Professor Longhair is another Louisiana raised blues piano man. They called him the professor because he was not only a wizard of the keyboard but influenced many of those who have come after him.
The Rock and Roll Hall of fame says;
Henry Roeland “Roy” Byrd - better known to the world as Professor Longhair or “Fess,” for short - stands as the foremost exponent of New Orleans piano style. Byrd’s idiosyncratic style is a rhythmic jambalaya reflecting the freewheeling, good-time spirit of the Crescent City. Professor Longhair soaked up influences from close-at-hand sources - barrelhouse boogie-woogie, Caribbean rhythms like the rumba (many of his relatives were West Indian), and the Crescent City’s “second line” parade rhythms - but the way he pieced these elements together is what made his style such a marvel of fluidity and drive.
Ball is known for her piano style, which shows elements of zydeco, swamp blues, Louisiana blues and boogie woogie. Most of her most well-known recordings were released on Rounder Records in the 1980s and early 1990s. She was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 1990.In the video below, I like the little talk she gives the audience.
Another award winning blues piano player, and a man who did as much as anybody to help create the Chicago blues sound is Otis Spann.
According to LivinBlues;
A measure of recognition and respect in which Spann is held took place at a ceremony held at the 1972 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, when Muddy Waters presented Spann's widow, Lucille, with a plaque which read: 'The people of Ann Arbor Michigan in recognition of the talent, the genius of the late Otis Spann, sweet giant of the Blues, formally dedicate the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, 1972 in the grounds upon which it stands to the memory of this great artist.' That September the performance area where the plaque was placed became known as The Otis Spann Memorial Field and remained so for the ensuing years of the festival. Probably best remembered for the much needed subtle and complementary support he provided for Muddy Waters music, both on stage and in the recording studio. Otis Spann was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1980.LivinBlues also has a couple of Otis Spann mp3s for your listening pleasure.
Pinetop Perkins is one of the last great Mississippi bluesmen still performing. He began playing blues around 1927 and is widely regarded as one of the best blues pianists. He’s created a style of playing that has influenced three generations of piano players and will continue to be the yardstick by which great blues pianists are measured.
In 2005 he was also presented with a lifetime achievement award at the Grammy’s. In 2000 he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. He has been featured in the documentary Piano Blues directed by Clint Eastwood for the Martin Scorsese PBS series, The Blues. In addition, he continued to win the Blues Music Award for best blues piano every year until 2003 when he was retired from that award, which now bears his name--the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year.
OK, to keep this interesting I want to cover blues Piano this week. I am partial to the harmonica because I paly that instrument, but I envy piano players becasue in my mind they have real skills. Not that us harmonica players do not, but the piano has so much more to offer and the best piano blues players are real showmen.
According to Piano Blues@About.com
The piano has earned an honored place in the history of the Blues. Though not as popular or convenient as a guitar or harmonica, the piano has carved out a deep tradition in America's music. Why the piano? Why not the trumpet, violin, tuba, or other traditional musical instruments that were available throughout the evolution of the Blues. Let's take a look at history of Blues piano.A great point made in this article is "W.C. Handy made his name as the "Father of the Blues" by transcribing Blues music for the world to then learn." Facts like this help us to really understand what the blues have become over the years. That is why I want to explore each instrument one by one.
One of my favorite blues hymns to play on my harmonica is Amazing Grace. I really like this version by Terry McMillan. May God rest his soul. I could only hope to one day be able to play it this good.
I think this version fits for a day like to day, and I hope you enjoy it.
References;
here are a few songs from a 1972 album buddy recorded with the late, great junior wells entitled buddy guy & junior wells play the blues...it was produced by eric clapton, tom dowd & ahmet ertegun, & clapton plays rhythm guitar throughout (save for a couple tracks cut with the j. geils band)...dr. john also shows up to play piano on "t-bone shuffle", but you can hardly hear him over buddy.
On Fridays I like to take a look at the funny side of the blues and because I am also doing harmonica week the below video seemed to fit. I'm a Star Wars fan too so it fits even better. The harmonica part is Sonny Terry, but I am sure that most of you know that.
I think that the blues are a joyous music, for the most part. Even though many of the lyrics seem to be about bad things, often times this is "tongue in cheek" and is played to get a laugh. Living the blues means mostly having a hard time, but it also means having a good laugh too.
Well back down there in Alabama, or any where else, you could walk into a pawn shop and buy a harmonica for 5o cents, after Little Walter put out that record Juke it went up to 5 or 10 dollars.
Sam Lay - Drummer for Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Little Walter - The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection: Little Walter - His Best
Sonny Terry is of course a member of the duo Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. They had a great career as blues and folk musicians. If you want to be a blues harmonica player studying Sonny Terry and his playing style will serve you well. The man's timing was the best in my opinion, the way he sings, shots and plays the harmonica all at the same time is a kind of magic.
I love the part of the below video when Mr. Terry ask, "What you say harmonica?" You have to love a man who talks to his harmonica.
I love the blues music of James Cotton. Probably because he is an award winning harmonica player and because he makes it look so easy. He always seems to be having fun when he is playing.
You can read his bio at the James Cotton offical web site.
I love the blues harmonica. I play harmonica for my own entertainment mostly and consider it my favorite of all the instruments. It is so cool how this simple instrument became such a powerful part of the blues. I intend to post various videos and maybe even some mp3s of some of my favorite harmonica players all this next week.
This video includes a couple of songs that have every thing that a good blues song should have, IMHO. Great lyrics, with many double entendres, references to the devil, great harmonica playing, all done by a master bluesman. I play these songs during the holiday period but they are good anytime I hear them.
I don't really have words to describe how happy this video makes me feel. You just have to watch it, and as you watch it I want you to consider how far this music has come.
"Technology will save us if it doesn't wipe us out first." - Pete SeegerOver at YouTube and here on squeezemylemon I read comments about Pete Seeger and I wonder if people really know who he is. And if they know about his contributions to blues music and folk music in particular.
Seeger is also widely credited with popularizing the traditional song "We Shall Overcome", which was recorded by Joan Baez and many other singer-activists, and became the publicly perceived anthem of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement soon after musicologist Guy Carawan introduced it at the founding meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960.The man popularized, meaning he sang it all the time, "We Shall Overcome." And he was a known civil rights activist. See his book Where have all the Flowers gone to read the sheet music for "Take It from Dr. King" Pete's tribute to the late, great civil rights leader.
For nearly 20 years Pete couldn’t get work because he had refused to cooperate with a Congressional witch-hunting committee. In addition to insulting them by refusing to play their game he’d confused them by using as his justification the First rather than the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. His idea was that the First Amendment protected speech in two directions: the bad guys couldn’t keep you from speaking and neither could they force you to speak if you didn’t want to. It was a brilliant idea and it drove them quite crazy. Along with playwright Arthur Miller and seven other people, Pete was cited for contempt by a House vote of 373 to 9. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to a year in prison in 1961. The case was later thrown out by US Court of Appeals.From Bruce Jackson's web article "I didn't know you knew Pete Seeger." The great conspirator turns 85.
This video is not really a video at all, it is a static photo of Elizabeth Cotten, but the audio is so delightful. Mrs. Cotten really makes me laugh with her stories. And she ends with a song. I hope you like it.
Elizabeth Cotten
The blog went over 46,000 hits sometimes yesterday. I just want to say thanks to all those who come by and visit. Sometimes I wish I had more skills and time to make this a better place for all those who come here to download an mp3 or to check out some of the videos that I post.
But I don't, and that gives me the blues. Sometimes people complain about squeezemylemon, as if I get paid to do this.
I think this video goes a long ways in explaining why I do this in the first place. Check out the whole video and make sure you visit folkstreams.net. They have some great roots, blues and folk music videos there.
Alan Lomax's examination of the talents and wisdom of elderly musicians, singers, and story-tellers, who perform not for fame or fortune but to preserve and share their culture.That pretty much sums it up, I do this to share my culture.
I want to continue posting a lot of good blues music, but right now I am trying to fix all my various affiliate links on the different blogs that I write. So bear with me and look forward my upcoming music post soon.
I write this blog because I love the music, but I also have to get the word out about some of my other blogs as well as make contact with other like minded people. So to help maintain those connections I wanted to post all my social networking links.
I am also working hard to get all the information about my blogs online with the new social networks that are popping up. It is a lot of work. If you want to check me out on the social networks visit me on the following links.
I have been thinking about posting much more of the post World War II type blues music. And that is what got me thinking more about Stevie Ray Vaughan. There are some great modern bluesmen like SRV, Clapton, and John Mayall. I will try to find and post more of their music as we go along.
Having said that, and in keeping with my last post. Check this out;
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double TroubleI was wondering what I would post today, and then it occurred to me that I do not post enough Stevie Ray Vaughan. I really do need to fix that.
And then low and behold someone posted some Stevie Ray with Stevie Wonder on YouTube. Now I know this is not the classical blues that I normally post in this blog, but who is going to complain about the two Stevies.
YouTube has a few cool videos of Alberta Hunter. Most of them when she is older. I like "Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Morning" because her voice is more powerful and colorful then in some of the other videos. But having said that, you have to watch this first one, which can not be embedded. It shows what a powerful force she was.
Alberta Hunter performing "My Castles Rockin" (DVD Preview)
If she could sing like that at 82, then imagine her in her prime. This next one is kind of funny. They way only the blues can be.
“I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie [Ray Vaughan] missed on both counts, but I never noticed.”B.B. King
“I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.”Duke Ellington
"John the Conquer root, refers to a number of roots to which magical powers are ascribed in American folklore, especially among the hoodoo tradition of folk magic among African Americans. The root, in turn, is named after a folk hero called High John the Conqueror."
"John the Conqueror was supposed to be an African prince who was sold as a slave in the Americas. Despite his enslavement, his spirit was never broken and he survived in folklore as a sort of a trickster figure, because of the tricks he played to evade his masters. Zora Neale Hurston wrote of his adventures ("High John de Conquer") in her collection of folklore, "The Sanctified Church."
"The root known as High John the Conqueror is (supposed to be) the root of Ipomoea jalapa, an Ipomoea species related to the morning glory and the sweet potato."
I really enjoy Etta Baker's music, you may remember that I posted about her when she passed away last year. May God bless her soul.
But I really like this video because it shows what a kind, simple and beautiful person she was. I hope you enjoy hearing her talk about her garden, her parents and how she learned to play guitar from her dad.
Notes from YouTube; - "Etta Baker stumped me hard. Her style was completely different. I like to think of myself as a well educated blues musician, but I must admit that I'd never played the Piedmont style, so I was a bit nervous. After a brief lesson, she kicked it off, and I just tried to keep up as best I could." - Kenny Wayne Shepherd
I'm nursing this old headache that I've got. But I did want to post a little something. The video that I had in mind can not be embeded; but it is a gem. So please check it out. It is Elizabeth Cotten in her own words, the way I like to present the blues muscian of days gone by. She tells the story of how she got her guitar and how she wrote the song Frieght Train.
The video that I am posting is a good one too, but the one above is much better so be sure to check it out.
