Topic: Ungrateful bunch of __________________

[jphauser]

But the leaders of the outgoing, "friendly brigade" were Hurt and Lipscomb. They were doing nothing but enjoying every experience that came their way and so were a joy to be around.


Great to hear that two of my favorites were leaders of the friendly brigade.   One of the great things about the blues is that the average fan has a chance to meet the stars.  I'll never forget a night at my favorite club when Floyd Dixon introduced himself to me and gave me an autographed picture of himself.  He was going around introducing himself to everyone.  Obviously, he was marketing himself but he was very genuine and having a great time.  Before that night I didn't know who he was, but now I've got several of his albums and still have that picture. 
Jim

[oddenda]

The most effective and least damaging of "us" goes into the process with:

           A.) Some degree of knowledge regarding the person(s) and/or the music one is dealing with. [e.g. - having the Willie Walker on tape when Bastin and I met Baby Tate opened many doors for us];
           B.) A major degree of respect for the individual(s) one meets, not being aggressive and know-it-all;
           C.) Keeping an open mind and not being ruled by the so-called "accepted wisdom" floating about "our" community - letting things go where they may. This last is often the most difficult!

Today the process is greatly different from the '70s as there are "new" sources of information that were either non-existent when we were out and about, or banned to us as we were not family. [I tried to get my freckles to group together, but, alas...] The Wiley/Thomas piece demonstrates much of this info.

oddenda/Peter B.

[wreid75]

Thanks Peter, James, Bruce, and others.  For those of us that stumbled upon this wonderful music after almost all of these great musicians died this is the kind of insight that makes us late to the party arrivals feel even closer to these musicians.  I for one am jealous of so man of you having the experiences you have had.  Not only were you born at the right time but you took the bull by the horns and sacrificed time and money to preserve and promote music that most people didn't know they wanted.  Just realize that sometimes new comer fans might ask some unusual questions because we will never have the opportunity for your experiences, and tid bits of your experiences that might not seem significant to you might be significant to us.  It could be for good reason too.  Randy just found out by asking lots of questions about a topic many feel is wore out that Willie Brown may have died in 1943 which would make him a different Willie than Willie Lee Brown.