Another two-fer, as has been our habit of late...
That's "Love In Vain" and it's Robert Johnson doin' the singin' and playin' coz the tune belongs to him. But here's how I first became acquainted with the tune:
You can love or hate the Stones... I'm of the opinion there's NO middle ground... but even haters have to acknowledge their love of the blues and the fact they introduced many a white boy (and girl) to the genre. I'm not exactly one of those White Boys I speak of, mainly coz I was fortunate enough to stumble into Black Radio at a very early age. From an old post:
That's "Love In Vain" and it's Robert Johnson doin' the singin' and playin' coz the tune belongs to him. But here's how I first became acquainted with the tune:
You can love or hate the Stones... I'm of the opinion there's NO middle ground... but even haters have to acknowledge their love of the blues and the fact they introduced many a white boy (and girl) to the genre. I'm not exactly one of those White Boys I speak of, mainly coz I was fortunate enough to stumble into Black Radio at a very early age. From an old post:
So there's that. My larger point is Mick and the boys expanded what was a pretty solid base, from a strictly personal perspective. My education continues, even unto this day. So much blues, so little time.Fast forward to 1960. I was now 15 and living in Washington, D.C. I'll choose the James Brown single on the left as an example of the revelation that came upon me beginning sometime around 1959 and culminated in 1960. That revelation was Black Radio and the R&B music featured there… which was unlike anything I had ever heard before (sorta: see Fats Domino, above). I'd go into my room at night and listen to my crackly, staticky AM radio, marveling at the music I heard… music that was Unobtanium in my white-bread, lily-white suburban world. Once again, consider the times… you simply did NOT find James Brown, Lloyd Price, or Ray Charles in the "hits" bin at Woolworths back in the day… that day being 1958 - 1960… at least not in suburbia. I would have had to journey into Southeast Washington to get that music in my hands back then and since I was only 15 and without a driver's license, that was out of the question. My parents simply wouldn't go there… literally… but the music was on the radio, the radio was in my room, and it was ON every single night. It was an education like no other.
Thinking about the music I have liked over time, I realize it seldom had anything to do with who the artist is... or was.
ReplyDeleteIt was always the music first.
I like the Stones and the Beatles long before I knew their names.
I'm sorta like that... I have a HUGE collection of albums by One-Hit-Wonders to prove it, too.
DeleteI feel like an old fogie when my little tutoree listens to C&W today. It reminds me of canned music where everyone sounds the same. I know there is some good stuff out there, but yikes, it is just not like music from my past.
ReplyDeleteI kinda feel the same way, Lou. I'm turning into my father.
DeleteMy father listened to big band music. He also liked Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. I grew up on that stuff and loved it.
DeleteAmen to Bag on the homogenized, pasturized C&W music today.
ReplyDeleteI know Johnson owns that tune but the Stones version has some wicked, wicked slide.
I thought Keef's comment about Johnson's guitar playing in that Wiki article was a pretty fine compliment. I credit the Stones (in part) for developing my love of the blues.
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