We all have factors in our lives that drive us to the Blues. Be it the economy, a woman we once loved, or even just that our cars broke down after investing a ton of cash into them. For me, it's a combination of losing my mother to cancer, an unfaithful love in my life, and knowing I am disabled and not much I can do about what I am going through. This is my Blues story.
More than 80 per cent of the world's population live in condition of poverty, violence and disease.
And the richest people of the world piss on the environment, screwing it up for everybody else who don't stand a chance.
Don't get me started on animal cruelty... Animals feel pain and anxiety just like we do.
But in the words of Charles Brown speaking about sneaking out as a small child and peeking through the cracks of Juke joints in the middle of the nigtht: "All I know is that the music made me feel all good inside."
I was first enamoured with a song I heard on a 45 single called 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy'. Don't know who it was by, but it was the most heartfelt thing I had heard up to that point. I was only around 10 at the time. Nothing happened much until I was in a dance joint and they played 'Green Onions' by Booker T and I felt it again. It was not until I was around 40 that my guitar playing friend asked what kind of music I liked, so I explained to him the style to which he responded with "well that's the blues". Up until that point I hadn't known what it was that turned me on. This is the same guy who suggested I pick up a harp and give it a try. The rest is history, as they say.
...because it sounds better than any other music out there today, and because blues harmonica is the sweetest sound in the blues, despite what the guitarists think.
Let me add just one thing. I have noticed a resurgence in young people listening to the blues in the last year or so. Does anyone agree?
Last Edited by on May 04, 2012 5:49 AM
Not a harp song, but the simplicity and beauty of this song - the words, the raw vocals, the guitar bursting with tone, the timing and rhythm - shows us why the blues is America's greatest musical form.
@atty1chgo. Dunno if there is a resurgence, but playing out on the street and at my weekly cafe gig, I have noticed the young respond as enthusiastically as any age group. They often haven't had the chance to hear blues before, and appreciate it once they've heard it. That's one reason to go out and keep playing to the people on the streets!
"Let me add just one thing. I have noticed a resurgence in young people listening to the blues in the last year or so. Does anyone agree?"
"I have noticed the young respond as enthusiastically as any age group."
yes, i notice it more and more at every gig. perhaps technology is responsible w/ all the musical choices at ones fingertips. ---------- MP affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
loss of my father at age 4 was pretty much where i think my blues began. for some time after, my mom's dad would play harp and sing to me, which i think planted something deep in me from that early age. decades later i really began to know what i was doing with a harp. but before i really learned what to do with a harp i had a succession of broken hearts, failed marriage, poverty to deal with. addiction enters in. suicidal depression for a time.
pretty much nobody i know has suffered the kind of depredations that the founders of this great music suffered, but as a body of people in this generation, we as musicians can preserve what they brought forth and carry it to the next generation.
bronzie is right, we carry it out to the folks often in this nice weather. from toddlers to teens to octagenerians, across race lines and economic lines and social lines, we see people respond positively to the blues thing every time we go out. ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
John Lee Hooker was always the epitome of REAL blues. He did whatever came to him. Count the bars in some of his songs and you'll find 11, 13, 15 or whatever, but it never detracted from the man and his music. I find I'm not counting bars most of the time. Does that make me a REAL blues man? I doubt it.
and what about bluesmen form other culures that hooker danced with: like ali farka toure' and the touareg players who play these non-progressive tunes where there is no internal set chord structure to what they are playing... with a lot of the same blues themes as american blues... and the songs are structured only by the rhythm. such great blues trances... that are so soulful. although i have to go along with greg's comment in the end. it is all about the chicks.
'cause it's the blues. Devil's music. Steeped in sinister mystery. Hardship. Good man feeling' bad.... Etc. But really, Dude-it's the chicks! ---------- "Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
I hear you, LL. My guitarist said "I joined a band 20 years too late," on Saturday. All I could say was, "30 years too late for me". Woulda, coulda, shoulda....
I think it was Steve Earle who said "there are two kinds of music in the world....there's blues and there's zippity-doo-dah." He had a fairly broad definition of the blues, however........blues "nazis" need not respond.
I like playin' the blues 'cuz you got songs where the first phrase of each verse is repeated, so you got less lyrics to learn. :) Actually, I play blues 'cuz I have to. I can't help it.
I'm extremely introvert and I found particularly on music a way to vent.
I started though Punk and Hardcore Punk music playing bass. The in yo face lyrics, energy and such was so great. But after a while the whole violent and conflictive scene put me on a side for a while.
I got introduced to garage rock/blues in the form of the Sonics and then got interested on that and got more to the roots then I found about Sonny boy Williamson II
I don't know why I picked a harp but I love it now. Being a loner, depressive person its an extremely useful tool.
I met many friends, traveled some places and got even funny stories.
I had suicidal tendencies since I've been a kid and when I think I can't any better the harp is there to lend me a hand.
When I'm on good mood, blues also accompanies me, more in the vein of the blues and ragtime from the 20's like in revival bands such as Tuba Skinny.
Plus I find my two favorite music genres have a lot of common, and work specially great all together.
I'm not going to pretend I've had a hard life, and hence grew up experiencing the blues. I'm lucky enough to have got this far and only had to put up with what most everyone else has to. For me it's indefinable. I just love blues music, especially 'simple' 12 bar variety. I'm white and live in the UK, and can't claim to have had any contact with blues music or blues musicians, that might have switched me on. I think it's almost a primordial thing, a bit like staring into an open fire. It just satisfies something inside me.
I need music in my life, not just listening, but creating it. When I've had stretches where I wasn't creating music I was miserable. It doesn't matter if I'm singing in a choir or writing words that someone else will sing, being part of creating music is cathartic to me, and, like it or not, there is a certain quality to being blue that can suck you in. You start feeling down and it feels familiar and warm.
It's a nostalgic ache- but when you are playing the blues you can dwell there a while without being sucked in beyond the event horizon. You can remember the people you never got to say goodbye to, the girls you never got the courage to say hi to, the bittersweet moments that happened in the middle of a pile of shit that you avoid remembering because you are afraid you'll get sucked in to everything that goes with it, but you can lose some of the most sublime meaningful moments if you gloss it over. The chords and the rhythm are a meditation that pulls you back through to the other side, stronger and more capable of dealing with your past. It's a sound you can make that can convey your emotions to the room, even if you are the only one in the room. We all know the famous Eagles' line, 'Some dance to remember, some dance to forget'. There is a strain/shade of blues that is music to remember and pay homage to heartache. Pop, for the most part is about dancing to forget. Performing the blues live is a way to let other people know that you've been through it too, to commiserate with everyone out there.
And then, when everyone is miserable, along comes a song about hope that lifts everyone up. That's the high. If everyone is happy there is only so far you can lift them. Blues is an abusive relationship that then brings you flowers.
@atty1chicago I have noticed a blues resurgence too. Especially old timey stuff.
For me the blues comes from the lack of people who truly give a damn. People (the vast majority) couldn't care less about social justice issues (like fair trade or living wages), food production, homelessness, the state of our reserves, environment... Truly sad world. My favourite bumper sticker is, "If your not outraged, your not paying close enough attention!"
I farm without chemicals then I play harmonica everyday. In that order. Thank you blues, thank you farming and thank you harmonica for maintaining my sanity!
... and the Number One Reason for playing the blues:
your contact at Comcast totally ripped off your idea for "Casasblanca 2: Assault of the Nematoids" and pitched it to NBCUniversal as an Adam Sandler vehicle. You think that doesn't hurt? Lemme tellya ...
