Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials – Slideways
Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials – Slideways
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital
Label: Alligator Records
Release: 2026
Release date: February 27, 2026
Blues Hall Of Famers Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials — led by Chicago slide guitar icon Lil’ Ed Williams — will release ‘Slideways’, their 10th Alligator Records release, and perhaps the crowning achievement of their entire career
For nearly 40 years together, Lil’ Ed Williams and The Blues Imperials—bassist (and Ed’s half brother) James “Pookie” Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton—have been delivering gloriously riotous, intensely emotional, wickedly playful Chicago blues to audiences around the world. Lil’ Ed—like his musical forebearers, slide guitar masters J.B. Hutto (Ed’s uncle), Elmore James and Hound Dog Taylor—is a giant of the genre.
Produced by Williams and Alligator Records founder and president Bruce Iglauer, ‘Slideways’ is a dynamic, high-energy collection of 13 songs, including 12 written or co-written by Williams. With the band at the absolute height of their powers, Williams’ singing and playing is thrilling and at times hair-raising. The songs—eight featuring the deep blues keyboard playing of Ben Levin (“He’s got that old-time style,” says Williams)—are filled with simple, relatable truths. They feature colorful characters in humorous to harrowing situations, some sinning while grinning, others smiling while crying. From the high-octane opener Bad All By Myself to the feral 13th Street And Trouble to the home wrecking Flirt In The Car Wash Skirt to Lil’ Ed’s heartbreaking and soul-shattering reinvention of Homeless Blues, Slideways is a tour-de-force of old school Chicago blues performed with up-to-the-minute urgency.
Williams says the new album captures the band in all its glory, and Iglauer brought out the best in each member. “Bruce challenged us. He pulled things out of me I didn’t expect, and I’m glad he did. Pookie worked his butt off and played great. Mike always plays something cool. He lays the flavor down the way I like it. And Kelly, he’s a wildman. He makes me stomp my foot even harder than normal.”
Mixing smoking slide guitar boogies and raw-boned shuffles with the deepest soul-burners and heart-wrenching slow blues, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials perform each track with an impassioned sense of wild abandon. Lil’ Ed’s celebratory slide work, deep blues string bending, fervent vocals and riveting original songs, all powered by The Blues Imperials’ rock-solid, road-tested, telepathic musicianship, are as real and hard-hitting as Chicago blues gets. According to Guitar World, “The band is a snarling boogie-blues machine.” The Boston Globe says Lil’ Ed plays “positively scorching guitar,” and the band delivers “a classic Chicago vibe with an energy that’s timeless.”
With Slideways’ endlessly enjoyable music, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials provide an entry point for new listeners as much as a “welcome home” to long time “Ed Heads” all over the world. After almost four decades together, the band’s authentic, unvarnished blues and their infectious energy, joyful showmanship and masterful performances have been honed to a razor’s edge. Even so, they continue to push each other to greater musical heights. “I love my guys to the point of no return,” adds Lil’ Ed. “They always surprise me.” As for the band’s durability, he says, “What I love is that we’re a family, and families stay together.”
Website: https://www.liledblues.com/
Tracks:
01. Bad All By Myself 3:44
02. One Foot On The Brake, One On The Gas 2:53
03. The Flirt In The Car Wash Skirt 3:17
04. Homeless Blues 5:24
05. 13th Street And Trouble 3:11
06. Make A Pocket For Your Grief 3:35
07. More Time 3:31
08. If I Should Lose Your Love 3:44
09. Wayward Women 5:17
10. Crazy Love Affair 3:26
11. Cold Side Of The Bed 4:36
12. What Kind Of World Is This? 3:46
13. You Can’t Strike Gold From A Silver Mine
Tracks 1,7,10,12 by Ed Williams, Eyeball Music, BMI
Tracks 2,3,6,8,9,11,13 by Ed and Pam Williams, Eyeball Music, BMI
Track 5 by Ed Williams and Carmine Cervi, Eyeball Music, BMI/C Joyride Music, ASCAP
Track 4 by Willie “Long Time” Smith, Publisher Unknown
Lil’ Ed Williams: Guitar and Vocals
Michael Garrett: Guitar (middle solo on Homeless Blues, first middle solo on More Time, middle solo on Crazy Love Affair)
James “Pookie” Young: Bass
Kelly Littleton: Drums
with
Ben Levin, Piano (3,5,7,10) or Organ (4,6,9,11)