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Review (++++)

This is one of the classic albums in blues history. Recorded October 27 and November 1 in 1971 you can feel the dark and cold autumn weather when you listen to the album. The band is hard-core Chicago and Jimmy Dawkins gives ample proof of why he was considered as on of the best guitar players in Chicago at the time. Jimmy plays in his concentrated, yet fluid, style. He hadnīt yet started to break up his playing as he did a couple of years later. This is the Fast Fingers whoīs playing.

• All for business (4.41)
  The album opens with the best and the most original of Dawkins own compositions. Thereīs no need to say that much. This is a classic blues song. Big Voice Odomīs singing is the only drawback. Iīd preferred Jimmy Dawkins at the microphone.
• Cotton Country (8.10)
  One of the real highlights on this album are the long instrumentals Jimmy shares with Otis Rush. The songs might be long but I wouldnīt want to be without a single note. I have never heard Otis Rush stretch out and play with such ease as he does here. The two instrumentals, three on the CD, could be used to define modern Chicago blues. Listen to Otis Rush! Jeesus.
• Moon Man (4.58)
  "Moon Man" is more of a filler. An up tempo song and itīs not really a bad song, but the competition is tough. The lyrics are fun and at the time up to date. Jim Conley on sax riffs nicely and his solo has a jazzy edge and Dawkins fill-ins are perfect. But anyway, more of a filler.
• Down so long (3.58)
  Now weīre talking! This is swampy shuffle with a real cool feeling. Chucka-chucka-chucka. Otis Rush have found a tight groove and Jimmy Dawkins laid-back singing is just right!
• Welfare Blues (4.29)
  A slow blues with a wonderful guitar intro by Otis Rush. But somehow this songs sounds a bit stylized, too thought out, to move me.
• Having such a hard time (3.40)
  An upbeat song with a slightly funky feeling. Jimmy plays cool guitar, but I donīt think Big Voice Odomīs voice works here.
• Sweet home Chicago (7.20)
  Not the Magic Sam/Robert Johnson standard. This is a long instrumental where Jimmy Dawkins and Otis Rush take turns and build up an incredibly intensity.
• Born in Poverty (7.25)
  A minor-key blues. This is as blue it could get in Chicago around 1970. Big Voice Odom looses his voice at the end and Jimmy plays his monotone phrases over and over again and Jim Conley's saxophone wails sadly in the back. When I first started to listen at blues, this was the kind of songs I searched and longed for. Turn up the volume, kneel down on the floor and let the music hit you.
• Jamminī with Otis (8.45)
  The CD contains three bonus tracks. The first one is hot instrumental. Dawkins grunts at the start: "Otis, will you kick of something in G. Up tempo, like 'Everyday I have the blues'?" Otis does that and the loose swinging shuffle shuffles on around 9 minutes. This is more Otis Rush than Dawkins. Stunning guitar from Otis though.
• Hippies Playground (3.18) ()
  Jimmy recorded this with Wild Child Butler in the sixties. This take is much more bareboned and Dawkins plays some of his best guitar on the whole album! Real tight rhythm guitar and the solo is an outstanding example of everything Dawkins had learned before. The solo is not even 30 seconds long, but every aspect of the Dawkinsī style is there - The metallic tone, the insane attack, the concentrated notes. This track and this solo is reason enough to buy the CD if you already have the LP.
• Moon Man (4.15)
  Dawkins guitar sounds more and better than on the LP take. A better version maybe, but itīs still the weakest song on the album.