dukeofwail
38 posts
Jul 29, 2011
2:04 PM
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To the list: You must read Gussow's "Journeyman's Road." A well-written book of the blues!
Adam, got a question for you, please.
Page 107 "Johnny Lang can sing the song but can't own it."
I don't know of any black singers alive today who lived the horror of the "black holocaust" you describe. (There may be, I simply don't know.)
What’s the difference between a black performer who acquires a great blues sound, and a white performer who does the same? (Other than one's own preference) Is one more credible (valid) than the other, all else being equal?
I wonder if a black face will almost always be considered the more genuine blues performer, than a white face. It's assumed that black means soulfulness. It certainly is a correlation, but not necessarily causation.
RESPONDERS
I come to the forum to learn. This topic may prompt emotion, so I hope replies use content and evidence to enlighten me, if needed. I’m willing to be persuaded.
Thanks Adam. Sure do enjoy your book.
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Robert Hale
Learn Harmonica via Webcam
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http://www.dukeofwail.com
DUKEofWAIL YouTube
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Tommy the Hat
160 posts
Jul 29, 2011
2:11 PM
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Some of this was covered in this thread
http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/1617011.htm
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Tommy
Bronx Mojo
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shanester
401 posts
Jul 29, 2011
2:14 PM
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Uh-oh here we go. Surely you know how this plays out...
Where's the full moon?
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Shane,
"The Possum Whisperer"
Shane's Cloud
1shanester
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nacoran
4403 posts
Jul 29, 2011
2:23 PM
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Duke, you might want to do a forum search. There are some wild threads on this topic- about three quarters of them are locked- but there is lot's of insightful stuff in them along with the crazy. It's an important question in the blues, but it's also one that brings on some heavy threads.
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Nate
Facebook
Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)
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Tommy the Hat
161 posts
Jul 29, 2011
2:41 PM
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I bow out before it begins...lol. Things like this don't have a right or wrong and there will always be two sides. What happens then is it becomes one side trying to convince the other; that's where it is no longer a discussion. But like Nate said, some interesting as well as educational things pop up through these debates. However, *personally* it doesn't matter enough to me to debate it or risk friendships or be misunderstood (text is tough).
I no longer find issues like this important. The music is. People are free to think or feel what they want. I'll keep my opinions to myself :) They won't effect anyone either way.
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Tommy
Bronx Mojo
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RT123
180 posts
Jul 29, 2011
3:30 PM
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I will tell you I find nothing wrong with what he said/asked. He has some good points. I am black an I think I am expected to know more about the blues than I do. I grew up in a white middle class area so I grew up listening to the stones and beatles. It goes both ways. If a white boy can't be a part of the blues then Brother shouldn't be able to enjoy classic rock. From being on this site I have seen many white guys that own the blues far more than I do.
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shanester
402 posts
Jul 29, 2011
3:48 PM
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Thanks for piping in on that RT123. That's funny, I do a lot of carpentry work with a black friend of mine in Houston. I play the Blues and often listen to it a work, and he is really into classic rock these days,and even some hillbilly, although he has turned me onto a lot of good hip hop that I never heard.
Personally, when I hear people talk about "owning the blues", it is rarely in a racial context as much as it is in the context of having had contact with the family tree that branches out from old masters and a certain degree of life experience under their belt...
EDIT: ...And of course playing with taste and feeling!
So in the world I play in (in Houston there are many black players as well as white players) it seems to be more about age, and who you've played with than race.
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Shane,
"The Possum Whisperer"
Shane's Cloud
1shanester
Last Edited by on Jul 29, 2011 3:51 PM
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shanester
403 posts
Jul 29, 2011
3:54 PM
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Whoops, can't forget the Latinos and Asians either!
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Shane,
"The Possum Whisperer"
Shane's Cloud
1shanester
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JInx
22 posts
Jul 29, 2011
8:17 PM
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Johnny Lang a bluesman? does a chicken have lips...lol I kid I kid, yeah he is.
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Joe_L
1378 posts
Jul 29, 2011
9:33 PM
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"I don't know of any black singers alive today who lived the horror of the "black holocaust" you describe. (There may be, I simply don't know.)"
Are you referring to enslavement or living the life of a sharecropper and traveling to Chicago or Detroit? Time has taken many people that lived that life, but there are some people left who grew up living that sort of life.
Willie Smith, James Cotton and Mojo Buford were all born in the South and moved North. So did Honeyboy Edwards. Otis Rush, Magic Slim, BB King, Buddy Guy, Carl Weathersby are still alive. They were born in the South and moved North in search of a better life. Jody Williams and Syl Johnson are still alive. Not to mention a whole bunch of older Southern soul singers like Bobby Rush. What about Oakland artists like Birdlegg, Country Pete or Jimmy McCracklin? How about Sonny Rhodes? There are others. These people came to mind after thinking about it for about a minute.
I guess it's easy to overlook these people when you don't bother to look too hard.
Do they not count?
I almost forgot Nick Charles, Henry Gray and Hubert Sumlin.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
Last Edited by on Jul 29, 2011 9:45 PM
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groyster1
1227 posts
Jul 29, 2011
11:43 PM
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blues has absolutely NOTHING to do with race-as willie dixon very intelligently said"the blues are the facts of life" thats all there is to say about it
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