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for all my fellow bluesmen


guitarmann199

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Posted

Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan prove that Black Men can Play Rock and White Mne can Play the Blues.

 

The Blues is meant to be shared and passed on like a folk tale or a legend. It kinda bothers me when blues conversations break down to "My Favorites Better", or "That's not ______ Enough to be the Blues", or "He wasn't Blues 'cause he played too many notes".

 

The blues is an expression of life and living through music that can be played by regular folks and virtuoso's alike. While it often utilizes a Six note scale over a simple 1-4-5 progression, it's not limited to that. It's not primarily for Acoustics, or just slow, or only Clean, or "If the drummer's using Tom Fills it aint the Blues".

 

To Me, this is all that's needed for music to be the blues.......

 

Improvisation- It has to be Improvised so the player can really tap into His/Her emotions without being distracted by written lines.

 

Your instrument - You should know enough about instrument to be able to improvise and know enough to be able to pick up on what others are playing with you. (AKA, Ripping off your peers)

 

Of course common turn arounds and hooks so you can get back on the same page with the band.

 

But most importantly, It Must Be Shared, and with each passing, It Must Grow. It cracks me up when someone says "Blues is Stagnant and Slow", and you say, "SRV and HEndrix aren't stagnant or slow, and Robert Cray is really different from anyone." They say, "They're not really the blues." #-o Deny it's growth, why don't ya?

 

If Blues never changed, it would still be played in Back water Shacks on Second Hand Honky Tonk Pianos without any one recording it. I say this because in the 20's and 30's when White Record companies were recording the likes of Petey Wheatstraw and Pinetop Perkins, Blues Purist were saying that it wasn't really the Blues 'cause they sold their soul to get money for their music. By this reasoning, the Blues died the moment it was recorded. I don't believe it.

 

When Benny Goodman plays a blues number and starts improvising over the 1-4-5 chord run, he's a Bluesman playing the Blues. When Great White turns down the lights and plays "House Of Broken Love", They're a Blues Band, even if only for one song a night. They've added to the great timeless quilt that is Blues, or all Roots Music for that matter.

 

On Topic, I love Erics Version but I'm more used to it than this Freddie Version. The Freddie Version I'm used to was a studio cut and not all that well recorded, This one kicks buns. I'm listening to it again....and again.

Posted
Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan prove that Black Men can Play Rock and White Mne can Play the Blues.

 

The Blues is meant to be shared and passed on like a folk tale or a legend. It kinda bothers me when blues conversations break down to "My Favorites Better"' date=' or "That's not ______ Enough to be the Blues", or "He wasn't Blues 'cause he played too many notes".

 

The blues is an expression of life and living through music that can be played by regular folks and virtuoso's alike. While it often utilizes a Six note scale over a simple 1-4-5 progression, it's not limited to that. It's not primarily for Acoustics, or just slow, or only Clean, or "If the drummer's using Tom Fills it aint the Blues".

 

To Me, this is all that's needed for music to be the blues.......

 

Improvisation- It has to be Improvised so the player can really tap into His/Her emotions without being distracted by written lines.

 

Your instrument - You should know enough about instrument to be able to improvise and know enough to be able to pick up on what others are playing with you. (AKA, Ripping off your peers)

 

Of course common turn arounds and hooks so you can get back on the same page with the band.

 

But most importantly, It Must Be Shared, and with each passing, It Must Grow. It cracks me up when someone says "Blues is Stagnant and Slow", and you say, "SRV and HEndrix aren't stagnant or slow, and Robert Cray is really different from anyone." They say, "They're not really the blues." #-o Deny it's growth, why don't ya?

 

If Blues never changed, it would still be played in Back water Shacks on Second Hand Honky Tonk Pianos without any one recording it. I say this because in the 20's and 30's when White Record companies were recording the likes of Petey Wheatstraw and Pinetop Perkins, Blues Purist were saying that it wasn't really the Blues 'cause they sold their soul to get money for their music. By this reasoning, the Blues died the moment it was recorded. I don't believe it.

 

When Benny Goodman plays a blues number and starts improvising over the 1-4-5 chord run, he's a Bluesman playing the Blues. When Great White turns down the lights and plays "House Of Broken Love", They're a Blues Band, even if only for one song a night. They've added to the great timeless quilt that is Blues, or all Roots Music for that matter.

 

On Topic, I love Erics Version but I'm more used to it than this Freddie Version. The Freddie Version I'm used to was a studio cut and not all that well recorded, This one kicks buns. I'm listening to it again....and again.[/quote']

#-o

Posted

i dont think so unfortunatly look for his version of little queen of spades on me and mr johnson. exelent. you can also go to a website called www.keepvid.com and download this on ur ipod. secondly i dont think race has anything to do with it. the blues are a reflection of your life its just a matter of your background E.C went through some hard times and he plays it out some of the old blues men bb king etc definatly have also (if you get a chance to see eric or BB live do it its an experience ull never forget, im going to see bb tonight again with buddy guy at the house of blues)

Posted
I think there is a difference. I can't put my finger on it but white players sound white

 

That's what I was getting at. There's a definite difference in the feel of a white blues player and black blues player. To me it always sounds like the white guy learned how to play the blues out of a textbook. I don't know, that's just an opinion based on how I feel about a wide variety of artists. I'm not saying this to be inflammatory, or racist. Just saying, for each white blues player, there's a black one that I prefer listening to on any day of the week.

Posted

What I like about Clapton is his touch and dynamics. It took me a while to appreciate that quality.

 

With Freddie King, it not all about what he plays, it's also about what he *doesn't* play. He understands the power of silence.

 

While not a legendary player like those guys, I really like Rick Holmstrom's playing a lot. Tone to die for too:

 

Posted
White guys just can't play the blues like a black man can... Hendrix vs SRV' date=' King vs Clapton... just ain't got the same soul, as they say.[/quote']

 

That's not true. SRV spanked the hell outta Jimi's Voodoo Chile IMO.

Posted
Does Clapton ever play on an album like that?

I always Get Clapton's live stuff, like his One More Car One More Rider DVD, or either Crossroads Guitar Festival. 2007 has better Clapton, but I think I like 2004's worth it for Joe Walsh and Steve Vai. John Mayalls 70th Birthday Concert has a Jam featuring Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor, plus Buddy Whitington is a BIG surprise, he rips and has a style very much his own,

Posted

Black blues players and white blues players. It all comes from, goes back to, and speaks, to the same the same thing. It doesn't matter about your skin color it's all about how the player interprets the music and the feeling they have that's making them want to express that.

 

Go back and listen to Clapton's version of Sweet Home Chicago and then Buddy Guy's version and you'll hear it how they heard it and interpreted it

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