subject: Blues Lessons From Classic Blues Legends [print this page] Blues Lessons From Classic Blues Legends Blues Lessons From Classic Blues Legends
Anyone interested in the original blues, either guitar or piano, know the names of the original bluesmen by heart. They were the guys who invented the stuff. They didn't have to try and understand the blues , they lived the blues! Names like Lightnin' Hopkins, Robert Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy come to mind.
It's easy to see how the legend surrounding Robert Johnson grew over the years. There are only two photographs left, one with a guitar and one without, and his colleagues that survived into the 70s would talk about his famous rendezvous with satan at the crossroads. I didn't meet Broonzy, although there are several pieces of film left for us to relish, all can be seen on Youtube.
Some years ago, I was contacted by a man who worked in a band that supported Bill while touring the UK in the late 50s. He spoke about a big man who drank too much, laughed most of the time and told colorful stories most of the time.His masterful guitar style was impossible to copy, and to this day, very few have manage to emulate Big Bill's sound.
In 1998, I was living in Indiana and was always eager for the sound of old-style blues. Someone told me that there was a a bar where people played called Buck's Working Man's Pub' in a town an hour's drive away in the town of La Porte. After work, I eagerly climbed into the car and set off. Following directions given by the locals, I made my way down main street, turned left at the drugstore and crossed the railroad tracks to the wrong side of town.
This is what I was looking for, I'd get to see the real blues. The bar didn't look like much. I got myself a beer and found my way to the back room, following the sound of a loud Chicago-style blues band.
The room wasn't empty, and it wasn't full. Chicago blues wasn't really what I was looking for anyway I liked the old acoustic blues. An old guy at my table told me the locals had hired the band as it was the proprietor's birthday today. He didn't speak at all after that.
The band finished the number and the singer spoke into the microphone. "Happy Birthday, Pinetop", he yelled, and then "Ladies and gentlemen, Pinetop will now kindly play a couple of numbers for us." The old man at my table rose and shuffled up to the front, sitting down in front of a grand piano. He started a slow boogie which became increasingly complicated with each passing bar. I mentally kicked myself when I realised I'd been sitting next to Pinetop Perkins, an original blues legend.
He played just two songs and then shuffled past me out to the bar. I never saw him again that night. Afterwards, I thought questions I should have asked him, but maybe it's just as well. It was the guys birthday and he might have been bothered by questions from a stranger. Legends are just like us, you know.
Each passing year, the old bluesmen such as Howlin' Wolf are fading away, to be replaced by modern heroes. Another time I drove clear across Indiana and Michigan to see a more modern blues legend, who will remain anonymous, because of his words during our encounter. Enthralled, I suggested that it was a wonderful way to live, to follow in the path of the old bluesmen travelling around playing the blues. "Not at all", he replied "It's a pain and I'd rather be at home doing something else!" We need to remember legends are also human.
