James Cotton: Cotton Mouth Man (Alligator/Southbound)

 |   |  <1 min read

James Cotton (with Gregg Allman): Midnight Train
James Cotton: Cotton Mouth Man (Alligator/Southbound)

It's extraordinary to think that harmonica player Cotton played with Howlin' Wolf back in the early Fifties and then Muddy Waters, and at 77 he's not only still here but blowing up a hurricane on this album with high class fans like Joe Bonamassa, Gregg Allman, Chuck Leavell, Keb Mo, Ruthie Foster, Delbert McClinton and Darrell Nulisch.

He's survived every phase of the fickle interest in the blues, toured with Janis Joplin, played the Fillmores and Carnegie Hall, won a Grammy and has survived throat cancer . . . and he's still blowing sweet and low (Mississippi Mud and Wasn't My Time to Go here with Keb Mo) or seating himself at the centre of a firestorm.

He's got Mississippi mud and Chicago smoke running through his veins but can also fit into the country blues idiom (Midnight Train to MIssissippi with Allman) . . . and many of the lyrics here pay tribute to his longevity, versatility and toughness.

As the song says, "you can't make this stuff up, James Cotton . . . he was there".

A barnstormer album from one of the living legends.

If you want more of the blues -- reviews, interviews and overviews -- then go here

Share It

Your Comments

Al - Jun 4, 2013

crikey. I thought he was old on those Muddy Water albums with Johnny Winter in the late 70's !

post a comment

More from this section   Blues at Elsewhere articles index

JOHN LEE HOOKER INTERVIEWED (1990): What's in his name?

JOHN LEE HOOKER INTERVIEWED (1990): What's in his name?

Talking to 72-year-old blues singer John Lee Hooker - even in a cursory 15 minute interview - you know you are confronting a legendary, influential figure. And The Hook, as he is commonly known,... > Read more

Big Daddy Wilson: Love is the Key (Ruf/Yellow Eye)

Big Daddy Wilson: Love is the Key (Ruf/Yellow Eye)

Singer Wilson from North Carolina is yet another of those US blues (and jazz) artists who found a more sympathetic and profitable environment in Europe and these days operates out of Germany... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Ti L'Afrique: Soul Sok Sega (c1974)

Ti L'Afrique: Soul Sok Sega (c1974)

One of the things you can never explain to people who don't listen to music much -- and these sad types do walk among us -- is the thrill of discovery that songs can bring. Especially if you... > Read more

COLIN LINWOOD INTERVIEWED (2014): Keeping the records straight

COLIN LINWOOD INTERVIEWED (2014): Keeping the records straight

The most extraordinary thing about the extraordinary Colin Linwood is just how ordinary he is. In his early 50s, he's married with children, has worked from the time he left school, is trim and in... > Read more