The Blues

There's a wonderful forward momentum in the blues. Each four-bar line demanding another until there are three lines, each 12-bar chorus demanding another go-round. Then there's the eternal reach for possibilities, the celebration of each one that is seized. The use of the "blue note" or the "third third" is at the heart of this questing feeling, I believe. And it was that questing that helped drive the development of boogie, a peculiarly piano thing. Most other instruments can manage a blue note, as can the voice. But the piano? Nah. So it does an alternating thing, minor-major-minor-major, using the low third and the high third. And the squawk, with a gracenote, either slammed or drawled into a major third from a semi-tone below. That third third was legislated out of official existence mainly by J S Bach, tempering his clavier. For the convenience of keyboard players and notators and the ideal of not having to put split sharps on keyboards, and for the luxury of being able to play in any key without retuning and making innumerable adaptations for each tonality, he decreed that there would be a major third, with its 5:4 ratio, and a minor third, represented by a 7:6 (he didn't talk about ratios and frequencies as such, so far as I know), and poor old 6:5 was eliminated. Then the other two were futzed and compromised, and JS wrote a prelude+fugue in each neatly tailored major and minor tonality, based on this tempering and the new system of tuning your keyboard instrument (harpsichord, clavichord, pipe organ or whatever). But we know, all of us know at some level (whether or not we know that we know), there is so a third third! In boogie we force it to emerge from the cracks between the keys; in blues we acknowledge it, in sorrow and in hope, in gritty triumph over all the bad cess we have been through and seen others slog through. At least, that's how it seems to me, when I hear blues, or play blues. Especially when I hear Clancy Hayes, singing with the Bob Scobey outfit-- and most especially when he sings "Trouble in Mind."

Texas Blues, Zydeco Blues, Chicago Blues, Mississippi Blues, Delta Blue, Bayou Blues, European Blues, I just love the blues.......... Ok a little test for blues fans THE FOLLOWING LIST OF BLUES GREATS ARE BETTER KNOWN BY: Chester Burnett Marion Jacobs Aaron Thibeaux Walker Saunders Terrell McKinley Morganfield Beulah Thomas Deacon Bates Booker T. Washington White John Peter Chatman Roosevelt Williams Rice Miller Williamson Eddie Jones Arthur Crudup Robert Brown Otis hicks Walter Horton Josua Howell Amos Blakemore George Guy Azell Hill Mehemia James Walter McGhee Malcolm Rebennack William Bunch Here is a hint........Eddie James = Son House ......................Henry Byrd = Professor Longhair

Yeah Man, the blues. The odd tones, the emotion of the colors. Warning: If you hade trouble understanding the first two sentences and hate poor spelling, stop reading this post. Drymartini covered the thirds so I will deal with the fifths. No, not that kind of fifth, I mean the kind that lets ya know if ya drunk. The fifth that sways back and forth. The one that makes ya wanna run home. You know it flatly as weak and timid. Humblely headed home or to anywhere he may end up. Unlike the sharp cat who demands what he wants and marches proudly to anywhere he wants including home. Talking stuff all the way there. Slide guitar makes a good way to travel. Tiny steps back and forth may cause the trip to take awhile... But chill and lay for awhile. Cut your own time... (:D Peace, Johnny Visit my hope page at... http://www.angelfire.com/va/jjblues/index.html

Feel free to link to this here topic from yer page. Hope you come back more often, I'd like to start talking with you about stuff.

~Shoutin' Johnny~! Where'd you go? It's been awhile since you came by, in May, and here I sit, all alone, while I play....... 'DA BLUEZ!

you're not alone... I just can't do anything musically!

Hey, Wer! That's ok! It's just great to see you sittin' here! :) You can always put on on BB King, and, we'll take it from there!

I might could pull that off... (wouldn't be that hard for me to dress up like Jake Elwood Blues, either...)

In honor of you all... I will pop in the Robert Johnson tonight!

Good choice...could use some Robert Cray, myself...

Alright! Let's get the party going! And, Wer, you're gonna be the BLUES Brother...and sing, right? ~grin~

Then we'd all be sad...

And, have...da bluez! See? Life the life, and sing about it! ~grin~ Just growl in tune....throw in a few "Owwwwws", and...who'll know? I'll play bass. Anybody else wanna drag out a guitar and join in?

i'll add the 'uh huh's and 'oh yeah's

Alright, Stacey! You're IN!:)

Ok here are some answers to the blues test back there: Chester Burnett = Howling Wolf Marion Jacobs = Little Walter Aaron Thibeaux Walker = TBone Walker Saunders Terrell McKinley Morganfield = Muddy Waters Beulah Thomas Deacon Bates = Blind Lemon Jefferson Booker T. Washington White = John Peter Chatman = Memphis Slim Roosevelt Williams Rice Miller Williamson Eddie Jones Arthur Crudup = "Big Boy" Crudup Robert Brown = Washboard Sam Otis hicks Walter Horton Josua Howell Amos Blakemore George Guy = Buddy Guy Azell Hill Mehemia James Walter McGhee = Brownie McGhee Malcolm Rebennack = Doctor John William Bunch Those are just the ones I knew. I could have got more if I looked it up.

So, it's been a while...Wer, Stacey - is the gig still on? (grinnin')

It has been awhile... Not sure, definitely in a blue state of mind, though...

certainly need to mellow out a bit after this long day...

...and, almost ten months, later, she returns to have a look around...and finds that everyone has been quietly...quietly (that's like, noone's posted in a year kind of quietly) moanin' the bluuuuuuues...;)

just a sad lot, aren't we?

well, somebody once said that you have to live the blues to be able to sing the blues.....?