News of Jimmy Dawkins' passing caused me to reflect on my relationship with the blues.
During the last big blues scare I avidly consumed the music. I frequented gigs by the likes of Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Little Hatch and Jimmy Rogers and avidly kept tabs on the new release schedules of labels like Delmark Records.
Money is tighter these days and I have to deal with the real-life challenges faced by most adults. While I have plenty of reasons to embrace the blues, the form no longer holds much interest for me. Am I a loathsome bandwagon-jumper or has the quality of the blues scene diminished?
Soul and R&B-oriented acts like Linda Shell & Her Blues Thang and Bobby Rush excepted, I'm not inclined to spend a Friday night at a club listening to a blues band. Even acclaimed outliers don't stir me. Most of the blues I listen to for pleasure was recorded before 1970.
It serves me right to suffer.
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Dave Douglas reconfigured my DNA earlier this week. Here's my review of his appearance at the Blue Room.
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Mac Lethal is in cranky old man mode on "Late 20's & Early 30's. I like it, but I'll be even happier when he starts complaining about 1099s and mortgage deduction paperwork.)
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Here's an update on Kerwin Young's affiliation with Public Enemy.
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KJHK filmed an in-studio session by Fourth of July.
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Kvelertak is my favorite thing right now.
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I pray that I never outgrow my love for sleazy rock albums like Too High Too Kross by the Dirty Fences.
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This Is The End, Beautiful Friend is a set of the "silent final grooves of records" available at the Free Music Archive. RIYL: vinyl, noise, mixtapes.
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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
3 comments:
I'm with you on the 1970 cutoff date. This is a good guide when listening to the Fish Fry.
I think you're a bit misguided about the blues genre, HIB, but I agree that most stuff released these days I have no interest in any longer. But there are plenty of exceptions too. And just how do you define blues anyways. It's not just 12 bars AAB, or 8 bars like Trouble in Mind. I will never grow tired of the old guys and gals. NEVER. But I digress. My listening habits now are so diverse I can't keep up with what I want to. Cheers.
Yeah, Bill, I immediately regretted my harsh pronouncement. There are dozens- if not hundreds- of exceptions. It's a "good guide," as Steve suggests, but no more.
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