Chicago blues guitarist Eddy Clearwater (who's real name is Eddie Harrington) was born in 1935 in Macon, Mississippi. He played there and later in Birmingham, Alabama for a bit before the seemingly inevitable move to Chicago. He played occasional gigs in Chicago while working as a cab driver during the day. His success began as he adopted a rock and blues style (a la Chuck Berry -- with whom he played a concert in Stone Park in the late '60s) and was given his "Clear Waters" moniker by a booking agent--a play on words on the name of legendary Chicago bluesman Muddy Waters--in the sixties. He played his first show after undergoing January heart bypass surgery at the end of March. Still he married his manager Renee Greenman in May, and released a rollicking new album, Cool Blues Walk (produced by, and guesting Duke Robillard). The Illinois Entertainer's Kevin Toelle calls it "one of the most jumping... well-conceived, and downright fun blues albums to be released in recent memory."
The W.C. Handy Blues Award folk obviously agree, nominating him for "Blues Song of the Year" (the title track), and "Artist Most Deserving of Wider Recognition." The Ceremony is May 27 in Memphis, TN.
His previous disc, Mean Case of The Blues is out on Bullseye Blues/Rounder Records. Billy Branch is a special guest on several tunes. His "Don't Take My Blues" was nominated for a W.C. Handy award (Best Blues Song). Doctors played another album, The Chief (1980, Rooster Blues), during Clearwater's entire 5-hour heart operation.
One of the toughest west-side Chicago blues guitarists, the "Chief" (often wears Native American clothing onstage). Began his career as a Chuck Berry imitator, but the tall southpaw has proven one of Chicago's most versatile artists, recording albums for Blind Pig Records, Delmark Records, and Rooster Blues Records.
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