tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22810211301021255102024-02-08T11:20:40.821-08:002015 - Year of the Blues SongwriterWillie Dixon would have turned 100 years old on July 1st, 2015. He changed and rejuvenated the blues by writing great songs. Let's do some more of that!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-49313425919850308492016-09-07T15:09:00.000-07:002016-09-07T15:09:18.734-07:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
What can we learn
from Willie Dixon?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Blues music continues to lose ground. The fans are getting
old, clubs are closing, big radio stations only play blues on Sunday nights, if
they play it at all. Willie Dixon enabled a blues renaissance in the 1950s. What can we learn from Willie Dixon’s
accomplishments to help blues music find new energy and be embraced by a
younger audience? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I believe that Willie Dixon’s songwriting was the essential
factor in giving rise to a new blues tradition that was both more popular and
more relevant to its time than what had existed previously. It had legs. Contemporary
blues artists haven’t strayed very far from Dixon-era Chicago blues, epitomized
by Muddy Waters and his bands. There has been growth in instrumental prowess,
especially on electric guitar, which has become the main draw of the blues for
the general public. Blues songwriting has not kept pace with cultural change and
our common understandings of the world we live in every day. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Blues music had informed and engendered many other American
music forms – jazz, Broadway, ragtime, pop, and Willie Dixon himself was
instrumental in developing rock and roll, playing bass on Chuck Berry’s hit
records on the Chess label. I have long believed that Dixon’s genius was to bring
elements of these newer forms back into the blues as he wrote songs and
produced records. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He wrote songs with refrains and choruses, AABA structure, minor
keys and other techniques that departed from the 12-bar blues progression and
the formulaic lyrics of traditional blues. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My intuited belief was validated
when I recently read Mitsutoshi Inaba’s scholarly work, “Willie Dixon: Preacher
of the Blues.”<sup>1</sup> He really digs in deep! The book started life as a
PhD dissertation submitted to the University of Oregon in 2005. Six years later
Inaba expanded his thesis into a book that covers Dixon’s career from beginning
to end.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Willie Dixon’s first steady gig was
with The Big Three, led by Baby Doo Caston. They played blues and boogie-woogie
but also pop and Tin Pan Alley material. To Dixon, it was <u>all</u> blues
music. Inaba comments, “In Dixon’s mind there was no distinction between
writing blues and writing other kinds of music.” His daughter, Shirli Dixon,
said, “in his mind, Big Three Trio was just as much blues as Muddy Waters or
any other.”<sup>2 </sup><o:p></o:p></div>
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Inaba dissects each and every
Willie Dixon song that has been recorded <sup>3</sup> and places the song in
context with the environment it was created and recorded in, and how it related
to the performer who recorded it. He notes the musical forms within each song
and how those forms relate to one another across Dixon’s catalog.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Inaba explains the many elements
that Dixon used innovatively in pushing the boundaries of blues music. Here are
a few examples.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He often used a lyrical template – setting up a repeated phrase
that changes by substituting words from a list of similar concepts. Example – “Third
Degree”:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Got me ‘cused of peeping<o:p></o:p></div>
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I can’t see a thing<o:p></o:p></div>
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Got me ‘cused of petting<o:p></o:p></div>
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I can’t even raise my hand” <o:p></o:p></div>
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and as the song continues he substitutes a different word in
each ‘cused of line (murder, forgery, taxes, children.) <sup>4</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
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Another example of this list/substitution formula is “Don’t
Go No Further” which also has a catchy chorus/hook. Also, “You Can’t Judge a
Book by Looking at the Cover.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dixon’s lyrics related to his
contemporary culture – he wrote about things that were interesting to
African-Americans of his day. Some lyrics were more like pop songs than
traditional blues, such as “I Want to Be Loved” recorded by Muddy Waters. <sup>5
<o:p></o:p></sup></div>
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Willie Dixon consciously departed from the 12-bar standard
blues form. He said, “What happened, the world was trying to hold the blues at
one basic thing as a 12-bar music. And by holding it at a 12-bar music, it only
meant that you would be putting another verse to the same music all the time…
And so what I would do then is make a 24-bar system out of it.” <sup>6 </sup><o:p></o:p></div>
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He used Latin rhythms (Mellow Down Easy), stop time
contrasted with walking bass (I’m Ready), and always wanted people to dance to
his music. “…if people dance to something…they learn something about the words
of it that gives them a certain education they wouldn’t learn otherwise.” <sup>7</sup>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another innovation was using a minor key in blues music as
early as 1952 (The Big Three “My Love Will Never Die”, a hit for Otis Rush in
1956) <sup>8 </sup><o:p></o:p></div>
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Inaba has lots more examples but I
think I’ve made my point. Willie Dixon reclaimed elements of related music
forms and merged them back into the blues music from which they had originally
evolved. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The big question for me is – HOW
DID THIS MUSIC BECOME THE NEW BLUES TRADITION? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I used caps on purpose to emphasize
that this is a very important question. If Willie Dixon could juvenate the
blues in the 1950s, a contemporary artist could do the same tomorrow. <sup>9</sup>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Certainly it helped to have the
songs recorded by established blues artists with standing in the blues
community. A person can write “a blues” but that doesn’t mean it will sound
like “the blues”. Can you imagine Muddy Waters or Howlin’ Wolf singing a song
and it not sounding bluesy? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Another huge factor – the music was
accepted by the record-buying public which, in the 1950s, was mainly African-American
women. They could relate to the lyrics of songs that reflected their culture
and times. And dance to it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But let’s note that his songs were
not accepted at first. Shirli Dixon commented, “Most of the artists refused to
sing Dixon songs at first.” Muddy Waters was the artist most willing to try
these new ideas and, obviously, other artists became eager to record Willie Dixon
songs as his successes built up. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Are there newer music forms that some future Willie Dixon could
assimilate and make part of a new blues tradition? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, what are the new African-American
music forms that have become popular since 1970, when blues itself stopped
changing? <sup>10</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
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It seems to me that Hip hop is the
obvious candidate that could be re-assimilated into blues music and establish a
more vital new blues tradition – just as Willie Dixon revitalized the
Mississippi Delta tradition that dominated prior to his coming on the scene.
Hip hop has rhythmic elements that could fit, but most significantly, <u>the
lyrics are important</u> in hip hop. They tend to reflect <u>modern</u>
African-American culture and that, I believe, is what blues music needs the
most – to become relevant to modern culture. <o:p></o:p></div>
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To a much lesser degree, Techno/Disco
music could give something back to the blues with its more modern
instrumentation and dance-ability.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The typical Blues fan in 2016 is,
like me, a baby-boomer. We are all going to die over the next 20 years or so.
Somewhere out there is an African-American teenager who will re-imagine what
blues music can be, just as Willie Dixon did sixty years ago. I suspect that
most of us won’t like her music very much but <u>we need to encourage her</u>
if we want this music we love is to become more than a museum piece. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In closing, I’ll quote Mitsutoshi Inaba. <sup>11</sup> “Dixon’s
ultimate wish as a songwriter was that his songs could speak for people of his
community. Dixon said, “That’s what makes hit songs, things that are common to
any individual – and it’s not a complicated thing. It makes it easier for life,
easy to express, easy to say. Blues songs are facts of life, whether it’s our
life or somebody else’s.” Amen! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Footnotes<o:p></o:p></div>
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1) Mitsutoshi Inaba. “Willie Dixon –
Preacher of the Blues” Scarecrow Press 2011 scarecrowpress.com <o:p></o:p></div>
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2) Inaba p50<o:p></o:p></div>
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3) There are a small number of
songs where he was unable to find a recording to analyze<o:p></o:p></div>
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4) Inaba p75<o:p></o:p></div>
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5) Inaba p95. “I Want to Be Loved” has a 32-bar pop form
with an A-A-B-A structure. Little Walter’s harp solo is a straight 12-bar,
inserted after the third A section. <o:p></o:p></div>
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6) Inaba p80 from an interview in
Living Blues. <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Corritore, Ferris and O’Neal “Willie Dixon (Part
2)” Living Blues no 82 (Sept/Oct 1988)</span></div>
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7) Inaba p112 from an interview by
Worth Long. “The Wisdom of the Blues…” African American Review 29, no. 2 (Summer
1995):210</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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8) Inaba p47, p161<o:p></o:p></div>
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9) The reason I started his blog is
because I believe that blues music will soon become nothing more than a museum
exhibit if it doesn't evolve and grow.<o:p></o:p></div>
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10) I feel that the blues-rock and
blues guitar jam bands were a new fruit from blues roots: offshoots, not essentially
blues. You might disagree. <o:p></o:p></div>
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11) Inaba p 299 <o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-32830930562643215462016-03-31T12:48:00.001-07:002016-03-31T12:48:40.574-07:00Gaye Adegbalola<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Gaye Adegbalola<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is a rare performer who can pull off being funny with
blues music, even fewer who use the truth to supply the lyrics. Gaye Adegbalola has been writing blues songs since the
1980s, when she was a founding member of Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women. She
won a W.C. Handy award in 1990 for her song <i>Middle
Age Blues Boogie</i>.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Her songs have always spring from her actual life and
circumstances. In her words: “While I
try to maintain the BLUES FORM in all my compositions, I write about
contemporary content, contemporary problems (often in a humorous way). The
BLUES CONTENT thrives on double and triple entendre. It is poetically rich. My
song topics address ageism, sexism, domestic abuse, unemployment, education,
civil rights, health insurance, incest, i.e. contemporary problems.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Richard Skelly, writing a biography of Gaye Adegbalola for
allmusic.com<sup>1.</sup> says it better that I ever could – “<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gaye-adegbalola-mn0000801526"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Gaye
Adegbalola</span></a> is best-known to blues fans as the flamboyant,
flashy, very funny frontwoman for <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/saffire-the-uppity-blues-women-mn0000282995"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Saffire, The
Uppity Blues Women</span></a>. But on her debut release as a solo artist for
Alligator Records, she's in fine voice, accompanied by some great players and,
true-to-form, pushing into new thematic ground in her lyrics. That's why <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/adegbalola-mn0000801526"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Adegbalola</span></a> is
a breath of fresh air on the contemporary blues scene…” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Yes, she is! I find it encouraging that an established blues
performer writes contemporary lyrics – this is the whole thrust of my blog. But
it is discouraging to realize that nobody else has recorded her fine
contemporary songs on their own albums. <sup>2.</sup> I understand why an artist might not record a
song about wanting another girl in her jail cell (<i>Jail House Blues</i>) and many songs are too specifically autobiographical
for artists who are not black, lesbian, abused as a child or battered as an
adult. But songs like <i>Blues in the House</i>,
<i>Tomorrow Ain’t Promised</i>, <i>Cold Pizza Warm Beer </i>and <i>Only One Truth </i>could work for anyone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is sad that the song with the highest number of iTunes
purchases and Spotify plays is a cover tune -
<i>It Hurts Me Too. </i>Consolation -
<i>Big Ovaries, Baby</i> comes in at #2. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Adegbalola is primarily an acoustic artist. Musically, most
songs derive from musical forms of older “folk blues”, spirituals and blues
standards. Her melodies and chord structures are less adventurous than her
lyrics, which may be a result of her desire to preserve the Blues Form as she has
expressed. She could stretch out musically a little more, as shown by <i>Images</i> which takes the spiritual form
into an extra dimension.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Focusing on lyrics, let’s start with the Saffire songs. <i>Middle Aged Blues Boogie</i> helped them
find commercial success and this song epitomizes the humor and “uppityness” that
makes them popular. The humor is broad and tends to wear on me after a while
because it seems too obvious. Given that the songs have to come across live in
concert, maybe they have to be that obvious. Listening to Adegbalola singing
about her vagina is entertaining the first couple of times but after four or five
vagina-related songs, it feels like she is rubbing it in my face.<sup>3.</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
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I find many Saffire humor songs just a little too
cutesy, even though they are honest and deal with life as it really happens in
the 21<sup>st</sup> century. Humor is balanced by songs about civil rights,
injustice, racism, child abuse and there a bunch of songs I’d just call fun
blues. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Continuing her career as a solo artist after Saffire disbanded, Gaye Adegbalola continued to be funny, entertaining, and also damn scary
honest. Who can you think of that could pull off a humorous tune and a
six-minute political speech on the same album?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I hope that Adegbalola inspires blues songwriters to write
about what is actually happening in their own lives, and what they truly feel
about these things. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Some of the topics she takes on - <o:p></o:p></div>
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Being a battered woman – <i>You
Don’t Have to Take It Like I Did<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Being abused as a child – <i>Nightmare</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Contraception - <i>Bareback
Rider</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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She shows her honesty when she addresses nuances and
contradictions in her life. For instance, she has a ton of songs that celebrate
being a lesbian, but she slips in a song like <i>Hetero Twinges</i> where she finds herself attracted to a man. My
favorite Adegbalola song is <i>Step Parent
Blues</i> - a great example of what modern blues could and should be. It is so
specific and focused that it expresses the universal – any step parent, whether
gay or straight, will empathize and identify with the singer. A lesbian wife
wants to be closer to her partner’s child. She has been “Stepping to the side,
And Steppin to the back, Steppin on eggshells, And taking too much flack. The
law won’t recognize me, And you pay me no respect. I know you want me to step
away, And step back. What am I supposed to do? I got those step parent blues.”
Then in the bridge – “There’s no loving her, Without loving you… I need your
help, To end my step parent blues.” This timeless song is so heart-felt, so
real, so honest, so Gaye Adegbalola.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Blues in all Flavors is an album of blues songs for children, with a mixture of novelty songs and advice. Topics range from vegetables (<i>Blues for the Greens</i>) to good manners (<i>Please, Please, Please, Please</i> and <i>The Thank You Song.</i>) Gaye Adegbalola was a junior high school teacher for many years (awarded Virginia State Teacher of the Year in 1982); most of these songs seem more aimed at elementary age kids. Comfort and ease going to <i>Grandma and Grandpa’s House</i>. She sings about bullying – using the melody of <i>Wooly Bully</i> in <i>Stop That Bully</i>. One sparkling gem is <i>It Hurts (the Picked Last Song)</i>. A very nice touch is that Adegbalola provides lyrics and chord charts for all of these songs on her web site to make it easier for kids to learn the songs (I assume). Many local Blues Societies have Blues for Kids programs – Gaye’s “Blues in all Flavors” album would be an excellent resource. She has published her lyrics and essays <a href="http://www.adegbalola.com/writings.html">here on her web site</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Good songwriters know that using the naked, unadorned truth can
be incredibly powerful. Gaye Adegbalola has that power under great artistic
control. Artists who have this many humorous songs are often regarded as
novelty acts. Is Gaye Adegbalola a novelty act? In a sense, yes, because she is
novel – totally her own category. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I listened to the Gaye Adegbalola albums Bitter Sweet Blues
(1999 Alligator Records), Gaye Without Shame (2008 Hot Toddy), and Blues in all
Flavors (2012 Hot Toddy). Also the 32 Saffire songs attributed to Adegbalola as
composer on allmusic.com. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gaye-adegbalola-mn0000801526">http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gaye-adegbalola-mn0000801526</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaye_Adegbalola">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaye_Adegbalola</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.adegbalola.com/index.html">http://www.adegbalola.com/index.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.gayeandthewildrutz.com/">http://www.gayeandthewildrutz.com/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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1. <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gaye-adegbalola-mn0000801526/biography%20%0d2"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gaye-adegbalola-mn0000801526/biography
<o:p></o:p></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gaye-adegbalola-mn0000801526/biography%20%0d2"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">2</span></a>.
With the exception of Saffire members. If I am wrong about this, I’d really be
pleased, and eager to know who made the recordings. <o:p></o:p></div>
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3. OK, sorry. <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-58191851283934980702016-03-14T14:15:00.002-07:002016-03-14T14:15:47.465-07:00Gary Nicholson<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Gary Nicholson (Whitey Johnson)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Gary Nicholson may be the
only blues songwriter I’ve written about (so far) who has received more writer royalty
payments than Willie Dixon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Nicholson writes in a variety
of genres and I will guess that he has made more money from Country music than
anything else. He is a Nashville pro with hit songs dating back to 1980’s “Jukebox
Argument” recorded by Mickey Gilley and featured in the movie “Urban Cowboy”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">His long-time relationship
with Delbert McClinton (as guitarist, producer and co-writer) has led to over
30 blues-soaked songs including <i>Better
Off with the Blues</i>, <i>If You Can’t Lie
No Better</i> and <i>You Ain’t Lost Nothin’</i>.
A prolific co-writer, he often gets
called in to complete songs that other writers or artists need help with. His
songs have been recorded by B. B. King, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy,
Junior Wells and many other established blues performers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We get a songwriting lesson
from Gary Nicholson simply by listening to his songs and, especially, by
reading his lyrics. No clichés, solid structure, storylines, everyday
conversational language. He has recorded one album of blues tunes as Whitey
Johnson; this might be the best place to start studying what Nicholson can
teach us about blues songwriting and co-writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A number of songs on <a href="http://www.garynicholson.com/listen-to-the-music/">“Whitey Johnson”</a> are
about romance (or lack of romance) and there are several songs that deal with
topics outside that framework. Since many songs are co-writes, you don’t know
exactly what Nicholson’s contribution was. However, two songs are solo writes
and they stand out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Blues in Black and White</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> is an autobiographical account of how he came to recognize
and understand racism as a child. He presents three vignettes about a childhood
friend, a fellow band member and Dr. Martin Luther King being victims of
racism. “How long, how long, must we struggle on before we… find a way to rise
above the blues in black and white?” <i>Devil
Goin’ Fishin’</i> is about temptation: “Devil goin’ fishin’, and he’s got all
the good bait…” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Some random gems – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A co-write with Donnie Fritts
gives us a little movie posing as a song - <i>Memphis
Women and Chicken</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“There's a woman up on the
bluff make her living making pies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Got chocolate covered fingers
and dark blueberry eyes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Got that light powdered sugar
sprinkled all in her hair<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Her apple turnover is beyond
compare <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">When it's hot late and sticky
and you want something cool and sweet <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">She keeps the handle crankin’
on that homemade ice cream <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Memphis women and good fried
chicken, Memphis women and chicken”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">From <i>Leap of Faith</i>: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I had to rise back up on the
ashes of love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">And jump back into the fire”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12.0pt;">Better Off With the Blues</span></i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12.0pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Since you been gone I've had
time to myself <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Haven't even tried to find
somebody else <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">When you told me you were
leavin' it almost came as good news <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">It may sound funny but it's
true <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12.0pt;">I think I'm
better off with the blues”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt;">One
main lesson from Gary Nicholson is summed up by this quote from</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <a href="http://www.taxi.com/music-business-faq/ar/nicholson.html">Michael Laskow’s
Taxi interview with Gary Nicholson</a> </span></span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt;">that underscores the importance of giving
the songwriting aspects of our music the attention it needs. “When I got to
Gary's studio, it became clear to me why he's "the man." He's one of
the top writers in Nashville, yet he's still got books like "Cliches"
by Eric Partridge, "The Songwriter's Idea Book" by Sheila Davis,
"The New Comprehensive American Rhyming Dictionary" by Sue Young, "Write
From The Heart" by John Stewart, a book on American slang, another book
called "Metaphorically Speaking", "The Essential Songwriter's
Contract Handbook", and a few others on his shelf. Why does a songwriter
of Gary's stature need to have these books? Because they're the tools of his
craft.”</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt;">And
from Gary himself: “I think you have to give yourself up to it. I think it's
like anything else, if you want to be a songwriter more than anything else, you
have to bleed for it—you have to be willing to work at it as hard as anyone
would work at any career. You have to get up in the morning, drink your coffee,
and then start working at songwriting—all day long. You have to live it. You
look for every possible way that you can write songs. If you put that much
energy into it, there's no way that you cannot have some kind of
results-something's going to happen—if you work at it.</span>”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-81100709353163569672016-03-14T14:11:00.002-07:002016-03-14T14:18:59.620-07:00Second year of the blues songwriterI had stopped posting. I figured nobody was really interested in the topic and my desire to see blues songwriting improve was probably just selfish and motivated mostly by desire for recognition for my own songwriting.<br />
But it IS important to me. So I'll be posting more reviews of blues songwriting that I believe is helpful for any blues songwriter who aspires to improve his or her writing. Like me!<br />
I would LOVE IT if readers would comment, share their own insights about songwriting, agree or disagree with me and I would <u>especially</u> love to hear about blues songwriters we can all learn from!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-51901605793584596292015-06-06T17:18:00.001-07:002015-06-06T17:19:22.395-07:00Becoming a tortoise <div class="MsoNormal">
When I started this blog I figured it would culminate on
July 1st 2015, Willie Dixon’s 100th birthday. But I haven’t come close to my
goals because I haven’t devoted sufficient time and effort.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I want to have playlists of well-written modern blues songs
to circulate to Blues DJs. I want to investigate all of the musicians that
people have mentioned when I asked if they knew of good modern blues
songwriters. I want to see a blues songwriting competition start up, read discussions
about songwriting in the blues magazines and blogs, see a write-up about a
young blues musician that focuses on the songs rather than how many Stevie Ray
Vaughn licks he or she can rattle off… <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have come to realize that there aren’t many people who feel
the way I do about Blues songwriting<b>. </b>I
believe that the Blues needs better-written songs to nourish the roots, to make
new fruits. I don’t want the Blues to exist only in museums; a reference
resource rather than a vital force that continues to shape music and inspire new
music forms. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So… I missed my self-imposed deadline but I still believe
this is worth doing. It’s important to me and that’s reason enough to continue. Slow and steady wins the race.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-29496009350436281482015-05-15T20:34:00.002-07:002015-05-15T20:36:28.276-07:00The Thrill Is Gone<div class="WordSection1">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"The Thrill Is Gone"</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Roy Hawkins/Rick Darnell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Version</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> – B.B. King<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">BB King’s
most listened to (and most re-recorded) song has a lot of lyrical things that blues
songwriters can learn from. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="WordSection2">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The thrill is gone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The thrill is gone away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The thrill is gone baby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The thrill is gone away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">You know you done me wrong baby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">And you'll be sorry someday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The thrill is gone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It's gone away from me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The thrill is gone baby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The thrill is gone away from me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Although I'll still live on<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">But so lonely I'll be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The thrill is gone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It's gone away for good<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Oh, the thrill is gone baby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Baby it’s gone away for good<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Someday I know I'll be over it all baby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Just like I know a man should<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">You know I'm free, free now baby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I'm free from your spell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I'm free, free now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I'm free from your spell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">And now that it's over<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">All I can do is wish you well<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">This song has very similar words in the
first three verses. This makes it easy to understand and listen to – it’s catchy.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It does tell a story over the
course of its four verses – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .2in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">You’ll be
sorry you done me wrong<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .2in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ll be
lonely but I’ll live on<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .2in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ll get
over it <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .2in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I did get
over it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Much of the song’s power comes from
remaining right here in the present moment, describing a particular feeling.
This is a strength of the blues as a song form and it enables timeless songs. Unlike most blues songs, however, it also
tells a linear story – but it is the story of how his feelings progress, not a
narrative of events. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Another little thing that sticks out
for me - the phrase “The thrill is gone” begins each of the first three verses.
Then it repeats in the second line with the word “baby” added. In each verse,
the second line differs just a little bit from the first line, but says the
same thing. This gives the singer more room to work with, and helps bring
different degrees of emotion to the lyric.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I didn't appreciate “The Thrill Is Gone”
until I started playing it myself and began to understand how sing-able it is.
I hadn't picked up on the emotional progression that happens in the lyrics and
how much emotion the singer can put into the song. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I had to learn it for a blues
competition, of all things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I think it was the year 2007. I was a
finalist in the Telluride Blues Challenge which is part of the Telluride Blues
and Brews Festival held in Colorado every year. At that time, each finalist played
a 15 minute set and each of us had to perform the same “compulsory” song as
dictated by the Festival and communicated us one week prior to the final. That particular
year the song was “The Thrill Is Gone”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-71852551148308975092015-05-14T08:19:00.000-07:002015-05-14T08:19:55.700-07:00Madman-Architect-Carpenter-Judge (in that order!)<div style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong><span style="color: #010101; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Betty
S. Flowers</span></strong><span style="color: #010101; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">, an English professor at the University of Texas at
Austin published an essay in 1997 entitled “Madman, Architect, Carpenter,
Judge: Roles and the Writing Process.” Although her essay was directed to prose
writers, the concept is even more useful for songwriters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #010101; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #010101; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Flowers
identifies four different personas who come into the writing process <u>sequentially</u>.
Writing begins with the madman, who brings ideas and energy to the page,
uninhibited. Just write down any crazy
thing - let imagination run wild for ten minutes and don’t stop to edit. Next
comes the architect, who looks unsentimentally at the madman’s “wild
scribblings,” selects the chunks that could possibly form into a song, and
arranges those nuggets into verses, refrains, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #010101; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #010101; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Along
comes the carpenter, the craftsman, who does the detail work of making sure the
lines are similar in length, the rhyme scheme is consistent, the words have an
internal rhythm, etc. He nails the ideas together. Finally, in comes the judge, who inspects the
work, critically.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #010101; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Writers
get tripped up, Flowers suggests, when their judge gets in the way of their
madman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #010101; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“So
start by promising your judge that you’ll get around to asking his opinion, but
not now,” Flowers writes. “And then let the madman energy flow. Find what
interests you in the topic, the question or emotion that it raises in you, and
respond as you might to a friend – or an enemy. Talk on paper, page after page,
and don’t stop to judge…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 14.65pt;">I believe many blues
songwriters allow the judge to enter the process too early – he rules out
topics and modern language that “don’t belong” in blues songs.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 14.65pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 14.65pt;">And perhaps we allow the architect to limit
the song structures to blues forms that have been built over and over again in
the past. Blues does have limits – but we could allow the madman to finish his
part in the process before the other members of the team have their turn. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-41035580241709291032015-04-30T13:42:00.000-07:002015-04-30T13:42:49.451-07:00Bruce McCabe and the Lawnmower Man<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had always thought that the classic American lawn would
make a great subject for a modern blues song. Don’t men get the blues about
their lawn? Creeping Charlie, mole tunnels, fertilizer burn, dandelions - not
to mention the trials and tribulations of mowing! But I never could come up
with anything that sounded good to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When someone told me that Bruce McCabe’s song “Lawnmower Man”
was about cunnilingus, I thought maybe I should check it out. And, in fact, it does
end up being about cunnilingus but you have to wait four minutes to get to that
part, the third section of the song. The first two sections are the lawn blues
I would have written myself if I were as talented as Bruce McCabe.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story - after working hard his whole life, the Lawnmower
Man had a big house and a big yard. But he was unhappy because he had to spend
all his time mowing. He tried hiring people to mow it, but they were too
expensive. For a while he just let it grow long but finally gave in and started
mowing again, “oh-oh-oh I gotta mow that lawn.” Bummer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then comes the bridge to start section two: “The years they passed,
he cut so much grass. He went and sold that house. Now he was free at last!”
And finally a happy man.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As far as I’m concerned the song could end after this when
McCabe sings, “In the game of chess, you can be a king or a pawn. Or you can
skip the game and you don’t gotta mow that lawn.” A great blues song about the
American Lawn. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I understand, though, how hard it might have been to waste
an opportunity to sing about cunnilingus. In the third section he meets a
neighborhood girl, she asks him to mow her personal lawn, word gets around and
he starts “mowing lawns” all over town. And
that’s how he got the name “Lawnmower Man”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bruce McCabe is a gifted songwriter, one of the few blues
writers with a multi-platinum blues single to his credit - “Lie To Me” recorded
by Jonny Lang in 1997. Three albums
available through Artist Direct - <a href="http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/albums/bruce-mccabe/465149">http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/albums/bruce-mccabe/465149</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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You can find one of his solo albums on iTunes, along with
his work with the Lamont Cranston Band. Here is an incomplete discography (the
most complete I could find) - <a href="http://www.discogs.com/artist/686895-Bruce-McCabe?limit=50">http://www.discogs.com/artist/686895-Bruce-McCabe?limit=50</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-42150000468697363492015-04-29T19:33:00.000-07:002015-04-29T19:37:48.499-07:00Curtis Obeda<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Curtis Obeda</h2>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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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.” <sup>1</sup>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have only one Butanes “solo” album – 2014’s “12 Frozen
Favorites from the Upper Bayou”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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” <sup>2</sup> we’d have a bit more sympathy.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
What songwriters can
learn from Curt Obeda </h3>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">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.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">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.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">He gives the singer room to sing – plenty of
long notes, good melodies and chord changes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">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.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">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.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">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.</span></li>
</ul>
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<h4>
Notes.</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. A line from “B.S. (Bob’s Song)” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<h4>
I listened to </h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Right Where I Belong (2004)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Memphisopolis (2006) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Long Time Thing (2011)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
12 Frozen Favorites from the Upper Bayou (2014)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://thebutanes.com/butanes_website_pages/index.html" target="_blank">Butanes web site</a><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-29828418535799359292015-03-12T14:45:00.001-07:002015-03-12T14:47:20.992-07:00Harrison Kennedy sets a great example for blues songwriters<div class="MsoNormal">
Harrison Kennedy is a Canadian blues musician who was a pop
star for a number of years with the group Chairmen of the Board. After this
experience he learned to write his own music and play the guitar, according to
the Welcome page of his web site <a href="http://www.harrisonkennedy.ca/">www.harrisonkennedy.ca</a>
but there was a thirty-year gap, while he worked as a supervisor in a chemical
plant before he began to release recordings of his own stuff. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kennedy’s roots are down-home acoustic blues. His songs and
his sound overall have a coherence and thematic consistency that speak to the
integrity of his music; you feel he is just being himself. He has a distinctive
sound, many tunes combine an electric band with an old-timey jug band feel,
especially when he plays banjo. He is a remarkably good singer with a huge
range.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Harrison Kennedy is a bridge between the blues of the
1930/40s and modern blues and R&B. While
his sound recalls the formulaic songwriters of the pre-war years, the songs
usually stick to their narrative subject. Rather than just stringing a bunch of
bluesy lines together, the verses have linear narrative. We don’t find many huge
surprises music or lyric-wise but the songs are well-written. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many of the songs have modern topics – “One Dog Barking” talks
about how the “profit motive” is dominating and screwing up the world like a
bully in the school yard. Kennedy mixes in a modern vocabulary. “I Can Feel You Leaving” is a heart-felt,
honest (but over-long) blues with lines like, ”My romantic gestures only met
with your sighs”, “You take a piece of my heart with you when you go”. In “Them
90s Blues” he references Frankenfoods, lap dancers, sports bars, wars about gas
and “They made a baby in a Petri jar; This morning it was front page news”! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He is willing to go out on a limb with his lyrics. For
example, “Leading Lady” is an ambitious attempt to use the metaphor of the
stage for life in general. It doesn’t quite work because Kennedy doesn’t give
us any detail or “furniture” that paints a scene of a stage theater. Another
example is “Look A Like” where he sings about how seeing another woman he is
attracted to makes him afraid of losing his own woman – an interesting topic
and angle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kennedy’s lyrics more often “tell” than “show” – we don’t
get to see things through his eyes but we do get to experience how he feels
about his subject from the way he sings and plays. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Songs I enjoyed most – “Cruise Control” where it “felt like
the twilight zone…” Could Be Me, Could Be You”, about being (or not being)
homeless, is the song that made me search out Harrison Kennedy after I heard
Eric Bibb’s cover. “I’ve Got Your Number” uses numbers (duh) but does a good
job of relating them to the woman who is the subject of the song.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I felt that the earlier albums have more “Kennedy substance”
in the songs. The 2014 record (official release Feb 27, 2015) has many lyrics
that are blues middle-of-the-road, well written to be sure, but could have been
written by anybody. “Shake the Hand” and “I’ve got News for You” have a bit
more interesting detail. And “Jimmy Lee” is a nice positive love story that
gives us a real sense of person and place as it devotes the four verses in turn
to him, her, their morning and then their evening.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I found it encouraging that many reviewers praise Kennedy’s using
modern lyrical themes, keeping the songs short and not piling on long virtuosic
instrumental solos just for the sake of it (let it be said that there is plenty
of virtuosity in the playing). Harrison
Kennedy is setting a good example for blues songwriters and I hope this positive
critical response will lead others to do the same.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Albums I listened to: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
High Country Blues (2007)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One Dog Barking (2009) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soulscape (2013) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This Is from Here (2014) (All on Electro-Fi Records).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Allmusic.com has excellent and informative reviews for
Harrison Kennedy’s albums <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/artist/harrison-kennedy-mn0000380720/discography">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-48179017350639782962015-02-28T15:26:00.000-08:002015-02-28T15:26:03.251-08:00The Next Big Thing in blues will come from Europe<div class="MsoNormal">
It is telling that the blues songwriters that I find to be
the most progressive and in touch with contemporary times are either European
residents or spend more time gigging there than they do in the USA. This makes
me think that the better songs, the new approaches, the real, honest and modern
stuff will form and develop in Europe, not the USA. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I guess that’s not too surprising when we remember that
prior to the “British Blues Invasion” of the 1960's and 70's, the American blues audience
was very small, especially among white people. All of the important
developments in blues songwriting and performing had already happened (within
the USA) and were complete by the time we Brits started to pay attention and
copy it. But the general US audience was totally unaware of this incredible
music right under their collective nose! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is it possible that European audiences are more open to
change and growth in the blues? Even actively looking for something new instead
of the same old same old? The new blues will need some love and nurturing
before it can mature, and that might be happening in Europe right now. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Good songwriters take care with the words that go into their
songs. You don’t listen to the words unless you are in an environment that
facilitates hearing those words. That is - not a noisy bar where the music functions
primarily to get people dancing, grooving and buying drinks. It is unusual to
find blues being played in a listening room type of indoor venue in the USA. These
are typically reserved for musicians that we label singer-songwriter or folk. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is my first post in a while – I've been touring in
Florida and Texas to enjoy the warm winter weather we don’t have in my home
state of Minnesota. I did a lot of listening while driving 7,500 miles over six
weeks and will be posting regularly over the next month or so. <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-41491895226888160262015-01-03T17:49:00.001-08:002015-01-03T17:51:12.485-08:00Year of the Blues Songwriter makes the news! Encouraging to find that other people might be interested in better blues songs! <a href="http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/287247841.html"><i>This article about my campaign</i></a> appeared in the Minneapolis newspaper yesterday.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-37589513264799386122014-12-30T10:03:00.000-08:002014-12-30T10:03:07.431-08:00Al Cook - Blues Songwriter from Austria<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Al Cook is a tireless traditional blues song generator. He
takes themes, musical fragments and lyrical phrases from the blues corpus, combines
them with his own stuff and ends up with original songs. Some of these are
better-written “traditional” songs than the actual traditional songs he draws
from. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On <i>Moving Back to
Alabama</i> on Cook’s album “The Birmingham Jam”, for example. He takes a
couple of lines from Charley Patton’s <i>Going
to Move to Alabama. </i>Patton sings, “Say, mama got the washboard, my sister
got the tub, my brother got the whiskey, mama got the jug.” In Cook’s song, “My
sister got a washboard, my daddy got a jug, now give your kinfolk a great big
hug” merges the Patton lines into a song with more depth and interest. It is the story of
a family moving back to Alabama from Chicago after their dreams of a better
life did not come true. It has a linear narrative, and some imaginative phrases
–“It’s so cold in Chicago the birds can hardly sing; they’d freeze in flight if
they could spread their wings. They’re flying back to Alabama…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Al Cook is from Vienna, Austria. So he is writing not only in
a foreign language, but an idiomatic subset - blues idiom. After 50 years of
listening and playing traditional blues, his fluency in the blues is obvious. He
thinks about what he is doing, and his place in blues tradition, as evidenced
by the blog entries on his web site. I find his vocal stylings a little too imitative
of the older black blues artists, but then again, he is creating a historical representation
foremost, a personal expression second. His imitations are top-notch by the
way. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sought out Al Cook’s music on a tip from David Evans,
author of “Big Road Blues” and perhaps the preeminent academic of blues music. Evans
describes himself as a traditionalist where blues is concerned, and probably doesn't
share my concern that modern blues songwriting is generally poor. Cook is a
living example of the formulaic blues composers that Evans discusses in his
book (and in a large body of academic writings in publications such as The
Journal of American Folklore).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Al Cook released an ambitious project in 2013 – “Mississippi
1930 – A Fictional Journey to the Land Where the Blues Began”. He wrote the
songs as far as I can tell. But they sound authentic old blues. Example – <i>Jake Liquor Blues</i>. Cooks spoken
introduction to the song states he wrote it to honor Tommy Johnson, who
recorded <i>Alcohol and Jake Blues</i> in
1930.<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">1.</span></span> Cook’s song is very different but has a very similar feel. This is
what he does so well. (Cook’s song is also different from Ishman Bracey’s 1929
song with the same title.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s my take on Al Cook – he’s written (and still writes
at age 70) a ton of formulaic blues songs that use the phrases, meanings, feel,
structure and sense of traditional blues. He probably does it better than you
or I can. So, instead of writing your own lame, formulaic songs, think about using
some of his good ones. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Notes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1. Someone recently paid $37,100 for a mint condition 78rpm record of Tommy Johnson's <i>Alcohol and Jake Blues. </i>The highest ever for a 78. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-54490044351313109702014-12-20T15:26:00.003-08:002014-12-20T15:30:48.784-08:00Have you heard Eric Bibb on mainstream radio? <div class="MsoNormal">
It is very encouraging how well-liked and respected Eric
Bibb has become in the blues world. He is an annual nominee on most Best-of-the-Year
lists and the International Blues Foundation honored him as Acoustic Artist of
the Year in 2013 (his album <i>“Deeper in
the Well”</i> was nominated too). But he states clearly on that album that he
is no traditionalist. He sings, “Music is more than rules and tradition…If I
feel it, that’s good enough for me” (in the song “Music”). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His songwriting is excellent – well crafted, written to hit
his sweet spots as a performer, full of integrity and personality. I feel like
I know the guy, though I've never met him.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Deeper in the Well” was the first Eric Bibb album I
listened to from beginning to end. It is definitely a blues album (more so than
the other five albums I listened to in depth) and Bibb brings new structure and
chord forms to the blues tunes. The instrumentation is refreshing – fiddle,
mandolin, banjo, harp and accordion are endemic to the structure and setting of
the songs, not just guest artists taking solos. The language is plainspoken and
doesn't try to be clever. The topics of the songs generally don’t get far
outside the blues pantheon – life is good; don’t let yourself get messed up on
drugs; life is what you make it; life has ups and downs; she’s so fine. But nothing
is hackneyed and nothing sounds like an overused phrase that was stuck in the
verse just because he needed a rhyme. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of the original songs have a modern outlook and some have
interesting twists and mechanisms. On “In My Time” Eric tells us how his
personal life has ups and downs. He pairs up opposites to show how his life has
gone and you get the sense that it was all good. He’s been treated like a boss/like
a boy; like a tramp/like a star. Lived fast/taken it easy. Played in Paris, Rome /on front porch back
home. Ridden in Bentleys/on a mule. Great detail, cinematic in places and all
with a ring of truth. Once his
credentials are established Eric gives us his advice - Best thing you can do is
be a faithful friend.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In “Music” Bibb takes music snobs to task. He pokes fun at
people who need to categorize music before they can decide whether to like it.
“Like looking at the labels on the faucet tap before they can tell if the
water’s hot!” Beautiful!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are four songs written by others <sup>1</sup>, one
co-write and two traditional songs. A very satisfying recording and I recommend
it as a good first experience for people who are new to Eric Bibb.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I listened further, I realized that Bibb is primarily a
gospel singer. He describes his music on 2008’s “Get on Board” as "a
further exploration into the place where blues meets gospel and
soul." That’s a good description of all the stuff I listened to, especially
the emphasis on “further exploration”. Eric Bibb makes new cloth out of the well-worn
garments he has lived in for years. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He shows his blues chops on “Blues Ballads and Work Songs”
(2011) – a compilation of mostly traditional songs recorded between 2005 and
2011. But Gospel is the center of Eric Bibb’s songwriting – redemption, faith,
courage, perseverance, life is what you make it, get on board, a new and better
life awaits. Bibb’s Godfather is Paul Robeson; his father is Leon Bibb, a
prominent African-American folk musician of the 50’s and 60’s. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bibb released albums in 1977 and 1980, and then there is a
gap until 22 albums since 1997. Many albums have lyric or subject themes (e.g.
freedom and Martin Luther King on “Blues People”) or a thematic vibe (e.g. “Deeper
In The Well”) that comes from the instrumentation and overall feel of the
playing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eric Bibb lived in Finland for many years. I will guess that
he developed his music in relative isolation from any particular music scene –
I’m thinking about folk, blues, gospel music communities that might have drawn
him to center on a particular genre and adopt its definitions and rules. He
goes his own way and does not limit himself to the boundaries on any particular
genre. I thought it interesting that on “Blues Ballads and Work Songs” the
original tunes were much less bluesy-folky than the covers. I was surprised
(end encouraged!) that the album the IBF voted as acoustic blues album of the
year in 2011 (“Troubadour Live”) does not contain a single traditional 12-bar
blues.<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Comments on some specific songs that taught me something as
a blues songwriter. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The album “Jericho Road” was released in 2013. Check out <i>With
My Maker I Am One. </i>It is a very 21st-century blues lyric, set into a
timeless gospel theme. The singer takes on 24 different roles of characters
doing their thing – Okie, landlord, junkie, slave, juke stomper, banker, candy
man, movie star and states “…with my
Maker I am One”. It does have the
traditional blues themes of life has its ups and downs or life is what you make
it, but the roles themselves are a mixture of modern and blues stereotype. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vt5YhyrkaG0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
On “Troubadour Live” <i>Shavin’
Talk</i> is particularly poignant and full of current-day language. As he looks
at himself in the mirror while shaving, Eric muses on how lucky he is, given
that life is far from perfect. He keeps the shaving story going throughout the
song, and ends with a very non-traditional set of rising chords. It remains a
blues song. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“An Evening with Eric Bibb” (2007) has a couple of songs I found
notable. <i>To Know You</i> is a
straight-forward positive love song, heartfelt and eschewing the traditional “she’s
so fine” attitude. I wish there were more positive love songs in blues music. <i>Shingle By Shingle</i> is another great 21st-century
lyric dealing with a traditional blues topic – life is what you make it – as he
patches the roof, piece by piece. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eric Bibb is a staple on every blues curator’s playlist that
I looked at, including the internationally syndicated programs. He deserves
much more mainstream radio play in the USA. I hope that happens a lot in 2015 –
the year of the blues songwriter! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Notes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1. Including a lovely song by Harrison Kennedy (<i>Could Be You, Could Be Me</i>) that makes me
want to explore Harrison’s music as soon as I've finished typing this post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">2. I am defining “traditional 12- (or 8-) bar blues” as
having only <span style="font-family: "Rockwell",serif;">I, IV </span>and <span style="font-family: "Rockwell",serif;">V</span> chords. And certainly not a <span style="font-family: "Rockwell",serif;">II</span> major (even though Robert
Johnson’s version of <i>Love In Vain</i> kind
of does).</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-38977962891740874732014-12-10T14:54:00.002-08:002014-12-10T14:54:36.563-08:00Current definitions of Modern and Contemporary BluesThese are quotes from Allmusic.com -<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: rgb(246, 246, 246); font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><u>Modern Acoustic Blues</u> finds contemporary
artists reviving the older, more country-derived styles of blues in its myriad
strains. The form places a great deal of emphasis on instrumental expertise,
providing the genre with some astounding players who do more than merely
replicate older styles. An outgrowth of the folk music boom and original blues
revival of the mid-'60s, its emotional makeup can encompass everything from
provincialism to intense personal statements. While clearly honoring
traditional forms, the style also has room for original material, providing a
forum for new ideas as well as extending the genre's musical repertoire into
the future.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: rgb(246, 246, 246); font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><u>Contemporary Blues</u> draws upon traditional
acoustic and electric blues, but offers a more smoothed-out take on the genre
that incorporates the influences of rock, pop, R&B, and/or folk. As such,
contemporary blues is most often (though not always) electric, and rarely
(though once in a while) purist. Because of its up-to-date production and
mellower audience sensibility, the style tends to be more polished and
sometimes even a bit genteel; it's still definitely soulful, but not quite as
earthy or gritty as the music that predates it, and not as aggressive or fiery
as modern-day electric blues from Chicago or Texas. Since it's informed by
other types of music, contemporary blues has a greater chance of crossing over
to pop, album rock, or adult-contemporary radio formats. Artists like Robert
Cray, Keb' Mo', and prodigies Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang epitomize the
contemporary blues sound.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: rgb(246, 246, 246); font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: rgb(246, 246, 246); font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">I think these are pretty good definitions. Well written too!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-48426986643551819032014-12-01T12:06:00.000-08:002014-12-01T12:06:01.410-08:00Mark Harrison writes modern blues songs. Hot damn!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mark Harrison took up
blues songwriting fairly recently in his music career after buying a 1934
National Trojan guitar – a wood-body resonator that Eric Bibb had traded in at
a guitar store in London. As he tells it, he first tried to play traditional blues
songs from people like Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters and Blind Willie McTell but
they didn’t sound the same. He had no lessons, </span>didn't<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> read tablature or use
video tutorials – he just played what he could. After a while he realized he
was writing new songs, not versions of old ones. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His naiveté has paid
off. Harrison’s songs don’t sound like anybody else’s, but they are full of the
blues tradition that inspired him. I believe he will continue to bring a new
audience to the blues and he exemplifies the kind of blues songwriting that I
want to write myself. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Lyrics.</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The first distinctive
thing is his use of contemporary language and subject matter in his lyrics.
Most lyrics would sound natural if spoken as part of a conversation. There are
very few blues clichés or language that </span>isn't<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> native to London. He does
occasionally sing with a slightly Southern USA-tinged inflection (time=tahm, why=whah, don’t=don’) but in general he sounds like he is singing with the same
voice he uses when he talks. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many songs contain
portraits of people and events that seem like they might exist in his
day-to-day world. We meet Smiler John, Big Mary, Deacon George, Georgia Greene,
and even Mark’s Dad. We go with Mark to observe the neighborhood street corner,
Highgate Hill, Starley Street… places we might have been to ourselves, people
and places that make the songs seem like they are about our own lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark has advice for us
in many songs – be here now, live in the moment and be grateful. He often makes
a moral point or commentary on what’s wrong with the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many songs have topics
outside of the blues paradigm subjects (romance, travel and anxiety). For
example, he writes literally and figuratively about bombs dropping during the
Second World War. There are references to charlatans, Mexican gardeners,
recurring dreams, panic attacks, a mule with its shoulder gone…all good blues
subjects that have been ignored by most blues musicians. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few songs are set in
the USA and we hear words like juke joint, second line, Cadillac; for the most part
Harrison’s vocabulary is refreshingly idiosyncratic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The language in general
is simple and straight-forward; it is not hard to understand what he is saying.
There were a few lyrics where I didn’t get the point, but just a few. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark’s scansion is
generally consistent and rhyme schemes are tight, though he is willing to fudge
a rhyme if he needs a non-rhyming word to get his point across. The lyrics are
overly narrative in my opinion - he would communicate better if he were to show
rather than tell: be more cinematic than descriptive. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Another area he could
improve is to focus on very specific detail in order to better communicate the
big picture. This is especially true with his characters and the songs about
his own thoughts and actions. I </span>didn't<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> have much emotional connection with his
characters – I know what they did but I </span>didn't<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> feel what they felt or why I
should care about them. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Music.</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;">The songs <u>all</u>
have a definite melody. This will strike many blues fans as sounding somewhat less
bluesy, perhaps because we have become accustomed to blues songs that restrict
themselves to a pentatonic scale. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The guitar sound contributes
a lot to keep the songs bluesy, with Harrison’s scratchy voice adding some more
of the same. When Josienne Clarke takes the lead vocal, especially on the
earlier two albums, her sweet and pure tone takes the song into the realm of
folk music. On <i>The World Outside</i>
album, she slides into the notes a little more, gives the flat note a little
more time before she straightens it out and hits the melody. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His songs don’t give
him much room to emote vocally – not many long vowel sounds. This suits his
vocal style, and also the conversational nature of the lyrics. However, I hope
he writes some songs that would give a more accomplished singer some room to
stretch out. His lack of vocal prowess may be limiting his songwriting. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harrison often uses a chorus
or refrain in his songs, unlike traditional acoustic blues singer-songwriters.
Willie Dixon was among the first bluesmen to (re-)use these structures, and
typically his songs were recorded by bands, not solo acoustic musicians. This
practice helps make the songs accessible – the listener can learn and
internalize the repeated sections, and even sing along (aloud or not). Every
song on the 2014 album has a refrain. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The songs are quite
highly arranged. At least one guitar part will echo or be in unison with the
vocal melody. The songs almost always have riffs - lines the band play ensemble
that might have started as guitar riffs. Some songs have a very major scale
feel in the verse melody that becomes “bluesified” by using the b7 or b3 in a
riff. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As far as I can tell,
there is little live improvisation captured on record. It would be interesting
to hear the band live. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The music is
stylistically similar over all three albums, I suppose this is natural given
the same band members throughout. It seemed to me that instrumentals were
longer and less numerous in the newest album. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I think that European
blues fans must be more open-minded than fans here in the USA. The reviews of
his albums in the European blues press praise his non-conformity but still
include his music as </span><u style="font-size: 12pt;">within</u><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> the blues tradition, rather than implying
that it </span>isn't<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> blues. Mark Harrison has three albums out, gigs regularly and it
looks as though his career will be a long one. This is a fortunate thing for
blues songwriting and for the blues genre in general. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.markharrisonrootsmusic.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Link to Mark Harrison web site</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Notes. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I listened to three albums - </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The World Outside</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (2014), </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crooked Smile</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (2012) and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Watching The Parade</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (2010). </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-91597833910016700392014-11-25T12:48:00.002-08:002014-11-25T12:49:59.903-08:00Doug MacLeod observations<div class="MsoNormal">
Doug MacLeod is one of the few blues singer-songwriters to
achieve a long and consistent career performing his own songs almost
exclusively.<sup>1</sup> What can I learn from his work to help me be a successful
blues singer-songwriter? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I started to wonder if his songwriting has changed over the
course of his career, and decided it would be instructive for my own
songwriting to dig deep. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I listened to seven albums – No Road Back Home (1984),
Unmarked Road (1987), Whose Truth, Whose Lies (2000), Dubb (2005), Utrecht
Sessions (2008), Brand New Eyes (2011) and There's a Time (2013). I was
interested to see whether he changed the things he wrote about, how he wrote
about them, how did they relate to blues tradition… <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I believe that blues would be more popular if we were to
write songs about our actual day-to-day lives that use common, everyday 21st century
language. That’s the whole focus of this blog. Academic study of blues music posits
that traditional blues songs are usually about travel, romance and anxiety.
Blues developed (like all folk music) as an oral tradition; blues musicians recombined
existing blues lyrics to make new songs – a formulaic approach. (A good place
to start reading about this is David Evans’ book, “Big Road Blues”.) As blues
recordings became more available, songwriters started to get a bit more
creative, introducing new ideas, modern references to African-American history,
songs about news events and so on. Willie Dixon, more than any other
songwriter, brought blues into the 20th century. Blues had spawned pop music,
Broadway tunes and jazz. Dixon brought some parts of this modern music back
into the blues - musical elements such as bridges and choruses, chord
structures that had evolved out of the blues. He wrote about current city
culture, you could dance to the blues. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
OK, first I’ll talk about lyrics. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Doug MacLeod’s songwriter roots are evidently the
singer-songwriters that preceded the Willie Dixon era – even though he spent
many years as a band member in Chicago-style electric bands. His song topics
generally fit into the blues tradition – travel, anxiety and romance. But every
album has one or more tunes that don’t fit that mold; some give us advice or
commentary on some aspect of the sorry state of the world. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He rarely uses recombined formulaic phrases from existing
blues songs.<sup>2 </sup>His songs usually make sense and the verses relate to
one another and progress in a linear way. It does not seem to me that he wrote
about different topics as his career progressed. The main change I hear is that
he got better and better at doing what he does. The writing is more refined,
adept, there are more layers of meaning, and meanings that go deeper; he allows
questions to go unanswered. This is not a clear, qualitative old/new MacLeod difference;
he tackled difficult subjects early on in his career. Long Black Train, from 1984, shows us how
there is a good side <u>and</u> a bad side to what life gives us. And no easy
answers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some themes that run through the albums I listened to – <o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There is a reason for leaving your lover. A
woman may look good, act sexy, but there is something wrong inside. A man might
be too self-involved and selfish to really show love. Doug leaves women more
often than they leave him.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Life is what you make it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The devil is involved in a lot of things that go
wrong.</span></li>
</ul>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Some things I notice he doesn't sing about – <o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Having fun getting stoned or drunk. Drugs and
alcohol generally have bad consequences.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Ordinary day-to-day activities like shaving,
shopping, changing clothes, having a conversation with his wife, dealing with
the travel arrangements and details of his touring life…</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This was a lot of listening. Fortunately, I can listen to
Doug MacLeod all day – the same way I can listen to Muddy Waters. I took
detailed notes on lyrics for six albums (excluded Utrecht Sessions) and on four
albums for musical content. My
discussion of musical qualities excludes the 1984 album No Road Back Home (blues-rock
band) and also Dubb (2000) and Utrecht Sessions (2008) because I focused on
early versus late.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Musically, Doug MacLeod’s songs are always well constructed
with a feel, chord structure and delivery that is appropriate to the subject of
the sing – good prosody in other words. I’m not going to talk about production or
very much – the producer(s) have the most influence there, and I’m focusing on
songwriting. But I do want to applaud
his wide variety of tonal textures (guitar sounds, vocal styling, etc.) which
is common to all of the albums. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many acoustic blues musicians of the past 50 years who were
guitar studs (as opposed to songwriters) went down the Blind Blake/Reverend
Gary Davis road, playing pre-arranged and ragtime piano-inspired songs. Doug
Macleod certainly has the chops but he didn't do that – he stayed within the
blues tradition to a large extent. There are certainly some ragtime chord
progressions, but generally not the piano left hand type of arrangements you
hear from Stefan Grossman et al. He often takes it outside – a discordant open
string accents the chord, maybe a chromatic figure, often an unusual chord
choice between verses or as a turnaround.<sup>3</sup> But every album has solid traditional 12-bar
blues songs, played in the traditional way. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Most albums employ a rhythm section and the early ones
feature guest musicians. I think the production has refined in later albums to
showcase and focus on Doug’s playing and singing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He has a lot of songs that establish a groove, often on one
chord, for the verse with a couple of additional chords to turn around or for
the refrain. Often he uses a b3 – 4 chord progression here, not a traditional blues
thing as far as I know. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He doesn't use bridges. Also, very rarely is there something
you might call a chorus, though he does use a lot of refrains.<sup>4</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bottom line – Doug hasn't changed what he does over the past
30 years of his solo career. He just has gotten better at doing it. And if I
want to be a blues singer-songwriter in the blues world that exists today, I
should write more songs within the travel-romance-anxiety paradigm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Footnotes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1. He recorded a Bukka White tune The New Panama Limited on
A Little Sin, Willie Dixon’s Bring It On Home and Muddy Waters’ Rollin and Tumblin’
on Ain’t the Blues Evil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 2.25pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">2. Formulas
– like Necessary Clothes – no particular story, verses don’t relate to one
another as much as other song have it. But he doesn’t use formulas much and
this isn’t really just a formula song. Old Country Road is formulaic – traditional
treatment, extra measures of instrumental noodling at the end of the line (in
verse 1). V1 – walking blues away on
country road, v2 – moon lonesome, me lonesome too cause my baby treats me so
unkind, v3 why do you treat me bad, I’m a good man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">3. Unmarked Road has greater
variety of harmonies in guitar – weird chords. Whose Truth Whose Lies has greater
mixture of styles and songs about things that are out of the usual blues
topics. Norfolk County Line – about lost love, a wistful expressive lyric sung
as a duet. St Louis on My Mind - formulaic.
Black Pony – very metaphoric. Unlonely – a simple love song. Also a lot of guitar textures – distortion on
Going Down Country – do we hear that on anything else? You Won’t Find Me has a
little distortion – also a less usual chord progression – JL Hooker boogie
A-C-D riff with an occasional b7 between verses. Time for a Change – discordant
open strings, minor key. I wonder if the later albums go back to more traditional
blues structures and timbres. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">4. If I wanted to be 100% right about this, I’d go back and
listen to everything again but I just don’t want to</span> <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-83107721561635772032014-11-10T18:21:00.001-08:002014-11-25T12:50:52.879-08:00The singer, not the song? Or - is it the Blues or just a Blues?<div class="MsoNormal">
One idea I had to promote blues songwriting in 2015 is to
run a contest for a “new” blues song. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I've stated plenty of times in this blog, I believe that
blues music could become more popular with younger people if the songs were about
things they can relate to and used up-to-date language and vocabulary. So - what
would be the scoring criteria for such a contest? <sup>1</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The International Blues Foundation sponsors several contests
for musicians performing live. They use the criteria of blues content, vocal
skill, instrumental skill, originality and stage presence. Blues content is
given the most weight, and at first I thought this would be the only criterion
that applies to a songwriting contest. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, I am becoming to believe that you can’t just write
a <u>blues</u> song without thinking about how it will be performed. The song,
from a copyright point of view, can exist on paper alone. You can write out the
melody and words, even indicate the blues inflections you hear in your mind,
but it won’t be the blues until someone sings it as a blues. You can’t divorce
the song from the performance when you are talking about the blues.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s take <i>Call it
Stormy Monday</i> as an example. Every blues singer knows this tune, it’s
jazzier than most but I don’t think anyone would argue that this is a blues
song. A great blues song. But it just isn't blues <u>music</u> when Pat Boone sings it.<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The major song contests all state that performance and
production quality will be ignored – the judges will listen to the song itself.
Well, that’s baloney in practice, but I don’t think you could even make that
stipulation in a blues song contest. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So if Pat Boone were to perform a song and submit it to my
competition, would it score lower than a Big Joe Turner version of the same
song? <u>Should</u> it? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> Notes.</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> 1. </span><!--[endif]-->I am working on developing such criteria and
finding it painfully hard. Your suggestion are most welcome!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> 2. </span><!--[endif]-->Pat Boone <i>Call
It Stormy Monday</i> from I’ll See You In My Dreams / This and That (Dot 1960)<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-48956394756252261212014-10-16T11:40:00.000-07:002014-10-16T11:43:29.844-07:00Doug MacLeod. Epitome of the Blues Singer-Songwriter<div class="MsoNormal">
My next few posts are going to be centered on Doug Macleod. The
International Blues Foundation honored him in 2014 as the Acoustic Artist of
the Year and also awarded his latest album, “There Comes a Time” as the
Acoustic Album of the Year. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To my knowledge, MacLeod is unique among successful blues
performers in that he only performs his own original songs. He is one of the
few solo artists that are featured performers at major blues festivals. He has recorded
22 albums of his material plus an instructional DVD. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will explore:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How does he do it? Why is he successful as a solo acoustic artist
in a field dominated by electric bands? What can I learn from Doug that would
help me grow as a blues singer-songwriter? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My focus is on his songwriting, but as I've been listening
to the man I have come to think that the songs can’t be separated from the
performance. And it makes me wonder to what extent this is true for blues in
general. While there are blues songwriters whose songs are mostly recorded by
other people (Gary Nicholson for example), MacLeod is more of a <u>singer</u>-songwriter.
He has had a dozen-or-so cuts by other artists but the overwhelming majority of
his songs have been played by Doug only.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me over-generalize to make a point. It seems to me that
blues audiences are the most enthralled when an instrumentalist takes a solo.
Close second – the band is tight, in the groove, a good beat, playing off one
another and it makes you want to dance. Vocal performance runs third in holding
their attention, and the words of a song don’t really matter. Sure, if you go
out to hear Janiva Magness the vocals are going to be your focus, but for nine
out of ten acts at a typical blues festival, the melody and words are not the
main source of audience satisfaction. Songwriting is all about melody and words.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Doug MacLeod’s words matter a lot – and his delivery ensures
you know what he is saying. His singing is excellent – he has a good range,
multiple vocal “personalities”, always expressive and soulful. He will draw you
in with this storytelling between (and within) songs. But how successful would
he be if he weren’t an absolute motherfucker on guitar? His playing is always sensitive,
expressive and appropriate for the song, though he can whip out licks that make
your jaw drop any time he feels like it. Do you think instrumental performance
is the most important thing? I’d really like to know!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I thought it would be interesting to look at how his writing
has developed over the past twenty years; approximately the period since he
became mainly a solo performer. I am listening and making notes about three
albums recorded between 1996 and 2000, and three albums from the past five years.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What topics or themes did he sing about in the 90’s versus
what concerns him today? Has his language changed? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Listening to Doug MacLeod’s music is time well spent. OK,
then, let's go!. <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-19659046370556869962014-09-30T14:24:00.003-07:002014-09-30T14:24:34.168-07:00A review of the Blues Blast Magazine Song of the Year Nominees<h2>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blues Blast Magazine Song of the Year Nominees</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since 2008, Blues Blast has invited all blues musicians to send in their music to be nominated for an award – send in thirty copies of your CD and their nominating panel will decide if it gets to be a finalist. This is a pretty democratic way of doing things. I figured I could learn something by reviewing the 2014 nominees for Song of the Year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are seven songs listed for the 2014 awards, to be announced on October 23<sup>rd</sup> in Champaign, Illinois. In my opinion, four of the seven have merit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Another Murder in New Orleans</u> (Carl Gustafson and Donald Markowitz), performed by Bobby Rush and Dr. John, was recorded to support the New Orleans Crimestoppers organization. The verses of the song set the scene and describe the anguish of a mother whose son is shot on the street. The chorus and bridge give the singer the opportunity to communicate his feelings about the situation and hope for the future. I couldn’t make out all of the words in the bridge (sung by Dr. John) but I think he pleads for witnesses to come forward (“those in the street where they died”). So there is a possible solution other than wringing our hands and lamenting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Donald Markowitz is a hit writer (“I’ve had the Time Of My Life”, from “Dirty Dancing”) and as one might expect from a pro, the rhyme scheme is solid, verse and chorus contrast; scansion is consistent throughout, the song has a beginning, middle and ending that progress in a natural way. Also, there is a distinct New Orleans feel to the song itself, which is amplified by Rush and Dr. John in the vocal and production.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lurrie Bell’s <u>“Blues in my Soul</u>” (which won the IBF Song Award earlier this year) doesn’t say much, but I did find it satisfying. It pretty much just repeats the same sentiment in each verse. He establishes at the beginning that “I like what I’m doing today, I feel the blues all the way down in my soul” and the second and third verses state that he’ll always feel that way. On paper, the words are boring, in the same way that “The Thrill Is Gone” has lyrics that simply repeat the same sentiment throughout the song and don’t provide perspective or development. Bell’s song succeeds because, like “Thrill is Gone”, there is a ton of room to sing and emote and Bell suspends time as you listen to the performance.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<u>Going To See Miss Gerri One More Time</u>” by Billy Branch has a lot going for it. It is the story of a woman who migrated to Chicago in the 1920s and opened The Palm Tavern, a night club that became a hangout for the top jazz and blues musicians of the day. We don’t really get to understand (in the choruses) <u>why</u> Branch is going to see her, or what might happen when he does, but I didn’t care because the verses tell a true story that is interesting and well written. I think he did a fantastic job coming up with lines and rhymes that, for the most part, are natural language and don’t sound forced. One verse lists a dozen-plus big stars that frequented the Palm Tavern – it almost gets a little too Tin Pan Alley here but stops short of being trite.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<u>Meet Me in Chicago</u>” is my favorite of the seven. If the City of Chicago hasn’t made this their official song yet, they should! Buddy Guy takes the song written by his producer, Tom Hambridge, and Richard Fleming and tells us all the reasons we should meet him in Chicago. As in Billy Branch’s song, we get to hear a list of iconic things we all recognize as Buddy sings about how he’ll show us around, walk downtown with a sweet home Chicago girl, visit Comiskey Park, look for Al Capone, and hear Buddy Guy sing the blues. This is a songwriting review but I must mention that the production is excellent and the vocals rock!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<u>Fare Thee Well</u>” by Nick Moss is amateurish in comparison to the other nominees. Who actually says “Fare thee well” these days unless they are doing Shakespeare in the Park? The song tells us how Nick misses his baby, his one and only, who held his heart in her hand. Now there’s a graphic image! We don’t really find out why she left, the lyrics seem to suggest it was both of their faults, and he is hoping they’ll get back together again – he sings, “You’ll come along, and ease my worried mind”. There are a lot of tired sentences like that scattered throughout the song. The one interesting lyric comes right after this – he tells her “I’ll just call you my friend as long as you call me on the other line.” This raises some interesting possibilities – is this a backdoor romance? But it never gets any deeper into this topic. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom Hambridge makes it onto the list of nominees a second time with a song he wrote with Robert Randolph for James Cotton - "<u>He Was There</u>". It is a tribute song to Cotton, providing a brief history of his journey from being a truck driver to playing at Carnegie Hall. The refrain says, “It’s all true, I ain’t blowing hot air, You can’t make this stuff up, James Cotton was there!” Well, maybe they should have made some stuff up, because they manage to make Cotton’s story sound like every other musician who quit their job to play the blues. No human interest, no mention of the musicians he played with, or why his story is unique in any way. James Cotton is a giant of the blues harp, a man who put his total energy into every note he played! All they come up with is “There were good times, man oh man, Fine looking womens all around the band stand”. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Damon Fowler is a county-tinged blues performer and “<u>Old Fools and Barstools</u>” trots out the old country music clichés like nobody’s business. He tells the listener how they’ll surely be able to find him drunk at the bar. That’s it. No story, no reasons, no interest except the catchy title. One good line though – “I don’t read my mail and I don’t answer the phone. I’m not good with people, I can’t stand being alone.”</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a<a href="http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/2014-blues-blast-music-awards/"> link to the Blues Blast Magazine 2014 Awards page</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281021130102125510.post-10925053168135873602014-09-29T12:43:00.000-07:002014-09-29T12:43:28.036-07:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
2015 - Year of the
Blues Songwriter. </h2>
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July 1st, 2015 will be the 100th anniversary of Willie Dixon's birthday. I would like to see people write a lot great new blues tunes to commemorate Willie Dixon and to continue to advance and popularize blues music the way he did. </div>
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So I'm starting a campaign, and I'm hoping you will get on board! </div>
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What I am trying to do</h4>
My ultimate goal is to increase the popularity of blues
music by improving blues songwriting. We can all do that right now. I believe the most effective long-term path to achieve
this is to encourage young musicians to write (and play) blues songs with
lyrics that reflect their true personal feelings, the real world they live in
and their day-to-day concerns about living in the 21st century. In short, make
the blues relevant to modern life.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Why?</h4>
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Because I love blues music and I am concerned that it is
becoming a niche genre. Once the Baby Boomers die off, the blues may exist only
in museums. And let me disclose my self-interest that I am a blues songwriter myself. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>How will I achieve this?</h4>
<u>First</u>, convince fellow blues lovers and musicians that better
songwriting is a fundamental requirement for the blues to become more popular.
Given the number of people and projects that are aimed at “Saving the Blues”,
it is clear that blues lovers do recognize that there is a problem (or
problems) of some sort.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Second</u>, provide support for musicians to write better blues songs.
This will include:<br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Educational tools: awareness of how “good” songs
are made</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Blues fans and the blues “establishment” are
more open-minded about accepting new forms and expressions of blues music,
especially when it comes from young musicians</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">An active community of blues songwriters that
share their collective knowledge and skill, and celebrate good songwriting by
their peers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Professional musicians are open to playing the
new songs because it gives them more expressive range and their fans dig it</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
</ul>
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<u>Third</u>, build momentum for a powerful wave of enthusiasm
about good songwriting to surge through the blues world. Specifically, involve <o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Blues bloggers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">International Blues Foundation and Willie Dixon
Blues Heaven Foundation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Blues magazines</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Radio broadcasters and podcasters who curate
blues programs</span></li>
</ul>
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<u>Fourth</u>, Create opportunities for young musicians to showcase
their songs, and receive recognition and acclaim from their peers <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Barriers</h4>
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The blues establishment defines what is, or is not, blues
music from a historical perspective. Music that sounds “different” may be
disparaged as not having “blues content”, even though it is clearly grows from
strong blues roots. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Change always generates resistance. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I may come to doubt that better songs will increase the
popularity of blues music, and lose enthusiasm for the project. <o:p></o:p></div>
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How will I know if I succeeded?</h4>
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By January 2016, I’ll hear blues music during drive time on
commercial radio<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Nigel Egg<o:p></o:p></div>
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nigel@nigelegg.com<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04432127837971080838noreply@blogger.com0