Byther Smith, Rockin' Johnny at Buddy Guy's Legends

Last night I met some out-of-town friends at Buddy Guy's Legends. They arrived early enough for the regular weekend acoustic set, which featured Diamond Jim Greene, but I was detained by another commitment and didn't get there until shortly before the Rockin' Johnny Band took the stage.

Since his return to the blues scene in January, Rockin' Johnny has played at numerous clubs around Chicago and performed with Mary Lane at the Chicago Blues Festival. He started with a slide instrumental and played several songs he said were from his CDs, which include Straight out of Chicago and Man's Temptation. I also recall a Magic Sam tune.


The great thing about Rockin' Johnny is that his sound is fully rooted in the old-style Chicago blues sound, but his approach is original and contemporary. Legends was packed, but a group of (mostly) women found a space in the back of the club and had fun dancing to the upbeat, energetic music.

Late in the set, Johnny broke a string and switched guitars. Take a look at the photo. Have you ever seen a guitar like this before? I'm not familiar with this brand or style.

On rhythm guitar for the Rockin' Johnny Band was Rick Kreher. I did not catch the names of the bass player and drummer.

Byther Smith had been warming up by playing pool in the back and was raring to go when it was time for the main show. The 76-year-old Mississippi-born bluesman plays much the same way he did in the 1960s when he first started on the Chicago blues scene.

One of his first songs was an instrumental version of "Ain't No Sunshine." Soon we heard the familiar opening riff of "Messing with the Kid," and I thought of Smith's playing with Junior Wells on the Delmark CD, Live at Theresa's 1975. In the 1970s, Smith often played with Junior Wells, as well as Otis Rush, George "Harmonica" Smith and many others.



Later, as I was watching Smith perform, I was thinking how much he reminded me of B.B. King with his gestures and facial expressions. Just then Smith started playing "The Thrill is Gone."

The band was tight with plenty of funk on songs like Howlin' Wolf's "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy" and "Just a Little Bit."

I swear, the drummer was the happiest drummer I've ever seen. I didn't know his name, or the name of the second guitarist (whom I know I've seen before, but his name escapes me). On bass was E.G. McDaniel. Edited to add: The drummer is Brian Parker, who also played with Koko Taylor's Blues Machine and was injured in the van wreck last year. (Thank you to Blues Machine guitarist Shun Kikuta for the information.)


Smith recorded a DVD for Delmark, released in 2008, called Byther Smith: Blues On The Moon - Live at Natural Rhythm Social Club.