01 Mar 12
Originally posted by robbie carrobieNo matter how you cut it, white men playing blues got it from blacks. There is no dispute about that. And some of them do a really good job of it. My guitar teacher, Mike Stewart, RIP, a white guy who happened to be a genius at figuring out the old black acoustic blues licks on guitar, recorded with some great old timers, like Hi Henry Brown, who loved his playing. Nobody now white or black is going to play like Rev. Gary Davis ( I actually had a couple of lessons from that master). It is all in the individual player. Stephan Grossman, Rory Block, Roy Bookbinder, and Bob Brozman all play virtuoso guitar based and learned from the old black masters and nobody can take that away from them.
i have a theory that the blues, built around the pentatonic scale are Celtic in origin
rather than African, and thus, I think a white man should play the blues like a white
man. This is not in any way a racist or disrespectful comment, but imitation is just that,
imitation. Have you ever seen Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bell air dance to ...[text shortened]... ow it must appear to African Americans for their cultural heritage
to be mimicked in this way.
Not many black folks even want to keep the old acoustic blues going but there are a few, like Keb Mo. But Keb learned quite a bit from white guys and he has a distinctive sound.
There is a black old timey group called the Carolina Chocolate Drops who learned black blues techniques in old timey american music and have a distinct sound and are keeping up an old tradition and they learned directly from black folks around them so there are a small few trying to keep up the tradition.
As long as the old recordings are still around there will be people, black and white, who will be drawn to that music like a moth to a flame and that tradition will survive, just like folk music, which had a great time in the '60's, then died down to where it was supposed to be in the first place, still are producing new virtuoso;s in that medium.
01 Mar 12
1 edit
Originally posted by sonhouseI don't believe it, blues sprung initially at its inception from the banjo, and i have tried
No matter how you cut it, white men playing blues got it from blacks. There is no dispute about that. And some of them do a really good job of it. My guitar teacher, Mike Stewart, RIP, a white guy who happened to be a genius at figuring out the old black acoustic blues licks on guitar, recorded with some great old timers, like Hi Henry Brown, who loved his e it was supposed to be in the first place, still are producing new virtuoso;s in that medium.
to find excerpts of African music which resemble blues and the distance between them
is so great as to warrant dismissing the idea. Yes the African Americans had a
particular way of expressing their own experience, but blues is a pentatonic scale and
this fact is too much to be a coincidence. You can of course argue that initially the
songs of the cotton pickers with its beck and call stanzas was the beginning of the
blues, but instrumentally, the banjo had a greater influence than the guitar, in the beginning.
01 Mar 12
1 edit
I have a few albums of Rodrigo Y Gabriele. I haven't been anything near a musician for over 30 years so I can't really comment to their technique, but I do find them quite fun to listen to.
The Chocolate Drops as well. Really, really good and moving stuff.
I enjoy some blues that is on the verge of falling apart such as Hound Dog Taylor and Reverand Payton amongst many others.
01 Mar 12
Originally posted by robbie carrobieThe banjo has direct roots to Africa, here is a link to one player of a banjo like instrument, one string. Its more about the rhythm's anyway, the scale is just a reflection of where they were when they were kidnapped and made slaves.
I don't believe it, blues sprung initially at its inception from the banjo, and i have tried
to find excerpts of African music which resemble blues and the distance between them
is so great as to warrant dismissing the idea. Yes the African Americans had a
particular way of expressing their own experience, but blues is a pentatonic scale and ...[text shortened]... blues, but instrumentally, the banjo had a greater influence than the guitar, in the beginning.
http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=23527714&ac=now
Here is a link about the origins of blues:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_the_blues
One of the things the African Americans would do would be to string a wire on to the outside wall of a house and tighten it up and it made a one string rhythm instrument and the wall would amplify the sound and they would sing songs that way.
02 Mar 12
Originally posted by sonhousedirect roots to Africa, my man, you would be as well as stating so has a rubber band!
The banjo has direct roots to Africa, here is a link to one player of a banjo like instrument, one string. Its more about the rhythm's anyway, the scale is just a reflection of where they were when they were kidnapped and made slaves.
http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=23527714&ac=now
Here is a link about the origins of blues:
http://en.wikipe ...[text shortened]... ring rhythm instrument and the wall would amplify the sound and they would sing songs that way.
The scale is Celtic, look up any piece if famous Scots/Irish music and you will see that
this is the case. I make no apologises for it. I had a whole series or recording
documenting the apparent path that the blues took from Africa to America, i was
convinced at the time, i am now not so convinced, it appears to me to be a hybrid of
Afro-Celt, the rhythms African, the scale and instruments, Celtic. Considering that the
many of the slave owners were Irish/Scots, its not such a huge leap of faith to make.
02 Mar 12
2 edits
Originally posted by robbie carrobieNobody says blues was a purely African thing. Of course slaves in a country will pick up traits of the owners and that extends to music too. Have you ever heard of the band Solas? They are from Philly here in the US and they have gone the other way, a purely Irish band who have added African rhythms to their music so there is a definite tie between African and Celtic music.
direct roots to Africa, my man, you would be as well as stating so has a rubber band!
The scale is Celtic, look up any piece if famous Scots/Irish music and you will see that
this is the case. I make no apologises for it. I had a whole series or recording
documenting the apparent path that the blues took from Africa to America, i was
convi ...[text shortened]... that the
many of the slave owners were Irish/Scots, its not such a huge leap of faith to make.
http://www.solasmusic.com/?p=1033
Well looking at the video interview done in Portland Oregon, they may have gone more into traditional Irish modes now. They used to have big african drums and such, now I only see regular instruments like Shamus used to play when I knew him 20 years ago.
06 Apr 12
Originally posted by KeggeWhen they come off- they really get you jigging.
Watched him and Primus last Sunday in Eindhoven. Pure brilliance!
After all the bass goes right through you when you are at a big enough venue. You can feel it resonating throughout your whole body. So when Les slaps and licks his way through the tunes, he is like touching your soul, and when someone does that, they should be in time...
07 Apr 12
Originally posted by robbie carrobieThe pentatonic scale is found in Celtic music, as well as other forms of music around the world ie. Western Saharan music and Indonesian gamelan music to name a couple. I think it's a hard push to say it originated with Celtic music.
i have a theory that the blues, built around the pentatonic scale are Celtic in origin
rather than African, and thus, I think a white man should play the blues like a white
man. This is not in any way a racist or disrespectful comment, but imitation is just that,
imitation. Have you ever seen Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bell air dance to ...[text shortened]... ow it must appear to African Americans for their cultural heritage
to be mimicked in this way.
07 Apr 12
2 edits
Originally posted by Proper KnobIt forms the basis dear PK no doubt, i was unaware of these other forms, although it is
The pentatonic scale is found in Celtic music, as well as other forms of music around the world ie. Western Saharan music and Indonesian gamelan music to name a couple. I think it's a hard push to say it originated with Celtic music.
my theory that the blues which use the very same scale, although in a different way,
originated with the Scots and Irish who were plantation owners and slaves as well. The
rhythms are African, no doubt, but you listen to southern blues and its played in the
major scale as opposed to Chicago blues which is essentially in the minor form, just by
way of example.