who asked "what is blues" and why?

[Harmonica John Frazer <harmonicajohns@xxxxxxx>]

on 4/2/2003 1:51 AM, harp-l-digest at harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 16:38:12 -0800
> From: "IronMan Mike Curtis" <ironman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: What constitutes "blues"?

Why do you ask? Are you trying to start a war?

> 
> What makes a song "blues"?  Well, a lot of blues has 12 bars and I/IV/V
> changes - but so do a lot of country, rock, jazz, etc.  You can find 12 bars
> and I/IV/V changes in just about every genre.
> 
> Hank Williams' country classic "Mind Your Own Business" is a standard 12 bar
> format, but Hanks not a blues singer, nor were his bands (featuring pedal
> steel guitar) "blues".  When Hank performed it, this "blues format" song was
> pure country. 

One of Hank's nicknames was "the lovesick blues boy" It don't get no bluer
than that, Mike. How can you suggest that Hank did not play blues. Shame!

> However, this tune has been covered by a lot of blues
> artists, who MAKE it into "blues".

That's just silly talk.

> 
> Miles Davis' jazz classic "All Blues" uses a very slight variation on the 12
> bar format.  Despite the title, you won't hear this played on any "purely
> blues" stations.

Are there any? not in my neighborhood.

> 
> The Blues has no monopoly on this format.

And no format has a monopoly on the blues

> 
> A lot of blues uses forms that differ from the "standard I/IV/V 12 bars".
> John Lee Hooker is famous for his disregard for hard fixed form and chords.
> Many of his most famous works have just one chord.  Baby Please Don't Go
> uses a single chord, or in some versions uses a IV as a bridge.
> 
> Bobby Blue Blands most well known blues tune "Love Light" vamps on a I/IV
> change throughout.
> 
> Arguably the most well known blues song of all time, Stormy Monday, starts
> off sounding like a I/IV/V 12 bar blues, but in the middle goes through a
> II, III, flatted III, and such.  Of course these are what musicians call
> "chord substitutions".  They're used profusely in jazz - which is why SM has
> a "jazzy" sound.  But no one would argue that T-Bone Walker was anything but
> "blues".
> 
> I've been to a lot of "blues jams" where nothing but 12 bar "blues songs"
> are played, and yet the music that resulted was anything but blues.
> 
> Blues is not a format.  It's a style, a WAY of performing music.  Blues has
> a particular feeling.  There are certain notes that "don't appear on the
> piano" that are generally present in blues.  If the singer or musician is
> unaware of these notes, the music will not have a bluesy sound to it.  This
> is one major reason a lot of white singers and musicians sound - well - so
> "white".  Classical European music is strongly rooted in a strict "12 tone
> scale".
> 
> It's a cultural thing.


AGAIN I ASK, WHO ASKED THIS QUESTION THAT YOU ARE GOING TO SUCH LENGTHS TO
ANSWER??? oh, that's right, you did.


> 
> The African-American culture is more rooted in microtones and such.  A lot
> of blues traces its roots to field hollers, where there were no instruments,
> just the human voice.  There are certain fractional notes that impart
> certain emotions.  By not having the "restraints" of a 12 tone scale, the
> voices were free to find the "best" note to express a particular emotion.
> 
> If you're a blues player, you definitely owe it to yourself to seek out and
> study field hollers.  Listen to the feeling, phrasing, lyricism, and the
> *EXACT* pitches they sing.  You'll notice that they seem just a tad "off"
> compared to a piano.  No that's not your ear playing tricks on you.  That's
> your ear telling you the truth, and your heritage telling you that your ear
> must be mistaken.
> 
> BTW field hollers have no chords, and are often rather free form.
> 
> I've heard it said that "blues is a feeling".  There's a lot of truth in
> this statement.  It's tailoring the music to bring the song to life, to sing
> a "sad" word "sadly", a flirty word flirtatiously, a joyous word joyously,
> all with a certain cultural influence.


Blues. Somethinboutaman somethinboutawoman somethinboutafeelin.

Oh, yes. A belated Happy Cesar Chavez Day to all.

> 
> 
> - -IronMan Mike Curtis BonTemps Blues Band  http://www.ironmancurtis.com
> Southland Blues Magazine http://www.SouthlandBlues.com TU 8pm (jam)
> Starboard Attitude/Redondo Santa Monica 3rd St Promenade, various times
> email my cellphone (2 lines max) mailto:ironmanc@xxxxxxxxx