Sunnyland Slim & Big Voice Odom At The Chicago Blues Festival with Jimmy Dawkins 1974

Probably the first thing you should know about this album is that the Chicago Blues Festival of 1974 did not actually take place in Chicago; it was, instead, the name of European tour of American bluesmen. This live concert comes from the Blues Reference series of the good folks at Black and Blue.

We have an interesting collection of Chicago musicians here that attracted me because it includes 7 more tracks from 'Big Voice' Odum as well as 13 from pianist Sunnyland Slim. Fine guitar work from Jimmy Dawkins provides fireworks throughout the show.

PERSONNEL:

SUNNYLAND SLIM vocal (8-18, 20, 21), piano (8-21)
BIG VOICE ODOM vocal (1-7)
JIMMY DAWKINS guitar
OTIS RUSH guitar (5)
JEROME VAN JONES organ (1-5)
WILLIE MABON harmonica (11, 14 & 20)
JAMES GREEN bass
BOB PLUNKETT drums

Recorded in Paris, France, November 26, 1974.

Andrew 'Big Voice' Odom - Feel So Good

 Andrew Odom - One Bad-Ass Singin' Dude!


Andrew Odom was a BAAAAD MAN!  I don't care if it is BB Odum, Voice Odom, Big Voice Odom....call the man what you will, he is a Baaad Man, ain't no lie! Here is a guy who could fake you out into thinking you were hearing a Bobby Bland cut you'd missed, and at other times you'd swear it was some obscure BB King track, or most of the time you'd just wonder how anyone can sound like both guys at the same time and still have a quality all his own.

Biographical information on this dude is remarkably scarce, he doesn't even have a rudimentary  Wikipedia page! Livin' Blues, however, came to my rescue with some info:
   "ANDREW 'B.B.' ODOM - Andrew 'BB' Odom was born in Denham Springs, Louisiana in 1936, he moved to St. Louis in the 50’s. While in St. Louis he toured with Albert King and others, finally moving to Chicago in the early 60’s. He spent the next ten years traveling and recording as the featured vocalist with the Earl Hooker Band, an auspicious beginning as Earl Hooker was considered to be one of the greatest guitar players of his generation. After Hooker’s untimely death in 1970, Jimmy Dawkins hired Odom to tour Europe. It was Dawkins who gave him the name 'Big Voice'. BB King, along with Bobby Bland, were an early influence on Odom.
  

He traveled and recorded with Dawkins throughout the seventies while continuing to build a local reputation in Chicago’s south and west side Blues clubs. The realities of the music business and the need to support a wife and seven children prevented him from hiring a band to pursue his career on a full-time basis. Things seemed to be changing for Odom in the 90’s. In early 90s Odom was approached by Canadians Steve and Doran Katz to front their band, The Gold Tops. BB Odom worked with the band on a few dates in Ontario, which went extremely well.  A year later they were headlining the Toronto Blues Festival, and playing other summer festivals throughout Ontario. Flying Fish signed the band in December of ‘91 on the strength of their demo tape. Sadly, Odom did not live to see the release of this recording. In the early morning, on December 23, he died of a heart attack the wheel of his car. He was on his way to the Checkerboard Lounge from Buddy Guy’s Legends, where he had sat in earlier that evening which he often did in Sunday evenings after church. BB Odom’s death is a tragic loss to the Blues community. Throughout his career he had been in demand as a featured vocalist by top bandleaders like Buddy Guy, Little Milton, Magic Slim, and Jimmy Dawkins, who themselves were singers. His resonant voice, replete with Gospel fervor, lent another dimension to his Blues. He gave his all during a performance, whether he was paid for it or not. B.B. brought the healing quality of Gospel music to the Blues. He reached deep down into your soul and made you feel." Amen!

Andrew 'Voice' Odum - Farther On Down The Road

The old ABC Bluesway imprint had some first class releases and this is certainly one of them. This comes from the period when Odum was teamed up with Earl Hooker in an everyday working band so the 'sympatico' here is outstanding. The band includes not only Earl, but Big Moose Walker, Jimmy Bond and Panama Francis! One serious bunch of heavyweights!

""Andrew ‘Big Voice’ Odom is a largely undiscovered gem of a Blues singer who plied his trade around the Chicago scene for many years, supplying his soulful vocal lines on many great performances by the èlite guitarists on the club circuit. His rich tone and superb timing might have made him a star, but he didn’t get a breakthrough as a solo artist.

Born in Denham Springs LA in 1936, Andrew Odom learned to sing in Church and in the mid-50s he moved to St. Louis where he began working with guitarist Albert King. Relocating to Chicago in 1960, he teamed up with his long-term partner Earl Hooker and, because Andrew’s voice had a strong resemblance to BB King and Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland‘s, he was billed as BB Odem, and sometimes as ‘Big Voice’ Odem.
He cut his debut solo album ‘Farther on Down the Road’ for Bluesway in 1969, with Johnny ‘Big Moose’ Walker on piano, but it remained unissued for several years. Andrew was the front man for one of the hottest bands around the Chicago club scene in the late 60s, with Earl at the top of his game, and with Pinetop Perkins, Carey Bell and Freddie Roulette behind him. This is the team that played on the brilliant ‘Two Bugs and a Roach’ and ‘Don’t Have to Worry’ albums, but when Earl passed away in 1970, Andrew began fronting Jimmy Dawkins‘ band. He spent most of the next decade gigging and recording with Jimmy including European Blues Festivals, and featuring on the excellent Delmark album ‘All For Business’.

A regular face on the Chicago scene in the 80s, Andrew cut an album for the French Black and Blue label in 1982 with Lucky Peterson on keyboards, backed by Magic Slim and the Teardrops. Andrew often sat in at club gigs with Slim, Buddy Guy, Little Milton and many others who loved his rich voice and passionate delivery. The Canadian band, the Gold Tops with guitarist Steve Katz, invited Andrew to join them, and their 1992 album ‘Goin’ to California’ was one of Andrew’s finest recordings. Sadly, it was released posthumously, as Andrew died from a heart attack while driving between Chicago gigs, just days after his 55th birthday." Allaboutbluesmusic.com

Thanks to the original uploader for this gem!

Andrew B.B. Odum - Goin' to California

 A repost by request:


"Not long before he died, Odom made the album of his life with a combo called the Gold Tops, who provided precisely the right backing to properly spotlight his booming voice. A few overdone standards -- "Rock Me Baby," "Woke Up This Morning," "Next Time You See Me" -- intrude a bit, but Odom's own "Bad Feelin'," "Why Did You Leave Me," and "Come to Me" make impassioned amends. Steve Freund, best-known for his long stint with Sunnyland Slim, contributes stellar lead guitar." Bill Dahl