Obit: RIP - Blues expert Paul Oliver.(1927-2017)

Subject: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: GUEST,Mike Yates
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 11:35 AM

Have just been informed by Hootenanny that British Blues expert Paul Oliver is no longer with us. Paul was one of the pioneering writers and researchers on the Blues and African-American music and will be deeply missed.

Subject: RE: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: Will Fly
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 12:22 PM

RIP Paul - who had a huge knowledge of blues and was a very influential writer and critic for many years.

Subject: RE: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 05:54 PM

Sad news. Thank you Mr. Oliver.

Subject: RE: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: Stewie
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 07:20 PM

Sad news indeed. He was one of the best writers on the blues. My favourite of his is 'Songsters and Saints' which I regularly re-read.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: GUEST,geordiecaller
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 08:27 PM

Loved his books.
RIP

Subject: RE: 2017 Obit: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: Mr Red
Date: 17 Aug 17 - 02:53 AM

Used to listen to his BBC R3 programme way back.

Subject: RE: 2017 Obit: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: fat B****rd
Date: 17 Aug 17 - 04:14 AM

What Mr. Fly said. RIP Mr. Oliver

Subject: RE: 2017 Obit: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: ripov
Date: 17 Aug 17 - 04:21 PM

He was my art teacher, a lovely man who always had time for those who didn't quite match up to the schools academic aspirations! And of course an artist, who had an exhibition at the Royal Academy.
He ran the schools Afro-American Music Society (the headmaster would not allow the word "Jazz" to be used! Only later did I find out what an authority he was. God bless you Paul. RIP

Subject: RE: 2017 Obit: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: ripov
Date: 28 Aug 17 - 08:01 PM

More information here (which appears to be too big to make a clicky) https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/paul-oliver-scholar-who-helped-spur-a-blues-revival-dies-at-90/2017/08/17/dfc0e430-8360-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html

Subject: RE: 2017 Obit: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Aug 17 - 08:38 PM

"My favourite of his is 'Songsters and Saints'" That's my favorite of his too. In that one he deliberately emphasized old black-recorded _non-blues_: Lil McClintock, "Bob McKinney," that sort of thing, which tends to get underresearched.

I like how Oliver actually read Newman White, Gates Thomas, Howard Odum, Walter Prescott Webb, and the like instead of just waving at their names like a normal blues writer.

Subject: RE: 2017 Obit: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 29 Aug 17 - 05:01 AM

It would be interesting to know who these "normal blues writers are".

Subject: RE: 2017 Obit: RIP - Paul Oliver.
From: Jon Dudley
Date: 29 Aug 17 - 12:22 PM

Not meant as a criticism at all, but I'm surprised that there hasn't been more comment on the passing of Paul Oliver. To friends of mine he was the conduit through which we were introduced to The Blues and subsequently to other forms of folk and traditional music. For that and his body of written work and researches I shall be eternally grateful. Thank you Paul Oliver R.I.P.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP - Blues expert Paul Oliver.(1927-2017)
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 29 Aug 17 - 05:42 PM

In reply to the above post I am not surprised at the lack of comment here re Paul Oliver. I have come to the conclusion over a few years that those of us with a keen interest in the blues are in a minority on this site. I guess that most blues aficionados go to other sites to find real blues content.

I am often made to wonder at some of the content on here such as the number of R.I.P notices for pop singers, rock singers British TV personalities and others who have no connection with folk music of any description.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP - Blues expert Paul Oliver.(1927-2017)
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 29 Aug 17 - 06:51 PM

OK, who ate that post? I have his book "Conversation with the Blues" and occasionally re-read it. But when I was about 25 I came to a realisation. Today it would be called "cultural appropriation". So as of then, although I still listen to some blues, I no longer try to play it.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP - Blues expert Paul Oliver.(1927-2017)
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 29 Aug 17 - 08:11 PM

"It would be interesting to know who these 'normal blues writers' are"

Examples would be anyone who, without reading Gates Thomas himself, passes on David Evans' very exaggerated (relative to other tunes of about the same time) association of "Nobody There" with blues music, or, without reading Charles Peabody himself, passes on the exaggerated myths about Peabody supposedly clearly describing blues music in his article. That sort of thing. (It's interesting to read someone describing Peabody's article, which is often third or fourth hand, and then go read Peabody's article.)

Newman White, e.g., was really smart and into hard data, and had the advantage of us in that he personally, a Southerner, was surrounded by early folk blues. Seems to me that about 5 or 10% of people who have books about blues published have read White. Oliver did, because he really wanted to know what happened whatever it was, which seems to be somewhat rare.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP - Blues expert Paul Oliver.(1927-2017)
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 29 Aug 17 - 08:34 PM

"I guess that most blues aficionados go to other sites to find real blues content." Folk blues was folk music (a blues is a type of tune that caught on like e.g. a bad man ballad is a type of tune that caught on, a rag is a type of tune that caught on, etc.), and imo I've seen a lot of good discussion of folk blues tunes here from people who understand folk blues tunes in reasonable context because they understand folk music in reasonable context, which many people out there don't. Since blues music started as folk music, getting folk music is vital to getting early blues and important to getting later blues.

In my experience many blues "aficionados" pretty much can't handle the truth, to put it bluntly. For instance, if someone starts out barking up the tree that Son House's style would be representative of the region we have evidence blues music arose in, what he may end up with in that tree is LOVING how TRANSCENDENT Son House was instead, that sort of thing, because we don't really have that evidence at all. And loving how transcendent people were isn't the same thing as researching music history.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP - Blues expert Paul Oliver.(1927-2017)
From: StephenH
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 02:11 PM

yeah, I've been really remiss in not adding a comment here, as a huge part of my learning about the blues came about via such Paul Oliver
works as "The Story of the Blues" lps and books such as "Savannah Syncopaters."

So, thanks Mr. Oliver. RIP