I've just posted a video of old Satan & Adam footage from a festival we played in 1992. The sound quality isn't great; it's kind of trebly, and the harp is fairly low in the mix because of where the camera was located. But it gives a good idea of what I was working with, trying to be a sideman to an exceptionally energetic and original musician.
Sterling was playing as fiercely here as he ever did--and with an intensity that was typical of what he put off when we played the street. I can see why clubowners were disconcerted when we first tried to bring that firepower inside and cram it onto a small club stage.
There really isn't a good name for the style of music that we're making. It's certainly not blues. It's R&B, I guess--and the original Solomon Burke version was certainly R&B--but it has none of the subtlety of that sort of R&B. It's crazy-fast, crazy-loud, crazy-intense. It's also very precise. Messy as it may sound, exploding in all directions, we both know exactly where we are at every single moment. That's why the end of the song is so funny. We stop on a thin dime.
Playing with Sterling in those days was being part of an 18-piece big band, a Thundering Herd. He was such a powerful musician; it felt like I could just hurl myself into that power and become part of it.
Most importantly, from my perspective now, he forced me to veer away from whatever the blues harmonica tradition would have had me be in the year 1992 and do something completely different. I was playing in other contexts during those years--with Brian Kramer, Bob Malenky, and others--that were much more traditional. I knew how to play that way. But there was something very liberating and challenging about trying to match my harp lines against a blues/funk rhythm machine that came from way inside AND way outside the tradition.
Hopefully this video makes a little clearer why I get restless when I'm confronted with talented harp players who are content to recycle, embroider, and imitate. That's one way of interacting dynamically with the tradition--and in fact, for a long time now it has been the most popular way--but it was never enough for me. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been kicked repeatedly in the ass by a master musician who refused to allow me to do that.
Those were the good old days when nothing else mattered except for going to 2 or 3 Satan & Adam shows in a week or two. Man life was good back than!!! You guys are the BEST!!! Thanks Adam Tom
Adam, you and Sterling rocked it. Your recurring riff theme was catchy and I never tired of it. It was the kind of groove that could go on and on. Like you said, very energetic. I hope you guys keep this one in your current set list. It makes me feel good like when i'm driving down some road on a journey to somewhere soulful. Thanks for posting it. It opens the mind up to more diversity in harp styles. I once sat in with a band (jam session at a local LA club) and they kicked off a reggae type of groove (I thought it was going to be blues) and since it was my only opportunity I figured it was sink or swim. I was able to cop a feel on it and the resident harp man checked it out. That was really an upper for me and I realized that the harmonica sound can fit in with many different styles.
Adam, you and Mr. Satan are always in the pocket, and this is no different. The call and response is brilliant. ---------- Ted Burke http://youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.co,
These two guys are a eefing musical bulldozer ! To any of you that dig S & A (or blues in general) , I highly recommend reading Adam's book " Satan's Apprentice" for a peek inside their souls. Very well written and engaging story. BTW i am not a paid endorsee of Adam's, When sumpin is good, it deserves praise. This book is VERY good. Jus' sayin'.
>>>"Hopefully this video makes a little clearer why I get restless when I'm confronted with talented harp players who are content to recycle, embroider, and imitate. That's one way of interacting dynamically with the tradition ... but it was never enough for me."
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Amen. In a world full of what my wife not so lovingly calls "fat white guys in bowling shirts trying to sound like Muddy Wilson or whoever," Satan & Adam music is still extremely refreshing to hear.
