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Listening to his playing and singing on that number it is obvious how much passion he

injected into his music, and his stinging finger picking guitar style was a match for any
other blues player of the day. The song was an immediate local hit record, and its

somewhat unusual structure would become synonymous with Sam, via a number of similar
recordings, throughout his career.

Sam had previously been working under the name of ‘Good Rockin’ Sam’, but was unable
to use it on the recording because it was already being used by someone else. It was
apparently bassist

Mack Thompson who
had the brain wave to

change his name
around a bit, to
become ‘Magic Sam’!

The following year
(1958) he was back in

the studio again, with
only Dixon remaining

from the previous
session, cutting 4 more
sides, one of which

was another classic -
‘Easy Baby’, which is

similar to All Your Love,
but still a very strong
recording.

Just when his career
seemed to be starting

to take off, Sam was
drafted into the US Army for his national service. He hated it, eventually deserted, was

arrested, and served 6 months in jail before receiving a dishonourable discharge.

He effectively was back to square one with his music career, but over time was able to

re-establish himself on the Chicago club circuit, in spite of the Musicians Union levying a
$1,000 dollar fine on him (which was still outstanding when he died!). In addition to these
problems, Cobra Records had suffered financial problems and gone out of business.

When not working in Chicago, he often ventured north, to clubs such as The Avant Garde,
in Milwaukee, where he was recorded live on June 22 1968. 45 years later it saw the light

of day on Delmark Records, in a 67 minute cd (Live At The Avant Garde) that showcases
Sam at his best, accompanied by just bass and drums. Considering that it was an amateur

recording, using a reel to reel tape recorder, the sound is remarkably good. Jim Charne,