So Ya Think the Blues Are Dead, Huh???

[AlsoRan]

they out there but get no record deals or notoriety unless they doing rock/blues, shredding, high-octane modern/contemporary. Take Tim Lerch for instance, he can and did play some very authentic Chicago jump blues and there’s plenty others in clubs that are too authentic for the masses of modern sound$

now I hope this is ok with Tim and one of my favorite Jimmy Rodgers tunes

That was very good Blues playing, indeed. I have seen Tim Lerch's Jazz videos and he is good as that as well. Thanks. Loved his lines and sweet vibrato - reminded me of Otis Rush in many ways.

[AlsoRan]

then there's the gone and great Sam Myers and Anson...now Tim, Sam and Anson that's some blues, they knew how to let it breath

Another great blues player. He lives and plays in my area. I plan to catch him one day. It is a bucket list item. Somehow, my schedules never lined up with his concert dates.

[AlsoRan]

"There is something about that gut-wrenching place that many of the original Blues greats came from, and how they pour it into each note. I am moved deeply by that type of blues as well. But, I can still appreciate musicans who play these same songs well, yet lack that depth of pain . . . " AlsoRan

Hi, A,
For the sake of a musical argument, can a listener perceive or quantify "pain" in a performance when listening in a blindfold test . . . especially if one doesn't know the performer? If so, how?
Play live . . . Marinero

So much of the reality of the artist is in the listener's perceptions, whether real or imagined - and it can be the difference between being super popular or just another good unsung good player out there.

To be honest, being from Texas I have heard so many stories about how hard things were in the US, especially after the turn of the century and into the Great Depression.

Many of the Blues artists I look up to were from that era and were on the bottom of society. There is something about that pain in their voices that is hard to replicate today by modern artists regardless of race. Plus, those guys had great voices, too, in addition to being great guitar players.

Just my thoughts.

[BFrench]

yep some really good players there...Sam and I went way back, I hung out with him quite a bit back in the early 70's, boy the stories I could tell...this one here you'd have to have been there...I took Sam to New Orleans when he had a job at Tipinias from where we were staying in Jackson Ms, On break standing outside this kid came up to Sam and said "Mr Myers I've been working on this lick you blow" so the kid pulls out a harp and blows a riff...Sam takes his harp and said "that's alright but does it go like that or like this" and proceeds to blow the *shi* out of the riff"... but like I said you'd had to have been there, it was so funny....Sam was legally blind and couldn't see nothing, I mean nothing but money and women, he saw those two things real good....oh and Sam started out as Howlin Wolf's drummer and damn what a drummer he was!

[AlsoRan]

Another great blues player. He lives and plays in my area. I plan to catch him one day. It is a bucket list item. Somehow, my schedules never lined up with his concert dates.

This video is just about perfect Blues playing when it comes to Slow Blues. How about this one performance - talk about Slow blues guitar playing and gut-wrenching singing. Probably not the best vocals but still convincing to me.

[BFrench]

oh my goodness, no offense meant but we on two different planets when it comes to the blues for I thoroughly hate that sort of shredding playing, same as about 5 seconds is all I could take of SRV and the reason I would never care to listen to what kingfish does, just ain't my thing but I've got ah plenty to listen to that is...

[John A.]

This video is just about perfect Blues playing when it comes to Slow Blues. How about this one performance - talk about Slow blues guitar playing and gut-wrenching singing. Probably not the best vocals but still convincing to me.

Funny, I like his singing more than his guitar playing (I find that tone kind of grating, and the playing itself pretty generic), but ultimately it's a matter of taste.

John

[Marinero]

"Many of the Blues artists I look up to were from that era and were on the bottom of society. There is something about that pain in their voices that is hard to replicate today by modern artists regardless of race." AlsoRan

Hi, AR,
I understand your sentiment, however, as a musician, I need to quantify things more than a person's background/race when it relates to musical performance since, today, in the case of the Blues, or Jazz, color is not a credential for performance creativity but rather talent and mastery of genre. So, once again, your opinion is based on unsupported prejudice rather than musical ability and would be difficult to prove today in my aforementioned blindfold test. I have no personal animus here but rather the need for clarity and honesty concerning musical performance and how we perceive artists. Play live . . . after Covid . . . Marinero

Check out these Blues Brothers. https://youtu.be/SeLddbrzsHk

[AlsoRan]

oh my goodness, no offense meant but we on two different planets when it comes to the blues for I thoroughly hate that sort of shredding playing, same as about 5 seconds is all I could take of SRV and the reason I would never care to listen to what kingfish does, just ain't my thing but I've got ah plenty to listen to that is...

Ha! ha!

It's alright to have your own taste! For me, I can get into Sam Myers and Anson (thanks for the great story on Sam!), I like that style the best - reminds me of Otis Rush.

I am also an 80's metal guy, so there are certain songs that they call "Blues" that can still get me going and can stir my soul in a different way. I guess this song was one of them. Gary Moore, Smokin' Joe Kubek (whom I did see live before he died) and Eric Clapton also come to mind. But, that's just my little world in a world of billions.

[AlsoRan]

"Many of the Blues artists I look up to were from that era and were on the bottom of society. There is something about that pain in their voices that is hard to replicate today by modern artists regardless of race." AlsoRan

Hi, AR,
I understand your sentiment, however, as a musician, I need to quantify things more than a person's background/race when it relates to musical performance since, today, in the case of the Blues, or Jazz, color is not a credential for performance creativity but rather talent and mastery of genre. So, once again, your opinion is based on unsupported prejudice rather than musical ability and would be difficult to prove today in my aforementioned blindfold test. I have no personal animus here but rather the need for clarity and honesty concerning musical performance and how we perceive artists. Play live . . . after Covid . . . Marinero

Check out these Blues Brothers. https://youtu.be/SeLddbrzsHk

You are correct about it being unsupported prejudice. I think taste in music is based on many personal prejudices (and I am not talking about racial prejudices only, but even prejudice on an artist style of dress or hairstyle) that people have. To support this, I would ask you to look at what people spend their money to hear. As you have so aptly indicated in some of your past threads, the music does not have to be good, it just has to be "what the people want."

So if Prince Harry, who has arguably had everything handed to him, were to sing the Blues about being in a welfare line, it would not carry the validity that Albert King would bring to the song. And if he sounded really good and played a great guitar solo, it would still ring a little hollow with many, including myself. I guess its as much about performance as it is the musicianship. Part of performance is presentation and "apparent authenticity." Fakes, as I define the term, unless they are very good, normally don't last too long.

And I will end it with a spin on your wonderful trademark declaration: "Please somebody, Play Live! (so I can go and see and hear you, once COVID is finally done)!"

[Marinero]

Or some hardcore R@B . . . . Play live . . . M

[AlsoRan]

Funny, I like his singing more than his guitar playing (I find that tone kind of grating, and the playing itself pretty generic), but ultimately it's a matter of taste.

John

A buddy of mine who loves only R&B hates distortion, including the fuzz/overdrive on Walter's guitar. That let me know how certain people's ears can find distortion annoying, where I love the way it grinds and claws at you when it is done a certain way, especially on the screaming bends.

But my buddy would agree with you. Sweet distortion, like an old Isley Brother's guitar would probably be alright to him, but nothing that is too jagged of a sine wave.