The last few years I have read quite a few articles and blogs regarding :the death of the blues as we know it.
I take this to mean that there are not enough African American blues artists to take the place of the ones we have lost. We do have some excellent Black blues artist coming up, but for the most part we don't hear the same traditional blues coming from them. We see the white musicians carrying the torch of the classics more often than not. Is this a bad thing???? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Some guys really do play and sing with feeling, but don't have the "pedigree" that some purists demand. It has always been fascinating and frustrating at the same time for me, a white guy playing black music, and mostly WITH the founders of blues, to read the reviews and to deal with people in power, mostly white, who would not accept anyone not of African descent as a true blues artist. It has gotten better in the last 20 years or so, maybe due to the fact that there are myriads of white players emerging all the time while a smaller percentage of black artists arrive. Without going on and on, I guess the question I pose here is one that has been posed before:
Do we want to hear white artists who have studied and truly love this music and work hard to live this life, or a black artist, possibly not as gifted as a vocalist or musician, but who may be the child of a famous musician, or just getting into blues because "they can", meaning there is a ready-made slot for them in the industry??
I myself prefer to hear the one who sounds best to my ear. Some of my favorite singers these days happen to be white, but I absolutely LOVE it when a black artist really sings and plays the blues. Most of my recordings are of African-American artists. I like it all and make no distinction, this is strictly an observation and hopefully can lead to some good discussions.
*The above text is just my personal opinion and nothing else
If it sounds good, it is good. Or so I've heard....
ReplyDelete"The one who sounds best to my ear"...certainly how it should be no doubt. It's a sad state if anyone, of any color, who is talented, isn't recognized and rewarded for their contribution today to this great genre.
ReplyDeleteI listened to a college station radio program the other day that played hardly anything but Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker. I intentionally will listen to these shows not only for enjoyment, but also to see how the blues are being showcased. While I love this stuff as much as any true blues lover (early JLH more than the later stuff) it makes me wonder about the library they have access to. After a vintage Delta styled set, I actually called to say, "you should check out this great young fella named Nathan James from Southern California who performs up here sometimes". The young voice on the other end of the phone said, "I think I've seen that name around here!" and that she was grateful for the call & she'd check it out. I believe she will do that given the young, curious, enthusiasm in her tone. While enjoying Nathan's most recent visit to the Poor House Bistro the other night I had the thought of what a tough road his heart has taken him on. It's not easy being a young white guy, goin' up against the greats from so long ago. The truth is he walks with them, not against them. He, like Steve and so many, HONOR them by honing their ears, and their skills, while they dedicatedly follow their own calling.
Imagine, when you witness a truly great blues performance, those great founders are in the room, many of which Steve has played with, right there. I would venture to say they would maybe enjoy it even more than the living because they KNOW the real deal and how precious those moments can be. They wouldn't think about what is cool, or what someone else likes, or if a cat is white, from Brazil, or India!
This wonderful music deserves all the talented torch carriers of any background and color. If you do it right, with your own one of a kind style thrown in, you are ok with me...In fact I thank goodness for it.
Didn't I read that journalists were writing that the blues died when Big Bill passed away. Well that was the late 50s, right... and journalists have been writing that ever since. Or maybe it started when Bessie Smith passed. Whenever the icons of those writing have passed away, the music is done.
ReplyDeleteAnyone reading this blog can probably recognize the Blues. Everyone has them and expresses them differently. And just like musical opinion and a**holes, everyone's got one. There's an artful way of expression and a knack or gift for communication that attracts me. Good song writing, without question. And there are good song writers in every era from all backgrounds.... I just think that, depending on what your age is, when and where you've grown up, that determines your criteria.
I guess one issue is whether the music "belongs" only to African Americans or to all people. Ask BB King. If you got 'em, you can play 'em. You are permitted to do this. It IS American music, developed here. I'm an American and I hear that music in my neighborhood. So I'll play my interpretation of the music I love and am attracted to. I'll do it my way and that's the way it's always been done. Interestingly and with this being the information age, topographical boundaries do not really exist anymore. I live in NJ, 20 minutes from Manhattan but I know guys that play, stylistically, like they're from Texas, California or Chicago and even the Carolinas. I do kind of miss hearing someone perform and knowing that this person was from a certain region and because of that, learned to play in a certain tradition. Am I showing my age with those feelings or is this a natural progression of the march of modernity?
Tampa Red is gone. Howlin' Wolf, gone. And so are the certain circumstances and personal situations that made them who they were. Well, we don't live in perfect times either so, the time is right, at any time, to create new blues music. I certainly miss the icons I grew up with and grew to love and was awed by... but there's always a new generation and a portion of that generation will recognize, learn and love the blues; classic and current.
So... I agree with Steve.
Carl Weathersby says he's afraid that in 10 years or so most people will think 1973 Rock music is Blues. After spending time with Otis Rush, Hubert Sumlin, Louis Myers and others who spent time on the "Chitlin' Circuit" in the 50's and hearing about the traveling, Jim Crow, the KKK, really bad gigs they didn't get paid for and the nightmare of racial discrimination in the South it changed my thinking about the music. These people risked their lives to earn a living playing music for very little money.
ReplyDeleteFew of the British musicians that became millionaires copying their music ever gave any of them a penny. They also had no comprehension of the lives those people lived. The imitators may be able to copy the notes but not the heart and soul of the originals. Compare these two versions of the same tune, one by a "star" and the other by a Blues Master: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igLR7OiSvQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDAQm2qWnYw&feature=related