As I was saying in another item, I was talking with my father over the holidays-- we were spending time at their house-- and he was saying that he wished he could hear more blues on NPR (he really likes blues). Our area is serviced by Washington State University, I believe, and the standard programming format for music has been jazz on Saturdays and maybe Sundays, with classical fare filling the rest of the time. The days may have deviated slightly, but that's what I remember. I didn't remember that the jazz programming had covered blues in the past, but I guess there had been some local listener support for it. I told him that in Yakima, the vocational skills center (YV-TECH) had run blues programming-- I think "The Johnny Amigo" show had been one of them. Little consolation when we live in Kennewick. Internet radio is really not an option for him, I'm sure. He's a man who downloads his e-mail and will never need DSL/cable for an Internet connection. He just doesn't spend that much time on the Internet-- I don't think he even surfs the Web that much either. At best, I know his favorite blues artists are Riley B. "B.B." King and Eric Clapton (I know Clapton was more of a rocker but he seems to be gravitating more to blues roots in his mellow years, so to speak). I guess the best way to give my father "the blues" is to buy him a CD. Anyway, welcome to the blues item. From Delta River to its minglings in rhythm in what made rock 'n roll-- feel free to enter your musings, your reflections on your local scene, favorite musicians, etc.9 responses total.
I went through a blues phase about 10 years ago but haven't kept current or even delved further into the back catalog than I did at that time. During that period my favorite of the blues men I was listening to was Howlin' Wolf. I'd like to be able to claim that I really enjoy the music of Robert Johnson but I'd be lying if I said I loved his recordings. With some artists I can get past the problems caused by extremely primitive recording but in Johnson's case I never really could. His songs, however, have done extremely well in the hands of other artists. Which brings us to the thorny issue of blues covers by non-blues artists. Consider the uneven history of the Rolling Stones. Their cover of Johnson's "Love in Vain" is both one of my favorite Stones tracks and one of my favorite Robert Johnson covers, and they clearly have a deep admiration for, and debt to, a long list of blues artists. But at some level it's still embarrassing to hear them do a song like "King Bee" and listen to Mick promise to go "buzz awhile" -- it's just so awkward and calculated in a way that the blues shouldn't be that you start wondering whether there ought to be some unwritten law forbidding four white English teenagers from pretending they're black American bluesmen. And if the Stones, with all their talent and their deep love for the material, can't pull it off without seeming calculated and awkward, how much worse are the blues-wannabee efforts of lesser bands? There's a cringe-inducing scene in the movie "Ghost World" where two characters, Enid and Seymour, go to see one of Seymour's favorite classic blues performers at a club, only to find he's opening for an awful act called "Blueshammer" and that everybody else in the audience is there to see Blueshammer. There's a ton of good blues coming out these days if you know where to look but I still get that "Blueshammer" cringe when I listen to a lot of what passes for blues these days.
if you want something that will creep you out i'd go with "all night long" by junior kimbrough (rip)
Re #1: I remember that scene from "Ghost World" well, especially when the Steve Buscemi character drops the names of Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb to the uncomprehending female Blueshammer fan.
I think you would, as those would be rag artists :)
Of course. "Ghost World" may well be the first commercial fiction film ever to mention the name of Joseph Lamb.
I'm curious if the comic book upon which it was based did so too.
Having read other work by Daniel Clowes, I would rate that as highly likely.
The film version of "Ghost World" was an extensive rewrite (by Clowes and the director, Terry Zwigoff) of the comic book. There was no mention of Joe Lamb. The character played by Steve Buscemi barely appeared in the original; the movie's art class subplot was new too. Good as the movie is, I prefer the comic book; it's one of the better novels I've read in recent years (and I'm uncomfortable using "comic book" to classify it; "graphic novel" is a better description). Director Zwigoff seems to be big on music; I've heard that the record collector played by Buscemi was his idea. Zwigoff's first film, the documentary "Crumb", featured Joseph Lamb's beautiful "Ragtime Nightingale" prominently on the soundtrack. (Although, oddly, the film didn't mention Robert Crumb's musical career or his "Cheap Suit Serenaders" old-time music group, CD's of which are available and highly recommended.) Zwigoff's latest, "Bad Santa", has a lush and varied musical score as well.
*shrug* I always understood graphic novel to refer to the compilation book that is often released after the series publications. But that's a nitpicky thing.
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