Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?

Subject: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From:
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 03:45 PM

Hi, I have just been set a project by my teacher to find out and do a presentation about the 'blues'. She said I wouod need to learn and perform a small piece for an example and name three famous blues singers/performers then choose one of them and talk about him/her for the rest of my presentation. Any help, suggestions or good search engines/web sites would be gratefuly apriciated. (The presentation is for Tuesday 27th November)

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 03:53 PM

Geez...........

Well Funk, you're in a good place here. We have bios on many and the threads on the forum are filled with info on others....and I mean a lot of info. Great blues artists........Well the list is enormous so here's a few to start with and others will be comong along to help you out too. Try searching for info on:

Son House
Robert Johnson
Elmore James
Mississippi John Hurt
John Lee Hooker
Reverend Gary Davis
Muddy Waters
Sonny Terry
Brownie McGhee
Blind Blake
Huddie Ledbetter(Leadbelly)
Bessie Smith
Howlin' Wolf

Spaw

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 04:34 PM

For a generic blues progression on guitar, try

D7 (count 4) A7 (count 4) D7 (count 8) A7 (count 8) A7 (count 8) E7 (count 4) A7 (count 4) D7(count 8) and repeat

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: JenMuse
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 05:06 PM

I'd say Billie Holliday had the blues perty bad.......

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 05:15 PM

B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Johnny Lang if you want more contemporary performers.

"Move it on Over" is a fun little blues song, quite easy to play and sing. by Hank Williams performed by Hank, George Thoroughgood and others. You can find words and chords on www.guitarnotes.com.

Best of luck!!!

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Mark Clark
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 05:15 PM

The blues ain't nothin' but a working man feelin' bad. But it's the worst ol' feelin' that any poor man ever had.

Catspaw49's list is a great place to start. I would think many of their recordings could be found at your local library. The library will have biographical information as well.

People you might want to add to “Spaw's” list include Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Big Bill Broonzy.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: GUEST,Chicken Charlie
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 06:16 PM

Hypothetically--very hypothetically:

You find some short (8-bar) patterns in early "blues" from around the [Mississippi] Delta and New Orleans.

"Baby, tell me where'd you sleep last night?
You wasn't here an' I know it ain't right."

Then it went up the Mississippi River and somewhere about half-way to Canada sprouted a third line, called the 'sting in the tail.' This is either "Kansas City Blues" [e.g., "Kansas City"] or "Chicago Blues." Many times the first two lines had the same words. Four counts each, here it is in A:

A D7 A A7
D7 D7 A A
E7 D7 A E7

Then later [?] that got squared off again and you got a 4-line "16-bar" pattern.

[Lonesome's got another 12-bar up there.]

I am now prepared to be enlightened. :)

CC

PS. Hope the line breaks are line breaks

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Sorcha
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 06:20 PM

Lots of info Click here for the presentation.

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 06:28 PM

This list is about endless, but to add in a few other contemporary people...

Keb'Mo
Taj Mahal
Bukka White
Etta James
Koko Taylor
Luther Alison
Mavis Staples
Buddy Guy

Spaw

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Sorcha
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 06:32 PM

Is it time to send an e mail?

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 06:38 PM

Already did Sorcha.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 10:47 PM

When someone with whom you are romantically involved looks you in the eye and says, "we gotta talk"...everything that comes after that is the blues. Gender neutral, racially blind and ageless. Read the aforementioned sources, research them, listen and absorb...you'll get it.

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 11:00 PM

"You gotta pay your dues, if you wanna sing the Blues"

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 11:03 PM

Yeah guys, I agree, but I don't think Funkiemonkie gonna' "be the blues" by the 27th!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Rory B
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 11:15 PM

Rory Block Sippie Wallace Bessie Smith Deborah Coleman Bonnie Raitt Lucinda Williams Wendy Rich Susan Tedeschi Debbie Davies Diana Krall Big Mama Thornton ( ask your mom about the blues sweetie) huggs -Rory B -

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Stewie
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 12:03 AM

You might find something of use in the following thread which I recall because I had a bit of a rant in it:

Click Here

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 12:11 AM

Jack the Sailor, mentioning Johnny Lang in the same breath as B.B King, Stevie Ray Waughn and Eric Clapton is akin to sacrilege.

Murray

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Grab
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 10:52 AM

The Mudcat actually has info on several bluesmen. Go to the top page and look at the Mudcat Blues Museum. Or hit this link.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 11:40 AM

For lyrics and sound, go to Harry's Blues Lyrics
http://members.tripod.com/~blueslyrics/

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: mousethief
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 12:03 PM

Nobody has mentioned this yet so I shall.

One very typical (you might even say "stereotypical" although many blues songs were recorded before the advent of stereo sound) "form" of the blues, called "12-bar blues", takes the form LYRICALLY of a 3-line stanza. The first 2 lines are the same (or very similar) and the last one rhymes with the first 2, and closes out the idea presented in the first 2 lines.

Example (from the Pink Floyd song "Seamus" (from the Meddle album):

I was in the kitchen, Seamus (that's the dog) was outside.
I was in the kitchen, Seamus my old hound was outside.
The sun was sinkin' slowly, and that old hound dog sat right down and cried.

Another example (from Led Zeppelin's version of Memphis Minnie's When the Levee Breaks):

If it keeps on rainin' the levee's gonna break
If it keeps on rainin' the levee's gonna break
When the levee breaks I'll have no place to stay.

Another (from a Bruce Cockburn song, although the lines are much older):

Wind's gonna rise and blow my blues away
Wind's gonna rise and blow my blues away
The sun's gonna shine in my back door someday.

And yet another:

I was on the front porch when I heard the back door slam
Yes, I was on the front porch when I heard that screen door slam
And my old lady drove off with another man.

Another point: There are lines that recur in different blues songs, and get passed from performer to performer and find themselves, sometimes, in new contexts. The "sun gonna shine in (or 'on') my back door someday" line above is one such. If you listen to enough blues, especially by the older blues singers on Spaw's list, you will hear these lines over and over, each time in a different song, or used slightly differently.

Of the lists presented by Spaw, I highly suggest Robert Johnson. He was very influential (through his recordings) on many, many rock-n-roll guitarists and singers, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, etc., etc., etc. Because he was so well versed in the blues idiom of his day, and so well recorded, he acts like something of a transmission point from the early days of the blues (say the early 1900's through the late 1930's) to the rock-and-roll generation.

Good luck! Maybe you can post your final report, and a sample of your performance, here when you're done? We'd love to see it!

Alex

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 12:18 PM

Lonesome EJ, I'm not sure what you were going for with your "generic blues progression," but it sure doesn't look right to me. Chicken Charlie's is good, though.

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: GUEST,Funkiestmonkie
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 12:33 PM

Thankyou all very, very, very much, you have been a great help. I will now sort out and put into 'presentation form' all the info you guys have given me. (Along with some other things from my family and other books, websites and people. Thankyou very much again. Funkiestmonkie (aged 12)

PS: Who agrees that I should post my final presentation for you all to see on here???

THANKYOU!!!!

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 12:38 PM

YES, Funkiest! Post your work here please! And let us know if we can help in any way. It's wonderful to see a 12 year old with interest in the Blues (even if it is a school assignment!).

If you want to gain an understanding of most popular music today, I think you will find it has its roots in the Blues. Good luck!

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Dead Horse
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 01:26 PM

The Blues. That's the colour a smurfs face goes when you throttle it.

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: mousethief
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 01:40 PM

That's the colour a smurfs face goes when you throttle it.

As opposed to....?

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: GUEST,Jonesey
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 01:52 PM

Yes Funkiest Monkie! Do post your final report here at the Mudcat at least 2 days before the presentation so we can offer practical suggestions or corrections if needed. If you can get by these guys and gals(myself included)you're guaranteed an 'A'. We're tougher than any teacher would be in terms of accuracy. Good luck and enjoy your research!

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: SharonA
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 01:54 PM

Funkiestmonkie: Please do post your presentation here! It would be great to see a young person's fresh viewpoint on the blues. Besides, some of us (like me) might learn a thing or two from it!

What piece have you decided to perform? Will you be playing guitar, some other instrument, or no instrument at all?

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 02:07 PM

Jack the Sailor, mentioning Johnny Lang in the same breath as B.B King, Stevie Ray Waughn and Eric Clapton is akin to sacrilege.

Murray

Sacrilege??? We're just talking about music here, just the first three that came to my head that you could find easily in a record store. Besides, I wanted to include someone alive and younger than 50. (Not an easy thing to do with big name blues.)

Point is, as someone else said there are thousands. Of artists doing and who have done the blues. Anyone mentioned Ma Rainey?

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Arbuthnot
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 04:23 PM

Anyone mentioned Robert Cray or Eric Bibb?

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 05:33 PM

Don't forget to mention the shortest blues song in the world.

I didn't wake up this mornin' ;-)

Dave the Gnome
(Ducking and running)

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 15 Nov 01 - 09:39 AM

I would suggest Robert Johnson,the most influential Delta (early) artist, Muddy Waters, who plugged in and invented Chicago Blues (1950's) and someone more modern, perhaps from the British invasion. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds all started by playing a lot of blues songs that were written by Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters before writing the Rock stuff that was deeply rooted in the blues.

Good luck to you. In the early seventies I was about your age when I first heard Jimi Hendrix's "Hear My Train a Comin'" and Johnny Winter's "Dallas". It started a life long passion for the blues.

Subject: RE: Blues musicians under 50
From: GUEST,Phil
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 01:22 PM

Couple of Blues performers under 50 would be Colin James and Diana Kroll (both Canadian).

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: mmm1a
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 10:57 PM

If I may add yet another name , Janis Joplin. I know there will be some who disagree but I had never really heard blues (imagine that and me growing up in E St Louis)before I heard Janis ,After that I started listening to all the music around me ,In my neighborhood alot of the garage bands could really play the blues. Only wish I would have paid attention to some of the names to see if they ever made it . mmm

Subject: RE: Can anyone tell me about the 'Blues'?
From: Rolfyboy6
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 08:45 PM

Hey Funkiestmonkie, Here's a link to the great Mississippi Writers and Musicians project of Starkville Mississippi Highschool. It's full of blues artists and references and links. Starkville HS Musicians and Writers Project