Re : Tim Moyer's comments on PBS system

["" <party_man1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom :


Agreed in that there were American bands who like The Greatful Dead , Doors & others did play Blues in their acts as well as the acid rock stuff of Jefferson Airplane & Jimi Hendricks , but as you mentioned in correlation of the British invasion groups like the Beatles , Herman & the What Evers ( always thought they were a little hockey myself ) were not known as Blues artists , I did find an occasional Blues radio show on the air in  big metropolitan cities to back then but , ........

...also respectfully disagree because of ........  

The hard cold fact remains of what B.B. King said of these British acts and how they helped the black Blues artists to make a living that was not happening here due to the broad based baby boomer attitudes that didn't in mass support The Blues here in the USA  . 

I know some of these acts personally who made a comfortable life happen over there in England & Europe , a life that wasn't going down here in the USA because the only really big radio station air play their recordings got broadcasted here in the USA on was the AM & short wave radio , " VOA " ( Voice Of America ) broadcasting mainly to Europe , south America and Asia . 

Thats how they got a broadbased audience to hear their music and develop a marketing strategy . Because of The VOA radio broadcasts to the world  , many  radio & tv stations outside the USA picked up on the fact that there was a strong market for this American music and catered to their audience(s) . 

The only American radio station broadcasting  to Americans in the beginning 60's that played The Blues were AM mostly and a few rare underground FM stations and they were few and far in-between  ( you bet I was mad ! ) and ofcourse a few college radio DJs managed to squeak out a show at 3:00 AM. on a Sunday just before of just after a black gospel religeous service braodcast LOL .

John Mayal and Jeff Beck's promoters ( and other UK promoters took on these future British legends and  toured them along side Willie Dixon's group  of solid black only blues acts . 

These black acts later returned in individual different trips that made the $$$ for John Lee Hooker & Sonny Boy , B.B. King and the rest that saw a future outside the USA in those lean times . 

They were able to be head liners again , alone on a tour of their own in England & Europe and also south America , Japan Australia & the Philipines , something that wasn't happening in the USA either at that time .

If you were a black act in the USA in the  late 50's into the 70's you toured with an all black line up mostly and lets  not forget how hard it was for  black acts to get  rooms to stay in as well here in the USA during those late 50's & early 60's , just read B.B King's book or  Ruth Brown's . Speaking of Ruth Brown ( the Girl With The Tear In Her Voice ) she laid this one on me  ( She made it very clear of how it was then for them as black Blues artists ) 

[ Quote ] Ruth Brown:

 > " We  sometimes didn't get a place where there was a restaurant that would serve us , so we would buy bread , cheese , & balongna or ham , and with a hot clothes iron and ironing board , some aluminum foil we made grilled balogna or ham & cheese sandwiches , we did that allot "    < .........

She also made it a point that in europe this didn't occur in those days , they ate well on the road over there .

I can only speak from what I have seen and heard personally  in this case of the gratitude expressed by many black artists for the change of attitudes in  music the young British helped  make in the positive nature of The Blues experiencing a resurgence due in part by these young Brits who respected The Blues  & the artists that wrote and played it .

American  tv stations and radio stations did not only do to the black blues musicians a great disservice, this great disservice was done to the north American listening audience as well in that it was denied the great music that was created here in America for Americans by Americans . 

Ironic to see what it took in time to get The Blues up  to where it has gotten to now in this so called , " The Year Of The Blues "

Sincerely :

HR

Aka : Party_Man1@xxxxxxxxxx       


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