Let's talk about beyond the holy trinity. There's several other Chicago urban blues musicians who are important. One of them, first one I wanna mention is Elmore James. Now he was not part of the Holy Trinity, but nonetheless, an important character. He was born in 1918 in Holmes County, Mississippi. He recorded for Chess, but he is not in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, yet at least. He died at age 45. But he's actually more known for his guitar skills then for his songwriting. And that's kinda strange, really, because his songs have been covered by a lot of rock and roll artists as you will see. The Black Crows' first album was named for this first Elmore James tune we are going to hear called Shake Your Moneymaker. Now he is one of a kind in a style know as slide guitar. That's using a bottle neck or a piece of bone or a pocket knife or something like that against the strings instead of your fingers. And he was, Elmore James was so great at this. It's why a lot of guitar virtuosos later, in rock and roll came along and covered Elmore James song. Perhaps more than any other musician of the blues era. So let's listen to a couple of his. Here's Shake your Money Maker from 1959. [MUSIC] >> The next song up is called, The Sky is Crying. And this one was covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan, but the album it's on came out posthumously the year after Stevie Ray Vaughan had died in a helicopter crash, leaving a concert. [MUSIC] >> So, that's the original Elmore James version now let's give a quick listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan's version from 1991. [MUSIC] >> Next song, One Way Out, covered by the Allman Brothers. [MUSIC] >> I think you're gonna recognize the Allman Brothers cover, this from 1972, just before the death of Dwayne Allman. >> [MUSIC] Now, Bleeding Heart, which was covered by Jimi Hendrix. I'll explain that in a minute. [MUSIC] >> Now Jimi Hendrix covered that song as I mentioned, and I want you to notice that in the picture you see here, that's Jimi Hendrix showing off one of his Elmore James records. [MUSIC] >> Now there are so many other Chicago Blues artists that I would like to cover. We just don't have the time to do it. Even so, I can't resist adding just a couple more, because they're so important both as side men and as leaders. First one I want to mention is Otis Spawn, widely considered Chicago's leading post-war blues pianist. He was in Muddy Water's band from 1952 to 1968. He was also a regular session man at Chess Records and he recorded with Muddy of course but also Alan Wolf, Bo Diddley, and many others. Now, here's his first single on his own, which was called It Must Have Been a Devil. [MUSIC] >> The other artists I wanna to mention, or another artist I want to mention is Little Walter Jacobs. He was actually born Marion Walter Jacobs, and was a blues harmonica player known just by the moniker Little Walter. He had a revolutionary approach to playing the harmonica. And it has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix for the level of innovation that he showed and also for the impact on succeeding generations of people who play that instrument. His virtuosity and musical innovations fundamentally altered many listeners' expectations of what was possible on blues harmonica. Another important thing about Little Walter is he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, in the Sideman category. But what's unusual about it is that that means he is the first and only artist ever inducted specifically for harmonica playing. Let's hear two of his songs. The first one is called Juke. [MUSIC] >> The next one, perhaps most famous of Little Walter songs, is called My Babe. [MUSIC] >> There are many more Chicago blues artists I wish we had time for, at least a dozen. But we're gonna have to move along on our trip along Highway 61. Our next stop will be in Memphis, Tennessee. I'll see you there.
