Re: [Harp-L] George Carlin on white blues man...

["Bob Laughlin" <rlaughlin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

George Carlin,,good stuff.

>"I'll tell you a little secret about the blues, it's
> not enough to know which notes to play, but why they
> need to be played."

Ironically, I've always felt this way about music. Though I REALLY like
blues patterns, as far as having a basic theme to lay down some musical
variations on, I simply can't, with genuineness, sincerity, and legitimacy
sing most traditional blues lyrics, because I'm basically a pretty happy
guy. Sure, my woman is mean, money's short, and things don't happen the way
I'd like them to, but I just can't seem to get up the motivation to sing
someone else's lyrics/song. That pretty much saves me from being sued for
copyright infringement, I suppose, but it means I'll have to come up with
some lyrics of my own, or remain primarily an instrumentalist. That's okay,
when you're playing with a band, but when I do solo harp, impromptu or
street variety, I always FEEL like I should bust out with some lyrics to
break it up a bit, add some variety. Harp just does that at times,,it just
seems to beg a song.

My son says I should make up some stuff to my guitar playing as well. I've
tried, but I always think it sounds pretty darn stupid. I recently began to
record something, to make up lyrics to a guitar riff I'd been settling on,
one that seemed to want lyrics, and all I could come up with was "Mama died
last December. Here's some things I remember,,etc." Trouble is, "Mama" (my
dear mother) is still alive, and I think she'd take offense at me
proclaiming her passing prematurely, especially since she's 85. The last
thing she needs is a premature eulogy. Thing is, the words brought me to
tears. I actually FELT them.

Anyway,,though some things are hearfelt, they also need to be timely. I feel
that way about songs.

So,,as far as the blues is concerned, it's gotta be real. That's just the
way I feel about it. Maybe I'm wrong. It IS an "art form" as well, after
all.

But then, my memory isn't so good. Maybe it was the sixties, or maybe it's
just gettin' old. I never have been able to memorize songs, unless they were
VERY  simple. "Here's a little song I wrote. Da da da da note for note. Don'
worry. Be happy,,," "Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow.
Everywhere that mary went, the lamb was sure to go." Beyond the most basic
lyrics, I have no confidence that I'd be able to memorize any song, without
a concerted effort. I just don't know how people do it, going on stage and
just coming up with all of these songs, off the top of their head, from a
seeming storehouse they have in their memory. With me, I can remember the
music, but not the words. I can, to my son's amazement, whistle most of the
Bach cello suites by memory, all the way through, but
lyrics,,forgettaboutit.

By the way,,that song  ("Mary,,") is rather subversive, and one way we got
the idea about disobeying the rules. Think about it. Mary and the lamb go to
school, making the children "laugh and play to see a lamb in school" (fun),
but it was "against the rules", and the "teacher turned it out". When you're
a kid, you value fun and enjoyment over rules, right? Why spoil all the fun
with some silly rules? My wife says I like to break the rules, "do the
forbidden". To me, that's psychobabble. She "read it somewhere". But I have
to admit, I think I agree with the title of that book, "Rule One: break all
the rules".

I do think breaking the rules is, especially for the mentally and creatively
paralyzed, a good thing. Art breaks rules. Good music breaks rules, while
keeping others. But the principle goal should not be to keep the rules, but
within a framework, to break them. That adds variety. My dad used to
say,,"Rules are for people who can't think".

BL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Eich" <phil_side@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 8:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] George Carlin on white blues man...


>
> It hits a nerve, but I think I've been enlightened:
>
> "I'll tell you a little secret about the blues, it's
> not enough to know which notes to play, but why they
> need to be played."
>
> That's good stuff.
>
>
>
>
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