Re: [Harp-L] the difference between funk and blues; a response to JR Ross

Mike Fugazzi <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx> · Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:15:47 -0700 (PDT)

Exactly.  We tend to look at the past through rose-colored classes when it comes to a lot of music.  This extends beyond blues.  Many of us who enjoy classic rock complain about contemporary radio, but at one time bands like Led Zep (there's your harp content) were "pop" music.  Or we talk about how awful the music kids listen to is...I wonder what parents thought of their kids listening to Hendrix?

Or, like in the case of Stevie Ray Vaughn (who has jammed with Butterfield...more harp content), they become "in" after their time as a touring musician.

Mike Fugazzi

Harmonica/Vocals

http://www.myspace.com/niterailband

http://www.myspace.com/mikefugazzi

"Music should be healing; music should uplift the soul; music should inspire. There is no better way of getting closer to God, of rising higher towards the spirit, of attaining spiritual perfection than music, if only it is rightly understood."

-Hazrat Inayat Khan

--- On Wed, 8/27/08, Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] the difference between funk and blues; a response to JR Ross
To: "Dan Berger" <dberger1@xxxxxxxxxx>, "Richard Hammersley" <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx, mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx
Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 11:55 AM

Read about any major historical musical figure who was African American and you'll come up with the fact that their ears and inclinations - and sometimes their audiences - enjoyed a far wider variety of music than their white business promoters cared to promote or record.

For instance, three examples from my recent reading:

==Louis Armstrong was very fond of the "sweet" big band sound of Guy Lombardo - very different from the New Orleans "hot" jazz that Armstrong was known for.

==Charlie Parker, the avatar of bebop, loved Broadway show tunes.

==Hudie Ledbetter (Leadbelly) loved singing cowboy Gene Autry and could do a dead-on impersonation of "father of Country music" Jimmie Rodgers, complete with yodels.

Both folklorists and the record business have done a huge amount to distort America's musical heritage by filtering it
 through their preconceived notions of race, class, and  "folk purity."

Winslow

--- On Wed, 8/27/08, Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] the difference between funk and blues; a response to JR Ross
To: "Dan Berger" <dberger1@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx, mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx
Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 2:15 AM

So did Earl Hooker - whose ability to play precisely in fast time has  
rarely been surpassed on the guitar - who played C&W, funk and pure  
sometimes pure hokum.
On 25 Aug 2008, at 21:47, Dan Berger wrote:

> Haven't I read that Little Walter even played some country music?
>
> and Memphis Minnie played everything- its just not
 recorded!
>
> Dan
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Fugazzi"
<mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx 
> >
> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 4:23 PM
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] the difference between funk and blues;a  
> response to JR Ross
>
>
>
> From: Mike Fugazzi <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re:  [Harp-L] the difference between funk and blues; a  
> response to JR Ross
> To: "mfugazzi67" <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Monday, August 25, 2008, 3:23 PM
>
> 1. Blues is a feeling.
> 2. On many of these songs, he's playing blues licks. While the  
> progression may not be a standard blues, much of his phrasing and  
> scale choices are deeply routed in blues.
> 3. I also wrote that in many cases he went into the studio and was  
> collaborating with others.
> 4. For as
 famous as Clapton is, he bolted on many of his bands when  
> they drifted from their original path. This includes the Yardbirds,  
> Derek and the Dominos, Cream, etc.
> 5. As he got older, Clapton undoubtedly drifted from roots based  
> music. Like many of our harp heroes, he adjusted to the times to  
> make a career. Now he can sit back and play whatever he wants to  
> thousands.
>
> I can never bash anybody for playing multiple types of  
> music...especially veering away from straight blues. Let's face it,
> Little Walter made a lot of money playing pop music in the streets  
> on guitar. There is no such thing as a purist past the very first  
> generation. Even then the music was "compromised". Labels were  
> created and like humans do, it had be organized into a solid object.  
> However, all music, even blues, is a continuation of sound. It was  
>
 never original...it always existed and has always been changing  
> since the creation of time. That's what makes it so great.
>
> I have a much harder time understanding why somebody would go to the  
> well for a whole career (this happens all the time in any genre)  
> then let themselves evolve. It is always those that let the path  
> take them where it may that go down as legendary.
>
>
>
>
>
> Mike Fugazzi
>
> Harmonica/Vocals
>
> http://www.myspace.com/niterailband
>
> http://www.myspace.com/mikefugazzi
>
>
>
>
>
> "Music should be healing; music should uplift the soul; music should 

> inspire. There is no better way of getting closer to God, of rising  
> higher towards the spirit, of attaining spiritual perfection than  
> music, if only it is rightly understood."
>
>
 -Hazrat Inayat Khan
>
> --- On Mon, 8/25/08, mfugazzi67 <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> From: mfugazzi67 <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Fwd:  Re:  [Harp-L] the difference between funk and blues;  
> a response to JR Ross
> To: mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx
> Date: Monday, August 25, 2008, 3:13 PM
>
> --- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Tim Moyer"
> <wmharps@...> wrote:
>
> Mike Fugazzi wrote:
> Finally, if [Eric Clapton] was good enough for Muddy...who loved
> EC...than he's blues enough in my book!
>
> I think my favorite blues piece of his is "Lay Down Sally"... 
No,
> wait, "Wonderful Tonight"...  No, wait, "Cocaine"... 
No,
> wait...
>
> -tim
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH,
> http://www.spah.org
>
 Harp-L@...
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
>
> --- End forwarded message ---
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l

Richard Hammersley
Grantshouse, Scottish Borders
http://www.last.fm/music/Richard+Hammersley
http://www.myspace.com/rhammersley
http://www.myspace.com/magpiesittingdown

_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH,
 http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l