Blogcritics: Comments on Sunday Morning Playlist: Blues Rock

Comment by HW Saxton

Fri, 8 Apr 2005 16:12:14 EDT

Uao, Thanks for the response. I enjoyed the article and your heart is the right place. I never knew what made that cool drone on the Canned Heat tune "On The Road Again".I'd always figured it was Henry Vestine doing a unitar type thing with feedback and sustain. There is an alternate version of "On The Road Again" on a Canned Heat's greatest hits package that is about 7&1/2 minutes long and is minus the drone,a bit faster and has an approximately 3 minute long guitar solo that burns. You might want to check it out if you don't already have it. Peace,Love and Goofer Dust.

Comment by uao

Fri, 8 Apr 2005 02:44:15 EDT

Hi HW: My apologies; I really did mischaracterize Paul Butterfield Blues band there. I try to be careful, but sometimes I make some real gaffes; your reply does a very excellent job of clearing it up though. No worries; I prefer any misinformation from me be corrected by those who care about the music as you do. I can't edit the Blogcritics post anymore (it's been archived), but I will correct the entry as it appears on my blog. Wrong info bugs me too; I do appreciate your taking the time to read the piece and caring enough to amend it. uao

Comment by HW Saxton

Fri, 8 Apr 2005 01:13:29 EDT

Mr uao,I'd just like to correct a couple of points in your enjoyable article here on BC. The Butterfield Blues Band.They were NOT a psychedelic Blues/Rock band from the Left Coast.Lumping them in with some of that turgid hippiefied sludge is unfair to them. Seriously. They(BBB)were a straight up,pure blues band who absorbed their craft directly at the source.They learned & honed their chops from such 1st and 2nd generation masters of electric blues as Billy Boy Arnold,Muddy Waters,Magic Sam,The Wolf, Little Walter,Bo Diddley,Junior Wells, Otis Rush and Elmore James. They sat in with and watched these cats and many others at rough and tumble blues haunts like Silvio's,The Checkerboard Lounge & Theresa's in the early 60's in the very dangerous South & West Side ghettos of Chicago. Given the racial climate at the time,they were a ballsy bunch of white boys in anyones book. The BBB rhythm section included at times Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay.Jerome Arnold being the brother of Billy Boy and a vet of Howling Wolf's band and Sam Lay being behind the skins on many of Muddy's late 50's/early 60's gigs and recordings.This isn't to mention all of the many other artists and studio work he did before he joined up with The B.B.B. They were the first integrated working blues band to my knowledge. Anyway to make a very long story short, they were a straight ahead blues band that dabbled very briefly in "Rock" as opposed to being a blues rock band."East West" and "Mary,Mary" off their second LP being the only examples that really could be applicable to this tag. If by chance this isn't what you meant to say & it was just a minor case of ambiguity on behalf of the writer, for that I do apologize.If it wasn't I just wanted to politely clear up these points. On a closing note,I'm surprised that you did not mention any Bob Dylan in your "Blues/Rock" list.The marriage of blues & of rock on such Bob Dylan tunes like "Obviously Five Believers" from the LP "Blonde On Blonde" & "It Takes A Lot To Laugh,A Train To Cry" on "Highway 61 Re- visited" is real obvious and is solidly rocking to boot. The presence of Michael Bloomfield on the latter LP playing no small part in this to be sure. Anyways, don't take this as rude please. I'm just a very detail oriented person when it comes to my favorite music and I have trouble letting even the smallest amount of what I see as mis-information go unchecked and/or unchallenged. I enjoyed the post or I would not have even bothered to write back regarding it at all. Rock On!

Comment by crooked spine

Tue, 5 Apr 2005 20:24:31 EDT

I know your list isn't intended to be comprehensive, but I wanted to add the following tunes: The Rolling Stones: "Little Red Rooster" from The Rolling Stones, Now! - From back in the day when the Stones still considered themselves pretty much a straight blues band. They did a good job on this Howlin' Wolf song. Jimi Hendrix: "Red House" from Are You Experienced? - You gotta have some Hendrix on any blues-rock list. And this was Hendrix's greatest blues song. The Yardbirds: "Jeff's Boogie" from - Jeff Beck was in the above list for his solo work, but I always felt his best stuff was with the Yardbirds. Hendrix always gets credit for expanding the sonic possibilities of the electric guitar, but this track shows that Beck deserves some credit too. John Mayall: "The Stumble" from A Hard Road - Like Jeff Beck, Peter Green was mentioned in the above list. And like Beck, Green was better with the band in which he replaced Eric Clapton--in this case, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Just listen to the way Peter Green makes this Freddie King song all his own. The J. Geils Band: "Pack Fair and Square" from The J. Geils Band - Years before they went all pop with "Centerfold" and "Freeze Frame," these guys were one of the greatest blues-rock bands around. Check out their debut album is you're doubtful.

Comment by Taloran

Mon, 4 Apr 2005 15:59:38 EDT

A nicely written article, with a well-selected playlist. Not necessarily the tunes I would have picked, but an excellent cross-section nonetheless. Makes me want to go through my vinyl and listen to the tunes again! You say "The long story" of Fleetwood Mac "will have to wait until another day" - I wrote up a brief history of the band for Blogcritics a while back.

Comment by Paul Roy

Mon, 4 Apr 2005 06:43:53 EDT

Blues and Rock. Has there ever been a better marriage? Check out Gary Moore's recent stuff, Joe Bonamassa, Los Lonely Boys (especially live), Doyall Bramhall II, and Gov't Mule for great some "newer" blues rock.

Comment by SFC SKI

Mon, 4 Apr 2005 00:43:36 EDT

When Blues-Rock is done well, it is probably the best form of music for me, but when he becomes a self-parody of cliched riffs and overlong solos, it's almost unlistenable. I think there is a case to be made for Los Lonely Boys to be added to the list of great blues rockers. If you get a chance to see them in concert, go!