Curtis Obeda

Curtis Obeda

One of the things that makes Curtis Obeda noteworthy and worth studying as a blues songwriter is that he writes for other vocalists (notably Willie Walker) as well as writing songs for his own band, The Butanes, where he is lead vocalist and guitar player. When you know that your song will be sung by another person, especially an incredibly talented singer like Willie Walker, you have to write more universally and give the singer words, rhythm, melody, meaning plus enough space to allow them to bring their own interpretation to the song.

Obeda was inducted into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame in 2014 in the category of “Blues Song” for “Crying to Do”, recorded by Willie Walker and The Butanes on the album “Right Where I Belong” (2004). In the nomination speech, Mike Elias said that Curtis “was comfortable and proficient in both Blues and Soul. He respected the history and limits of the genres.” ¹

He writes and performs across several genres including R&B, Soul and Blues. His songs for Willie Walker are most often about romance and the complications thereof. The songs he sings himself cover greater subject breadth and are often humorous.

Writing for Willie Walker, Obeda gives him lyrics that make sense and can be sung honestly and with feeling. The songs on the first album featuring Walker, “Right Where I Belong” (2004), are, with only one exception (“Change”), about the ins and outs of romance. The most recent Walker album “Long Time Thing” (2011) runs about 50-50 between romance and other topics and is more satisfying for that.

“It Ain’t Your Ladder” tells a woman that other people contributed to her success. She shouldn’t just pull that ladder up after herself once she’s climbed to the top, she should leave it where others might benefit from it –in other words, offer her own helping hand. Great song, taking a complicated subject and expressing it simply and effectively.  “Dirty Deeds” is another one I especially like – it’s more like the songs Curt sings himself with the tongue-in-cheek humor. “Betrayed” is a fresh angle on cheating: Walker sings how he was betrayed by his best (male) friend. In another writer’s hands it would be the woman who is shamed.

I have only one Butanes “solo” album – 2014’s “12 Frozen Favorites from the Upper Bayou”.

The language of the lyrics is pleasingly modern – words that people actually use in conversation. And the songs are smart, with a lot of humor in the lyrics. “Ain’t No Doubt” relates how the singer visits (and quickly leaves) a scary bar, a gay bar and a wine bar before he finally finds a bar he likes. But then his wife shows up. Each verse of “It’s Not That Bad” lists unpleasant things - at home, at the doctor’s and trying to get across town. In verse four he eats oysters in a month with no R… but it’s not THAT bad!

Sometimes Obeda’s cleverness gets in the way of the song. In “Call Me” he uses about every sense of the word “call” that exists – nouns, verbs, adjectival phrases… it’s a great dance number but the song doesn’t really go anywhere.  

He gives himself few songs that give opportunity for emotional expression in the vocal. They generally don’t have the telling detail of the humorous songs. In “Can You Help Me Brother” Curtis tells us how sorry he is, how wrong he has been, how he needs to get back where he belongs but we don’t know what it was that made him so angry in the first place. “Funny Way of Living” expresses anguish about his overbearing woman, but again, no poignant or cinematic detail that would make us feel the way he feels. If she had made him “cut his meat smaller and chew it twice” ² we’d have a bit more sympathy.

What songwriters can learn from Curt Obeda

• ·         He makes the songs catchy – sometimes a repeated refrain, sometimes a chorus. You can almost always tell what the title of the song is. It actually pisses me off that the hook line from “Amy Is a Gold Digger” keeps running through my mind since I don’t particularly like the song but it sure is catchy. The back-up singers are often used to repeat the title or hook, an effective tool for songwriters as well as record producers.
• ·         He puts a lot of work and craft into his writing – the last verse of a song is as well-written as the first. The scansion, rhyme schemes and meter are consistent from verse to verse. He keeps to the subject and theme of the song, the words fall naturally.
• ·         He gives the singer room to sing – plenty of long notes, good melodies and chord changes.
• ·         He adds humor – just the right amount for the genre, I think. He doesn’t limit the humor to sexual innuendo as is common in the blues.
• ·         He will write verses that lead to the chorus or refrain from different, but complementary directions. For example, in “Drift to Sleep” there is a linear story about missing his baby at night… In “Drives Me Crazy” the singer relates how it drives him crazy when his baby takes a long time to make a special dinner. In Verse two, she takes a long time getting ready for bed. In “I’m OK” the verses cover different periods of time – things happen in the span of days in verse one; they span seasons in verse two. In “If You Expect to See Another Day”, after each verse he uses a different lyric in the lift before the repeated refrain. It all adds interest, keeps you on your toes and paying attention.
• ·         You can dance to it! The Butanes mostly play clubs; club audiences want to dance. Aspiring blues songwriters might find bands who would record their songs if they make dance-ability a priority in their writing.

Good songs have the right balance of same and different. Curtis Obeda really has this down. Every song is approachable, not hard to get into. And once you are grooving along with the music, he takes you in an pleasantly surprising direction before he puts you back on track.

Notes.

1. “Limits”… just a word, but it gives me pause as I try to articulate for myself what these limits might be. These boundaries are hard to define; I guess everyone has their own perception of what is inside and is outside of a Blues limit. What is, or is not, the Blues.

2. A line from “B.S. (Bob’s Song)”

I listened to

Right Where I Belong (2004)

Memphisopolis (2006)

Long Time Thing (2011)

12 Frozen Favorites from the Upper Bayou (2014)

Butanes web site