I've been a fan of Charlie Sayles for a while. I booked him at the 2011 Hill Country Harmonica, and if and when we ever do the event again, he will be part of the mix. But he continues to amaze and impress me in new ways.
I just stumbled across the following video. It is one of the rawest, least filtered blues videos you're likely to see, and that's why I like it. I almost want to protect Charlie from the camera. Nobody should let a pesky journalist's camera this far into their private world--and the journalist, frankly, should have turned off the camera.
And yet: an amazing video. I can't help but feel, after watching it, as though Charlie is every bit our Sonny Boy Williamson (SBW II), our master of the solo late-night in-the-moment blues.
The harp playing is quirky. But the singing, the performance, the man, are priceless. Some videos make you want to say "This is the blues." This video does that to me.
I've crossed pathes with him three times. I always left feeling I had encountered a "real" bluesman. He may be the last of his kind. Raw is who he is. ---------- www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
I first saw Charlie in the middle 80's and he was smoking hot even back then. He played Whammer Jammer and totally knocked it out of the park. He was selling an instructional book and vinyl disk that he made. It was 10 dollars and I did not have any money at the time, so he gave me one on the house. I still have it somewhere. Great guy, great talent. If I had his address, I'd mail him the money with interest.