Brisbane live music venue New Globe Theatre celebrates its fourth birthday in early November with a tribute to legendary Chicago blues guitarist Muddy Waters.
The tribute is being led by Brisbane guitarist and band leader Paul Renton along with his own group, Morningside Fats.
For Paul, there is no greater sound than that of the distinctive Chicago blues Muddy helped shape. “Nothing in my ears beats that noise,” Paul says.
{youtube}HTyMkXTRXps{/youtube}
“It's a style of music that the guys who don't know might malign it a bit because of its structure.
"It's three chords and twelve bars, most of it, but when you get in behind it most if it has something else going on with it and in order to play it properly that's where you have to go.
“The other thing of course, the part that's not tangible, is what they call the 'soul'; we're not allowed to say the 'blackness' of it but that's what it is. It's really difficult to put that across and not a lot of acts do it.
"t's something to me that's really powerful... It's what you're trying to replicate on the stage every time you play and it's what you try to replicate in the studio every time you go.”
Initially a punk-rock guitarist, Paul's own infatuation with Muddy Waters and the Chicago blues style originates in his early years watching a film clip by The Rolling Stones. “I can distinctly remember looking at a film clip show on TV and seeing the most punk-looking and rock & roll-looking dude,” he says, “turns out the guy was Keith Richards.
“Not long after I became a bit infatuated with them. You start buying The Rolling Stones' collection of albums and of course the first one has a cover of 'I Just Want To Make Love To You', which Muddy Waters had a hit with.
{youtube}RnlvHP1AXPo{/youtube}
“So you go back and have a look at these guys and the first time I heard Muddy as a rock & roll guy I connected straight away.”
For the tribute show at New Globe Theatre in November, Paul and Morningside Fats will be joined by Ghost Audio and Jimi Beavis. “Morningside Fats will be doing some Muddy covers and because we've got such an extensive repertoire of Muddy Waters songs we're going to sit back and wait to see what the other guys do then we'll just play the songs they don't,” Paul says.
“Ghost Audio will get up and do their thing, which I'm looking forward to. It'll be exciting hearing those guys putting their slant on it, not trying to sound like a Chicago blues band but doing what Ghost Audio do with Muddy Waters songs, that'll be exciting.”
Muddy Waters passed away in 1983, yet his legacy seems ageless thriving within the subsequent generations of guitar players discovering his playing style. “Muddy was the master's master,” Paul says.
“I teach guitar for a living as well and most of the guys I teach who come in their teens will be influenced directly or by people who were influenced by guys like [Eric] Clapton, [Jimmy] Page and [Jeff] Beck – all three who have said Muddy Waters was their biggest influence when they started playing.”
