Topic: If you could ask any dead Blues player two questions?

[Mr.OMuck]

One question could be strictly musical, like to see a particular riff. The other would have to occupy the philosophic, metaphysical, historical or general life experience category. Who would you choose, and what would your questions be? Silly, I know, in the same category as choosing five historical figures for a dinner party*, but interesting nonetheless.

My all too obvious choice would be Big Bill Broonzy. I would want to learn that fabulous intro doodling thing he often played in between songs with that wonderful series of slides. Like a miniature distillation of all his playing.
I'd ask him to talk to me about what things outside the content of his songs were of most interest to him. News, politics, race, science, sports?

If he was booked I'd go with Blind Willie Johnson.


* An Australopithicus, A Homo Erectus, A Neanderthal, Michelangelo, Homer.
Runners up:
Einstein, Newton, Blind Willie Johnson, Sophia Loren at 23, Van Gogh . I imagine the conversations would be rather stilted in both scenarios...but there you go.

[Blues Vintage]

I would ask Ike Zimmerman;

1. What did you taught Robert Johnson?
2. what's you favorite barbecue sauce?

[dj]

That's an easy one.  I'd ask anyone and everyone:

1. Play me every song you know.  (A simple way of saying "What's your repertoire when it's not filtered by the commercial concerns of record companies?")

2. Tell me about your life, starting with where and when you were born and ending right now.

 

[eric]

What else did you play?

I would bet good money these guys had a much broader repertoire than is apparent from their recordings, including plenty of non-blues stuff.

[btasoundsradio]

i just really want to bum a smoke off charlie patton and then go about my way

[Stuart]

I'd ask Charley to tell me the lyrics to "Down the Dirt Road."

Then I'd ask Blind Blake if someone ever told him what "Diddie Wa Diddie" means.

[eric]

i just really want to bum a smoke off charlie patton and then go about my way

I'd take it a step further.  Why not meet Charley and Son House in a juke joint and narrowly escape a shootout?

[Mike Brosnan]

Well, dj pretty much summed it up.  
Charley Patton would be the one if I had to choose.  I'd ask him to teach me his favorite song (unless he'd be willing to teach his entire repertoire).  
And as long as we're indulging in fantasy...  I'd like to update him on the music he's missed out on since he died.  I'd like to play him samples of everything from early Chicago Blues to Hip Hop to Emo.  I'd love to see his response.  Then (for giggles and poops), I'd ask him to make a public statement regarding the state of modern music (to be published in Rolling Stone).  
If the second part's still too musical, I'd just ask him to have a beer with me and let him speak his mind.

[onewent]

Good ones so far..

I'd ask McTell is it 'snake lemon and tap it flat' or what?

I'd ask Robert 'is that you in the photo?'

[Doc Brainerd]

To Blind Blake: "If you're blind, how'd you sign that photo of yourself?"
Oh, and "whatever happened to you after about '32?"

[hortig78rpm]

I would ask montana taylor and andy boy, to where they had drifted after they `d
recorded

regards
mike

[LD50]

I'd ask Willie Brown who 'Kid Bailey' was. Then I'd ask Ed Bell what 'mamlish' meant.

As for Blind Blake, I suspect what happened was he finally found out what 'diddy wa diddy' meant, and immediately died.

[LD50]

To Blind Lemon: "you didn't really work as a wrestler, did you? And why did they draw in your tie?"

[doctorpep]

I'd ask Robert Johnson if he'd be interested in going to Cleveland with me in order to see upper middle class, white, and mostly Jewish men speak about how menacing his music is.

Then I'd see if Luke Jordan's girlfriend/wife, Cora, needs to go to the doctor to get that bad case of the sniffles checked out.

In all seriousness, I'd ask Willie Walker and "Funny Papa" Smith to play for me and tell me about their lives. My second question would be directed to Richard "Rabbit" Brown: "Can you tell tell me about life in New Orleans in the 1800s and around the turn of the century? I want to hear some crazy stories!"

[eagle rockin daddy]

I would ask Memphis Minnie if she would like to fool around......

Mike