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Devil Got My Woman

aguitarlesson — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:13:56 +0000

Neither Vangauard records nor Skip James had high commercial expectations for Devil Got My Woman, when it was released in 1968. After all James’s superb debut, Today! sold poorly two years earlier, despite widespread critical praise. Interest in country blues was fading. In fact, by the time Devil Got My Woman made it to record stores, the album had all but disappeared.

What had happened, of course, was the birth of blues rock and the move by many traditional blues players to change their sound to sound more like the music of the times. The market for the blues was strong in the late sixties. Many rock fans, inspired by Paul Butterfields Blues Band, Cream, Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers Band, and other groups that built their sound from a solid blues foundation, embraced the blues with a new enthusiasm.

Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf played rock venues and rock festivals and recorded with rock musicians. Johnny Winter brought whit blues into the rock mainstream. B.B. King had a pop hit with “The Thrill Is Gone”.

About the only bluesmen not reaping the rewards of this new blues craze were the country artist whose music lacked the volume and thumping backbeat heard in electric blues. Despite Cream’s remake of his song “I’m So Glad.” Skip James and Devil Got My Woman never really stood a chance of attracting hoards of rock fans in 1968, Skip James played the same kind of style on Devil Got My Woman that he did when he first recorded it for Paramount label back in 1931.

Charley Patton the Founder of the Delta Blues- The Legend Lives On

aguitarlesson — Thu, 20 May 2010 01:38:43 +0000

By Bruce Lamb

http://TheGuitarWorkshop.com

Though he used to write his name as Charlie Patton, yet popularly called Charley, is considered as the father and proponent of the American Delta Blues genre of music. This style is one of the oldest renditions of blues style of music and hence it made Charley Patton as one of the oldest known figures of American Popular Music. Said to be been born in the year 1887 and have died in 1934, Charlie Patton is still considered one of the most influential figures of American music.

Charley and the Early Years of Delta Blues: The Origin of the Genre

Charlie Patton was born in Hinds County, Mississippi and had passed most of his life in the Mississippi Delta. He did most of his work on Delta Blues style from here and for that reason this style was also known as the Mississippi Delta Blues style of music. Most of that area was covered with extremely fertile land, yet poverty was rampant. The socio-economic condition became the soul of this genre. The cigar box guitar, guitar and harmonica formed the base for this genre’s music.

The Unique style that separated it from other country blues: The Differentiating Factor

Although there was not much of a subsequent rhythmic difference between Charlie Patton’s style and other country blues to have originated at the same time. Most of the areas had the same cultural background, yet Mississippi Delta Blues stood out because of its harmonic structure and theme that talked exhaustively about travelling musicians’ life, sexuality and life the delta. Women also had a part in this style, but only a few made names for themselves.

The Accolades for Charlie Patton and Delta Blues Style: Accolades even after his Death

In 2001, Revenant records released a 5-CDs feature called Screamin’ and Hollerin’ Blues-
The Worlds of Charley Patton. This included several released and unreleased works of Charlie Patton and his partners. This became an instant hit amongst the discerned music population and such was the magic of the genius after so many years, this album became a proud winner of not 1, but 3 Grammy Awards in the year 2003.

Not just a musician, a proper showman in himself, Charlie Patton was a charismatic figure who changed the course of American Popular Music. He was so down to earth that he gave blues Guitar lessons to the local enthusiasts, and at the same time became a larger than life figure with his raw and energetic voice. Stalwart like Bob Dylan to famed musicologist Robert Palmer have praised the contribution of the man popularly called Charley Patton and his legend lives on forever.

Muddy Waters-The Houchie Coochie Man

aguitarlesson — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:39:54 +0000

By Bruce Lamb

http://TheGuitarWorkShop.com

McKinley Morganfield, born on April 4, 1913 and died on April 30, 1983, more popularly known among his fans as Muddy Waters, was a reputed musician of the American blues genre. Muddy Waters was generally acknowledged as “the Father of Chicago blues”.

Muddy Waters debuted on harmonica but by the age of 17 had started playing the guitar at a number of parties where he emulated two very reputed blues artists Robert Johnson and Son House. Qualities for which he got instantly noticed were his rich baritone, his ability to add dark coloration to his tone and his wonderful ability to add a lot of embellishments to the music he played.

The real success phase for Muddy Waters the Original Huochie Coochie Man began with an association with the Chess brothers Phill and Leonard Chess who had formed a music group known as Aristocrat.

In the year 1948, his music on “I Feel Like Going Home” and “I Can’t Be Satisfied” were huge hits and that was the point in time when he began to climb the popularity charts in the clubs. After this, soon, Aristocrat rebranded their name to Chess Records and instantly, Muddy Waters the Original Huochie Coochie Man’s signature tune which happened to be “Rollin’ Stone” became a huge hit among its fans.

By the time September 1953 arrived, Muddy Waters the Original Huochie Coochie Man had started recording in association with one of the more acknowledged blues groups ever in history: This group comprised Elga Edmonds who played on drums, Otis Spann who played on piano, Little Walter Jacobs who played on harmonica; and lastly, Jimmy Rogers who strummed the guitar.

The highly acclaimed band had already recorded a number of blues classics during the time of early 1950s, with the active help of Willie Dixon who was a bassist/songwriter and the masterpieces included “I Just Want to Make Love to You”; “Huochie Coochie Man”, and “I’m Ready”.

These songs were branded macho songs and they earned a lot of critical acclaim. These songs gave Muddy Waters a series of showstoppers and a tremendous thrust, which proved very important for a hitherto unknown bluesman who was trying to break free from the world of local gigs into the lime light of national prominence.

His beginning was not great but he had a lot of support, both institutional and from his peers who helped him with free guitar lessons and Blues Guitar lessons. It was to his credit that he utilized the opportunities to perfection to rise to prominence.

Muddy Waters, by the time he passed away, had carved out his own niche and his music and songs had inspired an entire generation and the Blues Music had begun to earn its laurels.