[Harp-L] race

[rainbowjimmy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Sigfried wrote: "Race has nothing to do with it".

But of course it does. Chicago electric harp started as black music,  
played by blacks for blacks in black venues. Because of racism, it  
took years before this music got the acclaim and the audience it  
deserved and still many extrodinary musicans have vanished into  
obscurity. In the 50s blues started entering white culture-Elvis,  
Chuck Berry, but not harp. It took the sixties and bands like the  
Butterfield Blues Band (who had the courage to integrate their band)  
Canned Heat and the likes to bring blues harp to white folks and get  
the promotion and the venues to really push the music to the wider,  
richer, white audience.

Being black did not make them better harp players, it just made it  
less likely for them to get the pay, the venue, and the acclaim they  
deserved. Even now the music is described as primitive and simple,  
without a thought about the intricate polyrythms and microtonal  
structure.

Rainbow Jimmy
http://www.spaceanimals.com
http://www.soundclick.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals.htm