Merchandise
THIS GUITAR AND TONIGHT
VizzTone (October 2019)
VizzTone is proud to announce multi-Blues Music Award Winner Bob Margolin’s upcoming new album THIS GUITAR AND TONIGHT to be released on October 25, 2019.
“THIS GUITAR AND TONIGHT is my first all-acoustic album. Inspired by my 1935 parlor guitar, Muddy Waters (known for his electric playing) telling me 40 years ago he actually preferred acoustic guitar, and Amy Brat’s idea that an all-acoustic album would be a fresh adventure, this album made itself. New original songs came easy. My guests on one song each are harp master Bob Corritore and guitar virtuoso Jimmy Vivino. The recording approach is pure, the music sounds right in front of you, no added sugar. No artificial ingredients.”— Bob Margolin, multi-Blues Music Award Winner
My Road CD
VizzTone - 01/2016
Available on Amazon
Multi-award winning guitarist/songwriter/singer Bob Margolin brings a fresh focus to MY ROAD, both musically and lyrically:
"My Road reveals who I am today, musically and very personally. Each song takes a surprising turn from the others and my previous music. This breakthrough for me is informed by fifty years on bandstands, my Blues music heritage and credentials and the drive to survive and thrive in today's pressurized world. MY ROAD is my ride through modern challenges, the ironies and lessons of aging, achieving true love, mourning, my band's distinctive signature sound, a childhood epiphany, my seven years in Mucky Waters' band, and exploring the darkest sides of life with friends who have been there."
The album was produced by Grammy-winning producer Michael Freeman and recorded at Fidelitorium Recordings in Kernersville, NC. Joining Margolin (guitar/vocals) and Tad Waltes (guitar/harp). The album features 6 new Margolin originals (plus 2 co-writes) and 4, written by friends, Margolin had long wanted to cover.
My Road - VizzTone - 01/2016
eBook
Steady Rollin’ – Blues Stories, Snapshots, (Intentional) Blues Fiction
Available at these online retailers:
AMAZON KINDLE
BARNES & NOBLE
KOBO BOOKS
Those were learned words Muddy Waters used to tutor his band’s new guitarist, “Steady Rollin’ ” Bob Margolin, who, 40 years later, has plenty of his own words to share. The longtime Blues Revue contributor has finally consented to the often-heard suggestion, “Why don’t you write a book?”
Margolin has released a page-turner of a book, Steady Rollin’ – Blues Stories, Snapshots, (International) Blues Fiction. Some parts were previously presented as columns in this magazine, although they’ve been polished and updated. Sharing his experiences, observations, and creativity with readers in a large, more permanent format is not only entertaining and educational, it is necessary because Margolin, despite being somewhat self-deprecating about his writing mechanics, is a person who has lived the blues and can describe them in a narrative congruent to the emotion of the music itself.
Here’s a news flash: the life of a bluesman isn’t entirely glamorous; in fact, it’s not even close. Steady Rollin’ tells what life is like off-stage. Imagine trying to convince a flight attendant to not check the guitar every time an airplane is boarded. Imagine after losing the argument discovering your livelihood smashed up in its case. Moreover, imagine the loneliness of a life on the road.Margolin offers true stories, candid and amazing photos, and his “blues fiction” in an easy-to-read format. This is not a chronological life story. Like listening to different tracks on an album, readers can enter at any chapter, and experience excerpts of a blues life. From records to cassettes to compact discs to MP3s, the presentation of music continues to evolve, and so do books. Steady Rollin’ is not offered in conventional book form. It is exclusively available electronically by an author who writes upon a laptop as he travels to gigs: “A sexy woman named Leola, wearing an overflowing halter top, a huge Afro and hot pants, breasted her way on stage and called off Aretha’s ‘Dr. Feelgood.’ ” Oh yeah, the bluesman can write.Certainly the nonfiction parts were absorbing. Gaining insight to Muddy Waters, whom he played with for seven years, and his cohorts, I suspect, is why most readers will want to purchase the book. But the blues fiction is a real treat, and it allows Margolin to give truth, flavor, and emotion without selling anybody out. Readers, however, can speculate who he describes, adding another level of intrigue.
“Blues fiction,” Margolin wrote, “is the closest thing to songwriting and playing music for me, because it combines my experience with my imagination in a story.”
It was important for Margolin to write Steady Rollin.’ Literary silence would have been a shame because living blues history is steadily losing its voice. Margolin’s band mate Calvin “Fuzz” Jones passed in 2010, and the clincher for the author may have been when Pinetop Perkins left the blues world in 2011. As Margolin finished up his book, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith also died. Writing the blues, no doubt, hurt like falling in love, too. Blues with a feeling, indeed. I highly recommend this book.
– Tim Parsons
Instructional Guide/DVD
Chicago Blues Rhythm Guitar: The Complete Definitive Guide
by Margolin Bob (Author), Rubin Dave (Author)
Available on Amazon
(Guitar Educational). As rhythm guitarist for blues legend Muddy Waters, Steady Rollin’ Bob Margolin has gained invaluable experience in the art of Chicago blues rhythm guitar. And now in this exclusive and comprehensive book/DVD package, Bob Margolin and blues author/historian Dave Rubin bring you the definitive instructional guitar method on the subject, featuring loads of rhythm guitar playing examples to learn and practice, covering a variety of styles, techniques, tips, historical anecdotes, and much more. To top it off, every playing example in the book is performed on the accompanying DVD by Bob Margolin himself! The book also features a unique code to access the same videos online for download or streaming!
