Preview

Back in October 2002, we had booked Big Bill with some trepidation, bearing in mind the fact that he is the son of the one and only Muddy Waters. His late father casts a giant shadow over the blues that we thought could obliterate a son trying to follow in such hallowed footsteps. We need not have worried; Big Bill and his band delivered a truly blistering performance, casting off any doubts about his ability to hold his own at the highest level.

 To read the Caped Cruiser's review, click here.

Born in Chicago in 1956, Bill Morganfield was raised by his grandmother in southern Florida and now resides in the Atlanta area. His father's legacy lives on in the tools of his art. Big Bill has both Muddy's touring amp and the guitars on which he composed some of his earliest works. More importantly, Bill carries Muddy's spirit and love for the blues, and says he feels a spiritual bond with his father when he's on stage. Possessing more than just his musical pedigree, Bill has the voice, talent, song writing skills and stage presence to hold his own with anyone playing the blues today.

With two highly regarded albums, 'Rising Son' and 'Ramblin' Mind', already behind him, he now has a third, 'Blues in the Blood', garnering praise from all sections of the industry. We're delighted and honoured to have this fantastic performer back at the Talbot. We had a huge crowd last year, so make sure you get your tickets early, 'cos it's not gonna get any smaller!

'Blues In the Blood' places the artist in the front rank of the genre. Like his father, Morganfield is the real deal. Billboard Magazine, USA

Review

Quality blues usually pulls 'em in, and the welcome return of Big Bill and his marvellous band emphatically proved the point - not quite as many as last year, it's true, but given some pretty inclement weather, a fine crowd poured in to worship, young and old alike, at the feet of Muddy Waters' son (and heir of so much of his late father's spirit and style). Accompanied once again by the spectacularly laid-back Tad Walters on bass, Chris Page on drums, and Smudge on brilliant piano and second guitar, the towering Bill seems to have grown in musical stature, too: his guitar work shows added refinement, while his voice is maturing still further, and frequently bears a startling resemblance to Muddy's.

Bill's new CD, the appropriately-monikered 'Blues in the Blood', was well represented, with full-on versions of 'Boogie Child', 'Hoochie Coochie Girl', 'Whiskey', and 'Anything Just For You'. On 'Mannish Boy' (and elsewhere) Bill does his all-over-trembling Muddy tribute, incorporating the Morganfield family trademark slide-guitar attack (although this year Bill's shades didn't fall off), while 'Got My Eyes On You' had a 'Green Onions' groove. Bill and Tad duetted on 'Feel Like Dying', while the second set was opened by Tad, seated alone with his electric/acoustic guitar for a trio of back-porch country-blues showstoppers, including Robert Johnson's 'All Your Love In Vain' and an evocative 'John Henry', complete with glistening slide. The second set also saw Smudge proving that he's as incisive a lead guitarist as he is a pianist, too. All in all, like all US blues players we've seen, energy and commitment characterize the approach adopted by Bill and his band - an object lesson to all British blues exponents ... Bill and the boys encored and were cheered to the echo by a thoroughly satisfied roomfull of punters, and then some of us, in the true blues spirit, proceeded to get (as the song goes) 'Sloppy Drunk' - funny how the Talbot's bar can come to resemble a blues dive on Chicago's Maxwell Street when you've had a few ...