Re: Lee Oskars?

[haandruss@xxxxxxx (Harvey A. Andruss, III)]

At  7:24 AM 10/17/94 -0700, Barry Schaede wrote:
>Mr. Branch had some interesting things to
>say about white people playing the blues.  He claimed that if he moved to
>Russia and starting playing Russian folk music he'd never be the best at
>it because it isn't his music.  Not his culture.  He wouldn't have grown
>up steeped in it.  A few people left after he said this.  The audience
>was all white.  An intersting phenomena if you ask me.  Billy also railed
>against the racist practices of the music industry.  He mentioned the
>success of SRV in particular as a good example of this kind of
>unfairness.  Albert King gets next to nothing while SRV flies around in
>helicopters.  The Elvis pPresley syndrome is what he called it.  FJM

Billy should have talked to Muddy a little more, or maybe he should get a
lickin' from John Lee, Buddy and Junior or BB (legitmate blues
practitioners who did/do a lot with folks of other races and consider some
of them to be their peers).   Although this *was* true, as we all know, if
you look at the charts today, no one can say that African Americans are not
adequately represented. When it comes to more the older traditional forms,
old attitudes are hard to shed, but the victimization that was valid
before, gets a pretty shakey in the 90s. Also, it is well known that
non-black blues bands were/are hard to book in many parts of the world
because of this very stigma.

I say he's a whining to the very audience that buys his records (the
interesting phenomenon has been true for a while now -- 99.99% white
attendance at American blues shows and CD buyers).  I can understand the
position -- you and I will never be the same, but I think a more gracious
position of "you listen to my blues, I'll listen to yours" on equal footing
is more appropriate.  The other interesting generalizable fact is that most
young black people are not into the traditional music of blues, so which
types of people have the right to play which types of music?  Those that
listen to it or those that by and large reject it?  I would bet that most
of us on this list would love to see a hit single by one of these old
timers or the newer blue bloods from Chicago, or a young black blues-based
artist from anywhere else for that matter, but to succeed you have to have
the whole package, not just the chops or the voice, but the songs, the
stage presence and the image (looks help :) -- and of course luck (timing).
If you're missing any of them, it ain't going to happen, and  race isn't
in the equation anymore. Tribalism is unfortunately alive and gaining
momentum in America :(

Sorry, you hit a button with me.  Flame away.  Any African Americans out there?

Regards,
Harv     haandruss@xxxxxxx - opinions my own