Blues by Podcast

I was showing a friend how to use the iTunes shop the other day, when I stumbled across the "Blues Shop Podcast." This is a great site, run by Josh Jones. After subscribing I downloaded the most recent podcast which included 30 minutes of terrific, contemporary blues. The best part of all was that it cost nothing (who said there's no such thing as a free lunch).

The range of music I got was impressive too. Geographically, there was material from as far afield as Brazil and Australia as well as more likely places like Mississippi. Not only that, but every flavour of blues was represented; from acoustic piedmont blues through electric chicago blues and even some blues/rock from Australia.

Well done Josh! Keep up the good work.

Freddie King and Eric Clapton - who needs duelling banjos?

How does one make the transition from being a die hard rock fan to searching for rare, scratchy old folk blues tracks on iTunes? For me it was the penetrating solos of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton - music that could touch your soul.

As a 20 year old guitar wannabe, the only blues artists I knew about were the Kings (BB, Albert and Freddie). These were the electric bluesmen, who let their guitars do a lot of the talking. It took a lot of searching to find good blues records in New Zealand in the early 80's. Freddie King's "Stayin' Home with the Blues" was one of the first blues albums I ever bought, and it still has a special place in my heart.

It introduced me to "Sweet Home Chicago", a song which seems to have been mandatory for every blues man to try at some point. Freddie's version remains my favourite, with the possible exception of the Robert Johnson original. King had a powerful voice, and his vocals, along with his elegant guitar soloing made songs like "Woman Across the River", "T'aint Nobody's Business If I Do" and "Sugar Sweet" classics that stayed in my head for years.

But the song that really made an impression was "Further on up the Road". Apart from the lyrics (further on up the road, someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me), which give me some consolation every time something goes wrong in my life, there is the guitar work. The climax of the song is a guitar duel between Freddie and Eric Clapton, which climaxes with Eric playing one of the best solos of all time.

I lost the album somewhere along the way, but was thrilled when I found it last night on iTunes. I guess as you get older and start raising a family, things like record collections disappear into the garage, never to see the light of day again. There was a Clapton quote on the cover, which makes a poignant eulogy for Freddie (apologies if this isn't entirely accurate, I'm quoting from memory here):

"... he taught me just about everything I needed to know, when and when not to make a stand, when and when not to show your hand, and most important of all: how to make love to a guitar"

Sonny Boy Williamson II - Bring it on Home

For my first review, I'm going to look at "Bring it on Home" which is a beautiful example of the blues harp in action. The interplay between the vocal and harp brings out the best in both of them. For anyone seriously considering playing blues harp, listening to this recording is a must.

The first thing to remember when listening to Sonny Boy is that he plays the harmonica AND sings. Obviously it is not possible to do both these things at the same time, and so the overall layout of the piece is in a "question and answer" style. Each line Sonny Boy sings is answered by a harp riff; complementing the vocal line. This is a common device in blues. When Williamson sings the line "Baby", he is answered by the plaintive wail of the harp, echoing "baby". The technique is simple, but the execution is perfect. Not only does the harmonica cry out "baby", but it does it in such a way that what we hear is a train whistle in the distance. From this point, each line is answered with a series of staccato 'chugs', as the illusion of the train is kept going.

When I say the piece is simple, don't fall in to the trap of thinking it would be easy to play. Williamson was a master of his craft and the performance here was perfect, a fact underlined by the haunting tremelo effect used as the music fades out. For my money, this is one of the best pieces of blues harp you'll find anywhere.

For more information on Sonnyboy (including a video clip), try Sonny Boy's Lonesome Cabin.