By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
REMEMBERING EDDIE
E
ddie Taylor was a pivotal player for
Chicago’s electric blues legacy. His
work with Jimmy Reed secured his
position as one of the most influential gui-
tarists of the post war era and his sharp
musicianship made him a mainstay for stu-
dio sessions and live shows. His son, Eddie
Taylor Jr., worked hard to keep his father’s
legacy alive while also establishing a style
working musician who toured all over the
world with big names like Buddy Guy,
Koko Taylor, Eric Clapton and at President
Barack Obama’s inauguration. He also sup-
plied the guitar work for the soundtrack of
the hit 2008 movie loosely based on Chess
Records, Cadillac Records. And whenever he
was home, he’d also attend church and play
gospel music as a way of giving thanks for
Eddie Taylor, Jr.
of his own. Eddie Jr.’s sudden passing last
month was a blow to the Taylor family and
the entire Chicago blues community.
Eddie Taylor Jr. grew up the sixth of
Eddie and Vera Taylor’s eight children.
Surrounded by musical greats on Chicago’s
West Side. Jimmy Reed, whom Eddie
taught to play the guitar back in
MIssissippi, was a constant presence, as
well as other legends like Homesick James,
John Lee Hooker, Eddie Shaw, Floyd Jones
and Hubert Sumlin. Eddie Jr. absorbed all
of this and his own music displayed these
classic Chicago blues influences. It wasn’t
until his father’s death in 1985 that Eddie
decided to teach himself to play the guitar.
Listening to old records by Charlie
Patton, Robert Nighthawk, Robert Johnson
and of course, Jimmy Reed, Eddie Jr.
learned the basics of blues guitar. He picked
up the foundation on his won but the
Chicago blues community stepped in to
guide him beyond that. John Primer taught
him to tune his guitar, which forced him to
go back and relearn everything he had
played on his dad’s untuned red Gibson.
Willie Kent let him sit in and learn to play
with a band and when he was 19-year-old,
he introduced Eddie Jr. to the owner of
Germany’s Wolf Records, which is where
he recorded his seven albums.
Known for his shy and unassuming per-
sonality, Eddie Jr. played Chicago blues
guitar with reverence to his father and con-
sideration to his own personal expression.
His sound was dynamic with a smoldering
passion that displayed his genuine love for
Chicago blues. He was noted for resurrect-
ing old classics like Robert Johnson’s “Stop
Breakin’ Down,” Magic Sam’s “Easy Baby”
and Syl Johnson's ‘Sock It To Me,” as well as
composing blues contemporary originals
including the juke joint jam, “Worried
About My Baby” and the upbeat ‘I Got To
Make This Money Baby.” Despite a kidney
transplant in 2002, which his brother Milton
lovingly provided, Eddie Jr. was a hard
14 illinoisentertainer.com april 2019
his life and the gift of music.
Much like his father, Eddie Taylor’s Jr.’s
music was known and appreciated by fel-
low musicians and the blues community
more so than the larger public. He spent his
life spreading the gospel of the blues and
upholding his father’s legacy and for that,
his memory will live on.
Khalif Wailin Walter is another
Chicago musician with a solid blues lin-
eage, His uncle Carl Weathersby has been a
mainstay on blues stages for decades and
was recently inducted into the Chicago
Blues Hall of Fame. But Khalif officially
caught the blues bug when no other than
B.B. King provided him with an unexpect-
ed lesson on blues guitar when he was 17-
years-old. He moved to Chicago and was
mentored by his uncle and well as studied
Chicago blues mavericks The Kinsey
Report and Dion Payton during the late
‘80s, before backing the legendary Lonnie
Brooks for four years . He’s also performed
with greats including Taj Mahal, A.C. Reed,
Pinetop Perkins and Otis Rush. That quali-
fies as a solid stint through Blues University
and his chops our on shining display on his
recent release, Nothing Left To Lose (Pepper
Cake). Opening with the appropriately
wailing “Reign Down Fire,” a tune cele-
brating bluesman Jimi Hendrix, Khalif
shows off his freewheeling guitar skill
.”Why Did I Do It” reveals smooth vocals
over a classic cheating lament, underscored
with tasty guitar licks. The 9-track CD
focuses on blues with rock, soul and funk
influences that’s decidedly not “your
granddaddy's blues” while remaining firm-
ly planted in the Chicago blues tradition. A
highlight is the swamp blues of ‘Papa
Legba’s Lounge” and the bonus track, “My
Baby Calls Me Coffee” is so wickedly
clever; “my baby call me coffee/because I
can grind/so doggone fine/she don’t ever
head out for no Starbucks/ain’t no coffee
good as mine.” that it deserves a spotlight
as a potential Chicago contemporary blues
classic. Don’t miss this fresh blues album.