*** Eddie Clearwater

MEAN CASE OF THE BLUES

(Bullseye Blues)

On the Chief's first domestic album in nearly a decade, he's in a trio -- his best setting, because it compels him to play and sing his ass off. Clearwater started as a disciple of Chuck Berry, and he's been toughing out a living in Chicago's scene for decades. So his blue-collar blues ring authentic as he moans a classic like Magic Sam's "Look Whatcha Done" or shouts through "Party at My House" or another of his many up-tempo originals.

He fronts the band, also his current touring outfit, with a sense of reckless confidence that translates into raw guitar runs and nasty bent and shaken strings -- just like his best live performances. It's the kind of playing gleaned from years of slugging it out in the clubs, learning how to push patrons' buttons. When Clearwater sings "I picked a hard way to make an easy living" in the song of the same name, you know he's not kidding. You also know that at 62 years old he's still having a hell of a good time.

-- Ted Drozdowski