cliff wrote:
Greg,
Not being facetious, but a sincere question: What had you previoulsy been listening to that you considered 'blues' as opposed to some of these things?
In discussions we have had over time, you had expressed some disdain for the blues, and I wonder now if (i) these older, root players were not included in your scope at the time, or, (ii) this stuff was included, and you are just appreciating different things now?
I've always liked (most but not all) the older black blues musicians, and particularly Wolf and Mud because they were dirtier. Not sure why that was a virtue, but I liked the sound of it.
From there, my answer becomes necessarily more complex, because the more modern blues becomes, the less I like it. The Stones did passable well with it, but that was probably more due to the combination of Jones, Richards and Watts than anything else. They clearly studied it, and Watts had the jazz background to make it swing. Other rockers did not. I found the white blues bands weak, John Mayal, Blues Breakers, Blues Project, Paul Butterfield. I really wanted to like them, but...
Then they just got louder, became riff and beat heavy, turned into heavy metal. I have zero patience with that stuff. All impact and no subtlety. Uh 1 Uh 2 Uh 3 Uh 4.
This clip shows Wolf's guitar player Hubert Sumlin (same as the youngster on stage with him in the last vids) with a fairly modern blues group. The music is accomplished, slick, forceful. All the subtlety of the sound has given way to the self-hyping pulse of the drums and bass. In my opinions. But hey, we sound big, and the chicks are getting loose!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_5gVABCUH4I would add that part of my new interest in the blues is in discovering that the use of jazz rhythms makes the form far more creative. Just the jazz ride pattern makes everything swing better than da-ding da-ding da-ding da-ding. But in order to focus on the "jazz" side of blues, the volume has to be cut back to human levels, so that people have to lean in to listen rather than being overwhelmed by volume.
By the way,I did not use "Smokestack Lightning" as an exemplary tune. It just happens to be one where the hands of Fred Below are visible, and my focus is on his use of standard jazz technique. I had been playing much of Cupola's music the same way, and what a surprise to see that I had connected right back to the roots of rock n roll by so doing.
That form can be applied to all rockabilly, blues, early rock n roll, elvis, carl perkins, roy orbison, johnny cash, valentinos, gospel, R&B, etc.
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