Subject: RE: 'Blind Lemon Blues,' the musical
From:
GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 04 Jan 07 - 10:04 AM
I guess accessibility is in the ear of the beholder. I've listened to a lot of 78s in my life, including the flatter, murkier acoustic ones from before the coming of the electrical process c. 1928.
All I can say is, listen harder, and you'll begin to learn to hear THROUGH the surface noise and limitations in recording fidelity. Jefferson's a good candidate for digital cleanup of the sort that did so much for Duke Ellington, but he's there to be heard even without that, and well worth the listening.
I'm someone deeply influenced by Blind Lemon's singing, playing and sense of the blues. To me, growing up, Blind Lemon's music was like a voice in my inner ear. His singing and playing style engraved itself in my mind when I was still a kid. Lucky me, to have the chance to hear him early, so I had the energy and desire to work on hearing him well.
I'm not alone. For Southern pickers and many Northern ones, Lemon Jefferson's records were the most accessible and stunning examples across the racial barrier. His music was more easily assimilated by whites than most other bluesmen's -- few white performer could manage versions of, say, Charley Patton songs, still less the sort of thing being done by Kokomo Arnold or Robert Johnson.
By contrast, Lemon's songs and style bridged the racial gap relatively easily. During his career he probably had more white listeners than almost any other bluesman, and many of these learned and sang his better known songs. You'll find recorded white versions, for example, of Match Box Blues among others, and many more of his songs -- notably Black Snake Moan -- were sung informally that didn't reach record.
... and yes, I picture his death on that frozen street and I think in some ways it's a miracle he got that far, because he lived a high risk itinerant life with no eyes and yes, was apparently fairly repulsive in his habits. "Fat, dirty, depraved" and all, this was truly a man you might not want to have around the house. But his deft, unforgettable music still speaks volumes.
He had enormous influence on black and white music. You could even perhaps argue a case for his influence on Western Swing, particularly through Milton Brown's recordings -- Brown was a faithful and loving listener to blues records, though he thoroughly transmuted them in performance of course. But his influence was more measurable nearer at hand. He was, for many southern whites as well as blacks, the voice of the blues.
He's a big part of the way I hear and do music. Bob
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sj
