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

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

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
>
>
>
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> --- End forwarded message ---
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>
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Richard Hammersley
Grantshouse, Scottish Borders
http://www.last.fm/music/Richard+Hammersley
http://www.myspace.com/rhammersley
http://www.myspace.com/magpiesittingdown




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