Record Boy Ink:

The Siegel-Schwall band was a group of white teenagers in the ‘60s who were confident enough to not only hang at south side Chicago blues clubs like Pepper’s Show Lounge and Theresa’s, but to actually play with the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.  They recorded a couple of great blues lps for Vanguard and then added new bass player, Rollow Radford, for the album that seemed destined to launch them into rock star orbit: “Siegel-Schwall 70” (which by my count was recorded 29 years ago!) The band signed to an RCA subsidiary, Wooden Nickel, made a handful of albums that went nowhere and split up.

Record Boy has a soft spot for this band as he recalls fondly seeing them play everywhere from high school auditoriums to the clubs. Tremendous musicians with a terrific sense of humor without a hint of rock star arrogance or self-importance. Anyone who bought the Wooden Nickel lps could tell you why the band didn’t become the next big thing…the records weren’t very good! Or should I say more fairly that they were inconsistent. The tracks veered from blues to cornball sentiment to rock and country and never enough of anything that a listener could sink their teeth into. Corky Siegel, the groups ace harmonica player and keyboardist had and has a very adventurous muse and what worked for the band live just didn’t translate to the bands Wooden Nickel albums.

However, with the recent release of The Siegel-Schwall Band “The Very Best…The Wooden Nickel Years (1971-1974)” (Varese Sarabande), at last all the good stuff on those records are on one CD. Wisely chosen tracks like Rollow’s version of “Corrina”, Corky’s “Always Thinkin’ of you darlin’” “Hey, Billie Jean” and Jim Schwall’s classic “Sick To My Stomach” are some of the highlights, but they’re all gems. This collection is a fine reminder of a talented group of guys who weren’t the next big thing but always gave their fans nothing short of a good time.

Corky Siegel is the only band member that still has a career in music. Lately he has been masterfully combining blues and classical music.  His most recent album, Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues “Complimentary Colors” (Gadfly) is a great piece of work.  Playing blues harp and piano with a percussionist and a string quartet, Corky continues his musical journey. Mixed into his opuses and suites are his rollicking blues piano licks, his quirky vocals and his ace harmonica playing. Make no mistake; Corky Siegel is one of the very best harp players to come out of Chicago. Little Walter, Paul Butterfield, Jr. Wells and James Cotton are better known, but Corky ranks among their hallowed ranks. Check out either album to hear what I’m talkin’ ‘bout.