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Eddie C. Campbell Tear This World Up Delmark DE 799

The terms “South Side” and “West Side” Chicago blues are largely a construct of scholars, since the musicians worked the scene without boundaries, as Buddy Guy strongly asserts. The latter, however, endures as a recognized and viable style with Eddie C. Campbell a proud and vital standard bearer. “Not too many people can play it,” Eddie explains. “A lot try, but then they get mad and change it into Jimi Hendrix.” No retro revivalist, he is a masterful guitar stylist, nuanced vocalist and intelligent songwriter with a wry sense of humor and an impressive resume that reads like living blues history. Complete notes by Dave Rubin continued inside.

1. Makin’ Popcorn 4:04
2. Big World 3:29
3. Easy Baby 5:01
4. Tie Your Time Up 3:51
5. Voodoo 4:59
6. Love Me With A Feeling 3:08
7. Vibrations In The Air 4:50
8. Care 3:49
9. It’s So Easy 4:52
10. My Last Affair 5:05
11. I’m Just Your Fool 4:21
12. All Nite 4:09
13. Summertime 4:53
14. Bluesman 4:34

Eddie C. Campbell, vocals, electric and acoustic guitar
Dario Golliday, electric bass
Marty Binder, drums
Karl "Lil’ Daddy" Outten, piano, organ
Mojo Mark Cihlar, harmonica (1,5,7,11)
Marty Sammon, piano (4,9,10,11), organ (9)
Chuck Parrish, trumpet (2,8,9,11)
Sam Burckhardt, tenor saxophone (2,8,9,11)
Juli Wood, baritone saxophone (2,8,9,11)

recorded Dec 16-18, 2008, Chicago

1. Makin’ Popcorn (Eddie C. Campbell, Drop Top Music, BMI) 4:04
2. Big World (Eddie C. Campbell, Drop Top Music, BMI) 3:29
3. Easy Baby (Samuel Maghett, Conrad, BMI) 5:01
4. Tie Your Time Up (Eddie C. Campbell, Drop Top Music, BMI) 3:51
5. Voodoo (Eddie C. Campbell, Drop Top Music, BMI) 4:59
6. Love Me With A Feeling (Samuel Maghett, Conrad, BMI) 3:08
7. Vibrations In The Air (Eddie C. Campbell, Leric, BMI) 4:50
8. Care (Eddie C. Campbell, Drop Top Music, BMI) 3:49
9. It’s So Easy (Eddie C. Campbell, Drop Top Music, BMI) 4:52
10. My Last Affair (Chester Burnett, Arc Music Corp., BMI) 5:05
11. I’m Just Your Fool (Woodrow Buddy Johnson, Sophisticate Music Inc., BMI) 4:21
12. All Nite (Eddie C. Campbell, Jimm Publ., BMI) 4:09
13. Summertime (Gershwin/Gershwin/Heywood, DuBose and Dorothy Heywood
Memorial Fund/George Gershwin Music/Ira Gershwin Music/WB Music Corp.,
ASCAP) 4:53
14. Bluesman (Campbell-Whiting, Drop Top Music, BMI) 4:34

Produced by Dick Shurman
Album Production and Supervision: Robert G. Koester
Recorded, mixed and mastered at Riverside Studio, Chicago
Engineered by Steve Wagner and Eric Butkus
Mixed by Steve Wagner, distracted by Dick Shurman
Mastered by Eric Butkus and Steve Wagner
Photography and Design: Steve Koress
Thanks to Gerard Robs, Steve Wisner for believing back in ‘77 and all the good folks who have supported Eddie’s recording career over the years.

Eddie C. Campbell brings his unmistakably individual, engaging and memorable verve and variety and his command of the Chicago blues tradition to Tear This World Up, his most fully realized chapter in a highly regarded discography which has generated covers by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Lee Atwater and a Christmas staple. Eddie has long been a master of classic Chicago blues, but always his own man, turning out venues worldwide with funk and rock & roll as well as blues, all with his rich, wide-ranging vocals, the trademark reverb-drenched sound of his vintage metallic purple Fender Jazzmaster guitar and creative songwriting.


Originally inspired by his older sister who played the diddley bow in Mississippi, he arrived in Chicago at the tender age of six in 1945 and met his idol and mother’s friend, Muddy Waters, who would eventually allow the precocious young man to sit in. Eddie ran with Magic Sam and his posse of young West Siders in the late fifties and paid dues as sideman to Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, Koko Taylor, B.B. King, Percy Mayfield and Willie Dixon, among numerous all stars. Commencing in the sixties he released a handful of singles on Hawaii and Skyway. His 1977 debut album while in Dixon’s band, co-produced by Dick Shurman on Steve Wisner’s Mr. Blues label, King of the Jungle, is considered a classic of modern Chicago blues. Eventually, however, he expatriated to Europe in 1984 and became a “bluesman of the world,” recording in England, Holland and Germany, where for three years he provided original gospel and blues music for a theatrical production of William Faulkner’s Requiem for a Nun. Returning home in 1992, he cut That’s When I Know in 1994 for Blind Pig as his US comeback, and he has been a regular and welcome performer in his home town, while releasing two subsequent albums, including Show De Bola from Brazil in 2008. He even had one of his songs covered on a CD organized by the late Republican operative Lee Atwater and his Christmas staple “Santa’s Messin’ with the Kid” covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd in 2000.

Tear This World Up is an exultant declaration of his unique talent. Produced by “brother” Dick Shurman with uncommon empathy and an airy touch that makes every track buoyant, it is yet another triumphant “comeback” for Eddie. In this age of virtuoso guitar slingers who appear to get paid by the note, it is an album that seduces you with the primacy of the song and experienced ensemble players including keyboardist Karl “Lil Daddy” Outten. As Willie Kent has observed, “Eddie’s a pocket player,” a virtue that likely contributed to his tenure, albeit brief, with James Brown in the late sixties. “Makin’ Popcorn,” the opening track on the 14-song set is a prime example, with a relentlessly driving “Help Me” riff that immediately establishes bassist Dario Golliday and drummer Marty Binder as shuffle kings, and provides a hypnotic foundation for Eddie’s sly innuendo and “popping” guitar solo. Mojo Mark Cihlar, a veteran sideman and multi-instrumentalist who shines on the bandstand, contributes sympathetic harp fills. Eddie “jumps one” with unrestrained gusto on “Big World,” a humorous autobiographical take on the subject most near and dear to the hearts (and other organs) of bluesmen. Rather than engaging in the typical braggadocio, however, he pokes fun at himself for prematurely falling asleep on his woman.

Eddie was tight with Magic Sam and pays worthy tribute to his departed friend and mentor with an understated, insistently throbbing version of Sam’s classic “Easy Baby.” His still lyrical falsetto is shown to good effect on “Tie Your Time Up” that features insinuating guitar hooks and addresses the common contemporary complaint of wasted time. “Voodoo” is a spooky bayou groove showing Eddie’s brilliant arranging of multiple guitar parts as he runs down the supernatural woes besetting his farm and household. “Love Me With a Feeling” is another chestnut from the Magic Sam catalog featuring exceptionally hot picking and the kind of explosive energy evident on his gigs, but often difficult to capture on recordings.

The pumping shuffle groove of “Vibrations” shows Eddie’s abiding love for Jimmy Reed and showcases Cihlar. Demonstrating the breadth as well as the depth of his music, Eddie gets his soul bag on for the exceedingly funky “Care” that crackles with musical and vocal dynamics. The finger-snapping instrumental “It’s So Easy” is based on a typical 2-chord shuffle vamp that gives current Buddy Guy keyboardist Marty Sammon a deserved turn on the organ while allowing Eddie to riff in a relaxed but focused manner. On Wolf’s “Last Affair” Eddie pays tribute to another one of his idols with a surprisingly wistful reading, and is a great object lesson in how to embellish a slow blues with a catchy guitar motif and piquant fills. As he does as naturally as breathing, Eddie puts his stamp on Buddy Johnson’s rollicking R&B stomper “Just Your Fool” that benefits from Sammon’s Crescent City touches and Cihlar’s hip interplay with the horn section of Sam Burckhardt (tenor), Juli Wood (baritone) and Chuck Parrish (trumpet).

The jumping instrumental “All Nite” is a remake of a 45 Eddie cut for Hawaii Records in the late sixties, its various themes showing a keen awareness of rock ‘n’ roll as well as the blues. “Summertime” contains a lithe, limber vocal and begins with an abbreviated version of the extended, flamenco-type intro that he often trots out in concert. Over the loping acoustic shuffle of the closing track, “Bluesman,” Eddie recites with pride the roll call of great performers with whom he has associated, while unambiguously declaring his lasting identity. Tellingly, he did not need to state it as Tear This World Up makes it clear on every track. Fittingly, Eddie, who calls himself an “audience pleaser,” will headline the opening night of the 2009 Chicago Blues Festival in honor of his 70th birthday in May.
Dave Rubin
Guitar Edge Magazine