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).