Re: [Harp-L] "Race, Gender & the Blues"

[michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

Mick,
Cray is a great guitarist.  Have you seen him live?  Up close?  I urge
you to rethink that opinion.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com

On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 12:48 PM, Matt Prouty <matthewprouty@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> You can take Blues and replace it with Hip Hop, jump forward 50 years and
> you will have the same story.
>
> The vast majority of the audience has moved on and thus the musicians spring
> from the audience that still embraces the music, roots or no roots.
>
> m.
>
>
> On 5/22/12 1:17 PM, Mick Zaklan wrote:
>>
>>    I'm not sure Sugar Blue or Billy Branch have a beef here, but I
>> certainly could be wrong.  I don't think there are enough African-American
>> blues acts out there nowadays to populate all these fests.  At least in
>> numbers.  I think if there were, they'd be hired.  When I started out in
>> the late 60's, you had several dozen hot blues bands working in Chicago
>> alone on the South and West Sides.  If you wanted great slide guitar, you
>> could go out and catch J.B. Hutto, Hound Dog Taylor, and Johnny Littlejohn
>> any night.  Harp?  James Cotton, Jr. Wells, Big Walter Horton, Billy Boy
>> Arnold, Little Mac Simmons, and a bunch of others were active around town.
>> Hot guitarists?  Otis Rush, Earl Hooker, Sammy Lawhorn, Buddy Guy, Fenton
>> Robinson, Brewer Phillips, Louis Myers, etc.  Most of the giants of the
>> music were around then and in good form:  Muddy, Wolf, Hooker, Ray
>> Charles,
>> Jimmy Witherspoon, Big Joe Williams, Lightnin' Hopkins etc.  I don't think
>> we have people around today of that stature.  Robert Cray, Keb Mo'?  Nice
>> singers but not in the league of the people I named.  Here in Chicago, the
>> taverns in African-American neighborhoods that used to employ and
>> support these bands are mostly gone or on the ropes.  Hence, the number of
>> blues acts are down.  But if Billy Branch or Sugar Blue are having trouble
>> getting festival work, then something is definitely wrong.  And
>> unless you're in Finland, there should never be a blues fest without an
>> African-American act on the bill.  My opinion.
>
>