[Harp-L] Butter TV spot

["sam Blancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks, 

I've read through this long thread with everybody expounding on what makes
Paul Butterfield's playing so great.  And I agree with much of what's been
written here, especially with regards to many comments about his
originality, is penchant for taking many solos in decidedly different
directions from what was at the time (and still is) the cannon of blues
harmonica vocabulary and in doing so expanding that vocabulary while at the
same time maintaining a completely unique style all his own.  I can't
disagree with any of this - I think it's all true. 

What annoys me though is this idea that in order to define and proclaim this
guys greatness it's necessary to diss other players like Kim Wilson and
Piazza, or Estrin - or anybody.  I love those guys, especially Wilson, and
their playing is very moving to me.  Their playing is moving to me not
because I'm too shallow to recognize the TRUE EMOTION of Butter's stuff - I
get that too - but because they are great in their own right.  Is their
stuff innovative?  Who gives a s&$t!  It's great.  

This whole notion that in order to feel good about somebody's music (or
one's own music) there has to be some 'pushing of the envelope' or 'moving
outside the genre', that one always has to be saying something new and
original AT ALL TIMES.  Originality is not the top of the mountain.  Why is
it not the top of the mountain?  Because there is no top of the mountain -
okay?  What Kim Wilson and Estrin et al do is fine stuff in its own right.
It's wonderful stuff with plenty of feeling and guts as well a technical
excellence.  They are all often building on a stylistic foundation laid down
by the greats like the Walters, the Sony-Boys, Cotton - you all know who.
(The poor saps; they just don't have anything ORIGINAL to say! The proof of
this is in their more toned down use of vibrato!)  Is what they do it
derivative? - Absolutely.  Is derivative a bad thing?  I guess some people
here think it is.  It isn't.  To me these guys are exploring everything on a
stylistic frequency that they understand maybe better than just about
anybody and for them (and for me, I might add) there is a tremendous joy in
re-constructing that style so that all its elements and possibilities are
there, vibrating anew.  Doing your art in an established form, working
within a set of stylistic conventions is a perfectly fine and noble way to
express yourself.  It doesn't mean that you are mediocre or less
accomplished than somebody who's found a new angle.  It's all valuable and
keeps its value so long as it gives the player pleasure and listener
pleasure in some way.  Is it possible for one to grow tired of it and want
to go in some other direction? Sure.  But doing that isn't somehow better,
or more advanced; it doesn't mean you've graduated to some higher level
that's closer to the top of the mount because there is not top of the
mountain.  

Now, for all you people out there who are playing blues harmonica and are
trying to emulate the styles of Little Walter or Soney Boy I or II, or
Junior Wells or who ever, I have news for you.  THAT IS A GOOD THING.  It's
not a bad thing.  It's not proof of your mediocrity it's just where you are
right now - and a fine place it is to be too. Some people on this list have
said something to the effect that the world doesn't need any more guys
trying to sound and play like Little Walter.  Yes it does; the world does
indeed need more guys trying to play like Little Walter.  

Maybe what they mean is that they are not so interested in that thing any
more and their interests are running in a different direction - great!  Go
there and with any luck maybe we'll get to hear what you do that's new and
interesting.  But try to not spit on where you came from.  That would be the
more respectful tack.  

When I took art history in college we studied the art of the Egyptians.  I
learned that there were three main periods in the history of Egyptian art.
The first period looks a lot like what we have come to regard as Egyptian
art; it has all the elements in style and subject matter there.  Then there
is what is called the art of the Middle Kingdoms.  Something happened, some
group from the more southern regions overthrew the first kingdom and a whole
new hegemony arose and the art from this period is very different and it's
not quite the same as the other stuff; very different in style and even in
subject matter.  Then the original power structure of the first kingdoms
reasserted itself again after some change of the guard and that old style
came back and expanded and became more formalized.  It's as if the artists
of this period looked back and understood the old stuff with more clarity
than the original artists themselves.  They gave the subject matter better
settings, used better materials, seemed to spend more time on the balance of
the compositions, and made smarter use of color.  The art of King Tutt is
one of the quintessential examples of this.  The art of the third kingdom is
totally derivative but, at the same time it is more.  The professor for this
class used this whole idea to teach us about the concepts of Reflexivity,
Deconstruction, and Reconstruction.  Many art historians and philosophers
believe that are forms and art cultures move through cycles of
progeneration, deconstruction, reflexivity, and reconstruction.  The
Reflexivity part is where people look back at some form thought to be over
with and see it again with different eyes and with new understanding.  

Every time I hear "Sad Hours" I learn something new.  Every time I play "Sad
Hours" I feel something new.  Well, maybe not EVERY time, but quite often.
Maybe it's because of the times I live in or at least that way I try to
understand these times; maybe it's because of the particular point I am at
in my own life, a completely esoteric calculus that can't be digested by
anybody else.  But my playing this stuff isn't a bad choice for a guy who
has run out of ideas and has settled into mediocrity.  I like to think I'm
reflecting back on the old kingdom.  

If you're in Pittsburgh and you see some band called "The New Deal" playing
somewhere don't come and hear us because you'll hear "Juke", "Last Night" ,
"Sad Hours" and a whole slew of other old songs and you're liable to be
bored sh#tless.

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh