As you may know ,I love Howlin'wolf , he was and still is a major influence , whether it be singing , harp or guitar , This is a clip or him and his band in england in the early 60's singing smokestack lightning
I like this clip much much more than the other one. His playing doesn't light me up but that's just me and not being able to get into what I consider to be boring music. That's one of the biggest reasons I suck as a blues player, I'm great at it for a few tunes, maybe even a set and a half but after that I get really bored and start to screw around. The screwing around to keep me interested is not what I would consider good music or good blues playing.
Last Edited by on May 21, 2009 7:11 AM
Could be, if you play with blues musicians who also like screwing around.
I played some 5 years with two guitar players, we had a play-list but we based a lot on improvisation and the inspiration of the moment. Surely not always for the best, but we had some great times.
To me, blues is a feeling. You gotta feel it to play it. And if you don't feel it, when you play it........it sure is noticeable. IMHO all the techniques in the world .....overblows, underblows, sidewayblows;)...... can't make up for the lack of feeling it.
I get the whole blues is a feeling thing and I have no issues with emotive playing. I can blow blues and sound better than most, that's not the issue. One of my most honorable moments in playing blues happened with Joe Filisko. At the time he said I was one of three players that have given him goose bumps with a blues solos. Kim Wilson was one of the other guys. can't remember the last one... That's a very high complement coming from a guy like Filikos. My blues kung fu is very good, however, for me, blues is too constrictive for my imagination.
I think the music we like has to do with how our brains are wired. I'm a very quick and fluid thinker and like to have my music and my ladies the same way.
I don't think he was suggesting that you were lacking the necessary musical sensibilities to play blues! Perhaps more accurately, there's no point in playing it if you'd rather be playing something else. Much of the pleasure to be had in blues music lies in its reliability, its often predictable framework. Not to say there's no room for innovators.
But if you throw something really innovative -- what you'd call 'screwing around' -- it might not meet with the approval of your average accountant audience member who wants to hear a note-for-note rendition of 'Hootchie Cootchie Man'.
"Perhaps more accurately, there's no point in playing it if you'd rather be playing something else. "
See now, that's wrong. As a professional harmonica player its my job to play blues. Perhaps more accurately, there's no point in me being part of a blues band which is something I wouldn't do unless I were being adequately compensated. $100/nt is't enough for me to lug around a 4x10 tube amp and honk away all night.
What I call screwing around is more about using an Ab harp to play in the key of E.
OK now using Ab to play in "E" is just showing off! And if I could I would(just in case you misunderstand) I have been through a similar situation. When I lived in Nashville I was offered jobs within the first six months there, but they were country bands. I have nothing against the people that like and/or play country, but I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick than have a full time job as a country harp player. I just knew in my heart it was something I couldn't do for a long period of time! I consider myself a blues musician more than a pro harmonica player. I had one guy get mad at me because I turned him down. All I said to the man was "no thank you" in a very polite tone. And he was pissed! I then made the mistake and told him that I did not like country music. I honestly thought the guy was going to punch me. Anyway at that time I learned to make it clear I was a blues musician from then on. A poor blues musician, but one just the same. I can't play any other way. Playing a blues song is like going to church for me. The deeper and more consistent the grove the more I become creative and start to play things I've never played or heard before! My daughter says harmonicas are like crack to me! I haven't tried crack. So I don't know if that's good or bad?
ChromaticBlues, Not sure if it's showing off when there are only two or three people in the audience and the only reason they can't leave is because they are too drunk to find their cars.
hey jonsparrow I have that DVD about the Wolf, too. I really like it as well even though it is more documentary than what I'd call a concert video. I especially liked hearing about how he was a rather good man to his family and band mates.
Thanks for posting that clip. The Wolf was such a unique artist. Chromaticblues, I feel the same way about the blues. I wrote and recorded a song called "Drug of Choice" about my feelings on the blues. I'll lug around a 4x10 amp and honk the blues all night for $100 bucks anytime. Hell, I'll do it for free. (An Ab harp in the key of E? That's ninth position. I can't recall ever seeing a discussion of that position.)
sure is a pleasure getting some healthy debate fellas Justa little note on how my perspective of it. I don't think blues is constrictive , like any music it has it's formula , It can be slow , fast , up or downbeat, it depends on the feelings of the person playing it. When i play guitar , i never learn other people's solos , I prefer to find my own , i play covers in the band to pad the set out , but i never play them like the record, no point, I like to break things down and rebuild them to how i want it , It's what most bluesmen did and still do . I also play rockabilly but never copy anyone mostly tke influences and creating my own voice. Like every scene , there's the real deal and then the plastics, also the average white pub band that somewhere in the set, they'll say we'll do a blues number that totally has no feel , no swing , it's just there! Usually so the guitarist can show off his cod hendrix impressions, with the distort evrything box and pedal board which has every concievable sound known or unkown to the human ear I saw a band a while ago with two harp players , both were the sort of people that turn up every saturday, load in , play , load out , usual set , no real fire or passion . Which is why i listen to old blues or old rocknroll , soul , etc when the musicians were hungry for it I'd like to think I play from the heart , well i know i do, whether i'm the real deal is subjective. I have that dvd also , i lend it to my other friends to check out , well worth it! I remember Marshall Chess , saying when he shook the wolfs hand it was like a baseball mitt! anyway , onwards !
Firtly I have to say Howlin wolf is a fantastic blues Man.
Chromaticblues:Now Buddha highlights a point to you (about Its not showing off Ab in E)
Well i recognise that.
Ive been a local modern jazz pro from longer than i care to mention,not on harp however that ain't the point.
Some blues players if they ain't got a full house get all upset blaming promotion or any thing they care to come up with.
Now i've hung out and played at times with with some of the finest jazz players in the world. I don't name drop because it is surperflous. If there is one thing Iv'e learned from them is at the point of execution you climb inside yourself and play.
The delivery is first and foremost for your self and the members of the band followed by the audience.
The point being you don't hang back if all the punters haven't shown. You deliver full on ballad, up temp anything.If its too an empty room so be it, THAT'S TRUTH and it isn't showing off.
( Remember in jazz we got to come up with a mass of difference everytime or the band will be on your case for starters.Its not like playing a different audience every night)
You see most good Jazz players recognise truth,because they ain't in it for no ego thats for sure. One thing we are very good at is recognising bands milking audiences for the sake of it not producing TRUTH.There are plenty of blues bands faking it far too many the world over.
You only have to listen to the average blues rock style drummer winding off endings one after the other because that is what they think they have to do to get reaction.
It's all false it's not TRUTH, but no one can get close to them to even attempt to explain the use of the kick drum. Even if you had the opprtunity it would be waisted.
In my view every blues player, even if thats all they want to play should dig Jazz and vice versa.
Heres to sopwith I agree on many points you made and they are valid ones . I have been in bands when the singer has had a hissy fit because he hadn't got the crowd reaction he was after, and went of to sulk for the rest of the night , I could see a change also when I took a harp solo or guiatr solo, he would stand there and not know what to do! I do dig jazz , and how it realtes to blues as well , that swing is most important , If you listen to Paul butterfied's first album , and then listen to john mayall ( beano album) you notice that , butterfields band has that relentless swing that so many blues bands lack Loads of so called blues bands are more blues rock than blues , and there is always too many egos to go round What i find with The Wolf , he was in charge and everyone in the band was happy to back him, Drummers , well we dont bother anymore , so many think they can waste a bands time by turning up when they feel like it ,and then hitting averything ,just beacuse it's there( rock drummers) crash bash , etc etc What i noticed , in the early '60s with the r&B bands , quite often than not it was the case of the drummer had been trained for jazz and dance bands ,so was stady and consistent,with the beat and overall vibe , eg Georgie fame , or alexis Korner , graham bond organisation Even the rolling stones had a great drummer( still have) lastly it doesn't matter to me whetther there's ten or 10 thousand there to watch , I make sure we all enjoy the night , the music ,beer ,ladies the list goes on My amp repair guy is a jazz saxophonist , as welllas a bloody decnt bloke who can even get frankensteins monster going if need be!
