In other words none of us should feel bad that we may not have heard of less then a handful of the women on this disc. Which of us are going to think of looking to Yugoslavia or Finland for blues players whether male or female but that's where Ana Popovic and Erja Lyytinen hail from respectively. Hearing them you'd never know they weren’t born and bred in Texas or the Mississippi delta.
Like their male counterparts the women sing about their broken hearts and the ones who've done them wrong. But unlike the male blues artists the women also spread out into issues of social heartbreak as well as the personal type. Perhaps because of their tenuous status within society and their more recent struggles for independence the women seem to have a broader worldview than the men.
Beverly "Guitar" Watkins makes political noise with her "Baghdad Blues" which naturally enough talks about the current war situation and the circumstances leading up to it. "Nothings Changed" sung by Gaye Adegbalola and backed by Rory Block's slide guitar continue the work Gaye started during the period of racial segregation in Virginia. Still encouraging people to stand up for themselves and fight for social justice.
The traditional disc contains some very special tracks that have been preserved through the dedication of archivists and blues enthusiasts in North America. Women like Geeshie Wiley, Elvie Thomas, Battie Delaney, Algie Mae Hinton and Etta Baker of the first generation of blues women; some of who hardly recorded at all, are all represented. These women still continue to play their guitars, although some are in their nineties, and represent a vital link in the chain of American music.
It is their music and their efforts that broke the ground for people like Eve Monsees from Austin Texas who in her early twenties is just beginning her blues career. It's sad to think of all the other women who have played and sang the blues whose music was allowed to pass out of existence with them, but Blues Guitar Women pulls some of these names from the ashes of obscurity.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
PICK OF THE WEEK ::: A section editor pointed your way as a pick of the 11-19/11-25 week. Click HERE to find out why.
Cheers. Temple