GregEL
Joined: Mar 16, 2016
Posts: 217
Highland CA
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 05:32 AM
I'm up, it's 3:00 am. Cruising PBS stations and came across a blues concert with Joe Bonassama.
I hate it. Incessant I-IV-Vs, tired sounding licks that I've heard a million times before, inane posturing, one cliche after another pentatonic fest.
Oh sure Mr. Bonassama is a great guy and is technically proficient as are many other blues players. It's not just him, it's the whole genre.
Suppose blues is approachable for the beginning guitarist and that's why they stick with it. May be fun to play but to me not fun to listen to.
Think I'll listen to some Madeira to get the taste out of my mouth.
|
DonKiyote
Joined: Aug 26, 2014
Posts: 138
Kent
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 07:59 AM
A bit harsh? Good and bad stuff like any genre. I'm sure Eric Clapton qualifies as an intermediate guitarist... 
— Wherever you go, there you are
http://rogerfowles.co.uk/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKUsTNis44w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKauwombaC8
Last edited: Aug 23, 2016 08:08:08
|
psychonaut
Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 1303
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 08:46 AM
GregEl wrote:
I'm up, it's 3:00 am. Cruising PBS stations and came across a blues concert with Joe Bonassama.
I hate it. Incessant I-IV-Vs, tired sounding licks that I've heard a million times before, inane posturing, one cliche after another pentatonic fest.
Oh sure Mr. Bonassama is a great guy and is technically proficient as are many other blues players. It's not just him, it's the whole genre.
Suppose blues is approachable for the beginning guitarist and that's why they stick with it. May be fun to play but to me not fun to listen to.
Think I'll listen to some Madeira to get the taste out of my mouth.
Bonamassa isn't Blues. He is a parody of Blues. There is a universe of difference between him and Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters or any of the greats. He should never be mentioned in the same breath. The same goes for Mayer or any of his ilk.
If you don't like I-IV-V progressions, you musn't like 70% of Surf music either as it's a very prominent progression in surf. As for tired, glissandos and trem picking are just as cliche for surf music as all those tired licks are to blues. It's all about what you do with it.
I don't like any of these post modern white guy blooze guys either, but again they are a parody of real blues and should never be considered authentic.
— https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger
http://coffindaggers.com/
http://thecoffindaggers.bandcamp.com
Last edited: Aug 23, 2016 09:03:59
|
GregEL
Joined: Mar 16, 2016
Posts: 217
Highland CA
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 09:06 AM
Of course you guys are right and, speaking from the cheap seats of amateur nobody land, I guess my main gripe is "I've heard it". Over and over. I find the newer surf music very inventive.
Sorry for opening a can o' worms, LOL!
|
psychonaut
Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 1303
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 09:16 AM
I totally get it though, all these modern supossed "bluesmen" turn my stomach too, so I get your revulsion.
Some of the best concerts I ever saw were from the cheap seats!
— https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger
http://coffindaggers.com/
http://thecoffindaggers.bandcamp.com
|
ArabSpringReverb
Joined: Jul 13, 2012
Posts: 490
San Diego CA
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 09:52 AM
Ha! Ive seen this same show ...just awful.Its as if playing a gazillion notes per second is the goal, and making pained faces while trying to imitate Howlin Wolf...
Im sure Joes a great guy but Id never buy his stuff.This is for people who only like white blues guitar god stuff.Wheeedley- deee....lawdy
|
JObeast
Joined: Jul 24, 2012
Posts: 2762
Finknabad, Squinkistan
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 11:40 AM
You wanna know why blues suck? Because they use the same 5 notes across all 3 chords! At least when surf guitarists played I-IV-V in 1962 they would play 5-note scales on each chord!
That's the difference between blues and rock'n'roll.
— Squink Out!
|
slopoke
Joined: Dec 24, 2013
Posts: 145
Maribor
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 11:58 AM
Something a little different, perhaps?
— https://striciizozadja.bandcamp.com/
|
psychonaut
Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 1303
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 12:23 PM
|
ElMonstroPorFavor
Joined: Sep 01, 2006
Posts: 2739
New Orleans, LA
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 01:17 PM
I think a lot of Blues is repeating its forebears in a dogmatic, soulless fashion... often that even includes the forebears (plus surely there's some irony that this is posted here). But to dismiss the entire genre?
Do you feel NOTHING from a song like this? Otis Rush - All Your Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMdn0EKH7Ys
I often feel the same way about 90% of jazz, but there's a 10% out there that isn't just exceptional, it's the reason to care.
edit: Elmore James - It Hurts Me Too COME ONNNN!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzr1Rfn-P4Y
— Storm Surge of Reverb: Surf & Instro Radio
Last edited: Aug 23, 2016 13:31:24
|
SixStringSurfer
Joined: Sep 23, 2014
Posts: 1415
Memphis, TN
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 04:30 PM
You guys do realize that they are saying the exact same things about us right now on the "Blues Guitar Forum." 
— MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New EP Louder Than Life available on bandcamp and website.
|
tubeswell
Joined: Sep 24, 2011
Posts: 1424
Wellington, NZ
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 07:39 PM
I love blues and surf. Some of the most fun stuff to play in a surf band is your own version/interpretation of surf tunes which have a lot of blues concepts and licks in them.
Bustin' Surboards
https://youtu.be/CVH7zI3QFtY
Bulldog
https://youtu.be/7wi7zaeXUMs
Backwash
https://youtu.be/AwtQznY89iM
Saturday Night
https://youtu.be/Fwdd0TkhlvI
Surfin the net
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99mxrhD_kMo
etc
— He who dies with the most tubes... wins
Surf Daddies
|
Teiscofan
Joined: Feb 21, 2011
Posts: 513
Ontario
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 07:51 PM
In the blues its not what you play its what you don't play..... Huge fan of the early blues so I may be biased a little. Appreaciate SRV, Rory Gallagher, Hendrix but really dig Robert Johnson, Son House Etc... For the raw feel of it pulsing with Magical notes. Listen to Robert Johnson and try to figure that out, it'll hurt your brain.
Off the soapbox now.....
Cheers
— I am not obsolete, I am RETRO.... 
|
imafunkyman
Joined: Sep 16, 2007
Posts: 548
Utah
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 07:52 PM
Not to hijack the thread, but it's cool seeing Clarence Gatemouth Brown playing a Jag in the first video and a Rickenbacker Capri in the second one.
— Either you surf, or you fight.
|
homerhead
Joined: Mar 17, 2006
Posts: 530
Portland, OR
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 10:12 PM
psychonaut wrote:
I wish I could play like this
— Rick
|
JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 10:37 PM
SixStringSurfer wrote:
You guys do realize that they are saying the exact same things about us right now on the "Blues Guitar Forum."
They don't even think we're enough of a thing to even mention.
|
JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
|
Posted on Aug 23 2016 10:43 PM
DonKiyote wrote:
A bit harsh? Good and bad stuff like any genre. I'm sure Eric Clapton qualifies as an intermediate guitarist...
Clapton has been a world class songwriter people often forget, that is the problem with Blues. Technical proficiency trumps the song.
And yes, I absolutely agree with your "good and bad stuff like any genre".
|
arny
Joined: Aug 22, 2010
Posts: 612
Netherlands, Europe
|
Posted on Aug 24 2016 12:52 AM
Clapton? Bonnassama? Sorry, too polished for me. I like the rough, old juke joint blues: allmost everything on the Fat Possum Label, Jr. Kimbrough, RL Burnside, stuff like that. These dudes can rock on one chord for 10 minutes. Almost drone-like. I like early Black Keys too, especially their Jr. Kimbrough tribute EP. Goner Records label from Memphis has some fine garageblues bands, but maybe a bit to rough and fuzzy for most.
Below three of my favorites. the first is JR Kimbrough playing a small jukejoint, taken from a documentary I saw last year.
After that RL Burnside teaching Dave Stewart (Eurithmic!) how to play the blues! RL also recorded two albums with NYC garagebluespunx Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Ass Pocket of Wiskey is one of my all time favorite albums 
— www.alohasluts.com
Aloha Sluts on BandCamp
www.arnyzona.com (my photography)
Aloha Fest on facebook
|
Gilette
Joined: May 04, 2014
Posts: 734
|
Posted on Aug 24 2016 02:07 AM
I kind of disagree with GregEL. Blues was the first step I could take from playing D and A7 to playing A, D and E. When that happened I absolutely wanted to master the barred chords like A and B. It was also the first time I found out changes in tempo could add some kind of emotion into my playing. And as time progressed things came more natural and a little speed took me to play my first rock 'n roll tune.
So blues in it's basic form may not be the most challenging to play, to the average listener it still is a genre they can relate to. To me it's a dear friend that I've used to introduce beginners to playing pop songs.
I resent he discussion if blues should only be played by black people. In that sense one could argue surf music should only be played by white males, because the others 'lack that vibe'. I think everybody can take a shot at playing whatever music they like, at any level of skill. That's the beauty of it!
The only part I agree with is that blues can be a bit predictable, but I think that's only the case because most of us understand the progressions of playing the genre so well. To the average listener it still is a great opening of a jamsession.
So get your acoustic guitar, play three chords and complain about your miserable life in well chosen words. It may be a relief for the ones we love who have to listen to all these endless surf licks we're trying to master.
|
casey
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 521
|
Posted on Aug 24 2016 02:33 AM
Have to agree with GregEL, it's at the point where blues has almost become a parody of itself. I can appreciate it in small doses, and like to throw in the occasional blue note, but to listen to 3 hours (or even one hour) of blues is a little much for me. Still, the blues certainly is a basis for lots of popular music forms and an influence on others and any musician should know know something about the form and style of the genre. For my money, someone like Clapton has always been over-rated as a guitarist and as a musician. As the man said, there's no accounting for tastes, mine just run more towards Burt Bacharach compositions than blues.
|
March Birthdays 
