when he first heard Chuck Berry's rudimentary rock ("Oh Baby Doll") shooting out of his car radio in 1957. With his powerful, left-handed guitar playing, stage costumes (his Indian headdress earned him his nickname "The Chief"), and flamboyant performances, Clearwater soon developed a reputation as a multifaceted and dynamic showman.

Recording several singles (for Atomic-H, LaSalle, and Federal) and working steadily in Chicago area nightclubs for over twenty years, Clearwater remained one of the Windy City's hidden treasures until recognition of his talents began to come from abroad. Touring Europe twice in the 70's, Eddy appeared on BBC television in England and recorded for France's MCM label. Other recording opportunities quickly followed.

He recorded three albums for the Rooster Blues label in the 80's and one album for England's Red Lightnin' label, which won a W.C. Handy Award for Best Import Blues Album.

Eddy and his band tour coast to coast in North America, and have headlined festivals in Europe and Mexico. He realized a lifelong dream in 1987 when he toured six West African countries under U.S. Government auspices.

His Blind Pig release, Help Yourself, showcases Clearwater's high-energy hybrid of West Side blues and relentless rockabilly, and confirms again that this blues rocker can perform good-natured party music and original, deep, melancholy blues with equal finesse.