Al Cook - Blues Songwriter from Austria

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.

On Moving Back to Alabama on Cook’s album “The Birmingham Jam”, for example. He takes a couple of lines from Charley Patton’s Going to Move to Alabama. 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…”

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.  

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).

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 – Jake Liquor Blues. Cooks spoken introduction to the song states he wrote it to honor Tommy Johnson, who recorded Alcohol and Jake Blues in 1930.1. 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.)  

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.  

Notes.

1. Someone recently paid $37,100 for a mint condition 78rpm record of Tommy Johnson's Alcohol and Jake Blues. The highest ever for a 78. 

Have you heard Eric Bibb on mainstream radio?

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 “Deeper in the Well” 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”).

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. 

“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.  

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.

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!

There are four songs written by others ¹, 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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.²  

Comments on some specific songs that taught me something as a blues songwriter.

The album “Jericho Road” was released in 2013.  Check out With My Maker I Am One. 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.

On “Troubadour Live” Shavin’ Talk 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.

“An Evening with Eric Bibb” (2007) has a couple of songs I found notable. To Know You 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. Shingle By Shingle 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.

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!  

Notes.

1. Including a lovely song by Harrison Kennedy (Could Be You, Could Be Me) that makes me want to explore Harrison’s music as soon as I've finished typing this post.

2. I am defining “traditional 12- (or 8-) bar blues” as having only I, IV and V chords. And certainly not a II major (even though Robert Johnson’s version of Love In Vain kind of does).

Current definitions of Modern and Contemporary Blues

These are quotes from Allmusic.com -

Modern Acoustic Blues 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.

Contemporary Blues 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.

I think these are pretty good definitions. Well written too!

Mark Harrison writes modern blues songs. Hot damn!

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, didn't 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.

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.

Lyrics.

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 isn't 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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 didn't have much emotional connection with his characters – I know what they did but I didn't feel what they felt or why I should care about them.

Music.

The songs all 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. 

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 The World Outside 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.

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.

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.

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. 

As far as I can tell, there is little live improvisation captured on record. It would be interesting to hear the band live.

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.

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 within the blues tradition, rather than implying that it isn't 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. 

Link to Mark Harrison web site

Notes. 

I listened to three albums - The World Outside (2014), Crooked Smile (2012) and Watching The Parade (2010). 

Doug MacLeod observations

Doug MacLeod is one of the few blues singer-songwriters to achieve a long and consistent career performing his own songs almost exclusively.¹ What can I learn from his work to help me be a successful blues singer-songwriter?

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.

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…

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.

OK, first I’ll talk about lyrics.

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.

He rarely uses recombined formulaic phrases from existing blues songs.² 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 and a bad side to what life gives us. And no easy answers.

Some themes that run through the albums I listened to –

• ·         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.
• ·         Life is what you make it.
• ·         The devil is involved in a lot of things that go wrong.

Some things I notice he doesn't sing about –

• ·         Having fun getting stoned or drunk. Drugs and alcohol generally have bad consequences.
• ·         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…

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.

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.

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.³  But every album has solid traditional 12-bar blues songs, played in the traditional way.

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.

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. 

He doesn't use bridges. Also, very rarely is there something you might call a chorus, though he does use a lot of refrains.⁴

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.

Footnotes.

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

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.

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.

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 

The singer, not the song? Or - is it the Blues or just a Blues?

One idea I had to promote blues songwriting in 2015 is to run a contest for a “new” blues song.

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? ¹

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.

However, I am becoming to believe that you can’t just write a blues 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.

Let’s take Call it Stormy Monday 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 music when Pat Boone sings it.² 

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.

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? Should it?  

 Notes.

1.       1. I am working on developing such criteria and finding it painfully hard. Your suggestion are most welcome!

2.       2. Pat Boone Call It Stormy Monday from I’ll See You In My Dreams / This and That (Dot 1960)

Doug MacLeod. Epitome of the Blues Singer-Songwriter

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. 

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.  

I will explore:

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?

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 singer-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.

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.  

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!

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.

What topics or themes did he sing about in the 90’s versus what concerns him today? Has his language changed?

Listening to Doug MacLeod’s music is time well spent. OK, then, let's go!. 

A review of the Blues Blast Magazine Song of the Year Nominees

Blues Blast Magazine Song of the Year Nominees

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.

There are seven songs listed for the 2014 awards, to be announced on October 23^rd in Champaign, Illinois. In my opinion, four of the seven have merit.

Another Murder in New Orleans (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.

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.

Lurrie Bell’s “Blues in my Soul” (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.

“Going To See Miss Gerri One More Time” 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) why 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.

“Meet Me in Chicago” 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!

“Fare Thee Well” 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. 

Tom Hambridge makes it onto the list of nominees a second time with a song he wrote with Robert Randolph for James Cotton - "He Was There".  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”. 

Damon Fowler is a county-tinged blues performer and “Old Fools and Barstools” 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.”

Here is a link to the Blues Blast Magazine 2014 Awards page

2015 - Year of the Blues Songwriter. 

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. 

So I'm starting a campaign, and I'm hoping you will get on board! 

What I am trying to do

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.

 Why?

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. 

 How will I achieve this?

First, 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.

Second, provide support for musicians to write better blues songs. This will include:

• ·         Educational tools: awareness of how “good” songs are made
• ·         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
• ·         An active community of blues songwriters that share their collective knowledge and skill, and celebrate good songwriting by their peers
• ·         Professional musicians are open to playing the new songs because it gives them more expressive range and their fans dig it 

Third, build momentum for a powerful wave of enthusiasm about good songwriting to surge through the blues world. Specifically, involve

• ·         Blues bloggers
• ·         International Blues Foundation and Willie Dixon Blues Heaven Foundation
• ·         Blues magazines
• ·         Radio broadcasters and podcasters who curate blues programs

Fourth, Create opportunities for young musicians to showcase their songs, and receive recognition and acclaim from their peers

 Barriers

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.

Change always generates resistance.

I may come to doubt that better songs will increase the popularity of blues music, and lose enthusiasm for the project.

How will I know if I succeeded?

By January 2016, I’ll hear blues music during drive time on commercial radio

Nigel Egg

nigel@nigelegg.com