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Jimmy Dawkins
Chicago
guitarist Jimmy Dawkins would just as soon leave his longtime nickname
"Fast Fingers" behind. It was always something of a stylistic misnomer
anyway; Dawkins's West Side-styled guitar slashes and surges, but
seldom burns with incendiary speed. Dawkins's blues are generally of
the brooding, introspective variety -- he doesn't engage in flashy
pyrotechnics or outrageous showmanship.
It took a long time for Dawkins to progress from West Side fixture to
nationally known recording artist. He rode a Greyhound bus out of
Mississippi in 1955, dressed warm to ward off the Windy City's infamous
chill factor. Only trouble was, he arrived on a sweltering July day!
Harpist Billy Boy Arnold offered the newcomer encouragement, and he
eventually carved out a niche on the competitive West Side scene (his
peers included Magic Sam and Luther Allison).
Sam introduced Dawkins to Delmark Records boss Bob Koester. Fast
Fingers, Dawkins's 1969 debut LP for Delmark--still his best album to
date--was a taut, uncompromising piece of work that won the Grand Prix
du Disque de Jazz from the Hot Club of France in 1971 as the year's top
album. Andrew "Big Voice" Odom shared the singing and Otis Rush the
second guitar duties on Dawkins's 1971 encore All for Business. But
after his Delmark LP Blisterstring, Dawkins's subsequent recordings
lacked intensity until 1991's oddly titled Kant Sheck Dees Bluze for
Chicago's Earwig Records. After that, Dawkins waxed discs for Ichiban
and Fedora, and continued to tour extensively.
-Written
by Bill Dahl
Quotes
"Jimmy has recorded the best set of his career" -Blues and Rhythm
"The emotional force of Dawkins' guitar is devastating... an essential album for lovers of blues guitar..." -Alabama Blues Society Newsletter
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