Back Where I Belong
Billy Boy Arnold was the first major Chicago blues figure who was actually born and raised in the Windy City and hadn't simply moved up from the South. As a teenager, Arnold got personal harmonica lessons from the first Sonny Boy Williamson and joined Bo Diddley's street-corner band. He was only 19 when he recorded his first single in 1955, however, and at a surprisingly youthful 57 last year, he recorded his first album in 16 years, "Back Where I Belong." Arnold hasn't lost anything to the years. He still blows his mouth harp in the wah-wah riff style of his mentor Williams, and his vocals have grown deeper, darker and fuller with age.--Geoffrey Himes