Jul 23, 2003 11:43 am If you do, so do I, maybe we can start a 12-step group. I like blues-based music, such as rock, metla, punk and others, but blues, in and of itself I find kinda boring.
Admitting it is the first step.
Blues heresy?
Posted on Jul 23, 2003 11:36 am
glynb
Member Since: Dec 16, 2002
All my life i have kept a dark secret, but today i have decided to come out of the closet and say...
I don't like Blues.
Again...
I just don't like Blues. It's boring.
Wow, that feels a lot better.
Its like I've been playing guitar for 20+ years and my influences have all been pop/rock gutiarists who have all said they learned from great blues players. So I feel I owe it to listen to these blues artists...but I get bored. Really bored!
It's OK for one or two songs, makes a nice change, but when you get to the 5th or 6th 12 bar pattern being repeated again I'm heading for the off switch/or the door if its a live band!
Am I alone here?
Incidently I felt the same when after getting into Dylan's stuff and reading he was inspired by Woodie Guthrie. So I went and got hold of some Guthrie albums and...I got bored!
Maybe I just like my music 'processed' rather than raw?
Do I need counselling?
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Jul 23, 2003 11:43 am If you do, so do I, maybe we can start a 12-step group. I like blues-based music, such as rock, metla, punk and others, but blues, in and of itself I find kinda boring.
Admitting it is the first step.
Jul 23, 2003 11:51 am i dont like MUCH blues...stuff like 'the spencer davies blues explosion' and the better known 'white stripes' are cool though.
used to love claptons unplugged album, but it grates a bit now...and the productions not even that great!
Jul 23, 2003 01:48 pm i think it's fun to play blues because you can get together with anyone who knows the basics and play some mean jams. your solos can be infinitely creative because it's easy to know what's coming next, and you've probably soloed over the progression millions of times.
listening to blues gets mega boring.
Jul 23, 2003 02:37 pm Contemporary blues is definitely a wasteland. When the 12-bar blues was just being mined for ideas early in the 20th century, there were some very fresh things coming from it. It was an evolution of the field hollers from slaves and hard laborers of the time. It was used more as a catharsis and pastime than for the entertainment of those listening.
Check out St. Louis Blues by Bessie Smith (ca. 1925). It's straight 12-bar blues but with an interesting switch from major to minor keys to keep it a bit fresh.
I don't think that Ive heard any blues recorded past 1960 or so that I find interesting. the whole I-IV-V thing has been picked to death, and there's no more innovation to be had.
I think that the blues is best enjoyed when combined with other genres from around the world. Listen to Ray Charles' stuff from Atlantic Records between 1954 and 1956 (i think) for a jazz/blues/gospel kind of cross. Try Nina Simone or Bob Dylan for folk blended with the blues.
But if you ask me, anything that's on the Sunday night radio shows that's authored by anybody named T-Bone, Howlin' anything, Screamin' anybody, Bloody this, Blue Bland that, then I can bet that it's going to be derivitave and her been done before.
Jul 23, 2003 02:45 pm Nothing strange about it at all, kinda like just because someone loves pizza doesn't mean they'd want to eat the lump of dough a pizza starts with ;)
Jul 23, 2003 03:41 pm i just saw an old live taped performance fo B.B. King on the Sanford and Son show last night. I stopped what I was doing and gawked at the tube for 5 minutes while he and the band wailed on How Blue Can You Get.
I used to not *get* the blue until I started playing guitar. Now I'm aware more and more that I cannot simplify myself enough to not like any particular style of music
Jul 23, 2003 06:19 pm the song "i believe i'll dust my broom" by robert johnson is funny. one year i took it to the beach. we all laughed at it.
Jul 23, 2003 08:43 pm You people are going straight to hell! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Just kidding,I grew up in the 70`s listening to everything from hank williams senior to abba,to sabbath,fog hat,you name it and i loved it,thats right I feel the same way as Jamie,but I know we are few and far between.I can`t count the people who have told me I`m wierd for playing some Ernest Tubb followed by some Satch or Stevie Ray.Although Ill admit I didn`t really get into Blues until I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan.I guess you`d compare it to.....well I can`t compare him to anyone.I can KINDA see your point about the older stuff,but remember,If any one here ever MADE IT ,someday, someone..won`t get it.
Jul 24, 2003 08:12 am "hendrix is great anytime anywhere"
Yeh, I agree, but I wouldn't refer to hendrix's stuff as straight blues, and the ones he did that are more like straight blues are the least interesting tracks IMO.
I can see that if you are a good virtuoso guitarist then you'd like to jam along to blues, and ditto if you're someone whose into listening to interminable lead solos.
I watched the Led Zep film the other day The Song Remains The Same, and i found it boring again due to Jimmy Page's endless guitar noodlings! Whereas I like Led Zep studio albums where his guitar playing was more controlled and constrained and the songs can shine through.
I guess I'm a song/melody man rather than a 'musicianship' person. For example I love the Dylan recent album Time Out Of Mind, which to my ears sounds very early blues influenced!
Jul 24, 2003 08:44 am [quote]the song "i believe i'll dust my broom" by robert johnson is funny. one year i took it to the beach. we all laughed at it.
[/quote]
dude, that song and a couple other r. johnson songs from the 30's are in one of my WinAmp playlists. i love the sound of the old microphones. it's amazing just how minimal those old recordings are, just him and his guitar, a sparce note here and there. sorry you couldn't appreciate it :O(
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