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The Blues???
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 16 Aug 10 - 01:55 PM Koko Taylor |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 16 Aug 10 - 01:49 PM Bessie Smith |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 16 Aug 10 - 01:46 PM Here are some more great female Blues singers, maybe over-obvious choices but if you're just learning about the Blues, essential. For some reason when I tried to post 3 links in one thread it won't post so I'm going to try 3 posts in succession. These tracks are each notable for some pretty well known musicians accompanying the ladies. Ma Rainey |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 15 Aug 10 - 08:19 PM Now that, ya'll, is the real blues... I mean, Hound Dog Taylor and Seasick Steve are a couple of the finest Mississippi groove players since the likes of Fred McDowell... Whew... That "Cut My Wings" with Steve poundin' away on that cardboard stomp-box is the *shits*... Ya'll like that you would have loved the lated Wille King... And you'd love the still-very-much-alive Ben Prestage... Google him up and have up a treat... And if Ben don't hook ya' then Googl;e up Richard Johnston... Between Seasick Steve, Willie Kind, Ben and Richard if they don't make believers outta you then ya'll need need to call the undertakewr to come fir ya, ya hear??? Thanks Burton fir sharin' those two priceless links and... ...gimme back my wig... lol... Jus' funnin... Sheet fire, ya'll!!! I mean this is the blues... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Mavis Enderby Date: 15 Aug 10 - 03:50 PM custom made 12 string with the gold plated fittings That doesn't sound very blues to me... Wild about you baby Cut my wings Pete |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 15 Aug 10 - 08:40 AM Yeahm show me a piono player who has no need fir written music, thank you... Like Ann Rabson or AnnieBlues (plays on several Cephas & Wiggins recordings) or Barrelhouse Bonnie... BTW, had the pleasure of having Ann Rabson sittin' on a a short set I did at the IceHouse Pub in Elkins, Wes Va. a few years back... Very nice... Yo, Max... I'm workin' on gettin' a new service provider that will allow me to actaully have 'nuff juice to listen to internet radio... Glad to hear from ya'... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 15 Aug 10 - 07:18 AM Leeneia, If you enjoyed that piece then you might like to read more about it in a recent book "Long Lost Blues" Popular Blues in America, 1850 - 1920. University of Illinois Press. The tune itself is very well known and well used. The performance is pleasant enough but I find the execution a bit stilted and what I would expect from a pianist playing from written music. For me it is too damn polite, he should loosen up and put some drive and feeling into it. An excellent performer and only one among many blues piano players was Little Brother Montgomery from Kentwood, Louisiana. Try and hear some of his recordings made for the Bluebird label just as I am doing at present. Then of course there is Big Maceo Merriwether, Otis Spann, Will Ezell and dozens more. Enjoy Hoot |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: katlaughing Date: 14 Aug 10 - 11:37 PM I was just coming in to post a link in here, Max. Great show, plenty of blues, tonight!! |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Max Date: 14 Aug 10 - 10:40 PM Hosting The Blues on WPSU FM at 10pm EST. Tune in online at http://wpsu.org/blues. Also hanging out in mudchat. More blues, yes. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:34 PM Well, I love Mavis and I;m sure that most folks who appreciate good blues loves her music... It ain't exactly blues... Kinda gospelly... Whitmore??? Also not to bluesy... That's what we call a mountain "moan"... Speed it up a tad and kick the bnajo into high gear an' he's ready for Galax or Floydfest... Nice reading about Cyril Davies... Some good memories there... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: leeneia2 Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:19 PM thanks for all the links. (today's too busy for me to follow them) here's a link to a polished piano blues piece, a kind that may not have been mentioned before: bill e's site When you get there, click on 'Dallas Blues' to hear a fine piece from 1912. If it says there's not enough memory, right click. That's what I have to do. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 14 Aug 10 - 11:26 AM Will, Cyril was one English guy that got pretty close to that authentic sound and feel. Thursday nights at the Marquee in Oxford Street used to really steam. I knew Long John for a number of years and Cyril for the last two years or so that he was with us. Loaned me his 9 string guitar for a few weeks to try out and I also got a chance to pick his custom made 12 string with the gold plated fittings back stage one night when we got him a big gig at the Royal Albert Hall along with Peter, Paul and Mary and Ramblin Jack and others. I remember when Sleepy John Estes was "re-discovered" discussing it with Cyril. He said it couldn't be because Big Bill Broonzy had told Cyril that Estes was dead. Sadly Cyril was dead himself before Estes came over to Europe. Cyril went just as the blues boom was taking off in the UK and he missed visits by so many of his heroes. If he had still been around it would have been the Cyril Davies Allstars backing Little Walter at is first UK gig at the Marquee instead of John Baldry and the later version of almost the same band. Sorry if I am rambling but it was a great scene and now virtually all the giants of the blues have gone. C'est la vie. Hoot |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Will Fly Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:39 AM It was a great tour, Hoot, wasn't it? I remember seeing Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee at a club in Blackburn. Sonny was feeling tired after the gig and a mate of mine walked him home to his hotel. Brownie went with a load of us to a party after the club gig and played into the samll hours, fortified by scotch. What a night. I also remember seeing Memphis Slim at Leeds University, rocking the evening away, and recall quite a few sessions when Champion Jack Duprée rolled out his barrelhouse blues at some forgotten pub in the East End of London. I never got to see Cyril before he died, but I have some treasured recordings of the All Stars which I still enjoy. "Country Line Special" and "Chicago Calling" with Cyril on blues harp and vocal, Long John Baldry on backing vocals, Davy Graham in there at some point, Korner, Nicky Hopkin on piano... not bad for white boys, eh? :-) |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bettynh Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:33 AM I dunno, Hoot. Doc was born in 1923. Both were came from southern rural backgrounds, albeit very different areas. That's still within one generation for me. The important thing for me was realizing that rural wasn't isolated anymore, even in the late 20s. Anyhow, I'm most upset at the idea that the blues have to be fossilized to be real. Does this qualify as blues? He certainly uses a blues scale and writes from pain. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Janie Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:33 AM Mavis sings Stephen Foster What are Blues? |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Janie Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:20 AM Oh Yes, Will Fly. Another of the gospel/blues greats, imo, Mavis Staples |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:10 AM Hey Will I remember that tour, all the team came down to the Roundhouse in Wardour Street one evening when Cyril Davies was running the blues and barrelhouse club there. I made the acquaintance of Cousin Joe that evening and he was very wary when I bought him a whisky - and no I wasn't playing the part of a boring JMF (Jazz Mans Friend) as George Webb used call such people. It was Joe's first trip to the UK and understandably might be feeling a little less relaxed. However when I met him again in New Orleans and on his return visits to Europe he was a different man. Life and soul of any gathering. What days they were with regular visits by so many greats, Muddy upsetting the jazzers with his amplified Guitar and Spann's miced(?) up piano and on his next trip playing acoustic guitar and not understanding why the by-then younger blues fanatics were less than enthusiastic. Hoot |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:05 AM Yeah, that is some hot blues, W-Fly... Okay, Janie.... Melonie's voice does leave a little bit to be desired but I'm kinda partial to her 'cause seems every time I have run into her she remembers me... It's kinda a long story but its all good... Rory Block knew Son House and learned quite a bit of her geetar licks off him... Big Mama Thornton, BTW, recorded "Hound Dog" long before Elvis's '56 recording but then again Elvis knew alot about them old blues folks and wasn't shy about lifting songs... Remember "Mystery Train"??? Good example of a song Elvis borrowed... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Will Fly Date: 14 Aug 10 - 07:07 AM By the way, for those who don't know this, it was recorded around 1964 at a disused railway platform near Manchester in England, part of a blues tour that rocked this country. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Will Fly Date: 14 Aug 10 - 07:02 AM Yes, yes, I know she was a gospel singer, but just listen to that guitar and the blues in her voice... Sister Rosetta Tharpe |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Janie Date: 13 Aug 10 - 11:15 PM Big Momma Thornton Rory Block (first impression is I like her guitar work a lot and not so crazy about her vocals.) Victoria Spivey Melanie Mason Again, she sounds technically good in terms of the guitar, but to my ear, ruled entirely by visceral response, both the guitar and the voice lack authentic emotional expression. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Boho Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:56 PM September issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine is also a blues special, with tab for an arrangement of Going Down the Road Feelin' Bad based on Etta Baker in C and E with standard tuning, and Skip James's Devil Got My Woman in open Dm, along with a whole load more Skip James licks n tricks. In about a year or so I might have GDtRFB under control - so far I can't even play the first bar without my whole hand seizing up. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:05 PM Well, Janie... You know that I ain't no lazy-ass bluesman... Just technically challenged... All I can do is put 'um out there an' if folks can do them blue clickies then that's great... I do 'um if I knew how... Guess I am a retarded bluesman... (You can't say that, Boberdz...) What I say??? B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Janie Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:49 PM Bobert, Thanks. That why I'm here, to learn. Feel free to post some links, you lazy-a$$ed bluesman, before I have time to run them down and post them myself. (And why do ladies sing the blues;^) |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:13 PM How about Big Mama Thorton, Janie??? Rory Block??? Victria Spivey??? Lot more womenz, too... Melonie Mason??? Oh, she is so hot, too... Gotta give here a call... Elenor Ellis... Mary Flowers... Annie Raines... Joan Fenton... Lotta womenz... And all good blues players... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Janie Date: 13 Aug 10 - 08:05 PM Can't help myself, gotta toss Maria Muldaur, Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt into the mix. Maria Janis Bonnie |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Janie Date: 13 Aug 10 - 07:50 PM Some classic female Blues Musicians Beverly "Guitar" Watkins Etta Baker Billie Holiday Strange Fruit Sister Rosetta Tharpe Memphis Minnie on Guitar Memphis Minnie - guitar and vocals |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Rob Naylor Date: 13 Aug 10 - 07:47 PM Melodeonboy: "Hard Drivin' Blues?" |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 13 Aug 10 - 07:36 PM Shoot, we know that Robert listened to Son House... There's a story of Son playin' some juke and takin' a breal and Robert being like, ahhhh, 14 or 15 and jumpin' up on stage and grabbin' Son's geetar and tryin' to play it and folks havin' to chase him around to get the geetar back off Robert... I mean, ya'll listen to Some of the Alan Lomax tapes and there were literally hundreds of people playin' blues all over Mississppi, Arkansas, Tennesee, Texas, Alabama... LOmax recorded 'um in Georgia, too... But people were playin' it everywhere in the south and mid-atlantic and then folks movin' north to Chicgao fir jobs and to get off the plantations and then they playin' it everywhere... So Robert had his ears on big time... Well, melodeonboy... You need to Google up Johnny Winter's "TV Blues"... It's a great song that deal with these new fangled thingies... "If you don't get the picture workin', I'm gonna' do some work on you"... I mean, if you can make a good blues songs outta yer TV not workin' then the pudder can't be that far behind... Hey, don't look at me... I write "old school"... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: melodeonboy Date: 13 Aug 10 - 06:02 PM "Thanks - might write a blues song about computers! Any suggestions for a title anyone?" No doubt it'll be released on the Trojan record label, then?! :) |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 13 Aug 10 - 05:58 PM Bettynh I do know what Doc Watson can do thankyou having seen him live on many occasions since just after Ralph Rinzler convinced him to start touring. Of course he is an amazing musician no doubt about that and he can sing blues, but so can I after a fashion but that Doesn't make me a blues musician, it would make me someone that sometimes sings or plays a blues. You ask what keeps Doc from being a blues singer. Well if you have ever been in Doc's neck of the woods and also spent time in Robinsonville, Mississippi (as you mention Robert Johnson) It would be pretty obvious that the environment and culture is entirely different. Robert Johnson is believed to have been born in May 1911. Doc isn't yet 99. You say we can't ask Robert Johnson if he listened to other blues singers. Did anyone suggest that he didn't. There is enough recorded evidence that makes it obvious that he did. Good listening. Hoot |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 13 Aug 10 - 05:50 PM "Patton and James are quite a lot later than what?" The origins of the blues of course. Would you describe Bessie Smith as a blues singer? How about Jelly Roll Morton? Blind Blake? What about the Hammond effect? |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 13 Aug 10 - 04:51 PM Well, gol danged!!! I come home after drivin' Ms. Dasiy an' the grandyoungin' all over DC and here there are 106 posts to this blues thread!!! Thank you all... If I go on tonight I will go on in peace... Sho nuff will... BTW ya'll... Any of you within' driving distance of Luray, Va. I'll be promotin' a juke night at the Performing Arts Center some time this coming winter... I think it will be the last wewek in January and I will have not one but two bands that will be performing the following week at the International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis the following week: The Bush League representing the James River Blues Society and Clarence "The Blueman" Turner and his band representing the Baltimore Blues Society... Rounding out the entertainment will be solo bluesman Pops Walker and yers truely "Sidewalk Bob" me playing both solo and with Clarence's band... More later when I firm the dates but will definately be a nice mix of styles and sound... Thanks again fir ya'll helping us get to 100... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bettynh Date: 13 Aug 10 - 04:39 PM Doc Watson describes himself as "just this guy, you know?" I think he's a skilled blues singer and player. Certainly you can't argue his skill, so what keeps him from being a blues singer? The color of his skin? Milk Cow Blues Anyway, we can't ask Robert Johnson if he listened to other blues singers. Doc is of his generation. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 13 Aug 10 - 03:29 PM Bettynh, Am I to assume from yor posting that you would describe Doc Watson as a blues singer? I don't think he makes that claim. Dave what point am I missing? Patton and James are quite a lot later than what? Re Elijah Wald I have read his work and enjoyed doing so but I have also read most others that have been published over many years. However my knowledge of blues music and musicians doesn't only come from books. Hoot |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bettynh Date: 13 Aug 10 - 12:27 PM I'm a bit confused reading this. I keep flashing back to this scene: I'm in the midst of crying-twins madness. It's February, dusk, and ONE of them won't sleep. In the manner of Rosalee Sorrels, I pick him up firmly and rock him to the music I'm playing on the stereo - Texas work songs. Rocking him and stomping around the room I sing along "O Grizzely, Grizzely Bear, O Grizzely, Grizzely Bear..." It works like a charm. So - can you honestly state that I couldn't feel the blues then? Can you deny that my son was immersed in this music from infancy? The music was recorded, but I chose it. Doc Watson tells about having a windup victrola and listening to blues records when he was 5 or 6 years old (that would be 1928-9). Is he a "copyist," then? If so, then just about anyone who played after about 1925 risks that label. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 13 Aug 10 - 11:40 AM I think Hootenanny is missing the point. The Patton and James tracks she mentions come from quite a lot later, and if you really want something interesting, try John Lee Hooker's take on "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". A lot of it can be traced back to John Hammond's presentation of Big Bill Broonzy at the "Spirituals to Swing" concert, when despite the fact that Broonzy had been resident in Chicago for years and normally wore flash suits, Hammond got him to dress in overalls and be anounced as coming straight from his farm in Arkansas! The Bluesman as noble savage! As I said, read Wald's book. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: maeve Date: 13 Aug 10 - 11:35 AM many Chris Smither YouTube videos and interviews including: Chris Smither "Statesboro Blues" http://ckuik.com/Chris_Smither then there are some good cuts here: http://www.myspace.com/chrissmither |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: maeve Date: 13 Aug 10 - 11:02 AM Bobert must be having a kitchen party at his kinfolks' house. Here's an opportunity for anyone in the area A pair of songwriting and guitar workshops in Ohio and Massachusetts: http://smither.com/workshops-with-chris/ "There is still room available in two upcoming guitar & songwriting workshops Chris will be conducting: Fur Peace Ranch (Darwin, OH) – October 8-11, 2010 The Mighty Albert (Ashfield, MA) – January 14-17, 2011 (Just announced!)" |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Mavis Enderby Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:41 AM Come on in my kitchen, Sitting on top of the world, and also It Hurts Me Too That melody keeps coming up! All good stuff... Pete. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,CAP Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:09 AM Try Brooks Williams Baby O album. Blues as well as folk. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Will Fly Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:47 AM You've just done 98, Neil - this is 99 - and I reckon we should let Bobert celebrate 100! Woke up this mornin... |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:42 AM "Well, fir those of you who like/love Robert Johnson, you will like/love Johnny Shines even more... I don't know why he doesn't get more recognition... He, IMO, is equal to or even ebtter that Robert on alot of his stuff and plays purdy much the exact same style... It's almost as if they both learned from the same teacher... One of the best blues songs is one he wrote called "Jim String"... Ya'll listen to that song/story... Man, geese oh pete... This is the real blues..." Not from the same teacher but from the man himself. Shines traveled all over America for 2 years in the 30's and learned from him. He is said to be one of only two bluesman that Robert taught to play his style, the other being Robert Lockwood Jr. "There seems to be a lot of cross-over in some old-time music, early country etc. I'm thinking of artists such as Doc Boggs, Jimmy Rodgers, even Hank Williams." I don't know much about Doc Boggs but Rodgers and Williams are both said to have had early contact with black players. Rodgers as a brakeman on the railroad running between Meridian, Ms. and New Orleans and Hank as a shoeshine boy on the streets of Montgomery, Al. And speaking of cross-over "Sitting on Top of the World" has been covered by numerous Blues, Folk and Country musicians but here is the original :The Mississippi Sheiks. If you listened to the link Burton provided up thread to Crooked Still doing "Come on in My Kitchen" you'll notice that Robert Johnson used this tune for that song. Unless more people have posted while I've been typing and making links this is post #97. Looks like we might make Bobert's day, Catters. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Will Fly Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:27 AM Coincidentally, I've been re-reading two books about The Band - Levon Helm's "This Wheel's On Fire", and "Across The Great Divide" by Barney Hoskins - and they both describe Levon's early years in Turkey Scratch (what a great name!), near Helena, in Arkansas. In spite of efforts by the KKK to intimidate people in the area, there was a lot of shared community life on the part of black and white farmers. Kids like Levon grew up listening to a wide variety of styles from local blues musicians, such as Sonny Boy Williamson II and Robert Lockwood Jr., to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio, and seeing travelling shows such as F.S. Wolcott's Original Rabbit's Foot Minstrels. Like the country string bands at the turn of the century and in the 1920s and 1930s, there was a lot of racial, musical crossover, though I doubt that any white person - even one who was poor and down-and-out - had to cope with the opprobrium that was heaped on those with a black skin. And it was that latter factor which gave the deep blues its identity. |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: maeve Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:20 AM I reckon Bobert has just said it better than I can, but here's what I've been thinking while he was posting that last gem: I haven't much to say, yet I am reading, listening, and thinking hard. Thanks to all for the thoughtful discussion going on here. Bobert talks of immersing himself in the music and culture of the people, and that dedication leads to an inner understanding that informs his renditions of Blues or any other kind of music. What matters is that he has respect for the people and music and he uses his understanding and skill to add to the pool of interpretations. That's not copying; that's being a skilled and aware musician. Whatever I sing, it will sound like me. No matter if it's an old Scots ballad or something from Etta Baker, or something of my own, it will sound like me. My interpretations will carry themselves with fidelity when I have successfully immersed myself in the music and people of whatever tradition in which I'm working and when I have sung and played the songs and tunes until they are part of my own life's experiences and musical dialects. It's that sense of fidelity and understanding I'm aiming for. m |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:10 AM Well, seems that we used to have this smae discussion at the barbershop... The style of blues played there is primarially in the Piedmont style (John Hurt, John Jackson, Elenor Ellis, Cephas & Wiggins, etc) and especially my last couple years playin' there I was growing more and more in north Mississippi hill country groove and the folks knew it... Yeah, I could jam on the Peidmont stuff but felt less and less like leading songs in that style... There were several players who enjoyed my Mississippi style and would ask me to lead songs in that style even though alot of the folks didn't have a clue and wouls sit those songs out... The point is that, seein' as we always seemed to have new people, the discussion about what constitutes the blues and what doesn't would come up over and over... The oldtimers would say it's all blues and therefore it was all good... Does taht mean that I think that Kelly Joe sounds like Bukka White or Arthur Crudupp??? No... Nor did Skip James of Blind Lemon sound like them... But there is a soulfullness to Kelly Joe that is as "believable" as the soulfullness of Skip James of Blind Lemon... I mean, good blues not only tells a story but the meduim is very much a part of the message... I mean, yeah, Eric Bibb and Corey Harris and Guy Davis all grew up in upper middle class families far away from the culture of the plantation and far away from those influences yet all have convincingly blues sound... So, yeah, I think that the blues can be learned and not only learned but folks can carve out their own sounds within the genure as Eric, Corey and Guy, among many other have done... Jus MO, of course... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Will Fly Date: 13 Aug 10 - 08:47 AM I've just been listening to Kelly Joe Phelps singing "Train Carried My Girl Away" (from the album "Shine Eyed Mister Zen". Great slide and fingerpicking style - taken from several influences, I'd say - backing a soulful and obviously white voice. If it's not pure blues in the sense that Hoot is alluding to, it's certainly got the mantle of the blues wrapped firmly around it. I think blues can accommodate KJP with no problem... |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 13 Aug 10 - 08:11 AM BTW, if Kelly Joe is copying someone I'd be interested in knowin' who... I got hundreds of blues players I routinely listen to and can't think of anyone that has Kelly Joe's style??? Or vice versa... B~ |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Bobert Date: 13 Aug 10 - 08:09 AM Can't quite agree 100% with Hoot on the assertion that you have to be "brought up" within' the culture to play the blues convincingly unless "brought up" means having learned from folks who were "brought up" (raised , reared, etc.) in the blues community... I mean, yeah, if you just close yer eyes and listen to Kelly Joe Phelps, 'or Rory Gallagher, or Richard Johnston, or Ben Prestage, they are every bit as "convincing" as their contempory blues players who were "brought up" in the culture... Heck, I played nuthin' but country and folk until the 90s and then emmersed myself in the blues.... I got the basics from Sparky Rucker and then made several trips to Mississippi with people who took me to back road picnics where people played all kinds of blues... All the while I was getting up every Saturady mornin' and driving 2 hours to NE Washington, D.C. to participate in the weekly Saturday afternoon jam session at Archie Edwards Barbershop where I listened very carefully and worked every hard at playin' and singin' like the older (mostly black) bluesmen that wold frequent the jams... I will have to admit that I also was a jail house teacher and worked in a drug rehab program in Richmond so I had picked up black dialect and I'm sure that has served me well... So, yeah, I would agree that one does have to emmerse one's self into a culture but not necessarially be "brought up" within that culture... B~ p.s. Hey... For everyone here on this thtead just a big ol shout out to ya'll 'cause to the best of my knowledge, I don't think a blues thread ever got close to a hunnert posts!!! This is a milestone... |
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Subject: RE: The Blues??? From: Will Fly Date: 13 Aug 10 - 08:01 AM Etta Baker - indeed a slip of the finger! Too much Blind Blake on my mind... :-) |
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