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Post by blueshome on Oct 5, 2016 16:00:59 GMT
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Post by Pickers Ditch on Oct 5, 2016 16:08:04 GMT
Saw that yesterday.
Had to smile after my son read it and said "So what?"
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Post by obrienp on Oct 5, 2016 16:33:17 GMT
Interesting! But I guess he has as much right to sing and play blues as the rest of us.
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Post by pete1951 on Oct 5, 2016 16:46:25 GMT
Interesting! But I guess he has as much right too sing and play blues as the rest of us. Yes, he has ever right to sing the blues, but to lie about his history is despicable. A marketing trick to try to make him 'the real deal'. I can truthfully say "I was born in the South and have lived in Mississippi and play the blues" Okay, it was the South of England, and I only lived in Mississippi for 2weeks, but it would give an air of authenticity to some sleeve notes, and might sell a few CDs PT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2016 16:52:40 GMT
That's showbiz--good luck to him!
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Post by Michael Messer on Oct 5, 2016 19:21:21 GMT
I have known that he was Steve Wold / Steve Leach, session musician and recording engineer, since he first turned up at the 12 Bar Club doing gigs for the promoters, 'Not The Same Old Blues Crap'. I thought that was common knowledge. The thing is, whilst it is a real old fashioned circus showbiz spin to create a fictitious character and back story, it actually worked and the industry was taken in and pushed him into stardom as a pop star. Clever boy!
Shine On Michael
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Post by blinddrunk on Oct 5, 2016 22:30:38 GMT
Personally, I don't see the problem. Steve Wold's past has always been in the public domain and (to the best of my knowledge) he's never attempted to hide it. He's merely created a stage persona for himself in much the same manner as many other bluesmen before him. For instance, the iconic photograph of Muddy Waters trudging along a railway track, guitar case in hand was taken at a point in his life where he could easily afford to buy a first class ticket and ride in style. Seasick Steve's only crime, as far as I can see, is that he's introduced the blues to a whole new generation - good blues, too.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2016 22:36:42 GMT
--and let's not forget EC's actual surname is Clapp.
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Post by Stevie on Oct 6, 2016 6:41:06 GMT
I sat next to S.S.S. at the Louisiana Red gig in Maidenhead. He came across as a real nice and unassuming guy who seemed genuinely interested in the blues.
There's always going to be those that cannot be doing with owt but the "real deal" (whatever that is nowadays). I suppose we'd better make the most of Buddy Guy while he's still here because when he goes, there will be no one left sanctioned to play "The Blues"...
Flippin' costly journey for us Brits!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2016 7:07:23 GMT
What about the story at the end of one album about his dogs / when he was in prison? TT
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Post by blueshome on Oct 6, 2016 12:07:02 GMT
Anyone has a right to like whatever music/artist they choose but IMO as far as SSS' blues playing is concerned he's 2nd rate and that's nothing to do with his race.
Have you guys never heard of cultural appropriation? It's the same old story - white guy turns up playing "black" music makes a packet, black players get sod all ,or have to rely on the goodwill of their imitators to get a decent gig.
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Post by blinddrunk on Oct 6, 2016 13:10:28 GMT
Blueshome: While there is some truth in what you say, it should be remembered that it was a bunch of British "white guys" - Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, et al - who pretty well saved the blues from extinction in the '60s - BB King freely and gratefully admitted this fact on several occasions. Any input from any artist, from any race, which raises the profile of the blues can not be bad, in my view.
As for black players getting "sod-all", I'd steer you towards BB King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy... or more recently, and in our own specific acoustic blues genre: Eric Bibb and Keb Mo'. All of these artists were, and are, more than capable of getting decent gigs on their own merits. Some of them even make/made good money at it too.
Your view of Seasick Steve being "2nd rate" is necessarily a subjective viewpoint. I confess that I think of him as something of a one-trick-pony, I have 3 albums and don't feel the need to buy more. While his playing is, by and large, simplistic, it is very slick - he certainly knows what he's doing. In any event, simplicity is the essence of the blues.
More generally, I feel that one of the great strengths of music is that it can transcend cultural barriers regardless of its origins.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2016 19:15:19 GMT
Cream made sure Skip James got royalties for 'I'm so Glad" which paid for the medical treatment he required in his latter days.
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Post by maui_chimes on Oct 7, 2016 3:18:09 GMT
I guess if your music isn't creative, then your marketing better be.
Never understood why this guy got so much attention in the UK.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2016 7:02:20 GMT
Never understood why this guy got so much attention in the UK. Maybe because if you see who's in the british blues awards lists these days days, most of it is 'stock' and cliched. SSSs first album was raw, energetic and different and garnered a lot of fans because of this. Since then, he's become more 'stock'. Back in the day, those black players sang about what happened to them, and these days a lot of blues players seem to sing about what happened to those black players, or just regurgitate 'blues soundbytes'. I can see why it happens, and why its a catch 22. If you play something original, people will say its 'not really blues'. And if you are white and play blues, people will call it 'cultural appropriation' etc. The other problem with 'blues' these days is those blues DJs. Most of them have no imagination, and most wouldn't know one end of a guitar from the other. TT
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