(4 / 5)
The Blues: There is a very broad church of the genre. Rhythm and blues, Acoustic blues, Boogie Woogie blues, Country blues, Folk blues, Swing blues, Jump blues, Jazz blues, Blues rock, Soul blues, British blues, Delta blues, Mississippi blues, Memphis blues, Texas blues, Detroit blues, Louisiana blues, New Orleans blues, Contemporary blues, African blues, Gospel blues, Swamp blues, Zydeco/Cajun Blues, and of course Chicago blues.
The blues from Windy City has a distinctive sound all of its own; blending electric guitar and amplified “blues harp” aka harmonica, often with piano, bass and drums, and of course, a lead vocal. Some of the originators and main exponents of Chicago blues include Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Elmore James, Magic Sam, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Otis Rush and Paul Butterfield.
There are various famed venues in Chicago where you are guaranteed a hefty dose of the blues on tap, and one of those was Theresa’s Lounge, where many major players got their start in front of an audience. Now a bunch of those blues stars have gathered together to pay homage to the place and its founder Theresa Needham, with a sparkling 13-track album of songs you would hear at the venue.
John Primer playing with Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones in Chicago (1981)
“Tribute To Theresa’s Lounge” is dedicated to Theresa and devised by three-time Grammy nominee and Blues Hall of Fame artist John Primer, who assembled a slew of his mates who have all graced the stage down in the basement of what many call the greatest blues club in the world. John and these blues stars on this joyous record were all taught how to be a professional blues musician by the blues masters performing in that club.
All the greats played there: Muddy, Willie, Wolf, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy, Hound Dog Taylor, Otis Rush, Butterfield, Magic Slim & The Teardrops, Mike Broomfield, Johnny Winter, Otis Spann, Jimmy Rodgers and many blues musicians from Europe flocked there to learn the blues, which included The Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart.
John Primer is now 81 and born on sharecropper land in Camden, Mississippi where he grew up working on the fields. He migrated to Chicago as an 18-year-old with his mother in 1963 and began his blues career and love for the genre, busking on Maxwell Street, Chicago for tips. He got his first gig at Theresa’s Lounge in the 1970s. John was the band leader for Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Magic Slim and Jr. Wells, before forming Real Deal Blues Band in 1995.
Recorded in January and December 2025 in Chicago, John is joined by a real who’s who of living blues stars on this album: Billy Branch, Bob Stroger, Willie Buck, Mary Lane, John Watkins, Harmonica Hinds, Carlos Johnson, Twist Turner, Tony Mangiullo and Jeff Brinkman. Produced by Lisa B. Primer, John’s wife and manager.
The songs penned by the likes of Muddy Waters aka McKinley Morganfield, Mel London, John Primer, Mary Lane, Little Walter Jacobs, John Watkins, and prolific Chicago songwriters Daniels & Moore (Jack Daniels and Johnny Moore). John Primer wrote track two, “7 Nights For 7 Years” for this album, about how hard he worked and “paid his dues” at Theresa’s Lounge.
He penned “The Blues Is King” about how vital it is to keep the blues traditions intact and alive. The opening song, “Up In Heah” is a song that Jr. Wells kicked off his set at Theresa’s Lounge with, written by Daniels & Moore. Billy Branch sings and plays harmonica on “Sugar Sweet”, which Muddy Waters would sing in that basement, and on the album Willie Buck delivers the Muddy Waters’ song, “Champagne and Reefer”.
Another Muddy Waters’ song, “She’s Nineteen Years Old” is featured here, with Carlos Johnson on vocal and guitar. John Primer wrote “We All Need Help” in memory of Theresa Needham, who died in 1992 at the age of 80, and was known and revered as “The Godmother of the Chicago blues”, and posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.
She opened Theresa’s Lounge in 1949, sometimes called “T’s Basement”, on the South side of Chicago. The venue relocated in 1983 and closed in 1986. A play based on Theresa’s Lounge, “Nothing But The Blues” was written by Joe Plummer and premiered in 2010.
Mary Lane was the only regular female singer at Theresa’s Lounge and she sings her own “Mary’s Song” on the record. John Watkins sings his song, “Here I Am Knocking On Your Door Again”, as the penultimate track here. The closing track, “Mean Old World” was sung by Sammy Lawhorn at the club and written by the legendary Little Walter, and on this collection, it is John Primer’s tribute to Sammy.
John says the songs and the musicians on the album mean a lot to him. “We all got our start together at Theresa’s Lounge. We are all in our seventies, eighties and nineties now. I am so happy to be able to pay tribute to Theresa’s….”
It is a sincere and from-the-heart project that really delivers in terms of performance, strength of the material and the authenticity of these Chicago veterans showing love, gratitude and tribute to the woman behind the long-gone and much missed iconic venue. Where they all cut their teeth; learned from the blues greats and honed their craft to then build upon solid foundations and still be touring the world today.
This album is an essential part of any credible blues music collection – or the perfect introduction to classic Chicago blues.
By Christopher Weston
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
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