|
Post by Michael Messer on May 27, 2020 17:02:53 GMT
I always find the whole Robert Johnson legacy so weird, much more so than other deceased artists whose catalogue is so strong. Johnson died a young man having made a few records and had some fun playing in bars and juke joints. He knew he was good and he had a little bit of notoriety, but to have become an iconic and influential artist with his face on USA postage stamps and selling records for as long as the human race exists for, is something so beyond anything he could ever have even dreamed about, is just so extraordinary. It is also totally wonderful because he never knew.
Shine On Michael
|
|
|
Post by bonzo on May 27, 2020 17:29:03 GMT
WOW! We're into the 7th page and I'm not any the wiser than before we started!
|
|
|
Post by jono1uk on May 27, 2020 18:03:07 GMT
the other day i played my RJ Centennial vinyl box set for the first time on my new turntable ..and it sounded amazing.. they really did an excellent job of cleaning up the background noise etc ..
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 29, 2020 17:43:17 GMT
Nothing new here but I just clarified some stuff in my head. Just coincidentally, I was listening to some recordings of interviews done by Studs Terkel in the 60’s and 70’s, of Eric Burdon, and John Hammond Sr. (There are hundreds of audio interviews in the archive if anyone interested.) Eric Burdon (1967) mentioned RJ many times and cited him as an early influence. Hammond (legendary Columbia records producer) made absolutley NO mention of RJ at all in several hours of discussion about 1930’s blues.
As per TTs point above, Clapton covered Crossroads, but originally 2 years prior to the Cream cover, with Powerhouse...so RJ on folks minds in UK in early 60’s.
I never heard anything about RJ here in the USA until the post psychedelia blues thing of say 1969 or 70, not that I was connected in any way... So the 1961 release of RJ on LP had a very different impact in the USA and UK.
So whats my point...? I think all this RJ stuff originated in the UK... Eric Burdon made a very interesting point is stating that the music payola phenomenon that did not happen in UK, and racial bias in USA, insulated American youth from appreciating and wanting to replicate the USA black blues music...and that accounts for the different awareness of RJ on both sides of the pond...
|
|
|
Post by bonzo on May 29, 2020 18:32:11 GMT
Good point well made Fred.
|
|
|
Post by Pickers Ditch on May 29, 2020 19:20:48 GMT
Clapton also did 'Ramblin' on My Mind' on the 1965 John Mayall "Beano" album too.
|
|
|
Post by pete1951 on May 29, 2020 21:42:00 GMT
RJs songs (or perhaps his version of various songs) are still some of the most popular Blues songs around. His rise to stardom was I’m sure,in part ,fuelled by stars endorsing him (Eric C. Eric B etc). The record ,King of the Delta Blues, stood out from all the others around at the time. It had most of RJs most technically difficult and emotionally powerful numbers. Pete
|
|
|
Post by davey on May 30, 2020 14:22:42 GMT
Just a curious thought...
When the Brit Blues players discovered RJ, he'd only been dead 25 years. Go back 25 years from now and what kind of music did we have ? No idea, can't remember any.
|
|
|
Post by bonzo on May 30, 2020 15:21:09 GMT
Let's say no music that interested most of us Davey! I can if I put my mind to it think of some decent stuff. 25 years before the British blues guys discovered RJ the country was just getting started on the 2nd world war! Pretty much all of the blues guys and girls from that period were unknown in their own country, or anywhere else come to that. When we look back for inspiration, music or otherwise, we tend to skip a generation and end up in our grand parents era. My son is expert on the music of the 90's whereas my grandson who's 11 will have a good chat with me about different licks in shake your moneymaker! (No I haven't told him what it's about!) Good music is always good music, it's who likes it that changes.
Best wishes to you all, John
|
|
|
Post by coach on May 31, 2020 8:29:59 GMT
Go back 25 years from now and what kind of music did we have ? Grunge! A brilliant antithesis to the pompous, overly technical and image-heavy wave of rock music which dominated until that point. Grunge meant you could be in a band with shortish hair and a checked shirt without being judged, and go on stage wearing the same gear you went to work/college in and still be cool. Out went the endless fret-widdle of increasing difficulty based on classical music, and in came melodic, simple and powerful riffs with blues based scales. In the same way that punk helped to kick out prog rock which was starting to fester in its own complications, grunge provided a refreshing alternative to what had become repetitive and stagnant; leather-clad and big-hair posturing of the US charts, or the woeful legions of 45 year old men with beards and jumpers, playing watered down Cream covers in British pubs, dreaming of being Eric but failing to comprehend where he himself had drawn influences and coming across more "clapped-out" than Clapton. Everyone who was in that original grunge scene also liked Sabbath & Zeppelin, which led to blues, which led to RJ. Ergo you would often hear Mr Johnson's tracks popping up in someone's mix tape on their car stereo. I happen to think that if the music sharing vehicles we have today (the internet for a start, you tube videos etc..) had existed in the mid 90's, then we would have had a traditional blues explosion. There's always some regurgitation every 20-25 years of fashion and music.
|
|
|
Post by davey on May 31, 2020 11:17:11 GMT
I just spent a pleasant couple of hours listening to Grunge bands on Youtube. Really enjoyed it, lots of raw energy.
|
|
|
Post by meanstepfather on Jun 1, 2020 9:03:46 GMT
While the experts argue about the authenticity of the Robert Johnson images,I`ll be over here listening to Bukka White,Skip James and Chaley Patton. Saying that,it is a lovely portrait.
|
|
|
Post by pete1951 on Jun 1, 2020 11:00:22 GMT
While the experts argue about the authenticity of the Robert Johnson images,I`ll be over here listening to Bukka White,Skip James and Chaley Patton. Saying that,it is a lovely portrait. Why so many of the great early blues players are sidelined is a mystery. To me there is something gut-wrenching about RJ (that first LP) that I rarely get from other players . Skip J sends shivers down my spine, Bukka Ws rhythms are incredible but RJ ( to me ) took things to another level emotionally. Pete
|
|
|
Post by meanstepfather on Jun 1, 2020 23:19:37 GMT
While the experts argue about the authenticity of the Robert Johnson images,I`ll be over here listening to Bukka White,Skip James and Chaley Patton. Saying that,it is a lovely portrait. Why so many of the great early blues players are sidelined is a mystery. To me there is something gut-wrenching about RJ (that first LP) that I rarely get from other players . Skip J sends shivers down my spine, Bukka Ws rhythms are incredible but RJ ( to me ) took things to another level emotionally. Pete Yes Pete,I do enjoy Robert`s recordings very much too.I remember pouring over that first LP and then eagerly ordering(at the local record shop)and waitng for this one: Happy days. I see Robert as an artist who was standing on the shoulder of giants.The sum of his influences,mind you,he only stole from the best. No love for Charley,Pete?.
|
|
|
Post by pete1951 on Jun 2, 2020 6:58:43 GMT
I have always found Charley Ps work interesting,enjoyable but not moving in the way RJ s (first LP) is. Son House had much of that raw emotion I found in RJ but RJ also took playing to another level It’s possible that if I had heard LP number 2 first I would have developed a different idea about RJ but I didn’t and he will always be King of the Delta Blues Singers . Pete
|
|