Robert Nighthawk was famed for the majestic, melancholy mood of his recordings and the smooth precision of his slide guitar work. A live album capturing those qualities would have remarkable in itself, but Live on Maxwell Street–1964left listeners even more awed at the raw power of Nighthawk and his band pulling out all the stops playing for tips at Chicago’s famed street market. The slide guitar pieces are dialed-up tours-de-force but Nighthawk shows a hard-rocking side of his repertoire as well, joined by Carey Bell on some cuts. Rolling Stone critic Greil Marcus rated as one of the 10 best rock ‘n’ roll albums of 1980. On the final track, recorded at a separate session in a Chicago apartment, Nighthawks talks to Mike Bloomfield and demonstrates some guitar licks. All the tracks were recorded during the production of Mike Shea’s film And This is Free. Rounder acquired tapes–which turned out to be second-generation–for this album from Norman Dayron, an associate of Bloomfield and Shea. Several years later Shea’s original tapes, including more sides by Nighthawk and other artists, were released by P-Vine Special and Rooster Blues. Rounder has also released expanded versions of the album on CD.
Tracks: Goin’ Down To Eli’s/Mr. Bell’s Shuffle/The Time Have Come/Yakity Yak/Nighthawk Shuffle/Take It Easy Baby/Maxwell Street Medley/Burning Heat/I Need Love So Bad/Excerpts From Interview/Kansas City
Released as Rounder 2022 on LP in 1980, on CD in 1991, and as Bullseye Blues & Jazz 9624 on CD in 2000 with bonus tracks and some retitled songs.