monday morning blues = you get nothing...

_posted in dayedayerocks | monday morning blues | 17 December 2007

you get nothing this monday morning... but i will give you two things i learned last night and one i've been wanting to put into everyday conversation.

_silliness no.1

it's better to have a bottle in front of you than have a frontal lobotomy.

_silliness no.2

one hand holds want you want and the other holds piss, which do you think will fill the quickest.

_silliness no.3

time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana.

so there you have... silly homespun humor that i am determined to place into everyday conversation.

_soundcheck: ben harper: both sides of the gun

monday morning blues = thus, africa.

_posted in monday morning blues | 02 December 2007

this week's monday morning blues is about taking it home, to its beginnings. thus, africa. it's west african heavy of course. as well as ali farka toure heavy, as it should be! toure is to mali but son house and robert johnson are to american blues.

I know for some the language barrier will be an issue, but the beauty of music is the feeling you get. you may not know what tinariwen are singing about in soixante trois, but you know its something that is real. it's haunting and its a longing for something thing that was lost. approaching a song where all i have available to me is the music, the tone of the unknown language makes for initially like knowing what the songs are about on a visceral level before i start searching for translations. what i find most interesting is my feelings and opinions of the music isnt changed by the words. the music truly lives as the words.

listen.

Black Night: Muddy Waters

this monday morning blues = blues covers...

_posted in monday morning blues | 18 November 2007

listen.

this monday morning blues is centered around four songs. if you know me, then you know how much of a snob i can be about music and film. i have a profound distaste for covers unless they are exceptional. i hate film remakes and "reimagining", even more, unless the new version has injected the story with a new perspective. i get it, i completely understand that unless we remake things that subsequent generations will miss out on quality art.

having said that, i am completely fascinated by covers (and remakes). what i can't stand is sub par fair that is taken as original or even innovative. i like the white strips, but no their cover of death letter can not hold a candle to son house sitting in a chair with his steel guitar or johnny farmer putting it down like only an old blues man can. and i'm sure jack white would agree, but i fear that the majority of people listening to the white strips have no idea who son house is. my hope is that the white stripes is the gateway drug to some hard core blues.

the history of the blues is so dynamic that it's hard to say who actually created some of the earlier songs. these earlier songs came from the fields and front porches or the chain gang lines, passed down through generations. so many of the greats did the same song and made it unique and part of their signature sound. so some of them i don't consider covers so much as the natural evolution of the genre.

the covers i hate the most are marked with @@ <--- that's me rolling my eyes... annoyed that this cover exists.

Black Betty
Leadbelly
Nick Cave & The Bad Seed @@
Ram Jam @@

Crossroads
Robert Johnson
Cream @@
Derek & The Dominos / Eric Clapton @@
Elmore Jones

Death Letter
Son House
Ida Cox: Death Letter Blues
Johnny Farmer
Johnny Farmer / Organized Noize Remix
White Stripes
Muddy Waters: Burying Ground Blues
Robert Wilkins: Nashville Stonewall Blues
Blind Mctell Willie: On the Cooling Board

Stagger Lee - Stackolee - Stackerlee
I love that there's a billion spellings for this song.
Mississippi John Hurt
Woody Gutherie & Sonny Terry
16 Bama
Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson
Lucious Curtis & Willie Ford
Lloyd Price
Black Keys: Stack Shot Billy

the blues ain't nothin' but a good woman feeling bad...

_posted in dayedayerocks | monday morning blues | 14 November 2007

the lyrics say it all...

listen.

Black Night: Muddy Waters
Dark Road: Robert Bradley
Worried Down With the Blues: Larry McCray
The Sky is Crying: Elmore James
Another Bad Day: Larry Garner
Blue: Stevie Ray Vaughan
What In The World: Rory Gallagher
Lonesome In My Bedroom: Luther Johnson
Trouble Trouble: Son Seals
St. James Infirmary Blues: Joe Cocker
Everyday I Have the Blues: Elmore James
Blue and Lonesome: Little Walter
3 O'clock in the Morning Blues: Ike & Tina Turner
Cold, Cold Feeling: Aron Burton
Worried Life Blues: John Lee Hooker
It Serves You Right to Suffer: John Lee Hooker
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues: Chris Thomas King

lady sings the blues...

_posted in monday morning blues | 16 July 2007

listen.

i just love the explicit advisory on this record.

this week's monday morning blues is all about the ladies. the history of these women is phenomenal. they are considered the ones who put the blues on the map. in some instances they were making the most money out of all the black performers. in the 1920s no less.

so the songs are in chronological order as best as i could research them. they range from 1923 - 1988.

these women are not playing... from sexual innuendos, men who aint no good (yes, dirty mother for you is a dirty motherfucker... o....k...) to just plain old being tried... they make you shake your head and say "yes, girl... tell it girl..."

my top three; sloppy drunk blues and 3 o'clock blues and pussycat moan.

there will be a part two, because there are so many ladies not listed here... enjoy, cause i did.

Down Hearted Blues: Bessie Smith
Blues Ain't Nothing Else But!: Ida Cox
Sloppy Drunk Blues: Lucille Bogan
I Been a Bad, Bad Girl: Ozella Jones
Boy Friend Blues: Memphis Minnie
Dirty Mother For You: Memphis Minnie
Conjur Man: Memphis Minnie
Beggin' the Blues: Bessie Jones
Wang Dang Doodle: Koko Taylor
3 O'clock In the Morning Blues: Ike and Tina Turner
63 Year Old Mama: Koko Taylor
After You Get Rid of Me: Katie Webster
Pussycat Moan: Katie Webster

back breaking work...

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 09 July 2007

listen.

alan lomax is one of my musical heroes. imagine what he could accomplish today with the technology available. these were all recorded by lomax over the many years he spent traveling the world and recording music in its natural setting.

what i love most about these is the fact that you hear the realty of the situations. work songs or chain gang songs are a great example of culture passed from generation to generation. it's call-and-response at its best. this is not only the forefather of gospel music, but most importantly the blues. many blues musicians brought those work songs into the juke joints and made them their own.

so today is all about the work/chain gang songs lomax recorded. notice the ambient noise, the pick axes hitting the ground, the sound of singing in a tunnel, the genuine voices and the realty of back breaking work. damn if i don't get home sick when listening to old black men singing.

you may have to adjust the volume here and there because some of the files are definitely lo-fi. enjoy.

Don't You Hear Po' Mother Callin': Hollie Dew, Bull, and Group
It Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad: 22 & Group
Black Woman: BB & Group
Whoa Buck: CB
Jumpin Judy: Tangle Eye, Fuzzy Red, Hard Hair & Group
Old Alabama: BB & Group
John Henry: Ed Lewis
Early In The Mornin': John Lee More & Prisoners
Rosie: unkown, Alan Lomax

fife and drum...

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 06 July 2007

mos def has a fife and drum hook on his most recent album and it solidified his musical god status for me. i marvel at current musicians who take the time and effort to find the roots of music. this is another one of those deep deep generational arts that date back to well before we were sharecroppers. the belief is slaves, who had no instruments, created the fife from bambo or wood. the most famous fife player in america was othar turner. he died at 94, just a few years ago. this music proves that a person can be a complete master of his craft.

the electric blues.

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 06 July 2007

once the migration to the north started black musicians who were playing on acoustic guitars starting playing electric guitars. once they left the deep south musicians, who started out strumming like the others on his old school guitar, took up playing with electric blues. the availability of electricity changed how the blues could now be played. once you're in an environment that lends itself to a new form of a genre, stand back.

muddy waters, bb king, howlin wolf, elmore james... these guys rock it hardcore.

lady sings the blues...

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 06 July 2007

listen.

i just love the explicit advisory on this record.

this week's monday morning blues is all about the ladies. the history of these women is phenomenal. they are considered the ones who put the blues on the map. in some instances they were making the most money out of all the black performers. in the 1920s no less.

so the songs are in chronological order as best as i could research them. they range from 1923 - 1988.

these women are not playing... from sexual innuendos, men who aint no good (yes, dirty mother for you is a dirty motherfucker... o....k... to just plain old being tried... they make you shake your head and say "yes, girl... tell it girl..."

my top three, for obvious reasons, sloppy drunk blues and 3 o'clock blues and pussycat moan.

there will be a part two, because there are so many ladies not listed here... enjoy, cause i did.

Down Hearted Blues: Bessie Smith
Blues Ain't Nothing Else But!: Ida Cox
Sloppy Drunk Blues: Lucille Bogan
I Been a Bad, Bad Girl: Ozella Jones
Boy Friend Blues: Memphis Minnie
Dirty Mother For You: Memphis Minnie
Conjur Man: Memphis Minnie
Beggin' the Blues: Bessie Jones
Wang Dang Doodle: Koko Taylor
3 O'clock In the Morning Blues: Ike and Tina Turner
63 Year Old Mama: Koko Taylor
After You Get Rid of Me: Katie Webster
Pussycat Moan: Katie Webster

monday morning blues no.1

_posted in monday morning blues | music | 02 July 2007

listen.
Well here's the playlist for monday morning blues. there are some examples of old school and new school versions. new school being electric guitar. enjoy.

It Serves You Right to Suffer: John Lee Hooker
Country Blues: Muddy Waters
Traveling Riverside Blues: Robert Johnson
Cross Road Blues (Take 1): Robert Johnson
Standing at the Crossroad: Elmore James
Bo Diddley: Bo Diddley
I'm a Man: Bo Diddley
You Can't Lose What You Never Had: Muddy Waters
The Sun is Shining: Elmore James
Black Betty: Leadbelly

The best way to listen to the playlist in iTunes is to save the m3u file and then make a playlist for the file. This way all the songs will automatically play one after the other, otherwise you'll have to manually play each song. I really cant say how other players will deal with the file. In the future this may be a flash player, but I did squat this weekend and didnt get around to it.