JOHN PRIMER & THE TEARDROPS

You Can Make It If You Try – Live

Wolf Records 120.833

by Eric Steiner

You Can Make It if You Try features over 75 minutes of live, traditional Chicago blues recorded in Europe in the 1990s by Austrian musician and producer Alex Munkas. John Primer sits in for Magic Slim (born Morris Holt) alongside fellow Teardrops Nick Holt on bass and Earl Howell on drums.  The CD features 11 songs from what I’ve long considered to be “the Chicago blues songbook.”  Of these 11 tracks, I particularly liked the band’s interpretations of Elmore James’ “Standing at the Crossroads,” Hound Dog Taylor’s “Big Fat Woman,” and three songs from Muddy Waters, including the infrequently heard “Sweet Man.”  The version of “Long Distance Call” is an eight-minute slow blues scorcher, and the traditional reading of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain” will surely please blues purists. The set also features covers of “Corinna,” credited to Albert King, Guitar Slim’s “Things I Used to Do,” and the only song on the CD that simply just doesn’t work for me, Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “My Little Sister.”  No problem, though; shortly after that SRV song ends, Otis Rush’s inspirational “You Can Make It If You Try” gets me back on the right Teardrops track again. The title cut, incidentally, is not the hit song from Sly & The Family Stone; instead it’s credited to Otis Rush (earlier versions called the song “Double Trouble”). But by any other name, Primer & The Teardrops make it their own.

The blues world lost two giants when each of the Holt brothers passed. We lost Magic Slim early in 2013, and four years earlier, he honored his younger brother Nick’s memory by playing at his wake at the Zoo Bar in their adopted home town of Lincoln, Nebraska. During the course of four decades in music, Magic Slim received an impressive 47 W.C. Handy Award or Blues Music Award nominations. Fortunately, he received the blues community’s highest award six times during his lifetime, and last year, the Blues Foundation awarded Magic Slim a Traditional Blues Male Artist Blues Music Award posthumously. Nick Holt received two nods for Blues Instrumentalist - Bass in 1999 and 2001.

John Primer’s blues apprenticeship began at the fabled Theresa’s in Chicago in the 1970s before he joined the Muddy Waters Band. From 1982 to 1995, John was a Teardrop, and during his tenure, Magic Slim and Teardrops recorded a number of notable releases on the Wolf Records label, including Spider in My Stew, Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Magic Blues, Chicago Blues Session, Vol. 10, and a live CD recorded at The Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The liner notes by John’s manager and partner Lisa Becker-Primer and Wolf Records founder Hannes Folterbrauer introduce the “straightforward lump” style of post-war Chicago blues, and there are many candid photos in the CD package. The photo of Earl, Nick and John in front of the old Checkerboard Lounge on East 43^rd Street in Chicago captures the magic of that era, the two Holt brothers horsing around over a bottle is hilarious, and the photo of Magic Slim in and the Teardrops line-up circa 1992 is a picture of four friends just hanging out together.  There’s also John Primer’s old business card, and the cover and back photos of a decidedly younger Primer by Hannes Folterbauer and Dietmar Hoscher capture the guitarist practicing his passion intensely. You Can Make It If You Try is John’s eighth CD on the Wolf Records label; I hope it piques blues fans’ curiosity to discover not only those CDs, but also John Primer’s solo work on his own Blues House label as well as those recorded on the Delta Groove, Earwig and Delmark blues record labels.

Fans of traditional, post-war Chicago blues will appreciate this new CD, but perhaps more importantly, You Can Make It If You Try honors the memory of Nick and Morris Holt and reminds listeners just how special, if somewhat rough around the edges at times, Magic Slim and the Teardrops really were. I’m admittedly new to the Wolf Records label and its back catalogue, but I look forward to discovering other gems like this one online at http://www.wolfrec.com/.  My first visit to Hannes’ web site was simply a delightful exploration of contemporary and traditional Chicago blues with artists like Alabama Red, Elmore James, Jr., Vance Kelly, Eddie Taylor, Jr., Harmonica Hinds, Carlos Johnson and Lefty Dizz, plus an entire section of country blues and historical recordings of Peetie Wheatstraw and Big Bill Broonzy.

Eric Steiner is the Editor of the Washington Blues Society Bluesletter and the immediate past president of the Washington Blues Society.  He served on the Blues Foundation Board of Directors from 2010 to 2013, and he is a frequent contributor to the Chicago Blues Guide.