The Blues!

Nabhendra sent me this. He has penned it down with a lot of effort and heart. Not to mention, he has done a lot of ground work on this. So, Probably we can discuss this --

1. What does the blues sound like?

Well blues is a genre of music just as classic rock, pop, techno,
metal etc etc. Just like defining any other genre of music it is very
hard to define Blues. It is characterized by a particular note known
as the blues notes. the Instruments that accompany the blues are
simple ones like acoustic guitar, piano, harmonica. The vocals may
vary from smooth melodious voice of a woman to a almost shouting of a
worker in a field or a drunkard. The lyrics are not poetic but it sure
is eclectic. The topic of a blues song may vary from the baby goin
away (most common one), heartbreaks, time in jail, expressing love,
expressing or bragging about one's manhood, poverty etc etc. The most
characteristic phrases/words of a blues song are: 'Woke up this
morning', 'hoochie coochie man', 'baby is gone' and 'mojo'.

The beauty about blues (the good old time blues of 1930-1950s that I
really consider as classic blues) is that it is performed without the
use of studio full of gadgets designed to make music sound better. It
is just pure and simple. Often referred to as 'the devils music', it
all about a common man singing about his life, his mood at that
particular point of time in a very simple and honest way.

Who started singing the blues?

Long long time ago, in the early 20th century, the land of Mississippi
Delta was full of large cotton farms that spread for miles. The work
on these farms was very labor intensive so a lot of blacks were
employed on these farms. The black workers used to work for hours at a
stretch and earned almost nothing. It was a hard time for these chaps.
They made those conditions bearable by singing while they worked. They
all sung together when they worked on cotton fields, on rail roads, in
graveyards. It was in this wilderness of Mississippi Delta that the
blue originated.

West Africa has a long and rich musical tradition and fortunately the
slaves brought into the US never abandoned that tradition. In the
beginning the music of the slaves was confined to their workplaces and
was buried with them. As these slaves became free they went places in
search work. Wherever they went they carried their music with them. By
1930s the blues had established itself as a form of art. Still it was
mostly confined to the southern parts of US. One of the most
influential artist of that era was Robert Johnson, also referred to as
'the king of the (Mississippi) delta blues'. Unfortunately all we know
about this person who had such a massive impact on modern music is
from 29 recored songs and 2 photographs. Recently Eric Clapton came
out with an album titled 'Me and Mr Johnson', in which he covered some
of the songs of Robert Johnson as a tribute.

The blues got an unlikely boost from the great depression of 1930s.
The 1930s saw the economy of the US breaking down. Nobody had any
money and people who were hit the most were the black workers. The
south no longer had money to pay them for their jobs on the farms.
This led to the great black migration towards industrial towns like
Chicago and New York. This brought blues to a bigger and wider
audience. Soon Chicago became the new center of the blues and artists
like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf blossomed here. These two were one
of the few ``classic" blues artists who lived and performed long
enough to enjoy their success.

How did I come across the blues?

It was surely not an accident. It was going to happen one day and
could not have been averted. I was destined to discover the blues.

Its been about for years that I have been listening to classic rock
and almost every artist (Dylan, Rolling Stones, Led Zep, Nirvana..
almost everybody) has been influenced by blues. Its the roots of all
forms and rock and popular music. It was the great blues guitarists
like Robert Johnson, Son House, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Leadbelly
that inspired people like Robert Plant (Led Zep), Keith Richards
(Rolling Stones), Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Clapton, Greg Allman etc
etc to ever pick up a guitar. Most of them have a have a constant
bluesy undertone (Led Zep, Jimi Hendrix, Allman Brothers Bands, Lynyrd
Skynyrd) or (other bands that had a more bent towards pop) have at
some point paid tribute to the blues e.g. 'Little Red Rooster'-
Rolling Stones, 'While my Guitar Gently Weeps'-Beatles, ' Back Door
Man'-The Doors (although I insist that doors has a constant bluesy
undertone) and the list goes on. It was the music inspired by the
blues that these bands played during 60s and 70s which brought about
the rock and roll culture and along with it a huge change in the
society. Thats why I once said that the blues are the soul of all the
fucking music ever made (when I said 'all the fuckin music' I was
referring to the rock/pop and not things like indian classical or A R
Rehman's stuff ).

I have been listening to all these bands for a while but didn't know
how it all begun. At least not until I came across this series of two
hour documentaries produces by Martin Scorsese. I had always
appreciated the soundtracks and background scores of Scorsese's movies
and had firmly believed that this guy has a great taste of music. So I
decided to see these documentaries and explore blues. Neither the
documentaries, nor the blues let me down. I am happy that I have
finally arrived at the core of it all. For a devotee of rock and roll
like me its like realizing the ultimate truth, the union with the
Supreme.

How does that matter to you guys?

Well unfortunately I am very much sure that as of now you guys won;t
like the blues much, if at all. I believe it requires a lot of ground
work for enjoying blues. Its very different from the ultra-melodic
bollywood music. I think it would be pertinent to present a time-line
of a rock-n-roll worshipper. I call it a 'Brief History of a DESI
Rock-n-Roll Worshipper'

- Born in a regular desi household which may or not be into popular
music. If the household is conducive to listening of music he
discovers kishore, rafi, mukesh and lata early on.

-Starts discovering music on his own although he still has no sense of its
own. For him a good song is the one that is aired during the prime
time on TV channels and is the talk of the school.

-Still hung on to the prime time numbers. Now since puberty has come
or round the corner songs with attractive women seem better. Also
wants more beats and naughty lyrics in the songs.

-Starts liking a girl. Realizes that the english pop music has quite a
lot of beats and cheezy/romantic numbers. Starts listening to Boyzone,
Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi etc. At the same time starts appreciating the
oldies by Kishore and Rafi.

-Starts getting more and more frustrated. All the promises that were
once made are not being fulfilled. Girls are a tough thing to handle.
Life is not easy. He needs something more, something heavy, something
to
forget about all this bull shit. At this point of time Metallica
sounds like a message of the God himself and Nirvana is the next best
thing. Probably take the first drag of cigs.

-Gets a little more matured. Realizes that lifes just like this and
its not meant to be fair. Heartbreaks and broken promises are a part
of life. Listening to Pink Floyd day in and day out. Thinks that if
one band has said it all its this. Also now the scope of good music is
much wider. Its no longer constrained by melody, beats or head
banging. Starts appreciating the Doors and Led Zep. Says to his
friends 'You know Jimmo is the man'. At the same time starts
appreciating Mukesh. And yeah realizes that although Johnny Walker
Black Label is the best whiskey but its Bagpiper for him for he is
short on cast. Probably take the first drag of ganja.

-One day he hears a man singing in a rather nasal voice and asking
questions like 'How many roads must a man walk down, before you call
him a man'. This does not seem like a regular song. Its like plateau
of poetry over waves of music. But dude listen to what he is saying.
Man he is saying all the right things, life is just like that. His
first introduction with Bob Dylan is somethin like this. Now he is
reading all he could about this incredible man Dylan. Sometimes even
thinks that why this man is not the president of the US.

-From now on the rock-n-roll journey picks up speed. He digs deeper
and deeper. Each new band bringing him closer to the ultimate truth :
the blues. He discovers: Credence Clearwater Revival, Allman Brothers
Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dire Straits, Rolling Stones, Simon and
Garfunkel, Bad Company, Rush, The Who, Cream, Clapton, ZZ Top,
Meatloaf,Tom Petty,.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. and so on

- Also picks up a taste for country, folk and soul music. Now he can
appreciate Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash etc etc... He is
almost there. At the same time realizes that Hemant Kumar was the
dude.

- Finally he reaches there. This is where he was destined to my
friends. He finds the blues.

So guys blues hits you really hard when you are ripe for it and I
heard it I was all ripe for it.