Search - Magic Sam :: Give Me Time

At Home With Sam's Soul, Solo!

swampshaka | New Orleans, Louisiana | 09/17/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In recent years Delmark Records has released several previously unissued recordings chronicling the career of the vastly underrecorded {market releases} Magic Sam. "Give Me Time", gives us this rare chance to hear Sam at home alone performing a wide variety of numbers, most which had never made it to commercial release during his tragically short life. Whether these tunes were just off the cuff noodling, or perhaps some in preparation for an upcoming Delmark recording date, we'll never know? Sam's untimely death occured shortly after these recordings were made. The beauty of "Give Me Time", lies in Sam's casual and organic approach to the material, coupled with the uniqueness of hearing him perform solo {childrens voices and all in the background} furthur enhances the homey feel of the session, which is exactly what it was, a home session. Tunes of particular interest are Sam's reworking of the gospelish "Shake A Hand" and the Falcons hit "You're So Fine", leaving many Magic Samite's {including myself}, salivating at the thought of how good these tunes might've sounded if recorded in the studio with a backing band. On "Come In To My Arms", Eddie "Five Long Years" Boyd appears as guest vocalist {a possible dinner guest?} while "Baby You Torture My Soul", "Give Me Time" and "I'm So Glad" have Magic Sam written all over them! Thanks to Bob Koester who in the past several years has released a substantial amount of previously unissued work from the Delmark vaults, we now have a quite sizeable body Magic Sam material for our ears to feast upon, hence this diamond in the rough, and yes I do mean rough. One can't expect hi-fi quality from a session which was recorded at home and on a portable recorder some 35 years ago, the only negative to this slice of pure unadulterated Chicago Blues."