AUSSIE BLUES #5

Chain - Two Of A Kind (1973)

Advert for Muddy Waters May 1973 Australian tour

Muddy Waters, Perth, Australia 1974 (photo by Bob Mac)

Chain - Two Of A Kind (1973)

Tracks:

01. Two Of A Kind (James "Pee Wee" Madison) - 4:41

02. Reconsider Baby (Lowell Fulsom ) - 4:37

03. Everybody Has To Lose Sometime (trad., arr. by James "Pee Wee" Madison) - 8:20

04. Blues With A Feeling (Little Walter Jacobs) - 4:44

05. How To Set Fire To An Elephant (Ian Clyne) - 19:20

Track 5 recorded live at the Garrison Nightclub, June 7th, 1973.

Personnel:

James "Pee Wee" Madison - Guitar, Vocals

George "Mojo" Beauford - Vocals, Harmonica

Phil Manning - Guitar, Vocals

Ian Clyne - Organ

Mal Capewell - Saxophone, Flute

Barry Sullivan - Bass

Barry Harvey - Drums

Greg "Sleepy" Lawrie - Slide Guitar on Track 5

By 1973 Chain were the top blues band in Australia, so when Muddy Waters and his band toured Australia in May 1973, it came as no surprise that Chain were the local support band for Muddy's Australian concerts. Among the members of Muddy's band for the 1973 tour were guitarist James 'Pee Wee' Madison and harp player George 'Mojo' Beauford. So while Muddy and band were in Australia Chain's management seized upon the opportunity to have Chain record a new album with 'Pee Wee' Madison and 'Mojo' Beauford guesting on a few tracks. The session yielded only enough  tracks to fill one side of an LP, so Mushroom Records included a 19 minute live track from Chain's appearance at Melbourne's Garrison Nightclub in June to fill the B-side of the album. 

Note: In the above advert for Muddy's May 1973 Australia tour a Perth concert is scheduled for May 11 at the WACA. However, the Perth concert was cancelled. We did, however, get to see Muddy the following year for the 1974 Australia & New Zealand tour. The line up had changed, both Madison and Beauford had left the band and were replaced by Bob Margolin and Jerry Portnoy, the other members were Pinetop Perkins on piano, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones on bass, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums, and Luther Johnson on guitar - this was the Luther Johnson who appeared in the Blues Brothers movie playing with John Lee Hooker. Another interesting fact is at the end of the Australian tour Jerry Portnoy unexpectedly returned to the USA (I've heard since that there was a death in his family) and none other than James Cotton flew out to New Zealand to rejoin his former boss for the remainder of the tour.

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