home

The Vinyl Press

  • Features
  • Records
  • Cleaning – Care
  • Editorials
  • Compendia
  • Ephemera
  • Phono
  • About
You are here: Home / Features / SIDEBAR- Rediscovering the Blues

SIDEBAR- Rediscovering the Blues

September 28, 2015 by Bill Hart

marcin nowak (1)

 

The history of the blues revival is just as fascinating and almost as confusing as the history of some of the early blues players. There were a number of key figures involved in the effort to locate the surviving players and their pursuits were often beset by misdirection, sometimes inadvertent, sometimes deliberate and occasionally hilarious.   Dick Waterman, Phil Spiro and Nick Perls finally located Son House in Rochester, New York after searching fruitlessly in the South. House, who influenced Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, apparently had no idea that his early work was so influential. Alan Wilson was partly responsible for learning that Son was still alive and also helped House rekindle his chops once he was located. See Words About Alan. See generally, Blind Owl Blues: The Mysterious Life and Death of Blues Legend Alan Wilson, Rebecca Davis, (2013) which I am now reading and can recommend.

When Skip James was finally located in a Mississippi hospital by a group of young blues enthusiasts, including Fahey, Bill Barth and Henry Vestine, James allegedly said: “You must be pretty stupid. Took you a long time to get here.”  (Even if apocryphal, the anecdote is amusing). See I’d Rather Be the Devil by Stephen Calt (Skip James biography which I read several years ago, and can recommend as well).

Apparently, the rediscovery of House and James by these two separate “teams” of explorers took place on the same weekend!

 

Other seminal figures in the rediscovery of the old blues players include:

  • Gayle Wardlow, a preeminent scholar in the field. Among other things, Wardlow located Robert Johnson’s death certificate, See Chasin’ That Devil Music: Searching for the Blues by Gayle Wardlow.
  • Dick Waterman, mentioned above, who also made some wonderful photographs of the bluesmen; his book, Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive is well worth exploring and contains short, interesting essays of his first hand encounters with some of the great blues players as well as timeless images of many famous and forgotten blues icons. (Waterman also has a website).

I’m just skimming the surface here- there were many great blues pioneers, and probably as many scholars, amateur and professional, who dedicated time, money and effort to unearthing significant lost records, and in some cases, going to extraordinary lengths in trying to track down and locate the surviving artists; artists who in some cases, were only names on old, scratchy 78’s. (It was also dangerous—the civil rights turmoil in the South was occurring at the time a lot of these young, earnest blues enthusiasts were wandering through the neighborhoods).

My thanks to Edward Komara, author of 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own, who kept me from straying off the historical path in this short sketch of the blues revival and rediscovery (though any mistakes are entirely my own and can be rectified by sending me a note via a Letter to the Editor).  Komara, who helped guide me in some of my research on Elmore James,  also informed me of a relatively new book, Pioneers of the Blues Revival by Steve Cushing (2014), which contains interviews with a number of these “blues explorers” who were instrumental in reviving a vast, important part of our musical heritage. That one is on my ever-growing reading list.

 

Bill Hart

Sept. 28, 2015

 

 

Filed Under: Features

In Brief:

Milt Ward Virgo Reissue Coming from Frederiksberg

Although I don't have all the details yet, I have learned that Frederiksberg Records, a small, eclectic label from New York, is in the process of reissuing the hard to find (and even harder to pay for) jazz obscurity, Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum. You can find out more by keeping tabs on Frederiksberg's Bandcamp page, https://frederiksbergrecords.bandcamp.com   I'm told there is a bootleg out there so be careful. Frederiksberg is doing this project with the participation of the family of Milt Ward, which is to be applauded. Hopefully, this will give more access to a great jazz record at a reasonable price. The Roots album reissue from Frederiksberg (which is sold out on vinyl on the Frederiksberg Records bandcamp site) still appears to be available through some online retailers as a pre-order, so that's another one to jump on now if you can find it-- the original is extremely pricey and … [Read More...]

Clem Snide- Forever Just Beyond

Clem Snide- Forever Just Beyond With a name derived from a character in the same literary work as the band name so famously identified with the Walter Becker-Donald Fagen duo, Clem Snide has an extensive discography, typically cataloged as “alt country.” This latest release is the work of one of its founding members, Eef Barzelay, who was responsible for much of the songwriting and singing. According to his bio, Barzelay suffered some serious bumps in the road during the last decade, including a failing marriage and financial ruin. At the same time, he learned that Scott Avett was a fan and they found inspiration in each other, leading to this album- a collaboration of artistry where Avett and Barzelay share some writing credits and Avett produces. The result is a fresh, upbeat set of tunes that are appealing in their simplicity and refreshing in their sincerity. The band is first tier … [Read More...]

Muriel Grossmann- Reverence

Muriel Grossmann- Reverence Muriel Grossmann continues her quest for musical ascension on Reverence, which was released on vinyl in early December, 2019 on the RR Gems label as a 2 LP set. The compositions are Grossmann’s, and the band is much the same as the group of seasoned musicians with whom she has worked for some time (and detailed in the review of her Golden Rule), but for one notable exception: the addition of a keyboard player who brings that rich, woody Hammond B-3 sound to a series of compositions devoted to Africa. In some ways, Ms. Grossmann’s exploration of the roots of jazz deliberately eschews any superficial attempt to make African music. Instead, she draws inspiration from its influences, which are wide ranging and deep—you can hear rhythm and blues sounds mixed with more traditional African instrumentation and polyrhythms and come away with something that is both … [Read More...]

Stylus Life- StylusTimer

Stylus Life- StylusTimer Stylus life is a recurring question in audio discussions. Some serious attention was devoted to the subject here, in Mike Bodell’s “The Finish Line for Your Phono Stylus.” That article examined the issue from a number of perspectives, including early studies, claims by cartridge manufacturers and real-life experiences by users. It also generated a long, interesting thread on the Steve Hoffman forum that is worthwhile to read. The Hoffman thread also generated an experiment by Ray Parkhurst who documented the wear of a new stylus under certain controlled conditions, which included a microscopic examination of the stylus at various time intervals over long hours of repeated play. See https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-finish-line-for-your-phono-cartridge-stylus-wear-by-mike-bodell.842572/#post-21292730.   Whether you lean toward more optimistic … [Read More...]

Incoming! (More Interesting Records)

Incoming! (More Interesting Records)  An "interesting record" to me offers something unexpected, whether it is a fresh take on a recognized genre, or something that opens a new way of experiencing instruments in combination. It does not have to be "strange" or challenging to listen to; in fact, I'm a sucker for a good melodic hook and enjoy technical prowess as much as anybody, but there has got to be something "more"-- an intangible that differentiates the record from the millions of others to which we all have access.   As mentioned in a recent editorial, a lot of records come in and not all get written up. It’s not an editorial decision or any reflection of the music or sonics; I only have so much time, and I tend not to write short blurbs, but longer (some may say ‘too long’) reviews. My “incoming” piles continue to grow as I publish. This series of short capsules is meant to … [Read More...]

Terms of Use ·  Copyright © 2020 The Vinyl Press.com ·  Privacy Policy
A service of Flying Reptile Media Group ·  Contact


Register | Login to Comment | Comments FAQ

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in