WELCOME TO THE SHOW! by Mike Burton
Posted on 5/10/2009 by Mike Burton
Greetings, Dear Reader! and welcome to what will for an undetermined amount of time be considered one of the greatest repetitive works of musical and literary genius ever to grace that all-encompassing smorgasbord of information colloquially known as the Internet: "The Mike Burton Pseudo-Radio Funtime Blues Hour", or, as it will more likely be referred to, History of Blues: The Blog.
Please note: I hate, and I cannot stress that word enough, the term “blog.” Had I my way, every idiot who uses the term “blog” would be cooked with his own turkey, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. However, as no better term has yet surfaced to shorten the description, “Regularly Updated Series of Articles on a Given Subject Matter,” I will unfortunately have to resort to using it now and then. I will nevertheless be using the words “article” and "column" in its place whenever possible.
That said, I do appreciate your patronage of this article. If I may sum up here – and I fully intend to – the theme of this article will be old, old blues: the genre, the lifestyle, the heroes, and everything else that helped shape the American music tradition that has spanned at least a century, influenced almost every genre of music currently recognized by enthusiasts worldwide, and still stayed true to its form.
If you’re reading this, you either already have a healthy appreciation of blues, in which case kudos, or you have a desire to learn; either way, you should know that one thing that makes the blues so captivating is the duality of the style: there are a finite number of blues patterns, and often many separate songs even have the same chord progression; yet no matter how similar they may seem on paper, the actual performances and recordings differ greatly in far more than just the lyrics; indeed, every song almost has its very own soul. The beauty lies in making the work similar, yet totally unique; sometimes by instrument choice, sometimes by a twist here or there, sometimes just by the individuality of the vocalist’s technique. In fact, even within each separate blues pattern are dozens of subgenres completely unique in and of themselves, often dominated by the one or two artists who pioneered them.
For example: at least in the realm of major label recording artists, George Thorogood stands almost alone in his particular style of electric blues; a dedicated audiophile can recognize a Thorogood track within seconds. John Lee Hooker can be noted for his distinctive deep, throaty, almost lazy vocal styling and the slow-but-distinct lead acoustic guitar technique he typically employed. Each artist, and indeed, each song, is a completely unique entity all its own.
Such diversity is rarely seen so clearly in any other genre, especially in modern music. Today’s stars tend to be so concerned with what people will listen to that they forget to strive for what people should listen to. It is too rare today to find a modern artist who honestly writes material for self expression, or art, or any real and decent purpose; and when one is found, rarely will they be signed by a major label.
Thankfully, we still have the good ol’ days of the blues to sink back to when we need a retreat from this ridiculous world we live in; thankfully, we can still come home from a crazy day at work and play R.L. Burnside or Blind Willie McTell, and just disappear into a groove that defies all reason; thank God, in short, for the Blues.
Thank you once again for tuning in to the Mike Burton Pseudo-Radio Funtime Blues Hour; we do hope you’ll join us next week for the first installment of our Lord-willing never-ending music appreciation series, “Blind Lemon Jefferson: Texas Serenade,” and don’t you ever forget – “Pappy loves y’all!”
http://www.TodaysGoldPrice.info
Please note: I hate, and I cannot stress that word enough, the term “blog.” Had I my way, every idiot who uses the term “blog” would be cooked with his own turkey, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. However, as no better term has yet surfaced to shorten the description, “Regularly Updated Series of Articles on a Given Subject Matter,” I will unfortunately have to resort to using it now and then. I will nevertheless be using the words “article” and "column" in its place whenever possible.
That said, I do appreciate your patronage of this article. If I may sum up here – and I fully intend to – the theme of this article will be old, old blues: the genre, the lifestyle, the heroes, and everything else that helped shape the American music tradition that has spanned at least a century, influenced almost every genre of music currently recognized by enthusiasts worldwide, and still stayed true to its form.
If you’re reading this, you either already have a healthy appreciation of blues, in which case kudos, or you have a desire to learn; either way, you should know that one thing that makes the blues so captivating is the duality of the style: there are a finite number of blues patterns, and often many separate songs even have the same chord progression; yet no matter how similar they may seem on paper, the actual performances and recordings differ greatly in far more than just the lyrics; indeed, every song almost has its very own soul. The beauty lies in making the work similar, yet totally unique; sometimes by instrument choice, sometimes by a twist here or there, sometimes just by the individuality of the vocalist’s technique. In fact, even within each separate blues pattern are dozens of subgenres completely unique in and of themselves, often dominated by the one or two artists who pioneered them.
For example: at least in the realm of major label recording artists, George Thorogood stands almost alone in his particular style of electric blues; a dedicated audiophile can recognize a Thorogood track within seconds. John Lee Hooker can be noted for his distinctive deep, throaty, almost lazy vocal styling and the slow-but-distinct lead acoustic guitar technique he typically employed. Each artist, and indeed, each song, is a completely unique entity all its own.
Such diversity is rarely seen so clearly in any other genre, especially in modern music. Today’s stars tend to be so concerned with what people will listen to that they forget to strive for what people should listen to. It is too rare today to find a modern artist who honestly writes material for self expression, or art, or any real and decent purpose; and when one is found, rarely will they be signed by a major label.
Thankfully, we still have the good ol’ days of the blues to sink back to when we need a retreat from this ridiculous world we live in; thankfully, we can still come home from a crazy day at work and play R.L. Burnside or Blind Willie McTell, and just disappear into a groove that defies all reason; thank God, in short, for the Blues.
Thank you once again for tuning in to the Mike Burton Pseudo-Radio Funtime Blues Hour; we do hope you’ll join us next week for the first installment of our Lord-willing never-ending music appreciation series, “Blind Lemon Jefferson: Texas Serenade,” and don’t you ever forget – “Pappy loves y’all!”
http://www.TodaysGoldPrice.info
