Annotated Bib and C.P.

Robbie Hankey

Deonaldo

English 151

11 May 2012

Our heart gives us the rhythm and our soul gives us the lyrics. Today, just like in the past, music has evolved with our modern era. It started as a simple, slow tap of the foot and now it’s something very complex. The blues is the essence of music. It’s full of emotion, style, lyrics, double meanings, and subliminal messages. The blues has heart and soul. When it started it changed the world and it’s been inspiring people to do so ever since. There’s something special about one man with a message being able to spread his word to people in style. With a smile on his face, the average blues artist humbly enters a bar then plays his guitar while he sings his heart out because he wants to share his rhythm and his soul with the people. Johnny Cash, B.B. King, and Robert Johnson did this one thousand times. Every day they performed and lived the blues. Their message was deeper than even they could imagine; because the blues is more than one man or one song, it’s in all of us.

How has the blues influenced the modern day artist? To my ears, today’s music has lost its way. The research I’ve done puts blues on a pedestal; it’s a spiritual, untouchable, sacred art form. Although I was skeptical at first to read about something that I listen to and play every day, I still did. In two books four articles and one list “modern day blues” wasn’t even mentioned. The list I’m referring to is the “100 greatest guitarists” article written by the Rolling Stones magazine. In this list John Mayer, who some may consider a modern blues guitarist was listed along with a few other artists as an “up and coming” guitarist. This is the closest any of the authors were to mentioning any style of blues in today’s music; and I’m just implying the fact, it’s not even stated that John Mayer is a blues guitarist. Music today is crazy; it’s even crazier to imagine what music will be in 10 years or 50 years. Maybe the blues is a thing of the past, but I refuse to believe it.

Annotated Bibliography

Cheseborough, Steve. Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues. Jackson, MS:      University of  Mississippi, 2001. Print.

This mind opening book speaks about one author/musicians journey through America and his experiences while he was living the blues. Steve bodily states in his first line a question asking, “Is the blues still a vibrant tradition as we listen and explore in the 21st century? Or is it fading away?”  This question is nearly the same one posed in my critical preface. The books then goes onto give a detailed overview of his and other famous musician’s interpretation of the blues in their lives. The book is a guide to traveling the country while seeing and hearing the blues. Steve gives tips, tricks and suggestions for you when you’re putting your name and music out there.

  Teachout, Terry. "The Man That Jazz Forgot." Commentary Magazine May 2012:       56-59.

The heartfelt article discusses the jazz filled life of Louis Jordan. How did people forget about such a profound icon in the history of rhythm, jazz and the blues?  It is dumbfounding to me that even I, a blues advocate, would overlook such an inspiring and influential person. Believe it or not Louis created 18 #1 hits from 1942-1950. Unfortunately the only one I have heard of is “is you is or is you ain’t my baby?” Honestly the only reason I remember the song is from a Tom and Jerry episode called Solid Seranade where Tom sings this song to his gal. Some may write off Louis but there are those today who still listen to the soul in his sound, and I’m definitely one of them.

Kjorness, Chris. "Delta Dawn." Reason. Reason Foundation, May 2012

This article in the Music magazine Reason promotes blues as more than just music as a tragedy. Blues is often mistaken for sadness, depression, negativity and evil! This is just not the case, sure, the blues would be nothing without it’s “blue” deep, powerful and sometimes “sad” lyrics; but that’s not the essence of blues as this article quotes B.B. King, a legendary blues musician who said “"It angers me how scholars associate the blues strictly with tragedy. Blue is about hope, excitement and love too. The article then discusses in depth the history of the delta blues. Charley Patton, who is considered one of the founders of the blues, is a huge inspiration to me and to other modern day blues artists. The article talks about his life along with other great blues artists including: Robert Johnson who wrote the famous song “Crossroad blues” which tells the story of when he sold his soul to the devil; B.B. King who’s funky style has won the hearts of millions as he’s screamed out his soul while playing his baby/guitar who he named Lucille until his fingers bleed!

Teachout,Terry. “De-romanticizing the Blues.” Commentary Magazine. Nov 2012:        66-70.

Another beautiful article by Terry Teachout is less about the romance in blues and more about its history. Like the other articles, this speaks of the way blues has inspired musicians since the 19th century. “By now, the sounds and rhythms of the blues are so ubiquitous that they seem almost to be embedded in the musical DNA of the human race.” This quote is very relevant and true; there is only so many sounds one instrument can make therefore eventually those sounds are going to start to sound the same, especially core chords like the ones uses primarily in the blues. That being said, from the few months that I’ve been practicing blues scales I have been able to play along with just about any song regardless of the artist, time period or genre. The article gives a brief history about the start or origin of the blues. A common misconception is that artists like Robert Johnson started the blues, but also actually not only did his records sell poorly, it wasn’t until the 60’s “the blues revival” when Robert Johnson was accredited and actually listened to. In fact, it was actually white and black woman from about 1880-1910 who started the sound that we call “the blues.”

Ripani, Richard J. The New Blue Music: Changes in Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999.        Jackson: University of Mississippi, 2006. Print.

This book has an extraordinary amount of information on the history of the blues. Although I did not read the book entirety, from what I read I was impressed. The book is broken down into 5 sections: From 1950-59 Richard Ripani calls this the “soul era.” Then from 1960—69 we are given the “funk and disco reign.” Followed by “The old and the New,” this lasted from 1970-79. Then we have the unforgiving and unforgettable “rap era” or the time period where rap went mainstream from 1980-89. Last but not least from 1990-99 we are left with the “transformation of rhythm and blues.” The author tells his story of growth and learning as a musician as well as the development of other musician’s same journey.

"100 Greatest Guitarists | Rolling Stone." Rollingstone.com. Web. 10 May 2012.             <http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123>.

It is only appropriate that when referring to the history of blues the 100 greatest guitarists should be discussed. From Robert Johnson to Eric Clapton; music, sound and guitar have come along way. Each past artist takes bits and pieces of the music before them, which influence his or her own style. The article gives a brief overview of each of the best 100 guitarist’s lives. Some of my favorites: At number 76 is Willie Nelson, whose style has influenced my own. Surprisingly at number 70 some say the “father of blues” is Robert Johnson. Before my research I was disgusted with this rank, but after, I’ve realized that Robert Johnson’s music isn’t as influential as I first guessed. At number 54 we have John Lennon, which is respectable, who doesn’t love the Beatles? At number 19 Rolling Stones puts Carlos Santana whose Spanish style and fast paced playing has always amazed me. It’s hard not to like almost every artist in the top 10, but to choose a few: Number 6 is B.B. King who has more soul than the devil. Then last, but certainly not least, in my head number one and two are equals, them being Eric Clapton at #2 and none other than Jim Hendrix who undeniable tops the charts.

Evans, David. "Blues." Blues. UNC Press, 1989. Web. 10 May 2012.             <http://www.arts.state.ms.us/crossroads/music/blues/mu1_text.html>.

This rather short article on the blues influence in modern music is a solid one. One valid point it makes is how the blues style, which was predominantly started by black musicians in the 1920s, was then combined with a country style, which formed rock in roll in the late 50’s! Unfortunately the article doesn’t go into much detail about its influence on our modern day music but that’s because there may not be any. Through generations and music styles the core essence of the blues has probably been lost by most popular artists today. Then again, maybe since each artist takes something from the artist before him, artists today are actually masters of the blues!