Current Blues Recordings
1989; University of Illinois Press; Volume: 102; Issue: 405 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/540644
ISSN1535-1882
Autores Tópico(s)Music History and Culture
ResumoWhen the Record Review Editor first sent me about 25 then current blues albums, I was so depressed by their overall quality that I couldn't bring myself to review them. I feared I would be unmasked as an antiquarian. After some hedging, I returned a half dozen by blues-rock artists such as Roy Buchanan and Johnny Winter and, with the editor's permission, included an awardwinning album I felt should be reviewed. I wound up working with 17 records representing six active blues-oriented labels. These included seven albums from Jim O'Neal's Rooster label; five selections from Bruce Iglauer's Alligator label; one apiece from Blind Pig and Flying Fish, which also distributes Rooster and Blind Pig; two from David Evans's Highwater label; and one from the Hightone organization. With a single exception, all of the records were by electric ensembles. Eleven of these represent the Chicago tradition, three represent Texas and the West Coast, two represent the Memphis sound and the final disc represents the acoustic Piedmont tradition. For better or for worse, each album illustrates the current state of the blues record industry and by extension, the current state of the blues as black folk and popular music. Before I begin, I should put my comments in perspective. Having first been exposed to the blues in Chicago, I always thought of it as a dynamic form, something that happened each and every night. I witnessed the changes that kept the blues alive and the musicians working. These experiences made it clear that the blues is a living art form, necessarily changing to meet the needs of a changing audience. However, in the past dozen years I've only been back to Chicago twice and have become immersed in a very different East Coast tradition. When I first started listening to these recent products, I realized how much my frame of reference had changed. The records sounded so much alike that I yearned for the strong personalities of Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf or Magic Sam, who ruled Chicago blues back in the good old days. Time, however, marches on and the second line has earned their day in the sun. Today's artists deserve to be judged on their own merits and my sample includes some great musicians: veterans Gatemouth Brown and James Cotton; newcomers Robert Cray, John Cephas, and Phil Wiggins; and the hard working soldiers who are the backbone of the blues, Koko Taylor, John Littlejohn, Magic Slim, and Eddie Shaw. The records, on the other hand, don't uniformly serve these artists. The problem seems to stem from the fact that too many records are being dumped on the market, often of inferior quality and weak material. It's difficult to fault the artists, although they must share the blame because they allow themselves to be pressured to keep recording as long as the public shows interest. They deserve the money and the blues business is booming, but we all pay a price for success. With the possible exception of Robert Cray, who currently stands at the forefront of today's commercial revival, each of the artists reviewed here has traditional roots. Yet, at the same time,
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