Heeyyyyy Bo Didley...and Muddy Waters.....and Little Walter

9/9/10

Coney Island Sword Swallower Steek Hop Lager- Community Beverage, Queens, NY- 22 oz. bomber into Pub Glass- 6.8% ABV- Slightly hazy burnt orange color. 2 finger head and fairly dense but dissipated quickly. Some patchy, sticky looking lacing but not heavy. The label is pretty cool unfortunately as you can see was marred by a giant orange price tag. This beer although its namesake is in Brooklyn, NY was brewed in Saratoga Springs, NY. I think I may have had a Coney Island Lager before when I lived in Brooklyn, but I don't remember it standing out in any way. The aroma is kinda of sweet a bit fruity but not necessarily citrus. I think I smell more maltiness in this beer than hops. I'm not quite sure. Pretty smooth light bodied beer with subtle carbonation. I was not really expecting much from this beer but actually it is good in my opinion. I expected something a bit hoppier but this is nice. I would lean towards calling this an American pale ale but the bottle says lager. Pleasantly suprised by this beer, I actually would like to taste this beer off a fresh keg because I think it would be even better. Quite frankly this beer would be a nice draft beer to have on a hot afternoon out in Coney Island.

On the turntable is Super Blues/ Join Forces- Bo Didley, Muddy Waters and Little Walter- Recorded for Checkers Records at Tel Mar Studios Chicgao, Illinois in January 1967. Checkers was a subsidiary of the mighty Chess records the home of the albums artists during their heyday in the 1950's and 1960's. I am not sure why this album is on Checkers as opposed to Chess but I do know that by the late sixtes Chess was trying record their staple artists in a new light. Records like Electric Mud by Muddy Waters and the "Fathers and Son's" series pairing the old blues masters with young British upstarts (clapton, stones, etc.) started to appear. This was probably an attempt to introduce the old guys to a younger audience and at the same time cash in a bit. At the time these records from what I have read were critically unappreciated and not always successful in the artists opinion. Muddy Waters stated he didn't like the Electric Mud album and was not a fan of the Wah-Wah pedal he was aksed to employ on the album. History though has been kinder to these records and they have all aged very well in my opinion. This album doesn't indicate the other musicians but according to koolkatjazz.com Otis Spann was piano and Buddy Guy was also on guitar. This is a funky little record and unfortunately kind of short at only 8 songs. That doesn't really matter though because these guys hit hard and the groove is infectious. Most of the songs are mid to up tempo and they sound like they are having fun. My favorite track is probably the lead off song on side two, You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover which has some nice vocal interplay between Muddy Waters and Bo Didley. When I found this record I had never seen it or heard of it but I immediately bought it. If you look closely at the photo of the LP sleeve it appears like the previous owner had some sort of mishap with it, but a little water damage couldn't keep me from this LP!