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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
When do you call your self a Blues man?
When do you call your self a Blues man?
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N.O.D.
108 posts
Aug 17, 2010
7:33 AM
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I was at a local Jam sunday my Bro and i have been attending getting our act together ironing out the wrinkles so to speak, befor we Branch out into the wider world of snob jams and local caffe's:)
we are already welcome on a locale Blues Performers stage anytime, we compliment his act he says:)
I will never call myself a Blues man, but on Sunday my Bro and i had a group of people that wanted to chat after our set, i didn't know what to say when one person said we where the most authentic Bluesmen they have seen in a long time, we where a bit chuffed and embaresed at the same time:)
so we just go with the Flow keep at it, but i will never call myself a Bluesman is it arogant?
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Cheers Bro's
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2010 6:27 PM
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Littoral
46 posts
Aug 17, 2010
7:47 AM
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Agreed.
If someone else says so it's a nice thought, but that's it.
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Zhin
481 posts
Aug 17, 2010
8:53 AM
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When you are playing blues full time and don't have any other day job at all and not working anywhere else outside of blues for tips.
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http://www.youtube.com/harmonicazhin
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2010 8:53 AM
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walterharp
425 posts
Aug 17, 2010
9:28 AM
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oh great, don't get adam started :-)
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Hobostubs Ashlock
966 posts
Aug 17, 2010
9:43 AM
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Lol Walter you made a funny:-)
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Joe_L
545 posts
Aug 17, 2010
10:03 AM
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Never. The experiences that I've gone through in life are insignificant in comparison with real bluesmen. I play blues on the harmonica, but I'll never be a bluesman.
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Honkin On Bobo
363 posts
Aug 17, 2010
10:07 AM
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.....and we're off
....anybody got an over/under on the number of posts before we have a locked thread?
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2010 10:08 AM
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mercedesrules
6 posts
Aug 17, 2010
10:21 AM
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.....I think you'd be allowed to also work at a meat-packing plant.
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Diggsblues
454 posts
Aug 17, 2010
10:49 AM
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When you let out your first wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
and not on the harmonica. LOL
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How you doin'
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Littoral
47 posts
Aug 17, 2010
2:13 PM
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I appreciate this question because new players need opportunites to recognize that the hat, the glasses, and just enough knowledge to be in key doesn't make them a musician, much less a bluesman.
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2010 6:15 PM
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gene
540 posts
Aug 17, 2010
5:17 PM
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I don't think it's complicated or philisophical.
If you play rock music, you're a rocker. If you rap, you're a rapper. If you yodle, you're a yodler. If you play blues, you're a blueser...I mean bluesman.
Do you have to be stoned all the time to be a rocker? Do you have to wear baggy clothes to be a rapper? Do you have to wear funny shorts and suspenders to be a yodler? Do you have to be miserable to be a bluesman?
Do you have to be great at it to be one?
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2010 9:02 PM
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htownfess
146 posts
Aug 17, 2010
6:01 PM
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There's a difference between a bluesman and a blues musician. There is no shame in being a good example of the latter.
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strawwoodclaw
94 posts
Aug 17, 2010
6:24 PM
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htownfess what's the difference between a bluesman & a blues musician? "please say it's funny". /a blues man is just a term for somebody who like's Blues music & everything that goes with it, If you was to go around telling people I'm a Blues man they'd probably think you was a bit strange but if somebody calls you a bluesman I would definitely take that as a big compliment if they called me a smelly or punk rocker i'd think they were having a laugh
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htownfess
147 posts
Aug 17, 2010
6:36 PM
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@strawwoodclaw: It's complicated.
:)
But the guys Joe L mentions just above would probably call themselves blues musicians.
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Zhin
482 posts
Aug 17, 2010
6:49 PM
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Gene hit the nail on that.
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http://www.youtube.com/harmonicazhin
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Joe_L
548 posts
Aug 17, 2010
9:28 PM
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No shame in being a good blues musician at all.
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wolfkristiansen
43 posts
Aug 17, 2010
10:04 PM
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Can't resist responding to this question.
I do call myself a bluesman, with pride and no embarrassment, and have done so for almost four decades. There are a few in this forum who likewise call themselves bluesmen/blueswomen, with no apology. I'm a white, middle class, Danish Canadian who has never suffered the trials and tribulations visited upon the blues' founders, and don't expect to. But I get the blues, feel the blues, and have played blues these four decades-- sometimes for a living, more often as a passionate sideline.
Blues chose me, I did not choose it. I do not play blues because it is "easy" (it is not), but because I must play it. I have been blessed (or cursed!) with the depth of feeling that must be summoned to truly play it, and have acquired enough technique on the harp to allow me to let it come out, though I am no virtuoso.
Here's my harp on a version of Little Walter's "Can't Hold Out Much Longer", recorded live in 1977. The harp does not follow the original in any way. I was trying to get the dark sound Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson got when he played on the album "Hooker 'n Heat", which impressed me mightily when it came out six years earlier. Have a listen, especially to the spontaneous volume drop (a.k.a. "dynamics") at the beginning of the second twelve bars of the harp solo. Our band had not played this song before, on our own or with this singer; but it all came together, as these things can when everyone's on the same blues page:
Enough of my ranting about this bound-to-be-controversial topic. If you want to know and understand more about this obsession I have had since I was a child, able to count my age on my fingers alone, read my posts in "The Blindman's Blues Forum", here:
"My Love Affair With the Blues"
http://blindman.15.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=25790
and here:
"What Happened to the Blues?"
http://blindman.15.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=32165
I didn't answer the question ("When do you call your self a Blues man?" with an easy to apply rule; I'll leave that to someone else. I suspect there is no easy to apply rule, and that each of us is reduced to personally evaluating his or her place in the blues cosmos and deciding whether or not we fit in.
I promise to talk about Modern Blues Harmonica next time I post.
Cheers,
wolf kristiansen
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LittleJoeSamson
409 posts
Aug 18, 2010
12:27 AM
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You're a Blues musician if you play music others have written, and your main source of income is other than music.
You're a Bluesman if you perform others songs, but also write your own.
If you have had a pickup truck.
If you have owned a Cadillac ( or a Lincoln ).
If you've spent some time in the joint.
If you could realistically be dead, but aren't.
If you have amps or other gear older than yourself;
You MIGHT be a Bluesman!
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N.O.D.
109 posts
Aug 18, 2010
2:37 AM
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Yo Bro's we arn't hard rocker Blues Players,
we play Delta Blues my Bro has 2 guitars
he uses on the day Parlor Dobro,Parlor acoustic
he Finger picks and plays slide:)
Me Harp and Vocals can i sing NO!! iv'e had a vary colorful life education, degradation, i fall back on my eduction side to get my vocals around tunes,
performance art:) I'm not a stiff on stage im very animated my Bro is the strait man:)
if i don't like the lyrics in one song or can't get my vocals around it i will take 3 or 4 versions of the 1 song and use the lyrics to suit my vocals:)
we do keep the main Hook of the songs, so no matter how pissed the Punters get they can still hear that Hook and sing along:)
I get comments that are hard sometimes to accept because I'm not trying to sing or play Harp like these Players or is my Brother trying to emulate the tunes we do note for note, we just politly aggree,and have a good Chat with the punters:)
Names to Date Howling Wolf, Tom Waits, Sonny Boy, Joe Cocker, Henry Rollins Believe me it was Hard to take at 1st still is,but I'm getting used to it just be polite:)
we take ourself seriously and are putting across a Pro attitude we have a set list of songs to last 2 Hours, the Jam we attend at the moment to get our act happening isn't a Blues Jam, There a lose crew stuff up, forget lines start again:(
Thats not were we are coming from we rehears befor we
go and Play:)
But we have Branched out and already done a few night time jams when my Bro took hoildays, that got my Bro Fired up can't hold him Back:)
We have a few snob Jams in Newcastle
they want to know what you got befor you get up, we have already had to Audition for one jam and went down a treat:)
The next snob Jam we want to Hit is smack dab in the CBD you have to have enough material for 20 mins Have a Pro Head on ,no forget your lines here or start the song again poeple are dinning out and want a good show:)
our tude is working Muso around town are calling us by our Duo Name ( NASTYCLOUD DELTA BLUES ) Know us by our Stage names Nastyolddog & The white cloud:)
Brett and Shane just Don't cut it when your trying to introduce yourself to a new Jam Host:)
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Yo Little Joe you say
You're a Blues musician if you play music others have written,YES
but we don't play it note for note my Bro
adds a few fancy bits to change songs up,and i often change lyrics to suit mt vocals:)
and your main source of income is other than music.YES
Busted burnt out brokdown ex biker trucker nasty muther Trucker on a invalids pension, makeing a few bucks from modding Harp Mics:)
You're a Bluesman if you perform others songs, but also write your own.YES i write my own songs
If you have had a pickup truck. YES
If you have owned a Cadillac ( or a Lincoln ) YES
But Australian Holden Statsman Capri:)
If you've spent some time in the joint:) NO
My Motto was there is a Place for stupid Crims
Jail, us smart ones let others take the Fall
i held a very High Rank in my club:)
If you could realistically be dead, but aren't.YES
aint that the Truth, cronic obstructive air ways desise, Sleep Apnea, Asthma ,Bronchitis ,Hypertension,
Mild Heart Desise ,was partialy Blind for many years in 1 eye Had a Corneal Graft ,diabetic, got Arthritis
If you have amps or other gear older than yourself
just in the middle of restoring a vintage Australian Tube Amp and have way to many Vintage Microphones:)
You MIGHT be a Bluesman!
some might say i am but!!!
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Im just a Player
a burnt out Old Stayer:)
Last Edited by on Aug 18, 2010 6:51 AM
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groyster1
352 posts
Aug 18, 2010
2:53 AM
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way to blow wolf you sound like a bluesman to me!
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groyster1
354 posts
Aug 18, 2010
8:46 AM
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as for what defines a bluesman-of course you need to be a talented blues musician-I went to hch and had the pleasure of hearing all whose names that are on the back of my hill country souveneir tshirt-believe me these men can play some stellar blues-as far as life experiences go-is there anybody out there who has not experienced loss?if you have then dont have to remind you it is one of lifes CRUSHING BLOWS and for those of you who have not,believe me its coming
Last Edited by on Aug 18, 2010 8:47 AM
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nacoran
2540 posts
Aug 18, 2010
9:59 AM
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It's not hard to get called a blues man. A Blue Man, however, I think requires an audition.
I slept in a car cause I didn't have someplace to sleep. I've been addicted, rejected and where is my next meal coming from poor. I have had the blues, but I am no blues man, not until I can make the harmonica express those blues.
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Nate
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harmonicanick
846 posts
Aug 18, 2010
10:21 AM
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@groyster
one of lifes CRUSHING BLOWS
I had a huge loss recently, and the only way I can get some peace, is by playing my harps and wailing into the night
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groyster1
356 posts
Aug 18, 2010
10:37 AM
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@harmonicanick
sorry for your loss pray that your peace will continue to come to you
god speed
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Old Dog
69 posts
Aug 18, 2010
12:47 PM
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Personally, I'll never be a Blues Man. If I stick with it and work hard maybe someday I can call myself a blues player. At this time, however, I most certainly am a blues lover.
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I used to be young and foolish. Now I'm not so young.
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N.O.D.
114 posts
Aug 18, 2010
6:12 PM
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Yo Rubes political correctedness ( Blues persons ) male or Female persons:)
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Cheers big ears:)
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Old Dog
70 posts
Aug 18, 2010
6:47 PM
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Sorry, I for one refuse to give in to PC (Petty Censorship) on this one. I don't think I'll ever utter the words "Blues-person". Even in this mis-guided day, sometimes a man is still a man, and a woman is still a woman. And I'm glad it's so.
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I used to be young and foolish. Now I'm not so young.
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Big Nancy
98 posts
Aug 18, 2010
11:32 PM
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If you are worried about what somebody calls you - - you are not playing blues! You might as well be out looking for "a hat and glasses"!
For Christ's sakes people put it in your mouth and blow!!! What happens after that will evolve.... If you are good, people will seek you out and hang names on you... you won't have to hang them on yourselves!
Be careful what you ask for though.... once the damage is done, and a name is hung... you may have to live up to it, live it down... try to maintain it through personal/professional evolution, or crawl out from under it! My suggestion is play because you love to play, have fun.... period!
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Last Edited by on Aug 18, 2010 11:33 PM
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N.O.D.
118 posts
Aug 19, 2010
12:09 AM
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If you are worried about what somebody calls you - - you are not playing blues!
Yo sister what I'm saying is it was hard to take at 1st we are polite as to Aussie blokes can be we do have manners enjoy a chat & a beer afterwards:)
You might as well be out looking for "a hat and glasses"!
i got coke bottle glasses and a trucker cap dressing like a Blues Brother is Total Crap!! :)
For Christ's sakes people put it in your mouth and blow!!! I DO!!! I don't know where my Bro wil fit his Dobro Guitar could hurt:)
What happens after that will evolve....It is:)
If you are good, people will seek you out..They are:)
you won't have to hang them on yourselves!
Be careful what you ask for though.... once the damage is done, and a name is hung... you may have to live up to it,
We Do!!! NASTY CLOUD DELTA BLUES
try to maintain it through personal/professional evolution,
We Are:)
My suggestion is play because you love to play, have fun.... period!
Golden Rule #1 it is fun but we still want to put on a good show a Pro Act it's working:)
Around town there are some snob Jams Run by Pro Muso's
mucic is there liveing 24/7,they get payed good money to put on a good show, you Have to be a friend, introduced by a friend, or have been heard of around town playing at other Jams,
Brett and Shane rock up to the door get a funny look Brett and Shane who? Now if they have heard NASTY CLOUD DELTA BLUES Playing around town at other jams Ya on they want to hear what you got!!
But be ready for a feeding freanzy it could get ugly it's a tuff crowd them Muso's:)
thats why we are very Pro about how we handle our selves reahears take a set list and know what we are doing but we are only just starting out most of these Jams are held at night my Bro works Night shift:(
are we seriouse about what we are doing?
i would say if a man is seriouse enough to change shifts work 3 days a week friday saturday sunday,spend the rest jaming and hitting the evening jam scene with a seriouse asualt:) pretty seriouse but it's all going to be fun:)
where are we going we have a game plan be the best delta blues band in Newcastle be able to walk into any jam be it Blues, Blues grass or contemp Jam:)
and be opening for other Muso's around the Caffe set:)
even though we are just starting out us to Old Farts have an adopted mentore our friend:) who says we can share his stage:)he says we are doing it right got nothing to worry about:) we plan to let him introduce us to his friends Jam:) but we want to knock on a few doors by ourselves allso:)
just through my own playing with other guitarists around town i can get a leg in at 3 upper class jams, but i need my side man my Bro:)
what can i say if persons keep telling us we are good i guess it's an insult not mentaly acepting there comments,
but we will still keep on putting on a bit of Polish see if we can realy get this act shinning:)
Nacy sister some Venting there:)
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let there be peace:)
Last Edited by on Aug 19, 2010 4:05 AM
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kudzurunner
1758 posts
Aug 19, 2010
4:24 AM
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I never call myself a bluesman. I call myself a blues musician or blues performer.
The term "bluesman" is much more interesting than most people realize. Usually it's used with a distinct racial connotation, and often in combination with the word "real," as it "Now John Lee Hooker, he was a REAL bluesman." Often, when used like that, the term carries a thinly veiled critique of other performers who are not real bluesmen, and often their youngness, whiteness, or rock-ness (or pop-ness) is at issue. Sometimes white artists use the term to describe themselves, and with a defensive edge--as Wolf does in this thread. The gist is, "I may not be old/black/southern/American/poor/etc., but I still call myself a bluesman and I've paid enough dues to do so."
I've heard some older African American artists call themselves bluesmen, but it's not a term that older black artists universally apply to themselves. And it's a term that had absolutely no currency back in the 1930s and 1940s. Little Milton and/or Z.Z. Hill did a tune 10-20 years ago that had the refrain, "I'm a bluesman." It talked about having grown up on Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, blackeyed peas, cornbread, and collard greens. It was a prideful song. Those are black cultural references: real southern-born blues (with a Chicago edge, in LW's case) and southern soul food. But the term's use at that point was a pointed attempt, in the aftermath of the "Black is Beautiful" 60s and the Blaxploitation 70s, to reclaim a black cultural inheritance. The problem is, the term itself was a white term.
What most people don't realize is that the term "bluesman" came into being at a specific historical moment, the early 1960s, and it was first given wide currency by white folklorists who were actively debating the social function of the blues. If you think I'm wrong, do a deep Lexis-Nexis search and try to find ANY occurrence of that term prior to 1955.
Folklorists used the term "bluesman" to distinguish some black southern male performers who seemed to record and perform almost entirely blues-based material from other black southern male performers whom they called "songsters" and who, as they understood it, seemed to perform a wider array of material than just blues. Leadbelly was called a songster. Mance Lipscomb. Mississippi John Hurt.
Black performers were intrigued by this claim, and bit by bit they began to pick up the term and apply it to themselves. But the term "bluesman," which non-African Americans have used for the past 50 years as a term of high praise for a certain kind of older black blues artist who has "authenticity" (whatever that is) and as a way of contrasting that artist with younger white poseurs who just ain't got the giblets--that term "bluesman" is essentially a white creation.
Most people don't know that.
I asked David Evans and Paul Garon this precise question: "When did the term 'bluesman' come into being?" at a party one time. They are two of the most significant living blues scholars; Evans, in particular, is one of the greats, and he always gets his facts right. Neither of them could answer the question, but they agreed with my hunch that it was a white term, essentially, not a term that had any currency among the musicians themselves. Then I went and did enough preliminary research to make sure that I was right. I was.
Robert Johnson, Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny Shines, John Lee Hooker, those guys would have called themselves musicianers, musical physicianers, traveling musicians, and songsters.
Robert Johnson DEFINTELY did not call himself a bluesman.
Last Edited by on Aug 19, 2010 4:31 AM
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the_happy_honker
5 posts
Aug 19, 2010
4:26 AM
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Its a bit OT and some of you may have seen this before, but what the heck. Courtesy of www.moblues.org:
20 Rules for the Blues.
1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning..."
2. "I got a good woman," is a bad way to begin the Blues, 'less you stick something nasty in the next line: "I got a good woman - with the meanest face in town."
3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then, find something that rhymes ... sort of. "Got a good woman, with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher and she weigh 500 pounds."
4. The Blues are not about choice. "You stuck in a ditch, ain't no way out."
5. Blues cars: V-8 Fords, Cadillacs and broken down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs or SUVs. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle, so does fixin' to die.
6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get
the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. Blues can take place in Kansas City or St. Louis, but not in Hawaii or anyplace in Canada. Hard times in St. Paul or Tucson is just depression. , Chicago and Memphis are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain or snow.
8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cuz you skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg while escaping from the work farm is.
9. You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. flop house
d. bottom of a whiskey glass
Bad places:
a. Bloomingdale’s
b. art galleries
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses
11. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be an old black man, who has paid his dues.
12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues?
Yes, if:
a. you're older than dirt
b. you're blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied
No, if:
a. you had your teeth capped
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived.
d. you have a retirement plan or trust fund
13. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Gary Coleman could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.
14. If you ask for water and your baby gives you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. black coffee
The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. mixed drinks
b. kosher wine
c. Snapple
d. sparkling water
15. If it occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely in a broken down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or getting liposuction.
16. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mamma
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling
17. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie
e. Any name that includes a city or state
18. Persons with names like Sierra, Sequoia, and Rainbow can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
19. Make your own Blues name (starter kit):
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
For example, Blind Lime Jefferson, or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc.
20. I don't care how tragic your life, if you own a computer you cannot sing the blues, you best destroy it. Set it on fire, a spill a bottle of Mad Dog on it, or use your shotgun, maybe your big woman can just sit on it. I don't care.
Now just go on.
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groyster1
362 posts
Aug 19, 2010
7:25 AM
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I remember falling asleep growing up in the 60s listening to johnr late night blues and would wake up with hoss allens spirituals I would not admit it at the time but enjoyed it also and could sense the connection between gospel and blues and that they were both a very expressive form of music
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Big Nancy
99 posts
Aug 19, 2010
5:35 PM
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NOD, apologies mate as I must not have come across as intended. My comments were not directed at YOU in particular. Please assume and for all to see and assume as well that I will never write on any thread to be negative... only inclusive and as informative as I can be. I am a little rough and tough as I have been road wrought.. and sometimes assume that others get my banter. I thought you would ride along with my train of thought.
Truth is... if we are discussing and concerning ourselves with these issues we are wasting time that we could be using to play more and better. BUT I would never suggest that you can not revel in a compliment....! Let's face it... we ALL love them!!!
I was just trying to help you to stay focused and true and not to trip over semantics and accolades. It doesn't matter what they called you, or what you call yourself from here in... they liked you and you were happy with your performance.... this is all that matters!
All the best to you now and always... and again I am sorry if I made you feel upset in any way! That was never my intention!
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Last Edited by on Aug 19, 2010 5:43 PM
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groyster1
366 posts
Aug 19, 2010
5:54 PM
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@Big Nancy
listened to you blow and you the woman!
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groyster1
367 posts
Aug 19, 2010
5:58 PM
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@NOD
hope to come to austrailia within the next 5 years want to come to your town if I can and hear blues aussie style
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N.O.D.
120 posts
Aug 19, 2010
7:07 PM
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Hi Big Nancy no sister you didn't upset me it's all cool,i've payed you respect by checking you out some months back Sister you can say what you want to me i will take it on Board i have the most respect for you:)
i was being i little bit cheeky Nancy:)
but just wanted to let you know we a being very seriouse and plan to have fun at the same time:)
Adam great post what about that other whiteman invention the Blues will never get over,
The Blues Brothers,white mans worst invention:(
Groysters no problems I'm up for it anytime you will most likely land in Sydney Im an Hour up north I'm up for a jam,and will introduce you to the crew Cool:)
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It's all Love:)
Last Edited by on Aug 19, 2010 7:09 PM
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The Gloth
448 posts
Aug 20, 2010
1:27 AM
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Being a bluesman is not about what the blues does to you ; it's what you do to the blues.
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http://www.buddybrent.be
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waltertore
869 posts
Aug 20, 2010
9:04 AM
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western culture depends on having boxes for everything out there. Musically speaking, from a music business angle, you have to be in a box or you will never get anywhere. Thus these terms have come about. Imagine going to a mcdonalds and getting a prime rib platter one day and the next they are serving big macs, and the next pizza. Or better yet buying your rolling stones tickets and hearing them sitting around with bongo drums chanting all night and the next night they come out with a full songlist of stones classic hits done like the record, and the next night they came out and recited spontaneous poetry. The stones would quickly be dropped by their record company, management company,radio stations, etc..... A product must be predictable, reliable, and consistent, to make it in western culture. Let it be burger king or tony bennet.
Our culture has been built on labels, definitions, and strict adherence to them. Without them western culture would never survive. So, call yourself what you want, accept what others call you, and bottom line, play what is really you regardless of worldly concerns and let the chips and labels fall where they will. Also be thankful if you aren't famous. The temptation of fame, power, wealth would be a tough one to address because to keep them you would have to be willing to be pigeon holed in a box for the rest of your money earning fame days. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,000 of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Aug 20, 2010 9:12 AM
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TexasJeff
17 posts
Aug 20, 2010
1:29 PM
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I was playing at the Tokio Inn/Ballroom or some such near West, TX with George Spratts band when I had a conversation I will never forget.
I go up to the bar and this old guy was sitting there, he knew I was playing with Spratt as I had lugged in some gear. He says to me," SO, you think you know the blues huh?". I was 26 or so at the time, I remember feeling slightly amused and intimidated at the same time.
"I guess" I say to him. Then he asks me," You ever picked cotton?". "No", I say. "Well, then you don't know the blues if you aint ever picked cotton." He tells me. I laughed and got my beer and played the show.
Later in the night he comes up and tells me, "Well, I guess I was wrong, you do know the blues."
Thats not to say I am a "bluesman". I have had my share of trouble as we all have and I think tapping into that and having the technical skills to express it is what separates players to varying degrees.
My 2 cents.
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groyster1
377 posts
Aug 20, 2010
3:06 PM
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charlie parker said "if you dont live it it wont come out your horn"-well if you reflect to your life when it was stormy when you are playing your harp,maybe it will come out your horn or harp
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phogi
449 posts
Aug 20, 2010
3:28 PM
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So, I'm kinda good at not messing my life up. Guess I'll never be a white man's bluesman. ; )
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jbone
379 posts
Aug 21, 2010
7:45 AM
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it took me a lot of years to even accept i was a musician of any sort let alone a blues musician. having no musical training, i always deferred to others about what material to play etc etc.
as time went on and i dedicated myself more to improving my skills, i began to accept the description of "musician" solely because i knew how to get through a I-IV-V, had decent tone and chops, and got along with most people most times on stage. a turning point was after i had sung for a few years and begun to front a band sometimes, calling off keys, songs, tempos, solos, all that. it's been like a dream come true to be doing music i love with good musicians, never making a living at it but possibly breaking even at least sometimes.
i have always had a day job of one sort or another. so did a lot of the founders of what we call blues. from picking cotton to driving garbage truck, clerking at hotels, prize fighting, a lot of guys turned to anything that would put food on the table at some points in their lives. personally i would have starved to death without a full time day job.
my love affair with blues began with early 60's "race radio" shows. i was a very young kid with some blues of my own already and that music- everything from Bobby Blue Bland to BB to Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Jimmy Reed, to James Brown, Little Richard, and a long list of others, soothed my pain. it felt right as rain somehow.
there was a long period where i had virtually no connection to blues as it was not common where i lived and i had to stop hijacking the radio on sunday nights. but in the 70's i moved south and west and got to see some great live blues around dallas for a number of years. by then i'd been fooling with harp for a while and wrestling with my demons for a long time. so in addition to the day job i began haunting the smaller jams around town and learning about what to do with a harp. that was about 25 years ago.
the journey continued through some near death adventures, addiction, plain old insanity, and i found myself with some time on my hands and a clear head finally. then the real journey began.
i do pretty well in my fashion as a harp player and songwriter and singer. i've paid some dues but nothing like the originators paid every single day. there has generally been a roof over my head, cool air, a cold fridge with something to eat in it, and a more or less working automobile. and a day job.
peop-le have called me a bluesman which makes me uncomfortable sometimes, and i just think those folks never saw a real bluesman. which to me a bluesman is a guy who had that delta life, all its hardships, and found within himself a way to transmute the bad feelings and experiences into joy, and yes, cash money.
i do my best to respect and emulate the guys who brought this music to the world. i'm like wolf, i'm driven to do this music, it;s definitely in me. i tried for a year or so to just not play at all and i succeeded, but it was a hollow victory and a hollower feeling. these days i gig with a band here and there, play in a duo with my wife, and hang at a jam or two locally. by comparison to most of the population i could be mistaken for a "blues man", but not where it counts. i know what and who i am. i just do my best to keep the "old stuff" alive. a harp, a mic and amp, and a few people who hear what's being said. that's all i look for these days. and i can do without the mic and amp!
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mojojojo
53 posts
Aug 22, 2010
3:50 AM
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I don't know if I'm a blues man, but i'm certainly a blues lover and have the blues.
Sugar Blue has a song:
"I'm a blues man that is what I am
if you don't like it I don't give a damn.
I'm a blues man, born to be.
My greatest love is too be free."
The lyrics go on about how he fought in the war,
but when he got back he ended up in a prison chain gang.
Anyhow, fasting the Muslim month of Ramadan we can't eat or drink from dawn to dusk for 30 days, and are supposed to avoid having pleasure during those hours.
Yet, food is the last thing on my mind. The main thing I have to contend with is dreaming about playing harmonica and sex...in that order. Guess that's some indication of how bad I have the blues
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I suck at harmonica!
Jakarta River Blues Band
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