Magic Sam Maghett has been dead for 33 years and left behind a slim body of studio work, so this collection of newly unearthed live material from 1963 to 1968 is cause for celebration. On these ultra-lo-fi, yet storming sides, the singer/guitarist shows why he was considered a peer of such contemporaries on Chicago’s West Side as Buddy Guy and Otis Rush; as a vocalist, he was virtually untouchable. Heard here in the raucous environs of the Windy City’s Copacabana, Alex Club, and Mother Blues, Sam burns through trio and quintet takes of such staples of his repertoire as “I Found New Love,” “I Don’t Want No Woman,” and “Every Night, Every Day,” plus some crowd-pleasing covers. The sound quality is nothing to write home about, but the performances move the earth.—CM
