Joe
Dawson Passes Hat - Farewell to local blues legend
(Adam
Carson, Chicago Sun-Times, January 2, 2044)
CHICAGO, IL - Well folks, it's the end of an era. Joseph "Joe" Dawson, Grammy Award winning guitarist, singer, and songwriter, died in his sleep in his Chicago home on New Year's Day. He was 93.
Notoriety came late to Dawson. A life-long resident of Chicago, he passed up a full-ride scholarship to Note Dame as a football player to pursue his passion for the blues. Drafted in 1968, he spent only six months in Vietnam before a land mine took both his legs but he never let the loss slow him down. On his return to Chicago, Dawson became a fixture of the local circuit, playing in relative obscurity and paying his dues. Over time he developed a cult following, jamming with big names like Muddy Watters, Sunnyland Slim, Robert Lockwood Jr., and James Cotton just to name a few.
In the mid-nineties, Dawson opened a hole-in-the-wall blues joint called Joe's on Chicago's south side. It quickly became known for a surprising and eclectic mix of local and visiting talent with the house band, and Dawson himself, opening every evening's festivities. A recording contract followed about a year later.
Dawson and his band put out three moderately successful albums (Don't Want What I Haven't Got, Been On My Mind, and Pullin' Up Stakes) on a local label before striking gold in 2012 with the gospel tinged Borrowed Time. The album produced three unlikely top twenty hits, ranked in the top fifteen on the Country, Gospel, and Pop charts, and is credited with rekindling the public's romance with the blues. The follow-up album, Back to Basics, won Dawson a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2014.
Never one to rest on his laurels, Dawson continued to play at his bar until the day of his death. Wearing his trademark fedora and bandana, he belted out blues classics and originals to a packed house for New Year's Eve. This reporter was in attendance and can tell you he was in rare form, joking with the with crowd, drinking scotch, and having the time of his life.
Dawson will be laid to rest in a private service on Tuesday, January 6th. A spokesman for Dawson's family says that Joe's will open for one final open mike night on Saturday, January 10th, before closing for good. A cover charge of ten dollars a head, a first in the history of the bar, will help fund the newly created Joseph J. Dawson Memorial Scholarship to benefit young Chicago musicians.
You can bet I'll be there.
-oO0Oo-