Blues 2019: the new golden era

cbilly22

heavyrocker said:

There are some outstanding players around nowadays. Where they are lacking imo is on the songwriting front. None of them has written anything that’s even approaching the same league as Clapton in his heyday.

This definitely. I generally get bored listening to albums by a lot of the current crop because there are no real hooks. The playing is usually jaw dropping and I think that's why youtube suits these guys so much, before you get bored you've leapt from and been wowed by Josh Smith to Kirk Fletcher to whoever. With this in mind I think that's why Gary Clark Jnr is probably my pick, he hangs his bluesy playing in decent song frameworks, kinda like Clapton often has.

AlexO

mburekenge said:

I think loads of these guys have killer chops and i really like them all.

However, the issue for me is the voices. Bb, freddie albert king etc didnt just have decent voices, imo they are some of the best ever recorded.

Out of the current crop JD has the best voice imo

Marcus King has a voice and guitar skills to match anyone.

ESBlonde

What goes around and all that.

Robert Cray made a big splash in the late 80s and continues to tour now. He has a knarly cutting tone but it's full of angst and emotion. Some good songs in there too!

Lewy

TINMAN82 said:

Lewy said:

TINMAN82 said:

I think the “white mans blues” thing is waaay over played. Clapton, Green, Winter, Trucks et al are/were an equal to those of different skin tone. It’s all great music. Limiting respect only to those who worked the fields is short sighted.

Only if you choose to retrospectively unhitch blues music from the conditions of it's genesis and development, and doing that would be the shortsighted course of action in my opinion. None of the people you list, by the way, would consider themselves equal to the originators of the genre and would likely recoil at the very notion. 

If Clapton chooses not to view himself Muddy Waters equal (however “equal” may be defined) thiats his opinion.

Personally, I think his body of work has placed him equal to and in fact surpassing that of some of the original blues guys.

Where do you draw the line at how close music has to be to its origin to be considered worthy of merit? It’s a silly arguement. By that definition the greatest musical accomplishments were made with fife and drum on the cotton fields and all who came after are frauds. You don’t need to be a slave to “feel the blues”.

TINMAN82 said:

Lewy said:

TINMAN82 said:

I think the “white mans blues” thing is waaay over played. Clapton, Green, Winter, Trucks et al are/were an equal to those of different skin tone. It’s all great music. Limiting respect only to those who worked the fields is short sighted.

Only if you choose to retrospectively unhitch blues music from the conditions of it's genesis and development, and doing that would be the shortsighted course of action in my opinion. None of the people you list, by the way, would consider themselves equal to the originators of the genre and would likely recoil at the very notion. 

If Clapton chooses not to view himself Muddy Waters equal (however “equal” may be defined) thiats his opinion.

Personally, I think his body of work has placed him equal to and in fact surpassing that of some of the original blues guys.

Where do you draw the line at how close music has to be to its origin to be considered worthy of merit? It’s a silly arguement. By that definition the greatest musical accomplishments were made with fife and drum on the cotton fields and all who came after are frauds. You don’t need to be a slave to “feel the blues”.

I’m not talking about being worthy of merit, I’m not talking about  whether people who aren’t slaves can play blues, I’m talking about whether there should or shouldn’t be a distinction made between the music made by the people who actually lived the social, racial, geographical and economic realities, and translated them into music to define a genre, and those who basically copied them. I think there’s no problem making a distinction, you appear to disagree. But following your logic, Alain De Botton should be considered equal to Plato.

mburekenge

AlexO said:

mburekenge said:

I think loads of these guys have killer chops and i really like them all.

However, the issue for me is the voices. Bb, freddie albert king etc didnt just have decent voices, imo they are some of the best ever recorded.

Out of the current crop JD has the best voice imo

Marcus King has a voice and guitar skills to match anyone.

Im a massive fan of marcus king. Ive bought all his albums. I rate his somgwroting.

However, there is something a bit artificial about his voice... hes got that soul man thing but his diction isnt clear making the lyrics too muddy.

I feel harsh saying it, i think hes excellent, but do you know what i mean about the singing?

Strat54

To be honest I preferred the resurgence of the Blues in the late 80's/90's. Loads of great players about then and the older guys too. Saw Albert King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, BB King, Buddy Guy, John Hammond, Walter Trout, Robben Ford, Jeff Healey, Jimmie Vaughan, Chris Whitley, Robert Cray, John Mayall, Ronnie Earl, Sonny Landreth, Hubert Sumlin, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Duke Robilliard and a rake of others.....all at small to medium venues and all for less than £18.
Albert Collins at the tiny Borderline in London was amazing. I take it @TINMAN82 ; you weren't around then? Don't get me wrong the new guys are fine...but I find it all a bit old hat today. There's not much blues I can listen to nowadays.

Lewy

mburekenge said:

AlexO said:

mburekenge said:

I think loads of these guys have killer chops and i really like them all.

However, the issue for me is the voices. Bb, freddie albert king etc didnt just have decent voices, imo they are some of the best ever recorded.

Out of the current crop JD has the best voice imo

Marcus King has a voice and guitar skills to match anyone.

Im a massive fan of marcus king. Ive bought all his albums. I rate his somgwroting.

However, there is something a bit artificial about his voice... hes got that soul man thing but his diction isnt clear making the lyrics too muddy.

I feel harsh saying it, i think hes excellent, but do you know what i mean about the singing?

Just watched an interview with him because I always think it’s interesting to compare how someone talks to how they sing (I tend to find it a turn off if there’s a huge difference) and he kind of has that same loose diction thing going on so I wouldn’t say it’s too put on really. I think there are just a lot of people out there who sound similar who are putting it on...kind of vocal blackface.

SidNewton

For me Robben Ford remains the outstanding talent of contemporary blues players. He does, in my opinion, write quality tunes and his rhythm playing is a different level, something which is rarely mentioned. His vocals have improved greatly since the Talk To Your Daughter album.
Of the more recent bunch Matt Schofield stands out. I would also argue a case that he has some decent material. I'll be catching both Kirk Fletcher and Josh Smith this month at the Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival. Haven't seen either of them before so looking forward to that.

mburekenge

Lewy said:

mburekenge said:

AlexO said:

mburekenge said:

I think loads of these guys have killer chops and i really like them all.

However, the issue for me is the voices. Bb, freddie albert king etc didnt just have decent voices, imo they are some of the best ever recorded.

Out of the current crop JD has the best voice imo

Marcus King has a voice and guitar skills to match anyone.

Im a massive fan of marcus king. Ive bought all his albums. I rate his somgwroting.

However, there is something a bit artificial about his voice... hes got that soul man thing but his diction isnt clear making the lyrics too muddy.

I feel harsh saying it, i think hes excellent, but do you know what i mean about the singing?

Just watched an interview with him because I always think it’s interesting to compare how someone talks to how they sing (I tend to find it a turn off if there’s a huge difference) and he kind of has that same loose diction thing going on so I wouldn’t say it’s too put on really. I think there are just a lot of people out there who sound similar who are putting it on...kind of vocal blackface.

Hes a killer player and i love the vibe of the band.

When i'm in the mood for some tastefully melodic dorian shedding (which is often) he's top of the list.

TINMAN82

Strat54 said:

To be honest I preferred the resurgence of the Blues in the late 80's/90's. Loads of great players about then and the older guys too. Saw Albert King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, BB King, Buddy Guy, John Hammond, Walter Trout, Robben Ford, Jeff Healey, Jimmie Vaughan, Chris Whitley, Robert Cray, John Mayall, Ronnie Earl, Sonny Landreth, Hubert Sumlin, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Duke Robilliard and a rake of others.....all at small to medium venues and all for less than £18.
Albert Collins at the tiny Borderline in London was amazing. I take it @TINMAN82 ; you weren't around then? Don't get me wrong the new guys are fine...but I find it all a bit old hat today. There's not much blues I can listen to nowadays.

I’m 36, so was young in the late 80s however most stuff I listen to was made before I was born (or old enough to notice). That said, the “blues greats” I’ve seen live include Clapton, BB king, Robert Cray, John Mayall and Walter Trout. Of the newer lot I’ve seen Bonamassa and Marcus King with most of the others still on the to do list. Dont get me wrong, I’ll no doubt always prefer listening to the older crew but the gist of the thread was to say how glad I am that there are so many outstanding acts active and touring with no sign that the blues is in decline. I agree with others about songwriting and tbh that’s always been my criticism of Bonamassa. Don’t think he’ll ever give us a Layla or Old Love.

fandango

TINMAN82 said:

@heavyrocker I think that’s a fair comment. I do think though that history will view Clapton as one of the greatest composers in this genre of all time 

I am not sure where you got the idea that Clapton was/is a great songwriter. Most of his albums feature cover versions and songs penned by others. Journeyman only featured one Clapton song, and even that was with a joint composer (Robert Cray). Old Sock doesn’t feature a single Clapton-penned song. And we all know that it was Dwayne Allman who made Layla the great song We all know and love.

Yes, EC did write a few, but if you want to talk prolific song-writing guitarists, then look no further than Frank Zappa. However, he’s not blues, and he’s no longer alive so that kinda rules him out of the golden era noted in the OP.

Tenebrous

cbilly22 said:

bbill335 said:

Lewy said:

Tenebrous said:

Anything more along the lines of Jack White & that dirty blues style of The White Stripes that people can recommend? Not too much of a fan of Mayer/Bonamassa, but I'm always down for some genuine attitude & emotion.

Get hold of a compilation album. from Fat Possum records called “Not The Same Old Blues Crap”. 

Yeah defo a good start point with the Fat Possum stuff. Junior Kimbrough, RL Burnside, Bob Log III, indie brummie heroes Black Mekon. The Sunday Nights album (a tribute to Junior Kimbrough) has the Stooges, Black Keys, Jon Spencer on it but some lesser known guys too. Heartless Bastards do a particularly killer "Done Got Old".

Wis awarded. I got Sunday Nights pretty soon after it came out and spent many a day at work listening to it. The Heartless Bastards Done Got Old and first Stooges track is worth the money alone. Lanegans All Night Long is great too.

Thanks lads. I'll check em out!

cbilly22

Tenebrous said:

cbilly22 said:

bbill335 said:

Lewy said:

Tenebrous said:

Anything more along the lines of Jack White & that dirty blues style of The White Stripes that people can recommend? Not too much of a fan of Mayer/Bonamassa, but I'm always down for some genuine attitude & emotion.

Get hold of a compilation album. from Fat Possum records called “Not The Same Old Blues Crap”. 

Yeah defo a good start point with the Fat Possum stuff. Junior Kimbrough, RL Burnside, Bob Log III, indie brummie heroes Black Mekon. The Sunday Nights album (a tribute to Junior Kimbrough) has the Stooges, Black Keys, Jon Spencer on it but some lesser known guys too. Heartless Bastards do a particularly killer "Done Got Old".

Wis awarded. I got Sunday Nights pretty soon after it came out and spent many a day at work listening to it. The Heartless Bastards Done Got Old and first Stooges track is worth the money alone. Lanegans All Night Long is great too.

Thanks lads. I'll check em out!

Also have a look for the one album by Charles Caldwell, that's a real gem.

TINMAN82

fandango said:

TINMAN82 said:

@heavyrocker I think that’s a fair comment. I do think though that history will view Clapton as one of the greatest composers in this genre of all time 

I am not sure where you got the idea that Clapton was/is a great songwriter. Most of his albums feature cover versions and songs penned by others. Journeyman only featured one Clapton song, and even that was with a joint composer (Robert Cray). Old Sock doesn’t feature a single Clapton-penned song. And we all know that it was Dwayne Allman who made Layla the great song We all know and love.

Yes, EC did write a few, but if you want to talk prolific song-writing guitarists, then look no further than Frank Zappa. However, he’s not blues, and he’s no longer alive so that kinda rules him out of the golden era noted in the OP.

Yeah, tears in heaven, what a load of crap. Couldn’t name one Zappa song if I’m honest.

gringopig

.

JDE

gringopig said:

I secretly hope the Blues© genre dies a slow and painless death. It's been wandering around the bathroom for hours in its jim-jams now and the kettle has been left on, has run dry and the plastic handle fell off hours ago.

For me personally, it has been sucked dry of any real meaning and now just seems to be a showcase for flashy Blues© licks and grunty fake emotion-filled X-factor style singing. Just empty guff.

I love guitar and whatnot but listening to some of the stuff in this thread makes me want to play accordion. 

Horses for courses etc. I am fairly confident that whatever you play on your guitar probably wouldn’t exist without the blues. I get your point (and agree) about the empty guff, though. That’s present in every genre, tbh. Look at those fucking *hacks* pretending to know how it feels to live in Salzburg in the early 19th Century etc etc 

gringopig

.

JDE

gringopig said: Yes and every thoughtless blues cliche I play is like a stab in the heart. 

Yeah, but them pentatonics sure fall easy under the fingers.... Like comin home/ like mommas apple pie/ like sweet baby jeebas/ like sweat on a hog/ like peanut butter and jelly/ like beer and the Superbowl....

clarkefan

Boromedic said:

Nice to see some JD love, I hope he tours as well again. 

Amen.  Saw him in Bristol 2 years ago, he is proper proper quality, there's something special about his playing.  He could only play a short set but it was plenty.  

57Deluxe

I like my Blues, loud, rocking and electric and no hats...