Unfortunately, this approach requires THINKING and the ability for a individual to freely think and deduce logical conclusions. These are skills and abilities that unfortunately most Americans fail to possess. ......this society is more interested in Snapchat filters, social media fantasy, and elevating thugs into super-status through promoting their shi$&y music, etc. ......sheep will always follow. We have become a society of mindless zombies.
Last Edited by CarlA on Sep 19, 2018 10:54 AM
@CarlA ha! You're looking pretty comfortable riding that lion in the photo now;-)
@dougharps Nicely said! People like Rupert M rely on simplistic dichotomy thinking to ram their poisonous wedge through society's zombified brain.
I like the Speculative Ideological Music bit as well, + Composers's Political Compass. Very perceptive observation on how important music has been, and it still is. Notice how people like the Stones and others have had to take legal action to stop their brand being trashed through unauthorized use by unscrupulous political operators trying to leverage their power?
Sorry, guys. My Pomposity Meter is programmed for this particular site...Modern Blues Harmonica....and I quote - "This is a forum for the free exchange of information and opinions about all things blues harmonica."
My Meter tells me that there is not much happening here in regards to blues harmonica, music, theory or anything else that relates to the Mission Statement.
Perhaps I'll consider getting a different meter programmed for opinions about politics and how to think in today's society....... ---------- The Iceman
I would not have been happy had I attended this show. I had seen Charlie years ago at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. Buddy Guy even got up and played with Charlie. It was a great experience. Funny thing happened...or did not happen...no political rant, just great blues.
I took my wife to see U2 at Soldier Field in Chicago last summer for her 50th birthday. I do not care for U2's music and even less for their political views. But I kind of knew what to expect.
I have seen Ted Nugent (local Michigander) twice. First time around 1981 and then around 2000. Even though I agree with some (not all) of Ted's politics, it really put me off to listen to him rant during the 2000 show. I did not come to hear your political views, I want to hear Wango Tango and Great White Buffalo.
Since this is a blues harmonica forum, would anyone know what key this song is in and whether second position would be be best choice?
God Bless our Troops!
Last Edited by Blind Melon on Sep 21, 2018 10:13 AM
@iceman: Believe it or not, I have just extended you the rare honor of amending the forum creed, at the top of the homepage, as a direct response to your invocation of the forum creed. This has never to my knowledge happened before, and it probably won't happen again. But it has happened now, and you have provoked it.
Specifically, the forum creed now reads as follows:
"This is a forum for the free exchange of information and opinions about all things blues harmonica. (This leaves a little wiggle room for things having to do with one or the other words in isolation: i.e., blues, harmonica.) You must be a registered member in good standing in order to post. Civility is our guiding principle. Please read the rules before registering and/or posting here. If you fail to read the rules before registering, especially the first rule entitled Registration, you will critically endanger your ability to become a member of this forum."
I've changed it because I do think that this forum should make a space--and in the past it has in fact made a space--for more general commentary about the music that we play, blues. All of us play it. Some of us sing it. Also, some of us occasionally just talk about harmonicas, and harmonica gear, rather than BLUES harmonicas and blues harmonica gear. And that's just fine with me, and all of you, I'm sure.
This all seems obvious. But for some reason, the creed has, for quite a while, failed to correspond with our general practice. At one point I'm quite sure that it did make a space for blues per se as a topic of conversation. It's back to that now.
Hi The Iceman: You may have missed my point. I was responding to what you wrote, as follows:
"My Meter tells me that there is not much happening here in regards to blues harmonica, music, theory or anything else that relates to the Mission Statement."
That's true. But there was a lot happening in relation to the blues, and in particular whether it was appropriate for a blues musician, at a blues concert, to engage in a rant towards the audience, a rant that seemed to have some underlying or explicit political content.
The nexus of blues and politics, as far as I'm concerned, is something that IS relevant to the lives that many of us lead: as blues performers who sing; as blues harmonica players who attend blues concerts where politics rears its head, etc. It's something that some of us want to talk about.
That's why I changed--or reverted--the forum creed. At one earlier point, I believe it may have read "....all thing blues and harmonica." Regardless, I'm fine with threads that concern general blues topics that aren't, per se, blues harmonica topics. Within reason, of course. But the occasional thread of that sort is entirely reasonable, and does not need to be headlined OT.
Adam - I wasn't talking about the entire thread at all - most of it fell within the creed, etc.
A few of the comments went off the creed, even with the update....it read (to me) like pure politics and how folk should or shouldn't be thinking....this was where my meter went off.
If I'd been more specific, it would have eliminated a bit of chaff here. Will try to nail it more in the future.
oh, btw - not really understanding the deflating balloon video - can't for the life of me figure out how it relates to blues, harmonica, music, music theory and all the other fun stuff we like to debate here.
It feels like some 3rd grader hiding behind his mom's skirt while peeking around and sticking his tongue out at someone with whom he disagrees.
I may be wrong, but just can't seem to find a reason for it here. Perhaps someone will enlighten me if I'm way off base.
Anyways, sorry for my contribution to confusion here... ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Sep 22, 2018 4:27 PM
"Cooder is angry and passionate. His stand on the Republican Party raises the old question of whether musicians should talk about politics and become politically involved. "Stick to music," say their critics. "Just because you can play a guitar doesn't mean you can lecture me on politics."
Cooder's answer is simple: "When I woke up this morning free speech was still a right … Martin Luther King used to say that in times like these everybody has to do something and if you don't, you'll lose it. If you don't exercise a right, you'll lose that right. I've got this tune called The 90 and the 9. A little boy or girl says they don't want to go to Charlotte, North Carolina, to the Democratic convention. They say 'I want to stay here. It's nice and quiet.' The father says 'No. It's about something we have to participate in and if we don't they're going to take our rights away. We've got to go do something.' That song is my attempt to echo what Martin Luther King said.
"If Julian Assange can do what he did then I can damn sure write a few corny four-minute songs and I'd better do it because if I don't, I'm going to be mad with frustration. I might as well do it. I don't do anything else. My music reflects culture and spirit. That's what is great about it."
The result is one of Cooder's greatest albums. He has bent his love and knowledge of American blues and roots music and used it to express his frustration with American society. Election Special is driven by passion and genuine anger."
i'm interested to know how you folk feel about spontaneous renditions of the national anthem at blues shows you attend. i was at Jazzfest, in the Blues tent and the band on stage suddenly fired up the National anthem, apropos of nothing i was aware of. i cant imagine that happening here, with our song. maybe your song lends itself better to that sort of thing, but i expect overt displays of nationalism might just be more a part of your culture
No problem, iceman. I think we're on the same page at this point.
For the record, threads, or posts, that are PURELY about politics, absent some plausible blues context, are in general a bad idea. Even preceded by "OT," it would be a bad idea, for example, to start an MBH thread entitled "Pelosi or Trump: Who ya got?" ;)
Bee, I would say hearing the Star Spangled Banner at a typical USA concert would be very uncommon. The national anthem is typically announced with the US flag present. It is considered disrespectful for citizens to not stand and remove their hats during the national anthem. I was at a recent Yankees ball game and a disabled guy in front of us asked for help out of his wheel chair during the anthem. I cant recall ever hearing the anthem played as a concert song.
But, I can’t imagine many venues in the USA where playing the national anthem would be offensive or controversial. For example if Ben would have said something positive about his political opinion (instead of bashing) then shouted “get out and vote” followed by his rendition of the national anthem I honestly believe the crowd would have collectively cheered.
Venue: Including the national anthem in your set list would be in poor taste at a recent NFL banquet. But, if you are opening a rodeo in the United States you better bring your national anthem “A” game.
Etiquette aside, I normally expect to hear the anthem pretty straight. I think the song America the Beautiful lends itself much better to jazz or blues interpretations.
Here’s a Ray Charles version of America:
For worldwide members: The Star-Spangled Banner is the US national anthem (Oh say can you see…). America the Beautiful is a famous patriotic song about America (Oh beautiful for spacious skys…)
Outside of not standing for the anthem in protest of something, there really isn’t a controversy. The Star Spangled Banner is a song about people fighting for freedom. America the Beautiful is a song about the appreciation of land. At least that’s my simple point of view.
I certainly would not expect a riot if “Oh Canada” was played at a concert up north. More likely the audience would fall asleep (Just kidding, I used to hear that song when the Canadian TV broadcast went off the air each night).
I got a little politics at an Alejandro Escovedo show Sunday night. It was my first experience in artist politics since the start of this thread. A slightly new perspective/observation, knowing something of the artist's political views helps give insight into their music. If you want to hear the whole song it helps to know where it's coming from.
Hey Thieven Heathen - how’d Alejandro’s new songs from The Crossing sound? It’s a very timely and political album about immigration. I’ve probably seen him a couple dozen times in Texas, London & SoCal over the past 25 years. He’s the real deal.
Last Edited by Sundancer on Sep 26, 2018 12:07 AM
I hadn't heard of Alejandro Escovedo (thanks for the intro!) before so did a quick search.
His songwriting style reminds me a little of Tish Hinojosa/Bruce Cockburn/Jackson Browne/Delbert McClinton/Ry Cooder++ I guess it falls under Americana (or Canadiana for Bruce) of which Blues is related by blood, sweat, tears...and joy.
As Ry Cooder says in the link I posted just above "My music reflects culture and spirit."
@Sundancer - The CD is on the desk in front of me here. I'll have to get back to you for a review. What I really liked was the band he imported from Italy for this current project. Don Antonio. They're world class musicians injecting their native folk influences into Alejandro's folk/punk/rock with a little jazz thrown in. I was hearing something very familiar and unexpected at the same time. And the drummer had some rhythms that I just do not hear around here, all the while playing rock & roll. Yeah, see 'em when they come to your town.
I was across the river from that show last night. ACL Live, Lucinda Williams opening for Robert Plant. Can't be 2 places at once. Thanks for letting me know what I missed. IMO, in regards to harmonica, Mickey (deservedly) has the best gig in music today.
There was a little politics at ACL, too. It's just part of it nowadays.
Last Edited by Thievin' Heathen on Sep 30, 2018 3:45 PM
Lucinda opening for Robert Plant? Wow! Not sure it can get better than that Thieven. Did you have good seats? Wonder whatever happened to the harp Robert nicked from SonnyBoy??
As for Willie’s politics, anybody who is surprised hasn’t been paying attention for the past 50 years. And it wasn’t all that long ago that Anne Richards was governor of Texas. 1994 to be exact.
Last Edited by Sundancer on Sep 30, 2018 10:38 PM
No seat. I had to stand in front of the stage through both sets. I met a bunch of really nice people in that geezer mosh pit. It was as close to a Zep concert as you can get today.
