First impression was merely that I liked the simple groove/slow drive of that delta slide. After listening to the lyrics a couple of times I was smiling. Nice take - with good humor - on how all things pass, change, and alter . . . but the spirit still remains. ---------- Marr's Guitars
Offering custom-built Cigar Box Guitars for the discriminating player of obscure musical unstruments
On the plus side, Gomes is an excellent blues rock guitarist in the Hendrix/SRV mode (based on the vid posted by Goldrick), which means he can go sonic and rattle off those fast note clusters with requisite amounts of anguish/rage/lust. He is, though, an awful singer, his voice being a sorrier version of the wretched Ronnie James Dio rust-encrusted caterwauling. Like his guitar work, his singing is so preposterously over stated that he creates an image of someone who has but one state of being, anger and rage. What works for his guitar playing does not work on the vocals.
For the song, I smelled trouble when it was obvious that blues was the subject of the song. I hate poems that are about poetry ,or are about being a poet. It's a cheat in the poet's implicit task to engage the world with their imagination. It's a conceit that is , indeed, conceited. Likewise , I don't dig blues tunes that are about the blues. Whether it's this artist's desire to desire to bitch about the blues not being the blues anymore, or exclaiming he was born a blues man, it demonstrates an arrogant assumption that he's the Real McCoy, that he's Old School, that he's the rightful carrier of the Tradition. I call bullshit and and wish this wannabe guitar hero does something interesting with his admittedly solid chops. ---------- Ted Burke tburke4@san.rr.com
He seems to be a skilled and talented guitar player and he is exposing another audience to rockin' blues. I don't think that can do anything other than help us here.
Agree with Thievin'. Anthony is a metal singer combining genres. That's a good thing. Blues rock exposed more people to the blues tradition as has other genre combining experiments. He pulls it off in a palatable yet artistic manner.
Last Edited by DoubleJ on Jun 10, 2015 8:50 PM
As a Canadian, you know that I must get my two cents worth in on this one. I am not really into this song but he certainly is making a statement and evolving the blues as such.
Anthony Gomes is a Canadian and his claim to fame beyond his music is: "In addition to performing, Gomes is an award winning blues history scholar, earning the University of Toronto’s C.P. Stacey Award for the highest overall academic grade point average by a history major. Anthony completed his master’s degree thesis on the racial and cultural evolution of blues music, graduating with high distinction. In 2014, his thesis was published and nominated for the Best Blues Book of the Year by Blues 411."
He has made the rounds and has survived as a musician. The blues is always evolving and his take on it has gained him credibility and respect.
"Believing that music can inspire the human spirit, Anthony founded the Music Is The Medicine Foundation in 2010. This non-profit organization is dedicated to changing the lives of others through the healing power of music."
He has made the rounds and has survived as a musician. The blues is always evolving and his take on it has gained him some respect. As a musician, I shall be happy to have the respect of other musicians.
Is it a parody? I would definitely turn that off if I heard it again. That's kinda almost the most avoid-worthy thing I can think of. Unless it's a parody. But I still wouldn't want to listen to it.
Didn't do anything for me. A bit stadium rock-y for my liking. I had similar thoughts to SuperBee. Thought he might be taking the piss. Looked at something else of his on YT and pressed stop when he reached the guitar solo. I can see where it will appeal to some. Different strokes and all that. It's a good thing the whole world doesn't like the same music.
Don't care for it at all. Drums sound fake and while the vocals aren't "bad", I don't like them. But you can't really expect a song called "The Blues Ain't the Blues No More" to be traditional blues.
Needs some harp. But seriously, I'm not going to bash this song or this performance, especially given the backgrounder that Owen provided. I'd say it's a solid song and performance. I listened all the way through and was not tempted to shut it off. As for the content of the lyrics, that's where it becomes interesting, and might provoke some extra listens. I suspect that the blues will continue, as interpreted by the present generation, while being compared to the standard set by past recordings and present day traditionalists. ----------
Anthony Gomes - the blues ain't the blues no more....you can bet your bottom dollar they ain't especially when they sound like that!!!!
The lyrics are stating the obvious if this had been written years ago it might have been relevant but come on it's 2015 we all know the history!!!
This type of blues (even if Gomes is a scholar) is like something from a cheap TV show It's diluted and pale and it really does give the blues a bad name...not unless as commented above you want to hear a heavy metal bands take on the blues.
I like blues in the trad vein, country and electric and I like the west coast style but what is Gomes saying bring back the bad old days so we can reproduce another Howlin' Wolf??? I'm all for preserving the classic trad blues but man, the originators have come and gone and left their musical legacy. This song is not relevant to anything,and Gomes sings in that annoying Christine Aguillera fake vibrato silliness!
I know that I could have been more diplomatic and banged on about all music is subjective and their are many aspects to the blues but I thought it would have been nice to be a little bit more aggressive and Adam did ask for our opinion's.
WWCHS ----------
"Those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do"
Last Edited by marine1896 on Jun 11, 2015 3:42 PM
the music sounded pretty rooted in tradition to me.. more so than the Bonamassa, Hill Trucks, Gibbons one that Pual posted, which is much more heavily influenced by the guitar wanking Allman/Clapton etc.. high note stuff that started in the 1960's by rock/ blues musicians and continues as a standard today. like the older music Gomes does not feel compelled to take an extended solo high on the frets, rather he lets the guitar set the groove with a few flourishes....which is a more old school approach to blues in my mind
as for the words.. you can't win with those.. for the traditionalists.. they will not like it..neither will the more modern sympathetic listener.. but hey if he is a blues scholar he is singing about what he really feels strongly about. more power to him. it did not come across to me as if he was trying to fake something and was doing the song without feeling
I found it to be just sorta 'ok". Certainly not the worst blues-based music I've ever heard, but also a long way from the best. I didn't really care for his vocals, and I thought the lyrics were just "ok" - nothing special, but not totally dumb. Slide work was fine, but the riff didn't blow me away, and certainly didn't sound all that original or innovative (or even requiring of much talent to play). Basically, it was just middle-of-the-road ok-ness. I would not buy the album based on this track, but I wouldn't totally diss the guy either. ----------
Lot's of over analyzing here. Try just closing your eyes and absorbing the blues. I bet if you walked out of your favorite watering hole and this guy was on the street you would think it's great. Wish he could see this thread. No wonder harp players are frowned upon. We think we know everything. I heard (and felt) a blues guy giving it is all. Sorry if you can't feel it. Missing the 80s stadium rock part totally.
---------- www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
Last Edited by harpdude61 on Jun 11, 2015 12:07 PM
I like the comparison to hair metal blues. It's funny that a vocal style can be so associated with a style that it's kind of jarring to hear it in another form. I like the guitar stuff, and I like the vocal, but I'm not sure they belong in the same song. I feel for that vocal to work it needs to be surrounded by a fuller sound (or for that riff to work it needs a less rock-operatic vocal) although I guess if the theme is the blues ain't the blues no more...
As for the complaint about the deconstructive lyrics- I like deconstructive lyrics but like any other lyric they need to be original. The poem about writing a poem is something every writer writes at some point; only a few have any particularly poetic merit or shed new light on the writing process. If they pull it off, more power to them. I personally love taking on cliches and trying to make them shiny and new, but when you do, you are setting the bar really high.
I couldn't think of a quick example where I'd done that well, so for comedic effect I'll just go with a haiku I wrote once...
This is not the worst Haiku you will ever hear Because I'll write more
I listened to the first 48 seconds of it. That was all I could bear. It's not what I'd call good music and is certainly not something I'd ever want to listen to again. I'm sure lots of people will love it and think it's good blues. It ain't for me though.
There is nothing new here. I love the fans of these Blues Rock guys. They act like their beloved artist is taking the Blues into uncharted territory. Taking it somewhere that no man has gone before.
Blues rock guys are turning the Blues into Classic Rock. That was done in the 1960's. It isn't exactly new. That Anthony Gomes tune sounds a lot like Blues Hammer to me.
I am sure this song will grab the attention and favor of many music lovers.But if one of those music lovers takes the step to do a little research into blues and connects with one of the masters, well, fair play to Mr. Gomes. Thanks for keeping the flame burning.
His musics not for me..Below is a direct quote from Anthony.
--------------------- Blues traditionalists are like civil war reenactors. Everyone dresses up and knows the history but it's not real. Music has to live in the now and push audiences way of thinking.
"Blues traditionalists are like civil war reenactors. Everyone dresses up and knows the history but it's not real. Music has to live in the now and push audiences way of thinking."
Yep, blues/rock cat's always come up with that shit...also Gomes plays as if the Allman Brothers and SRV never happened ..well they did and they done it with class, feel and that really is blues/rock without trying too hard or sounding cliched!
I think Junior Watson is real, Sugar Ray Norcia is real!!!
WWCHS ----------
"Those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do"
Last Edited by marine1896 on Jun 11, 2015 3:33 PM
If he was at a local club doing an acoustic show, I would go and would find it interesting. Not traditional blues, but interesting. I have wide ranging tastes in music.
If he was at a local club playing his blues rock act I would probably pass (unless he brought a good harp player with him!), because I can hear some pretty damn good loud electric blues rock guitar locally, and it isn't my usual thing.
We have some local singers who can sing like that in that style, and every so often I go to one of their acoustic shows, but I do not want the ear ringing that follows an electric shred blues rock show (even with ear plugs!) I think I may have mild tinnitus, but I can't tell for sure because my ears have this ringing sound that won't let me hear it...
If they have a good harp player, I will go at least once, even if it is more rock than blues. ----------
@harpdude: I think I was referring to another of his videos with the stadium rock comment, if memory serves me correctly. I should have made this clearer. BronzeWailer's YouTube
"...Live now and push audience's way of thinking." BS. Music doesn't have to do any such thing. Music can try to push audience' way of thinking if that's what the musician is on about, but music can be whatever the musician wants and the audience will take it or leave it as they please. There's a whole bunch of different audiences, even on a modern blues harmonica board... I take his point about 're-enactors' and dressing up, but the question of what's real is a subjective issue. If that's what that audience enjoys, why not? I know some boys who like to fight with swords. I don't really get it, but they seem to like it. Which aspect of reality in music will we focus on? The locked in downbeat groove that allows me to zone in on the here and now, the universal vocal cry that takes me out of myself and connects me to humanity across barriers of age and race and space and time, or the cerebral lyric which makes me think how clever songwriters are, or the amazingly inventive and virtuous musicianship which dazzles and impresses or the sheer energy release which allows me to releases my own pent up tension in a frenzy of movement and quasi-violence, or the relaxing and occasionally amazing harmonic insights of a musician who plays just for the love and intrigue of the sound of music, or some other aspect of music? I understand some people object to the 'museum' aspect of so called traditional blues. That's ok, I don't particularly like that aspect either, but guess what? It's a construct of the mind. It's not a real thing, just a way of thinking about something. Kind of like fear. You can enjoy music just for the sake of it, it doesn't need to pass through the quality control point and get a coolness approved and relevant sticker. 'Relevant' is not something which can be objectively applied to music by a person who is not you. Sure, people group up according to music they like, but that doesn't make the music better. Some people still listen to Led Zeppelin and think it's great. Some like miles Davis best. Some like Grannyfist. Willie Nelson does it for some. Some people like all that old stuff and new stuff too at different times or all at the same time. And sometimes and some people... Just can't stand that shit. Sorry, a bit. I just lose it when I see stuff like 'music has to live now and push audiences way of thinking'.
"Blues traditionalists are like civil war reenactors. Everyone dresses up and knows the history but it's not real. Music has to live in the now and push audiences way of thinking."
Did he look in the mirror lately ? He sings and dresser like the 80's - Trying to get the old loverboy fans?
His band , amp and guitar rig are derivative Hendrix
His licks my son could play at age 10 from watching my old SRV and Hendrix tapes
He wishes he had a style to call his own
PS - bass and drummer aint original either
Normally I wouldnt care enuff to be critical but that quote frosts my balls
Oh yeah and somebody here thinks Duane Allman was a wanker? Southern man dont need you" round anyway
Amazing
edit to add video
Last Edited by Goldbrick on Jun 11, 2015 4:28 PM
This performance has the trappings of a blues song (slide guitar, etc.), but not a blues feel. I say this is not blues.
It's hard to explain, but someone else with a real blues feel could do this very song, with this very structure or close to it, and I'd say it was blues.
Not everyone, however well intentioned or sincere, can play blues.
The blues really aren't the blues any more. They're different and are following the path we take them on. Like B.B. said, he didn't play like Bukka and the new generation doesn't play like he did. We interpret based on the current social pressures and norms. Traditionalists exist in all genres and that's good because I think it helps ground our progress and always provides a solid foundation to move on. Even this site is the Modern Blues Harp yet we're still extolling the best of Sonny Boy, Little Walter etc. While enjoying the advancements made by Moon Cat, Kudzu, the late Buddha etc. The blues aren't, yet somehow, they still are the blues! As for the video, it's commercial. ---------- "Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
Last Edited by XHarp on Jun 11, 2015 8:21 PM
is it irony? maybe its irony...i mean...if the blues aint the blues then we arent talking about the blues because the blues obviously is the blues or it wouldnt be the blues would it? so he could only mean that what people call the blues now isnt really the blues and maybe the song is a demonstration of what he is talking about because it has some elements drawn from the blues that might tempt people to call it a blues song but it actually is not blues at all its just a song about the blues masquerading as the blues which is ironic because that is what the song is about. i dunno if hes for it or against it but i think hes not trying to play the blues because he thinks he cant do that and its not appropriate for him to even be trying to do that because it wouldn't be real anyway, just like this song...so i think he is actually taking the piss but pissing with a point
Rock n roll doesn't sound like it did in the 1950s. Country don't either. Should blues?
They have changed with the times and remained much more main stream. Maybe some commercialization is the shot in the arm the blues needs.
Would most touring blues acts today like a little more $$? Of course not, they want to remain true to their genre and it's roots...NOT!
I bet most of us can name half dozen Chess Records artists in a flash. Can we name half dozen top touring blues acts today?
We think we know the definition of blues and we make it way too narrow.
I would love to see a modern style of blues that really catches on.
The first records I had was my mom's Jerry Lee Lewis 45s. He was in the audience at RnR Hall of Fame Show. Green Day inducted along with Joan Jett and Ringo Starr. All Rock n Roll....I can't believe they inducted Butter and SRV. I'm so embarrassed for them. They had no idea those were blues performers.
+1 on Harpdude. The song was not in my taste and it was a bit too much guitarmasturbation for me. But why do this type of posts develope the werewolf in people? Why have some of you have to give the player a lot of personal attack on how he looks and so on? If all bands play the same old songs in the same way it would be boring. Plus it would not be necessary to have more than one band in each music style.
Miles Davis ran into the same problem with jazz...He got tired of playing the same 'ol songs the same ol' way, so evolved jazz forward, creating a few new genres in the process - and took a lot of heat for it. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Jun 12, 2015 5:01 AM
I see older forms of Blues like my grandparents. As my family (via siblings makin' babies) grows, of course I'm going to be passionately interested in each new branch of my family as it develops, but I'm always going to love and visit the grandies from time to time.
Old Blues and New Blues aren't mutually exclusive.
---------- My YouTube Channel - Any Likes or Comments appreciated. :)
