Ok, everybody, strap in, we're bringing it back over the pond to the shores of American Traditional Blues, and the kings and queens thereof. Now, I'm not gonna mention everybody,
but I wanna talk about how the blues is the music of the guts. It's not dressed up in pretty lyrics,
it's not very poetic sometimes, it's rough and it's tumble, and how I love it so... so we'll do some modern examples as well as the oldie goldies. Strap in, and watch me for the changes...
Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign, - did you know... that My Main Man, Eric Clapton, lifted his most famous riff from Albert King? Check this out... at about 1:24...listen to the first vocal line... now speed it up... kinda sounds like this doesn't it? Don't believe me? Well, EC admitted it, already... lookout.
The influence of the blues reaches so far and so deep that it surprises me at every little turn,
check this out... BB King's song "How Blue Can You Get?" - quoted and sung not only on the Cosby show many years ago, but also here in this song which you may or may not remember...
Like I said in a previous post, the most exciting thing about discovering new music is also discovering where they came from... it always makes me wonder how people found all these records before the interweb. They would order through the mail, imagine Mick Jagger as a teenager sitting by the mailbox waiting for some record he'd never actually heard but had the instinct to know he needed. Those were the days, when music was something to be pined over.
Today, we download our singles, everything is immediate... but let me challenge you...
Take this week and find some old record, or even some record you've never heard, but that one of the bands you like cites as an influence. Go buy it, now, i don't care if you buy it on vinyl, tape, cd, or itunes... who cares, I'm not selling puritism here, I'm just selling excitement.
Now when you pick this record, imagine it's the only thing you can hear for the next week, so try to pick one you think you'll really love, then pine over this thing... take it with you like an old lover. Carry it around everywhere you go, try to find out what the artist was trying to say to you the listener as you listen. Here's a cool thought, as a writer, you're always trying to reach one person, and that's the listener... if you're Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones, or MGMT, I don't care... you're always only reaching that one person who's hearing you at that very moment with a record... so embrace that, accept the invitation and step into the artist's living room for a moment and hear the conversation. Feel it one time. I know it sounds like hippy business, but shake off your sarcasm for one hot minute and try to narrow down the onslaught of information we have these days. Enjoy something to it's fullest. Life is moving ladies and gentlemen, you only get one. So let's do it like they did it... no overload, just one record, one week.
I know Robert Johnson didn't have too many distractions other than women, booze, and the devil, and look what he did... he did this, ladies and gentleman, he wrote this song... and here's how it was heard and pined over and interpreted a million miles and 30 years away by five kids from London...
"And the blue light was my baby, and the red light was my mind."
The Rolling Stones - Love in Vain.
Dear sir, you posted the same Layla link twice.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I wanted to adjust something at the last post,it doesn't work so I had to deleted twice....
ReplyDeleteI still remember very well how it was without the www.
As I was 14 and punk came into my live it was very hard work to get records, because I was living in a very small village.
How did you get fanzines or something else, when all you got is a lousy mailorder catalogue, who just sells mainstream records?
I couldn't get a studded belt, so I collected the metal from lighters on my belt.
Today its quite easy to slip into a "style", download the scene on the www and buy the whole "look" included, made cheap in china.
Oh,sorry, I might drifting into politics....
By the way, when I got a new record, and I like it, I always listen to it for weeks and nearly "work" with it. I'm studying illustration and music is the input for my arts.
dude, awesome homework assignment...i love doing it, i just discovered the band .baxter. thanks to doing exactly what you just said. Digging and finding influences and previous bands and who went where and what branch of the family tree...i spend hours doing this, daily
ReplyDeleteThis post just brought back memories of driving around smoking lots of cigarettes and listening to sam cooke for hours just letting my ears dissect it. Fucking pure pleasure. Hey Brian, I heard you do "dollar bill" cover. Have you checked out what Mark did with Soulsavers? Check out "Revival" it has a cool soul vibe to it. Digging the new album seems like the band is evolving and tighter in this album. In the song Bring It On song all I can think about is The Marvellettes mr.postman at the wait a minute wait a minute part. It's sweet to say the least.
ReplyDeleteThis post is lovely....well done.
ReplyDeleteyou talk about guitars in the sexiest way possible. not that they arent sexy on their own...
ReplyDeleteBrian as someone who is a student of music, I'm amazed at the way you describe and dissect the music you listen to. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI would advise people to check out Lanemeyer. Great pop-punk outfit from New Jersey which I recently found out Mr. Fallon was the guitarist in this band for a little while and used to sing a couple of song. I wish I knew this fact when I ran into The Gaslight Anthem at a gas station in Grand Rapids. Two buddies of mine and myself drove up to see one of the best bills I have seen in years; TGA, Thirce, Alkaline Trio, and Rise Against. I should not suggest going to a show in Michigan with a giant Chicago flag (to support Alkaline and RA a couple hometown heroes). Despite the ramble if you enjoy some good pop-punk check out Lanemeyer. The band was named after John Cusack character in Better off dead, which made me love the name a bit more (Cusack being a Chicago boy).
ReplyDeleteLove the blues, psyched that you're talking about BB King, Albert King, Robert Johnson. I also love Gaslight Anthem, don't think it's a coincidence after reading this.
ReplyDeleteI came across the almost unknown band Broadcasters cd "13 Ghosts" by just randomly picking it out of the cds section in my local library. These guys are awesome. A total Rolling Stones throwback band from the 80s. Everyone should give them a listen. I don't really know how though since it's not even on itunes. Great stuff though. Out of New Jersey too if I remember correctly.
ReplyDeleteLove it! I've stumbled into a lot of old Delta blues this way...Junior Kimbrough (through the Black Keys), Son House (through the White Stripes). Didn't have much access to real Delta blues in suburban New Hampshire as a kid. Great idea to find something new now...who will it be?
ReplyDeletelooking for some new music? check out grim fandango. a and from little old perth, western australia. brilliant jangles! check out visiting hours are over. makes me wanna cry!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myspace.com/grimfandangomusic
get that into ya. if you enjoy it maybe you can give it a review brian. i found them when a mates band played a show with them...
A friend just recently got me into Stan Getz...I've been spending a lot of time with him lately but this sounds like a great new project.
ReplyDeleteEver tried buying an album solely because the cover was awesome? I only knew "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash, but the moment I saw the "London Calling" cover, I knew I needed to buy it. I think that one worked out pretty well.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever truly heard an album until it's been playing in my car for at least a week. I catch so many little details in the music that I don't hear when I listen anywhere else.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEver notice that you can put on a record, cd or even your ipod and it completely alters your mood? At least for me, what I am listening to can change how I feel in any given situation.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm driving in the car, and completely angry b/c the moron in front of me has decided that 10 mph is a fast as his old man hat wearing self can crawl and my ipod on shuffle brings up maggie blues, I am instantly brought to a place of nostalgia. A warm happiness sweeps over my soul. No longer is the guy in front of me a jerk, but a sweet grandpa who is on his way to bring flowers to his wife. The world is a calmer happy place and all just from listening to a song.
never have I known someone with so much fervency for music. awesome
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Love to read anything by a true music junky, especially an old friend.
ReplyDeleteI've been chewing on Woody Guthrie for the past few months. What started as an exercise in digging in the dirt of rock's earthy past became a challenging undertaking. He was never afraid to walk from anything that co-opted his belief and love for the common man. All he needed was a guitar and shoes to get him to the next gig, which was often a moner's camp or a farm or small depressed and failing town. His guitar was commonly emblazoned with the words "This Machine Kills Facists".
Getting into him was as grueling as the dustbowl and depression he lived in and wrote about, but once you're there you get to hear the stories of real people, their hopes and dreams, not hooks and riffs.
I dare anybody to spend a week with Woody and not come out of it with a different sentiment for our fellow Americans who toil away for family and survival with dreams they'll never realize.
"In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
As I went walking, I saw a sign there,
And on the sign there, It said "no trespassing."
But on the other side, it didn't say nothing!
That side was made for you and me."
Your blog is my new favourite thing; as a wanna-be music journalist your musings are inspiring.
ReplyDeleteMy father has 2000+ vinyl albums in the basement. I look forward to doing the homework assignment. :)
thrift shop vinyl here i come! thanks for the fire in the belly :D
ReplyDelete