The Blues Post

I was talking to someone the other day about my personal musical taste and it got me thinking. Why is it I love what I love so much and where did it all start? During the conversation I realized that the very first genre of music I got into on my own was The Blues. Early on I can remember investing my meager allowance on Blues cassettes from Sam Goody. One that sticks out in my mind that was on constant rewind on a particular yellow Sony Walkman everyone seemed to have back in the day was Eric Clapton's "Unplugged". Why an 8 year old Mexican kid became infatuated with the blues is still kinda unknown to me, but it definitely shaped my musical taste from that point on. From the Blues I naturally gained interest in Jazz music and more popular forms of "Black" music like R&B and hip-hop. My youthful exploration into rap and hip-hop turned me onto the "sample based" culture of the time. I started reading linear notes of rap artist to figure out what amazing soul singer unknown to me that was being sampled. From there I was introduced to the funky and soulful hooks of Soul and Funk music. Till this day I attribute my love for all these musical genres and everything they have to offer because first and foremost fell for the Blues. Here are a few classics I'll always love and some new stuff, which is proof that the Blues ain't dead and never will be, because people will always have the blues and will always need to express them musically.
The Classics
From what was touted as the Black Woodstock, Albert King, a blues legend plays at "Wattstax" a concert at the LA Coliseum in the summer of 1972 that brought together some of the biggest names in Black popular music. "I'll Play the Blues for You" (I love his intro, he speaks to exactly what I just expressed earlier, saying, "This is for all the Blues lovers and to those that ain't hip to the Blues. We gonna learn them to you, or rather teach them, cause we'll be around for a while".


A little taste of what little Nico was jamming to on his Walkman back in '93. (A white man from England who knows how to play some mean blues guitar, a testament to the power of the Blues)


The New School
The undisputed kings of the Blues for this generation in my book, The Black Keys have been doing it with class and doing it for some time now. Amazing Lyrics and blues licks that rate up there with the best. (I love how this little studio session shows the inceprion of an amazing track,,, and lyrics like, "I wish loneliness would leave me, but I think it's here to stay" really help to love this song.


Crystal Antlers, a band I have had the amazing opportunity to meet on a few occasions as well as have play in a friends basement, these dudes, and chick from Long Beach California know how to rock! A great example of how the Blues ideal has married post punk sensibilities and transformed into an exciting hybrid that holds to a bluesy standard that I hope will never leave music, actually I know it won't.

So the next time your lover leaves you and you feel the Blues a coming on, don't get worried there will be a plethora of music to drown your sorrows in, All Thanks to the Blues.
-Nick