Hardly any book tells more about the history of Chicago Blues. Hardly any biography reveals
more anecdotes and secrets of the Blues. Tampa Red (ca. 1903 - 1981) should be mentioned in the
same breath with legends like Robert Johnson Muddy Waters or B.B. King. For more than 20 years
Tampa Red set the tone in Chicago the first with a brass guitar one of the first with an
electric guitar pioneering slide virtuoso author of more than 300 song pearls mentor of many
later stars. But Hudson Whittaker as his real name was lost glory and health towards the end
of his life died lonely as a forgotten man. To this day no comprehensive book has been
published no film nothing. Unbelievable! Now finally this great gap in blues literature is
filled. The award-winning Swiss book author and blues musician Richard Koechli traces Tampa
Red's life sensitively and historically precisely and prepares a worthy end for him with the
help of a literary trick. Embedded in a fictional conversation with the young nursing assistant
Anna and her music-obsessed friend Eric Koechli lets Hudson Whittaker tell his own story right
before his death: About life in Chicago about love about his music and his songs about
famous and less famous colleagues about grief despair about the fear of dying - and finally
about the happiness of reconciliation with his own history. Thrilling like a thriller touching
like a drama clarifying like a history book raves the online magazine bluesnews.ch. With this
book Koechli makes public an important and hitherto hardly noticed chapter in music history
for Blues fans a bubbling source of knowledge with plenty of aha moments. Finally an English
translation of the original German edition published in 2017 is now available optionally as
hardcover softcover e-book and large print book.
