Topic: Country blues legends that you just don't like

[LoneWolf]

I have to say that Buddy Boy Hawkins' music never did much to me. He's probably my least favorite.

What about you guys?

[Prof Scratchy]

BBH is one of my all time absolute favourites!!! Beware or I'll send the boyz round!

[Blue in VT]

funny...I was just thinking about this...

I know he's post-war....but I just have a hard time getting into Lightnin' Hopkins....this is odd cause I love other Texas Bluesmen...but Lightnin' just doesn't do it for me..

Also I Love Blind Blakes music...but can't stand to listen to the horrible recording of him....I know...I need help but....what can you do...

Blue

[outfidel]

I love Buddy Boy's "Voice Throwin' Blues" -- it's like having Clarence "Frogman" Henry sing "Hesitation Blues"

[Prof Scratchy]

I love Lightnin' too (though in the sixties I used to think that he and John Lee Hooker and T Bone Walker were all over-recorded)! Now, someone I have difficulty enjoying is Frankie Half Pint Jaxon. And in terms of output overall, I tend not to go too much for the smutty end of lyrics. Unless they're clever-smutty, subtle-smutty, or have a wicked guitar part behind them!

[waxwing]

I'll go out on a limb here and say I just don't really enjoy listening to much of Reverand Gary Davis' material. Sure, it's fantastically impressive playing (and hats off to those who can play it), but he pretty much slogs away at high speed and high volume and I tire quickly without a little more emotional variation. Okeh, it's religeous music and not blues, but I guess I can only take so much of that.

I love BBH, now that I've finally got his CD.

All for now.
John C.

[dj]

A couple of years ago, I would have said "Bo Carter and almost everyone from Texas".  Then I found the Weenie Juke and actually listened to more than one song by Carter and found out he was much better than I'd thought.  And I listened to Blind Lemon, Ramblin' Thomas, and Leadbelly mixed in with the other singers on the Juke and began to get an appreciation for what they did.  I used to agree with Reverend Davis' assessment of Lemon - that he was just "bellowing" (talk about the pot accusing the kettle!) - but now I appreciate what Lemon was doing with his voice.  I guess Lightnin' Hopkins is pretty much my final frontier, as I still can only take him in small doses.  But if the Weenie Juke survives the current copyright royalty threat, I'm sure I'll eventually come to appreciate Lightnin', too.       

[Slack]

I'm with you DJ, it is kind of a silly premise as my musical tastes are always changing - wasn't too thrilled about Bo Carter initially, but now of course love him.

[tommersl]

Budy Boy is great! Stuff like Number Three Blues and etc it can't get much better. Blind Boy Fuller sometimes bores me, though, some of his stuff is a killer to me.

[Alexei McDonald]

There's an awful lot of not very good Big Bill Broonzy recordings out there, it has to be said, especially from the Bluebird years.   And listening to an entire CD of Peetie Wheatstraw is only for the strong.

[Parlor Picker]

Let's face it, listening to a whole album of lots of CB artists can be hard work, especially if you don't happen to be in the right mood at the time.  Recording quality doesn't help in some cases - Patton for example.  I could listen to Blake all night, because of the variety in his playing and pleasant voice.

Like Blue, I see the attraction of Lightnin' Hopkins, but have to confess he doesn't do it for me personally and (somewhat surprisingly) I don't have any of his records in my collection.

I've got loads of Rev. Davis' stuff, but again you have to be in the mood for that voice damaged by years of singing on the streets.

Another thought is that the record companies probably insisted many blues artists record more of what sold well, i.e. similar to their last "hit", yet when playing live they tackled different styles, both blues and others.  Sometimes an "outsider" would slip in, e.g. Robert Johnson's "Hot Tamales".

[jostber]

I'll go out on a limb here and say I just don't really enjoy listening to much of Reverand Gary Davis' material. Sure, it's fantastically impressive playing (and hats off to those who can play it), but he pretty much slogs away at high speed and high volume and I tire quickly without a little more emotional variation. Okeh, it's religeous music and not blues, but I guess I can only take so much of that.

I love BBH, now that I've finally got his CD.

All for now.
John C.

Then you should check out this recording by Gary Davis, f.ex. the song "There Was a Time When I Was Blind", or "Oh Lord, Search My Heart".

http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Blues-Street-Songs-Anderson/dp/B000000XXP/ref=sr_1_24/102-7708198-2811344?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1177580823&sr=1-24

[Great Bear]

For me Rev. Gary Davis was a fantastic guitar player and songwriter (although I much prefer Blake & Fuller), however at times his vocals brings to mind a certain saying about a dying cat.

[Parlor Picker]

I seem to remember a story about Rev. Davis commenting that Blind Lemon J. sounded as if "... someone was whupping him all the time".

Whilst Davis' voice suffered a bit in later years, I heartily agree with the comment above about "There Was a Time When I Was Blind" - absolutely beautiful and no mistake.  Ditto the recording of "My Heart is Fixed" on the 77 LP "Pure Religion and Bad Company".

[outfidel]

"I remember one time I asked him about Blind Lemon Jefferson. Well Lemon was a little older than Gary but they were sort of contemporaries...I thought and still do think that Lemon was a very good guitarist. Gary disagreed (laughter). Gary started to play a very accurate pastiche of Lemon's Black Snake Moan, and Gary just opened his mouth and let out with this incredible blood curdling scream, and then he stops and says, 'Man, he couldn't have sung no louder if someone was cutting his throat.' "

Dave Van Ronk on Rev Gary Davis
as quoted in Robert Tilling's Oh, What A Beautiful City, p 29