This poster popped up recently on Twitter (@salvatorRosa) - legendary blues artist Muddy Waters playing at Goldsmiths College in New Cross, November 29 1968. Also featuring Otis Spann (playing with Waters), British blues guitarist Gordon Smith (who has played with Kevin Coyne among others) and Mike Kean's Dusty Blues Ensemble.
However, as somebody in comments has pointed out, the image in the poster appears to be John Lee Hooker rather than Muddy Waters! Awkward...
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| John Lee Hooker |
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| Muddy Waters (left) as he actually looked in 1968 (pictured at Hammersmith Odeon) |
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9 comments:
Hilariously, that’s a picture of John Lee Hooker.
Lol, reckon you could be right. I was wondering because when I found some footage of Muddy Waters in 1968 he was looking a lot fitter!
I had a good laugh too.I played guitar in the support band 'Mike Kean's Dusty Blues ~Ensemble'.We were in fact 'The Dusty Blues Band'.The 'frontman' was Pete Keen.
Not only has the promoter designed a large chunk of his poster to give his address as a ticket agent and added John Lee Hooker instead of Muddy Waters he goes for Bronze Silver and Gold medals in the How not to design a Poster competition by completely forgetting to add the date.
Still I remembered the date very swell as the backstage toilets were not working and I went to the FOH toilet and shook hands with the great Muddy (after washing our hands of course)
I played harp on that gig with Pete Keen's band. Great night with a roomful of legends to drink with for a couple of hours afterwards. Muddy got us up to jam with them at the start of their set. I was too nervous to play anything like my best, or even remember the number we jammed on, but it didn't matter: we were there and we played with, and then listened to, the greatest blues band in history! What a night!
Ooer! Spoke to Pete today, who tells me I wasn't at that particular gig at all! This raises some interesting questions. Was there some other Muddy gig at Golsmiths, with Paul Oscher on harp, around the same time but organised at short notice? Also who the hell got me in at the last minute to play harp? As you may understand, this was the 60s and memory of that period are imperfect, to say the least, amongst its survivors, ie me!!!
Oops! I spoke to Pete Keen after posting my last comment and he tells me I wasn't on stage with him that night, nor was there a jam with Muddy! That begs some questions as I know I was at a Muddy Waters concert and still have a blown-out Ab harp which Paul Osher chucked away. I remember a brief jam and being backstage with other guests and chatting with Paul, Luther Johnson and King Muddy. It can't have been the same gig that Pete was at and I didn't imagine mine so it remains a mystery. Of course, it was in the 60s and, like most of its survivors, my memory is less than perfect. Anybody else remember my one?
My name is Paul Thompson. I was at the Goldsmiths gig - in fact I was 'dressing room security' on behalf of the students' union (because, as a skinhead, I looked a lot tougher than I was). The dressing rooms were the SU offices, and we all ended up sitting round a table together. I was sitting next to Muddy Waters, and then Alexis Korner and his family turned up - Alexis's kids all called MW "Uncle Muddy." At one point, Gordon Smith started playing Can't Be Satisfied and Muddy started singing it. Then Muddy turned to me and said, "That poster they put up - that's John Lee Hooker!" I can't remember what I said in reply, but it was probably embarrassingly banal. But wow - sitting next to the great man!
Great story Paul! Incidentally I mentioned you previously at a post about Steve Maxted and skinheads https://transpont.blogspot.com/2024/06/skinheads-at-savoy-rooms-in-catford.html
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