Blues... Bluesy... Bluesier... Bluesiest?

[deltaslim]

When you listen to blues, do certain musicians (or music) strike you as being more bluesy than others?

Sino at ano sa inyo ang pinaka-bluesy?

What do you think makes them more "blue"? Is it simply the blue notes?

Discuss.

[haringulan]

What do you think makes them more "blue"? Is it simply the blue notes?

i'll leave the phrasings and dynamics that makes it more blue to the real music heads out there, but here's my two cents:

VOICE:
i love buddy guy's voice when he sings the blues
the way he belts out, it screams "ive got the blues, somebody give me a hug!"

LYRICS:
(buddy guy's "where is the next one coming from")
well I had a job, but i got laid off
i had a heart but it got too soft
i had a girlfriend and she lied
i had a wife but my wife she died
one too many drinks about an hour ago
all i want now's just one more
and when it hit, a baby i don't care
oh where is the next one comin' from?

TEMPO:
i think slower blues has a better bet at being "bluer"

[psychic_sushi]

I love what Hendrix did with the blues and electricity his playing for his era hit the spot! of all guitar players in the late 60's-early 70's ear, i believe jimi to have that blues spirit. his whole playing and music reeks of the blues, and his interpretation of it was a clear reflection of the signs of those times.

the voice.
the guitar tone being one with his voice.
the emulation of sounds, moods and feelings. You've got the old blues guys sounding like chickens, dogs, trains and whatnot on their guitars and harmonicas, then you've got jimi, making his strat wail from drowning in personal sadness (Redhouse), exhibiting supernatural power (voodoo chile), making a political statement vs. the US role in the vietnam war with the bombing and wailing (The Star Spangled Banner), and dealing with war in general (Machine Gun) with his battlefield sounds. Coz he truly had the blues over all of these issues.

i think since the blues, notewise, is a sparse music (i mean this in its most sublime element), there is space to express and explore emotions, and it can be daunting to play if you're not feeling it right. blues musicians display honesty and purity with their feelings, and can draw that through the instrument and into the listener through the music. if you're playin the blues, you are naked, confiding with the audience with your nakedness. and the audience knows if your being honest or playing with crocodile tears. you cannot hide behind the changes.

And as sadness functions with humor (you can be sad and funny, but not necessarily crazy!), jimi also always had the element of irony in his playing too. something i've noticed blues musicians to have.

[deltaslim]

I love what Hendrix did with the blues and electricity his playing for his era hit the spot! of all guitar players in the late 60's-early 70's ear, i believe jimi to have that blues spirit. his whole playing and music reeks of the blues, and his interpretation of it was a clear reflection of the signs of those times.

the voice.
the guitar tone being one with his voice.
the emulation of sounds, moods and feelings. You've got the old blues guys sounding like chickens, dogs, trains and whatnot on their guitars and harmonicas, then you've got jimi, making his strat wail from drowning in personal sadness (Redhouse), exhibiting supernatural power (voodoo chile), making a political statement vs. the US role in the vietnam war with the bombing and wailing (The Star Spangled Banner), and dealing with war in general (Machine Gun) with his battlefield sounds. Coz he truly had the blues over all of these issues.

i think since the blues, notewise, is a sparse music (i mean this in its most sublime element), there is space to express and explore emotions, and it can be daunting to play if you're not feeling it right. blues musicians display honesty and purity with their feelings, and can draw that through the instrument and into the listener through the music. if you're playin the blues, you are naked, confiding with the audience with your nakedness. and the audience knows if your being honest or playing with crocodile tears. you cannot hide behind the changes.

And as sadness functions with humor (you can be sad and funny, but not necessarily crazy!), jimi also always had the element of irony in his playing too. something i've noticed blues musicians to have.

great analogy on hendrix and the old blues guys!  and, well said, as usual.

[psychic_sushi]

tenk yew i love the blues... i wish it loved me back

[markthevirtuoso]

Sakin malakas ang tama nung The Thrill is Gone (BB King). Eto ata ang pinakabluesiest song kong alam at narinig. I need to listen on more blues recordings though to justify that.

[Deacon Blues]

Nobody gets any bluer than ... Mystique!  

Kidding ...

In the blues guitar idiom, I think it's more of the combination of articulation, dynamics and vibrato that makes any particular player stand out among the rest ..

So, it's not a question of how many notes you play. It's more a question of how well you play that one note..

Offhand, I'm reminded of SRV's 'Tin Pan Alley'.. that song stands out because it's such a glaring analogy of how he makes the transition from near-whisper volume and just blares out with that stinging line ... it's like 'Yow!!! What the ***k was that?!?!"

Or, in the sax realm, there's David Sanborn who, to my mind, has the most distinct vibrato .. now, my point of reference is an old song of his 'Carly's Song' (dedicated to Carly Simon, if I'm not mistaken) where he comes up with what to me sounds like the bluest sax lines ever ..

What makes them blue?

I would say it's the control ... having absolute control over the volume and intensity of a note at ANY time ..

Hmmm ... but let me reconsider what I said earlier about number of notes..

George Benson comes to mind.. Now, here's a jazz guitarist who doesn't bend strings the way most blues guitarists do.. But even then, the way he slides in and out of the blues scale gives his playing that 'blue' touch ..
Even his solo in 'Breezin,' a characteristically uptempo I-VI-II-V pattern, starts sounding bluesy midway through..

Does all that make sense?

Just to recap, it's articulation, enunciation, dynamics and vibrato ...

[markthevirtuoso]

Yun Tin Pan Alley ang pinakauna kong narinig na kanta ni SRV. Matagal ko na syang kilala noon (i've read lots of articles about him) pero di ko pa naririnig.

Swak na swak. Every note was in the pocket.

"Kaya pala blues legend sya..." -  napagisp-isip ko. I've been listening to him since then.

[tolits]

Sa akin si Nikole Kidman.

Ay mali! Blues- seal pala yun.

[pallas]

for me the bluesiest and the sickest are the ones that are gut-wrenchingly simple and sparse or loud and primal. Lightnin Hopkins basically telling you how he feels in "backdoor friend" and R.L Burnside doin what he does best

[deltaslim]

I didn't want to answer my own question so soon but, yeah, Lightnin Hopkins' vocal on "Back in the Chain Gang" and "In the Evenin" are the deepest blues, IMO.

Close second are Son House, (early) Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker.

Actually if I look outside the strictly blues idiom, to me the most gut-wrenching "blues" i've ever heard are from gospel singers like Willie Mae Ford Smith, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Brother Joe May, and and quartets like Famous Blue Jay Singers, Kings of Harmony, Fairfield Four, etc... I'll try to find time to post some clips of this music and let me know if you find them "bluesy" also. Minsan kasi I wonder... "Is it just me or is this the most hair-raising and bluesiest thing out ever?"

[psychic_sushi]

Nobody gets any bluer than ... Mystique!  

but she looked much better at that scene where she was "cured" from her mutant powers its good to be less blue sometimes...

[Deacon Blues]

I definitely agree!!!

Grabe, that Rebecca Romijn is one helluva babe!!! Especially in that particular scene you mentioned where she was stripped off her 'blueness' and was just lying there, all naked and all ...

Damn, too bad we didn't get so see more of her that way in the movie ...

Now, I'm bluer than blue ... sadder than sad ...  

[af_villaruel]

My opinions and likes vary from time to time... and as of the moment, the "bluesiest" would be a drunk woman (or "momma") singin' the blues.  

[paul]

for voice...bb. king, etta james

for FEEL: bb king, muddy waters, slowhand...actually blues naman is mostly feel e..... so marami

for speed AND feel (which is rare): srv, yung gitarista ng cry of love (try istening to the BROTHER album) and blues saraceno (progressive blues)


kakaiba nga rin yung electric blues ni hendrix

[smolhand]

Para sa ken sila Otis Rush at Lightnin' Hopkins. Napaka-raw kasi ng licks at delivery nila ng vocals.

Everytime I hear Lightnin' Hopkins' Penitentiary Blues, I can't help but feel confused. Di ko kasi malaman kung magagalingan ako sa kanta o made-depress!

Yun namang song ni Otis Rush na You Know My Love is, in my opinion, the perfect example of a song which depicts a bluesman in the throes of heartache. Blues na Blues talaga!

[pallas]

the black keys....all soul, motown, ape juice, feedback a drum kit and.... ..a tele

search=the%20black%20keys

[pallas]

lightnin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zybD6iOIdms&mode=suggested_some&search=rl%20burnside

[pallas]

hobo blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZDtlhegIS8&search=john%20lee%20hooker

[jazhombie]

i think james blood ulmer... he plays the guitar differently, compared to standard blues player,.. he's into blues, but plays on dissonant bounadaries... so, so untraditionally... but still he can capture a deep blue "feel"...

[deltaslim]

hobo blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZDtlhegIS8&search=john%20lee%20hooker

nice! thanks....


... but it's so disconcerting to see JLH standing up!  

[pallas]

sinabi mo pre, i always thought of him sitting down too

[deltaslim]

sinabi mo pre, i always thought of him sitting down too

yeah... and without the footstomping, it just aint the same!  say it isn't so John Lee!

anyway, great music pa rin from JLH. grabe voice nya. galing sa lupa.

[namida]

Off hand, Joe Satriani's "Down down down". It has this aching theme that had so much effect on me. Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" is otherworldly, the force of that song doesn't seem to come from where we are right now. Led Zeppelins "Since I've been Loving you", the feel of being dragged so miserably.

It might be my current preference but so far the songs above I find to be bluesier. And to answer Sir Slim's question about how they are bluesier for me, I suppose its the profound effect they have on me. What counts for me is the vividness of the musical trip these songs take me, to actually hear, see, and feel blue

[deltaslim]

Off hand, Joe Satriani's "Down down down". It has this aching theme that had so much effect on me. Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" is otherworldly, the force of that song doesn't seem to come from where we are right now. Led Zeppelins "Since I've been Loving you", the feel of being dragged so miserably.

It might be my current preference but so far the songs above I find to be bluesier. And to answer Sir Slim's question about how they are bluesier for me, I suppose its the profound effect they have on me. What counts for me is the vividness of the musical trip these songs take me, to actually hear, see, and feel blue

Nice one, namida. Sometimes I can't explain in a technical/musical sense why certain music hits me in the gut.  They just do.  Kahit pa happy major chords ginamit dyan. The feeling is the same, parang deep blues pa rin.

Ditto on Since I've Been Loving You... IMO, the best hard rock blues ballad ever, lalo na yung live. OMG!  Yung audience napanganga!