I have great respect for Corey Harris and I enjoy his music very much, but I would like to sit down and discuss this issue with him.
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All right boys, say, play that piano loud and bring me some more of that catjuice up there - Peg Leg Howell, "Chittlin' Supper"
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. I have great respect for Corey Harris and I enjoy his music very much, but I would like to sit down and discuss this issue with him.
No matter how you package it it's the same kind of discussion that creates negative controversy. Take away the perceived labels there is no me and them.
In the end it is people playing other peoples music. sustaireblues
I think it basically falls into the category of "taking yourself to seriously".
I mean, life is tough. The blues helps you get through. It did then, it does now. I don't have the life experiences/history of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, or Dave Van Ronk either, even though we're all white. But there music, like the blues, helps me get through and makes my life a little sweeter in the process. So I use it..... It has come to my attention that there aren't a helluva lot of black people who can play 'the blues', whatever that is, anymore either. The whole discussion is absurd and at the same time unfathomable and uncomfortable since nobody has actually understood or explained (to my satisfaction, anyway) why such tectonic shifts in music occur. I believe Corey Harris is likely struggling to understand it, as are we all. His conclusion is his own but doesn't warrant much discussion since he has no answers.
To put it another way, he should be glad. Most tectonic shifts completely wipe-out all active participation in whatever musical genre other than by a few die hards. Oh wait, I guess that's what we are around here, black or white. Good for us. So his point is... what, exactly? And who really cares what he thinks? Not me. Suzy T
Kinda silly and a bit pathetic, really. You might just as well argue that Jessye Norman shouldn't sing opera. Corey is a fine musician but I have never really been able to connect with him despite having been around him when he was the Artistic Director of Blues at Centrum. I thought maybe it was my gender but I can see now it's cause I'm white.
I don't buy his argument, because I know plenty of musicians who play the music of their ethnicity who are thrilled and encouraging when outsiders want to learn more about it and especially when they play it well. "Blooz" is a derogatory term, applied to loud, bar bands. If you've ever seen the movie "Ghost World" there is a scene with a group of young, frat boy types, who have a band called "Blues Hammer". That's a pretty good example of "blooz" It's hard to imagine that anybody would put Stevie Ray in that category, or, be dissing Stevie Ray in any way, but there are some folks who just don't like electric Take any music filled with craft, sensitivity and attention to detail and replace it with bombast and you have 'blooz'.
Electricity is just fine. Even Stevie is just fine for what he does, but using him in the context of this 'discussion' is doing him and blues a disservice. I have no real opinion on SRV - except to say that taking what he does as blues generally ends up missing the point in what he does and in what blues is about.... maybe I've been on the internet for too long, but I've seen it happen over and over and OVER again. yawn. big joe weems
Hi Frankie,
If you would, I would love to hear your thoughts on "what blues is about" and why you would not call what SRV did "blues generally." Thanks, Joe P.S. Your performance of the Greyhound Bus tune was amazing! and before anybody gives in to some deep-seated need to defend SRV (as if he EVER needed it) or to point out more exciting examples of white people singing blues - let me just point out that doing so is buying into Harris's whole argument, to the extent he can be interpreted as even HAVING one.
My point is that this is an empty, specious example of using an incendiary assertion to draw attention to oneself. If you would, I would love to hear your thoughts on "what blues is about" and why you would not call what SRV did "blues generally." Maybe I'll try to put it together sometime, but I'd rather not draw any more attention to this topic. P.S. Your performance of the Greyhound Bus tune was amazing! Thanks - I get lucky sometimes! I enjoy both acoustic and electric blues. One of my favorite albums is the first Paul Butterfield Blues Band record (1965). Michael Bloomfield played guitar on that and was totally accepted in the black music scene. Waters, Spann, Sunnyland, BB King, he was like a son to them.
I hate these "Can White People Play the Blues?" discussions. John Lee hooker was asked about this once and reportedly said something like "if I close my eyes I don't see no colors".
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