One Summer Day

For me, Cream’s version of I’m Sitting On Top Of The World was that moment when I said, "Yeah, alright.  I get it.  The Blues."

Cream gave me Muddy, and Hooker, Robert Johnson, and B.B., and Son House, and Keb’ Mo’, and Bonnie Raitt.

Mission Impossible

Udiscovermusic doesn’t apologize for giving you an alphabetical – instead of a ranked – listing of The 100 Greatest Blues Albums, saying that would be nigh on impossible, and I don’t blame them.

I don’t pretend to be on intimate terms with every album or artist on the list, but I’ve heard enough of them to believe everyone that should be there is there.  And I sure wouldn’t want to rank ‘em.

The inclusion of so many white folks – especially from the wrong side of the Atlantic Ocean – may rankle a few blues purists, but not me.  In terms of respect for the music, not to mention influence, they belong.

But My Mother Didn’t Know

Guitar duos are still the thing, man.  Ain’t nothing better than to listen to two cats play off one another:  John and George, Hammett and Hetfield, Allman and Betts, Trucks and Haynes, Ronnie and Keef, Jimmy Page and himself …

But go way back to 1959, and have a listen to John Lee Hooker and (I think*) Eddie Taylor jam their way through I’m In The Mood.

Fantastic.

* I know there are multiple versions of this track.  They’re all terrific, but hopefully I’m referencing the right one.

So Many Roads

With apologies to the purists, here are the songs that helped me figure out that  The Blues was the thing:

·      Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

·      Led Zeppelin – When The Levee Breaks

·      The Doors – Riders On The Storm

·      Canned Heat – On The Road Again

·      Cream – Crossroads

·      Led Zeppelin – Since I’ve Been Loving You

·      Elvis Presley – Heartbreak Hotel

·      Johnny Winter – Highway 61 Revisited

·      The Beatles – Come Together

·      Creedence Clearwater Revival – Suzie-Q

Yeah, I know – but we all get there by different roads.  For me, Main Street was called Beatles Avenue.  Take a right at Rock & Roll Drive, left on Psychedelic Boulevard, left again at Hard Rock Road, slip down a back alley and you find this cool juke joint where they’re all playing:  B.B., Muddy, Sonny Boy, Howlin’’ Wolf, Hooker …  all of ‘em.

Does the road matter if we reach the destination?

The Bad, The Ugly & The Good

When you’re listening to a song and it comes to the guitar solo, do you ever think to yourself, “Boy!  What a bad guitar solo, but it’s good.  I like it?” 

I’m not talkin’ about uninspired or lame.  I’m talkin’ awful, as in, “What’s he doin’?”

For me, a prime example would be Eight Miles High by the Byrds.  Every time I hear it, my initial reaction is, “Sheesh!  That’s the worst good guitar solo ever.”  But by the end of the solo, I’m thinking, “I dig it.  It really fits.”  Which is the ultimate compliment for a guitar solo.

Neil Young’s also excels at being not so good in a compellingly good sort of way.  As does Robby Krieger of the Doors, Dave Davies, John Lee Hooker, and a cat named John Lennon.

It’s a taste thing, of course.  But it’s interesting how we can embrace music that falls short of our personal standard of what constitutes “good.”  One more of the many mysteries of music.

The Power of Two

Rolling Stone’s Readers’ Poll on The 10 Greatest Duets of All Time definitely reminds us that magic can happen when two great musical forces are combined.  With the exception of Sonny and Cher - and (sort of) Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - most of the recordings listed were one-offs, which only adds to their appeal. 

Personally, I’m kinda partial to Bowie’s duet with Bing Crosby on The Little Drummer Boy, but I get why it’s not on the list.  A lot of Blues greats have done the duet thing too:  Hooker, Buddy Guy, B.B., Clapton.  Lots of magic on those records.

Anyway, you gotta dig it when great artists who respect each other collaborate.  You can almost feel their joy.

From These Failing Hands

You can’t develop a style without studying someone who came before, says Gibson’s 10 Guitar Greats and Their Influences.  Truth.

Surprising revelations, though.  OK, so Zakk Wylde digs Randy Rhoads, and Joe Bonanassa adores Paul Kossoff, and – duh – Derek Trucks was influenced by Duane Allman.  And Clapton and Beck get mentioned more than once.

But Slash was influenced by Cat Stevens and Cheap Trick?  Trucks was into Coltrane?  Townshend thinks he sounds like John Lee Hooker?  Frampton practiced Shadows tunes?  Holy b string.

What surprises me, though, is that not many of these guys seem to go back very far.  Most of the influences were immediate, the stuff heard when they were growing up.  One reference each to Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins and Jimmy Burton.  Only Hooker and Elmore James mentioned from the 50’s Blues greats.

No T-Bone Walker, no Freddie King?  no BB?  no Lightning Hopkins, Son House or Robert Johnson?  No Chuck Berry?  Are you kidding? 

Frampton mentions Django Reinhardt, but no one seems to be digging into the past to learn where their heroes learned their stuff.  That is indeed curious.  I mean, how do you study your idol and try to understand what they’re doing without studying what they were trying to understand?

It’s a short article so maybe lots got edited out.  I hope so, ‘cause it feels like we’re loosing our connections with the past, and that would not be a good thing.  Music has changed rapidly over the last half century, and most of it has been exciting and positive.  But it was also built on a solid foundation that goes back countless generations.

If we lose that the thrill will be gone.

Let’s Work Together

Today is Robert Ernest Hite’s 70^th birthday – at least it would have been if he hadn’t died of a heart attack in 1981.

And who was Robert Ernest Hite, you ask?  He was aka Bob The Bear Hite, one of the singers and guitarists in Canned Heat, a truly great boogie rock blues band from the late 60’s.  Oh, and he played flute on Going Up the Country, the unofficial anthem of Woodstock, where they also played.  And some harmonica.

This is the band that gave us On the Road Again, the trippiest blues song ever.  But it was their cover of Wilbert Harrison’s Let’s Work Together (originally Let’s Stick Together) I love best.  Straight ahead blues rock and a sentiment that pretty much summed up the way most folks felt at the time.

I mean, why not work together?  ‘Cause:

            Together we will stand and divided we’ll fall

            Come on now people let’s get on the ball

            And work together, come on, come on let’s work together

Maybe it’s good that Bob The Bear died at the tender age of 38.  He’d be pretty sad with the state of things today.

Happy birthday, Bob.  I’m sticking with you.

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me

With a nod to the great/ongoing recession, Gibson has a list of 10 Songs For Hard Times.

Here's the list:
Patches, by Clarence Carter
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, by Derek and the Dominos
Coal Miner's Daughter, by Loretta Lynn
Busted, by Ray Charles
Inner City Blues, by Marvin Gaye
Aqualung, by Jethro Tull
Kill The Poor, by The Dead Kennedys
Waitin' on a Train, by Jimmie Rodgers
No Woman, No Cry, by Bob Marley
Why I Sing The Blues, by B.B. King

Lotta time, ground and genres covered by this list.  In fact, not sure many of these tunes live up to the genre in the title "Poor Man's Blues: 10 Songs For Hard Times."

A little curious about Aqualung, 'cause frankly I never saw him as a sympathetic character.  Surprised not to see anything by the likes of Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger.  I might have added:
Hobo's Lullaby, Woody or Arlo Gurthrie's versions
Match Box Blues, anyone's version, including (especially?) Ringo's
House Rent Boogie, by John Lee Hooker
Soon As I Get Paid or Crapped Out Again, by Keb Mo

What's surprising, really, is that there aren't a lot more current songs out there.  I'm pretty sure people are suffering, and they appear to be more than a little ticked off.

Where's the musical expression, people?

Silent Thunder

I was listening to National Steel by Colin James the other night and a remarkable think happened: I got totally caught up in the driving beat. Foot tapping, knee bouncing, head bobbing ...

Not so unusual for a good song with a driving beat? Here's the thing: it happened without drums! It's an acoustic number. The drums enter late and build slowly - way after I'd been swept into the song. The guitar is mostly off the beat, in a Hooker boogie sort of way.

So what's going on? My brain, my something, decided the beat was there even though it wasn't. I supplied it in my head. And it was powerful.

How does that work? Cultural conditioning? Memory? Association? Emotion?

Did Colin James intend me to react that way or did I do it myself?

I don't have the scientific knowledge to understand what part(s) of my brain or what triggers in my electro-chemical system were in play. All I know is that I was hearing - no, feeling - something that wasn't there.

But it was, and that's magic.

Rolling Stone Top 100 Singers

Rolling Stone has all these lists, including The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Like most of these things, the list feels way too U.S. centric.  That said, it's mostly OK, I guess.

Here's the Top 25:
 1. Aretha Franklin.  Hard to argue.
 2. Ray Charles.  OK.
 3. Elvis.  Hmmm  ...   not number 1?
 4. Sam Cooke.  As expected.
 5. John Lennon.  Nope.  #1.
 6. Marvin Gaye.  I guess so.
 7. Dylan.  Interesting he made the Top 10.  Make that shocking.  I'm happy and all, but ...
 8. Otis Redding.  Fine, whatever.
 9. Stevie Wonder.  Sheesh.
10. James Brown.  Sigh.
11. Paul McCartney.  A spot out of the Top 10 is just not right.
12. Little Richard.  Sure.
13. Roy Orbison.  Absolutely.
14. Al Green.  Yes.
15. Robert Plant.  About right.
16. Mick Jagger.  About wrong.  Much higher.
17. Tina Turner.  Not surprised.
18. Freddie Mercury.  Surprised he made it this high, but he should be higher.
19. Bob Marley.  Thank you.
20. Smokey Robinson.  Swap with Marvin or Otis, please.
21. Johnny Cash.  You bet.
22. Etta James.  And give either Marvin's or Otis's position to Etta.
23. David Bowie.  Nice.
24. Van Morrison.  A relief.
25. Michael Jackson. Well, it's Michael Jackson, right?

Some other notables (well, OK, beefs):
31. Howlin' Wolf.  Glad he made the Top 100, but ...
36. Bruce Springsteen.  Should be way higher.
38. Elton John.  I'm grateful - really - that he didn't land higher, but ...
50. Bonnie Raitt.  Always under-rated.  Not fair.
61. Roger Daltrey.  Not bothered either way, but surprised he wasn't higher.
72. John Fogerty.  Not high enough, especially given his impact.
74. James Taylor.  No way.  Definitely Top 10.
81. John Lee Hooker.  Best blues voice ever.  Higher, please.  Much higher.
93. Annie Lennox.  Shockingly low.
96. B.B. King.  Maybe take back what I said about Hooker?

On balance, the classic Soul singers beat out the rockers, and the Americans beat out the Brits.  Not surprised, I guess, but ...

The Endless Groove

People tend to associate the groove with American R&B, but endless groove are everywhere.

You've got your Irish groove (U2, Bad), your American groove (John Lee Hooker, Boogie Chillun),  your Jamaican groove (Bob Marley, Get Up Stand Up), your English groove (The Cult, She Sells Sanctuary), your Guyanese groove (Eddy Grant, Electric Avenue), and your good old Canadian groove (April Wine, Say Hello).

You've got your classic soul groove (Aretha Franklin, Chain of Fools), your 80's New Wave R&B groove (The Fixx, One Thing Leads To Another), your low-down moanin' blues groove (John Lee Hooker, Tupelo), and your psychedelic boogie groove (Canned Heat, On The Road Again).

You've got your electrofunk groove (Marrs, Pump Up The Volume), your reggae groove (Bob Marley, Stir It Up), your folk groove (Donovan, Riki Tiki Tavi), your dance groove (k-os, Crabbukit), and your I-am-all-genres-at-once groove (Lenny Kravitz, Fly Away).

You wouldn't call Bob Dylan or Jimi Hendrix R&B guys, but they did it (All Along The Watchtower). Ditto Steve Miller (Wintertime), Bruce Cockburn (If A Tree Falls), and Collective Soul (December).

Maybe black people "own" the groove, 'cause they do dominate the list.  But white boys can definitely hold their own (Eric Burden, Spill The Wine; Van Morrison, Gloria; George Thorogood, Bad To The Bone; Warren Zevon, Werewolves Of London).

The groove is elemental.  It knows no boundaries.  It unites us all.

Groove on, people.

Favourite Songwriters

The recent post about seeing Paul McCartney live naturally got me thinking about "bests".

So here's a best songwriters list:

To begin, Lennon and McCartney must be split up.  They're too good - and did too much stuff on their own - to be put together.  Oh, and they didn't collaborate as much as we thought at the time.  But mainly, the sheer volume of masterpieces says not only should they be on top, but they must be 1-2.  So ...

1) John Lennon.  An arbitrary choice.  Sorry, Paul.

2) Paul McCartney.  Silly love songs aside, Paul was - and is - a genius who has blessed us with countless thrills, memories and emotions over five decades.  In a class of his own.  No one else comes close.  Except  ...  well, sorry, Paul.

3)  George Harrison.  Not in the same class as his band mates, and a ranking most people will disagree with, but I can't place him any lower on the list.  I just can't.

4) Tom Petty.  Petty has held true to the mid-sixties vibe that The Beatles and The Stones defined.  He gets it.  He has absorbed all the elements, and knows how to serve up the perfect mix of heart-on-your-sleeve-emotion, humour and attitude.  And he's consistent, year after year, decade after decade.

5) Eric Clapton.  Clapton may have started out as a guitar god, but his voice and songwriting eventually caught up.  It's not just Layla.  Clapton has written a formidable number of great songs, and has been consistently fearless in expressing his emotions, transferring them to his audience.

6) Jagger/Richards.  Many would put them number one.  On sheer volume alone, they have a good case.  Ditto influence.  But this is a personal list, and I have to get the other five out of the way first.

7) Page/Plant.  Yes, I know Bonham and Jones were also credited on many of the songs ...   Again, from a volume and influence standpoint, these guys have to be up there.  I always had the feeling that Plant was just making up the words as they were recording, but the words never really mattered, did they?  What mattered was the thunderous and soaring competition between Page's riffs and Plant's voice.

8) John Lee Hooker.  I need at least one classical blues guy here, and ol' Johnny wins handily.  To me, he just told the best, most emotive stories.  That mournful voice helped a bit, too.

9) James Taylor.  Speaking of voices ...   His songs just make me feel.  Mostly good, sometimes sad.  Sometimes both at the same time, and sometimes some things else.  He makes me feel.

10) Bob Dylan.  I'm sure Dylan is number one for a lot of people, and I couldn't argue.  His influence is so pervasive it can't be measured.  And so many great songs.  I do wish they were all a verse or two shorter, though.

Anyway, that's my list.  I know that when I'm working on a song, one or more of the above is influencing what comes out.

Favourite Albums - Part 2

Here's the rest of the list:

Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?  Easy and tough at the same time.

John Lee Hooker - The Best of Friends.  See B.B. King.

The Kinks - Misfits.  Another tough call.

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti.  I can explain: it has one of everything.  OK then, Led Zeppelin I.

Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams.  No, it's not the cover.  Really.

Metallica - Metallica.  Nothing else matters.

Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps.  Sorry Goldrush fans.  Anyway, you didn't expect Trans, did you?

Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory.  Or any other one.

The Police - yes.

Queen - Flash Gordon.  Just kidding.

Rod Stewart - Every Picture tells A Story.  I wish he'd stopped there.

The Rolling Stones - who knows?  Not Satanic Majesty, anyway.

Steve Miller - Fly Like An Eagle.  Not as easy as I thought.

The Tea Party - Splendor Solis.  Another tough one.

Tom Petty - impossible.

Tragically Hip - Road Apples.  'Little Bones' carries that one.

ZZ Top - Tres Hombres.  Natch.

Anyone else?  Guess it's Greatest Hits.

About The Blues - Part 2

What's amazing about The Blues is the endless variety it seems capable of spawning.  

It may be ironic to some, but I believe that variety is a direct result of the highly structured nature of the music.

Sure, all music has structure.  And yes, Blues is more than the near-ubiquitous I-IV-I-V-IV-I chord progression.  But it does have rigid structures, and afficianados are pretty strict about what they will - and will not - accept as authentic Blues.

With all these constraints, Blues artists have to try harder to sound new and fresh, to surprise and amuse.  Harmonies, melodies, rhythms, instrumentation, fusions with other genres  ...  Blues musicians are constantly working out how to stay true yet sound new at the same time.

The result of this challenge is that The Blues clicks on all levels.  We respond emotionally to the mood and the lyrics.  We respond physically to the groove and the rhythms.

And we respond intellectually to the stay-true-sound-new challenge.  How did Eric Clapton make that cliched turnaround sound new?  How did Stevie Ray Vaughan get from that note to that note?  How did Jimi Hendrix come up with those notes?  Did John Lee Hooker just add an extra beat there?

The Blues is the perfect blend of the satisfied "oh, ya!" and the astonished "oh, wow!"

About The Blues

John Lennon famously said "before Elvis there was nothing."  But as far as I was concerned before John Lennon there was nothing.  For a long time anyway.

When Muddy Waters sang "the blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll," to me, that was just some old guy trying to stay relevant.  For years, I just didn't get it.  I got that Cream and Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull were doing all these great blues covers, but all I was hearing was Cream and Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull.  To me they were just covers.  Even when my idols brought their idols Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf over to London to record, I didn't get it. I thought they were just being nice to these old guys.

Years later, I finally went back and started to listen.  And I got it.

What's not to get?  A hypnotizing groove, raw sexual energy, guitar virtuousity, betrayal, heartbreak, injustice, standing alone against the world.  How had I missed all that?  Wow!

Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, John Lee Hooker, BB King  ...  they may not have shaped my world as directly as Lennon, McCartney, Clapton or Page, but in the end their influence was even bigger.  First they influenced me indirectly through my idols.  Then they touched me directly.

And it turns out there was plenty before Lennon, plenty before Elvis.  It just keeps going back:  Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson, Son House, Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson ...  there is no beginning.

Hopefully there will be no end.