Alphablues – M as Mojo

This week in Alphablues, the letter M for Mojo: when the blues turns into magic… For this 13th episode of season 2 of Alphablues, Paco explores all the facets of this magical word through six tracks that revisit Mojo in all its forms.

Mojo. A word that snaps, a word that enchants. In African American culture, it originally referred to a small talisman, a gris-gris bag from hoodoo traditions. Filled with herbs, bones, prayers, or nail clippings, this “mojo bag” was believed to attract luck, love, power… or even sex. Through the history of slavery and African roots in the American South, this mystical symbol seeped into popular traditions, becoming a sign of protection, desire, and strength.

The blues, that language of the soul, naturally embraced this energy-charged word. Mojo quickly became a symbol of sexual power, invincibility, or mystical control. Bluesmen sang about finding it, strengthening it, or cursing the one who stole it. Between desire and superstition, body and spirit, it embodies that mix of sensuality and spirituality unique to the blues.

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Alphablues S2 #13 M comme Mojo – Alphablues

⏬ In this episode

• Johnny Winter – Mojo Boogie
  The albino Texas guitarist pours his wild energy into J.B. Lenoir’s classic. A furious slide, an electric solo that feels more like an exorcism than a demonstration. Did his mojo start a nightclub brawl? We believe it.

• Lightnin’ Hopkins – Mojo Hand
  Another Texan, another approach: here the Mojo becomes a tool for survival in matters of the heart. When words fail, magic takes over.
  
• Muddy Waters – Got My Mojo Working (Father & Sons)
  You can’t talk Mojo without Muddy. This track is an anthem, a voodoo incantation that grooves, carried by his spiritual sons Paul Butterfield, Michael Bloomfield, and Donald “Duck” Dunn. Even magic has its limits: “It just don’t work on you…”

• Eric Bibb – God’s Mojo
  With Eric Bibb, Mojo takes on a spiritual dimension. No longer a spell, but an inner, almost divine force. Blues blends with gospel here for a luminous uplift.
  
• Tony Joe White – Mojo Dollar
  The swamp rock pope gives us an economic Mojo: a magic dollar that opens doors to desire and ambition. His deep voice rolls like an alligator in the bayou, over a sticky, sensual groove.
  
• The Doors – L.A. Woman (Mr Mojo Risin)
  Jim Morrison, the psychedelic icon, reshuffles his own name into Mr Mojo Risin, his mystical alter ego. In L.A. Woman, Mojo becomes an inner beast, an uncontrollable force.