Re: [Harp-L] Blues, harmonica bands, and novelty acts

[Pierre <plavio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rock and jazz are often said to have come out of blues; I kind of assumed 
this was a true statement but after reading this thread I wonder if this is 
true.

Seems to me Louis Armstrong is "early jazz" (not alone, but  a good example) 
and the genre in the early jazz scene was Dixieland or Dixieland like and 
jazz is not I-IV-V music; this is really far from the blues, happy spirited 
music performed by happy, full of life people. With respect to Rock, we are 
talking I-IV-V music and yes blues is I-IV-V music but so is almost all 
European music and so was all early pop music. Early blues were question and 
answer type progression, rock was never like that. Blues emphasises blue 
notes, rock tries really hard not too otherwise it doesn't sound like rock 
it sounds like blues. Rock blues came later after rock.

Getting back to Dixieland music, where did that come from? New Orleans, now 
New Orleans way back then, was full of fun loving, lively Accadians and 
Acadians where french people deported from New-Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 
Perhaps the french invented jazz, YES, way cool - I like that, jazz was not 
invented by americans, it was invented by expatriated french canadians.

Now that we know were jazz originated, where did rock come from?

Pierre.









----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 12:52 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Blues, harmonica bands, and novelty acts


> --- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "James" <wasabileo@...> wrote:
> <big snip>
>
> > BTW Borah Minoveth and the Harmonicats were regarded as "Novelty
> > Acts" and light entertainment
>
> <another big snip>
>
> So were the early blues records - the ones that actually sold. They
> featured jaunty rhythms and melodies, and lyrics designed to shock and
> amuse, frequently with subject matter that no upright, churchgoing
> person would allow in their homes - sexual innuendo, talk of
> drunkenness, violence and cruelty - anything that would get the
> attention of the listener, no matter how crass and lurid.
>
> Both blues and early harmonica bands were sold to the public as
> novelty acts. Doesn't mean they weren't any good. The quality of
> writing and the level of musicianship in those harmonica bands was
> extraordinarily high - just listen to the records and ignore the
> promotional photos. A number of the teenagers who played in those
> bands later went on to careers as highly respected performers and
> arrangers - Pete Pedersen, Leo Diamond, and Richard Hayman, to name three.
>
> The rest of your post makes the point that blues is good and profound
> music. No argument from me on any of that. But blues is not the mother
> source of  American music - even for the African American community.
> It's one thread of many in the musical fabric.
>
> Winslow
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l