Delving into the Blues

[greg]

I looked up Otis Rush and found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/QsXK2zL2-yM


Sounds nice, though nothing I'd go crazy for. (pay attention to how many times he does those random slides- somehow, kinda funny  ).

Really, though, I'd be surprised to find "real" blues that completely blows me away. Something that does completely blow me away is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/GEMc9FLfgLw

Sorry to put two videos in a single post, but I really want people to listen this- I completely forgot how incredible it is. The whole arc, contrast between the chill of the outer sections and crazy, angry blues intensity of the middle, and the flawless sense of melody which he almost always has...

[KevinP]

All For Business (it has vocals by Andrew Odom, who actually makes "chords" with his voice. 

Chords? Where do you hear that?

[jowcol]

Chords? Where do you hear that?

"Chords" may have been on overstatement (which is why I had the quotes) , but when he'd crack his voice, you'd perceive more than one tone.  (Sort of like the Tibetan throat singers, although not spaced so far apart).  I met someone who took an acoustics class, and said that their teacher insisted on playing Odom's vocals in the classroom since they were so distinctive.  I've heard other vocalist periodically reach the same sound (Bobby Bland on a VERY good day, Sam McClain), but none quite like Odom. 

[KevinP]

Can't say I've ever heard that, but I'll give it a listen with that in mind.

I've definitely heard Nina Simone make more than one note at a time.

[Dr. Dread]

I'll try again...

Do you listen to any acoustic blues? My favorites are all from that late '20s/early '30s era.

[karlhenning]

Well, Doc & Merle Watson are staples, by me.

[jowcol]

I'll try again...

I haven't done as much with acoustic blues-- my interest is in rhythm sections of some of the classic blues bands starting with the COBRA label in the 50s.  Not saying there isn't some very valid stuff in earlier periods- I just haven't had the urge yet to dig in deep.

Early Dinah Washington, with big bands, is a lot of fun.  She had a wonderful voice, even though it later needed to combat some very sappy backings.

[KevinP]

Dinah had questionable backings throughout her career, just that by 1961 they became the norm. Regardless, she's one of my favourite singers, though I consider her more jazz than blues. (True she was called 'Queen of the Blues,' but what female singer wasn't?)

[Leo K.]

“I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” “Trouble No More” and plenty more. But as blues music hit a sales slump in the face of American rock and roll and then the British invasion of the ’60s, Little Walter suffered badly. He became embittered, increasingly short-tempered and wound up taking too many beatings. As Mike Rowe says in his book Chicago Blues, Little Walter was out of control, “behaving like a cowboy much of the time, and would roar up to a club date in his black Cadillac with a squeal of the brakes that sent everyone rushing to the door to stare.” But heaving drinking, constant fighting and years of living life at the limits took its toll. As Waters said after his harmonic player’s death, “Little Walter was dead 10 years before he died.”

1947. A formidable harmonica player, he began to record for the Ora Nellie label, but it was crossing paths with Muddy Waters in 1949, on a Jimmy Rogers session, that changed his life. He began working with Muddy and they recorded Little Walter’s “Louisiana Blues.” Then, in July 1951, during a recording session that produced “She Moves Me,” he used an amplified harmonica for the first time. The sound was revolutionary. Waters now had the roughest loudest blues band in Chicago. But when Little Walter’s “Juke” became a hit in its own own right, he left Muddy’s band and went out on his own. He scored himself 14 Top 10 R&B hits for Chess Records’ Checker subsidiary. He took Willie Dixon’s “My Babe” all the way to #1 and continued to record with Waters, adding harp over a bad gambling debt. Muddy Waters, whose common sense and level headedness rivaled his prodigious musical talent once said, “He’s real tough, Little Walter, and he’s had it hard. Got a slug in his leg right now!” Little Walter’s face grew increasing scarred from fights and beatings in the ’60s. It wasn’t a kind decade as he saw the blues surpassed in the public consciousness by rock and roll.

Bitter and angry at the demise of his musical career, he sometimes waved a pistol onstage. Such was his temper and erratic behavior that band members would rarely stick around for more than a few shows. He spent the ’60s on a path of self-destruction, a tragedy for a musical genius whose career had stated so well. Born Marion Walter Jacobs in Louisiana in 1930, Little Walter landed in Chicago and was the greatest harmonica man to ever blow the blues. Little Walter died in his sleep on this day in 1968. He was only 37 years old, but Walter looked much older, his body and soul battered and bruised from hard loving and too many defeats. Just exactly how he died is another of rock and roll’s great mysteries. And the rumors were always going to spring up surrounding Little Walter, one of the more colorful characters in the tough world of Chicago blues. Well-known for his quick temper, Little Walter was a fighter and a brawler who took more beatings over the years then he ever delivered. Some say the final straw was a head-blow from the brother of one of Walter’s many lady friends.

[SonicMan46]

"I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man,"..................A formidable harmonica player, he began to record for the Ora Nellie label, but it was crossing paths with Muddy Waters in 1949, on a Jimmy Rogers session,....
 

Hi Leo - resurrecting a thread from the past that I even had a post! 

I love harmonica blues (can't even count the number of CDs I own & who's playing @ the moment w/o looking!) - but Marion Walter Jacobs (1930 –1968) was certainly one of the BEST!  He was a little 'beat up' later in his life than the photo shown (big scar on his forehead as I recall) - own the 2-CD set of him added above - a good introduction - Dave

[Leo K.]

Hi Leo - resurrecting a thread from the past that I even had a post! 

I love harmonica blues (can't even count the number of CDs I own & who's playing @ the moment w/o looking!) - but Marion Walter Jacobs (1930 –1968) was certainly one of the BEST!  He was a little 'beat up' later in his life than the photo shown (big scar on his forehead as I recall) - own the 2-CD set of him added above - a good introduction - Dave

Hi Dave!

The Essential set is my favorite collection (I like the look of his eyes on the cover), and lately, I've had my eye on the Complete Chess Masters, but it may be awhile, in the meantime, I'll enjoy that set on spotify.

Harmonica blues and country blues is my favorite blues