Big Head Blues Club at the Cedar, Minneapolis (03 Nov 2016)

With the Chicago Cubs winning their first World Series in 108 years, it was perfectly understandable that the party continue on another night—

And with the Big Head Blues Club in town at the Cedar Cultural Center celebrating Chicago blues legend Willie Dixon and others, the blues never sounded so celebratory and stirring. 

The collective has actually become a re-occurring foray for Colorado group Big Head Todd and the Monsters as they pay homage and are joined on stage by some of the blues legends that inspired their own music. 

The new album is Way Down Inside: Songs of Willie Dixon (on their own Big Records) and even if you’re not familiar with the pioneering artist they are authoring, any listening to early Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Rolling Stones, etc., clearly shows how much of an impact the blues in general, and Dixon in particular, have influenced all of their sounds. 

This installment (the first album covered Robert Johnson) sees Todd and band joining up with three second-generation blues stars- Mud Morganfield, Billy Branch, and Ronnie Baker Brooks as well as guest vocalist Erica Brown, for a rousing two-hour show that showed why the art form is so vital and influential.

Morganfield, the eldest son of Muddy Waters, got things started by taking the reins for ‘I Want to be Loved’, dressed in a dapper suit, smiling and sitting while singing.  Three-time Grammy nominee Billy Branch was next, spotlighted on ‘Good Advice’, and who knew Dixon better than others as he did a stint as harmonica player in his Blues All-Stars band. 

Ronnie Baker Brooks was solid all night on guitar, he the son of Chicago blues master Lonnie Brooks and letting his guitar cry on the soulful  ‘My Love Will Never Die’.  

Todd Park Mohr took us through what is maybe the first blues mash-up as he combined three versions of the classic ‘Spoonful’ then each told short stories around a killer ‘I’m a Hoochie Coochie Man’, a song that almost singlehandedly defines the blues.

After a stomping ‘Pretty Thing’ (featuring whistling and that classic Bo Diddley guitar rumble) Erica Brown pounced on stage to help sing ‘That Same Thing’, jumping and crying out like someone half her age, then disappeared again as quickly. Though Dixon was the focus of the night, his Chess Records label mate, Buddy Guy couldn’t be ignored (also being from Chicago) and was also honored with a cover of ‘Let Me Love You Baby’.

With all the recent social and political unrest, Billy Branch’s take on 1971’s ‘It Don’t Make Sense’ seemed as much or more relevant today, than when it was originally written.  Morganfield reprised his father’s role, taking the lead for a rousing ‘You Need Love’ (which Led Zeppelin shamelessly stole for ‘Whole Lotta Love’) which closed the main set and on ‘Trouble No more’ for the encore.

The stage filled with everyone joining in for the evening finale of ‘Wang Dang Doodle’, with Brown’s voice raising to the rafters on the chorus and sung mostly to Chicago “leading lady of the blues” Barbara LeShoure, who was in attendance, watching from a wheelchair just off stage.   

“The blues are the roots, the rest are the fruits”, it was said from the stage and no truer words were spoken, especially after witnessing this show.

For blues fans, this show is a no-brainer to attend;  for everyone else, rest assured that this installment of the Big Head Blues Club is not only an elite combination of musicians to witness, but a history lesson as well into a unique American art form, and is one of the most musically satisfying shows of the year.