----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
I dunno about dissing Muddy to bolster Wolf and Walter but I agree Wolf
and Walter were the most
pure talent at Chess, although I'd argue the rhythm section and Hubert
Sumlin came pretty close as
far as musical creativity. Muddy, however, was the franchise player and
should never be slighted. He
sold a heck of a lot of records for them, which floated everyone's boat.
Same with Chuck Berry.
Chuck Berry probably sold WAY more Chess records than any of their blues
artists! As a rock'n'roll star, I'm sure he had a few gold records...and
Chess blues records were merchandised as "race records" until the "British
Blues Revival" made them popular with young white record buyers...
Fortunately, Muddy lived long enough to see that change!
Steven C. Barr