Bob Margolin: Thanks Review

I re-watched The Last Waltz to refresh my memory about the first time that I saw Bob Margolin play guitar. In 1976 when the concert and film took place, Margolin had been a member of the Muddy Waters band for three years. 22 years later I attended a reunion concert of the Muddy Waters Band and saw Margolin perform live. I was a contributing photographer for Blues Revue magazine at the time and Bob wrote a column in it called “Steady Rollin.’”

Margolin decided to celebrate his fifty year anniversary since 1973 when Muddy Waters first hired him as the 2^nd guitar in his band. He used the same 1956 Gibson Archtop ES-150 electric guitar to play on the album that he used in “The Last Waltz.” The selection of songs on the album include four original Margolin cuts, plus another embellished by Muddy. The other five include Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Robbie Robertson, Paul Gayten and Jimmy Rogers. Margolin not only produced the album but also mixed and mastered it and was the sole performer appearing on it.

“Going Down to Main Street” is the opening cut on the album and is a Muddy Waters composition that was first released in 1952. At the time, Jimmy Rogers played 2nd guitar in the Muddy Waters Band. In 1975 when the song was recorded for Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, Bob Margolin played 2nd guitar and members of “The Band” also played on it. Margolin plays his ES-150 with slide guitar precision as his voice soars with raspy resonance. The second cut is a Robbie Robertson composition, “The Shape I’m In.” The song appeared in The Last Waltz, which “The Band” used as a show opener. Originally it was a rocker but Margolin plays it as a funky down home blues shuffle.

Margolin wrote “Mean Old Chicago” on a napkin on a plane flight to Chicago where he would be attending the funeral of his friend Chicago Blues legend Jimmy Rogers. He recorded it in 1999 for his Hold Me To It album but for Thanks he wanted to play like Muddy would with standard tuning slide guitar style on the ES-150 and dedicated it to all the other deceased players in his band. One of the most prolific blues songwriters was Willie Dixon the author of “Who” and it was originally released in 1956 by Little Walter as a single. Margolin originally performed it when he was a member of Nappy Brown’s band and it was in his hard driving style that he performed it on slide guitar.

“Who told you that I was cheatin’ on you last night

Whoever told you baby, he better get outta my sight”

“Lonely Man Blues” was originally written by Margolin with a verse added by Muddy Waters. It was first recorded in 1977 but wasn’t released until 2003 on Muddy Waters Blue Sky label reissued albums that Bob assisted in tune selection for. He added a second guitar to his recording as a tip of the hat to Jimmy Rogers who taught him the importance of the concept of lead and rhythm guitar. “Baby Can’t Be Found” is another original Margolin composition first recorded for Down In the Alley Margolin’s first “Alligator Record” album from 1993. Johnny Winter liked the song so it’s dedicated to him.

Jimmy Rogers was the stage name of James A. Lane, the 2^nd guitarist in the Muddy Waters band for 25 years before Bob Margolin replaced him in 1973. One of Rogers’ classic recordings on the “Chess Record” label released in 1953 was “Hard Working Man.” Margolin sang it as plaintively as Rogers accompanied by “his Delta/Chicago Blues-style guitar playing” using the ES-150. “For You My Love” was written by Paul Gayten a singer, songwriter, band leader and record producer from the 1940’s and 50’s. Gayten released it in 1949, the year that Margolin was born, but he first heard it performed by Pinetop Perkins when he was in the Muddy Waters band. He plays it as straight blues in the old school style right in the groove with a burning guitar solo.

“For you, my love, I’d do most anything,

I love you baby, and I hope you feel the same!”

“No Consolation” was written by Bob Margolin when he was going through some hard times prior to originally recording it for his 1999 album Hold Me to It on Blind Pig Records. He plays it in a raw slide guitar style once more on the ES-150. 25 years later he modified the lyrics to view that period through the hindsight that allows us to sometimes see that “consolation” does eventually manifest itself in our lives and to achieve it we learn coping skills. The final cut on the album was written and recorded by Margolin in 2007 for his In North Carolina album. He wanted to re-record it for Thanks featuring the sweet tone of the ES-150. He describes it as just him “singing my blues about romantic loneliness.”

The album overall conveys the spirit of old style blues as seen and experienced through the eyes and ears of a veteran. Margolin carries the torch of seminal blues through his personal association with some of the greatest blues musicians in the genre. This album is a love letter to his fellow musicians and friends that mentored him and helped him develop his own unique style.

The Review 8.5/10

– Going Down to Main Street
– Mean Old Chicago
– Who
– Lonely Man Blues
– Just Before Dawn

The Big Hit

– Going Down to Main Street

Buy the album: Amazon