Blues Blood: Fathers and Sons — A Cross-Generational Communion
In 1976, the German release of “Blues Blood Fathers Sons” laid down more than music — it carved out a living, breathing lineage of the blues. Pressed by Chess/Bellaphon on a double LP format, this collection didn’t just celebrate a genre, it baptized a whole generation in the muddy waters of electric soul. Recorded across two continents, in raw studio sessions and electrified live performances, this album captures the sacred passing of the torch between the originators — the *Fathers* — and the torchbearers — the *Sons*.
The concept is simple, but mighty: pair up the legends who forged the blues in smoke-filled bars and juke joints — men like Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Otis Spann — with the white-hot next generation who took those sounds, ran them through overdriven amps, and brought them to a new audience. That’s your Rory Gallagher, Steve Winwood, Paul Butterfield, Michael Bloomfield, and even Rolling Stones rhythm kings Billy Wyman and Charlie Watts.
It’s a father-and-son concept not by blood, but by bloodline — musical bloodline. These aren’t family reunions, they’re spiritual handoffs. A rhythm passed down. A guitar tone taught by heart. Each track is a conversation, sometimes a challenge, sometimes a call-and-response, between legacy and evolution.
Album Highlights & Sessions
The journey kicks off in both London and Chicago, opening with Bo Diddley shaking his righteous mojo with Roy Wood and Cookie Vee in sessions that thump like a freight train. Muddy Waters’ sides burn slow and deep, featuring Rory Gallagher's guitar sliding like whiskey on Sunday.
Howlin’ Wolf — gravel-voiced and growling — lays it down raw at Olympic Sound Studios, his trusted axe-man Hubert Sumlin beside him, while Billy Wyman and Charlie Watts lock down a groove so deep it could bury your sorrow.
And then there's Side Four — recorded live in Chicago. Muddy again, this time joined by Otis Spann, Bloomfield, Butterfield, and Buddy Miles. It ain’t a setlist, it’s a resurrection. “Got My Mojo Workin’” explodes into a two-part sermon, with each player testifying through his instrument.
