Guest,

I only discovered Taj Mahal a few years ago, and man, I'm sold. I don't know how many of his CD's I now have, but several. That first one is a classic. East Bay Women is incredible. Some of the most haunting, soulful slide I've ever
heard.

Yeah, Johnny sure fell victim to his record company, they were trying to make him the next rock guitar god, and although he could rock, his heart was in the blues. He turned his back on that idea, released "Nothin' But The Blues" summoned Muddy from what was near obscurity in the late seventies and produced and played on Muddy's Fantastic come back album "Hard Again", then did "Blue Skies" and one other with Muddy. I've seen Johnny four or five times, the most recent was in about '98. He has slowed down, but he still has chops. And he's playing the music that he loves. The first white (and I mean white) artist inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.                                 

I liked the Butterfield stuff, but I had heard Little Walter do most of it before hearing Butterfield, so I was a bit biased. I did like it though. Maybe I'll dig it out again.