Monday, February 14, 2011

New Music Monday - The Valentine's Day . . . thing



Valentine's Day . . .HOORAAAAAAAY . . .or not.  By the way, that's a Valentine's Day card for Snooki and that "bad case of you" is actually a case of herpes.  Way to go, Snooki.  You stay classy.  If you can't tell, I'm not really a fan of V-Day (unless "v" stands for vajayjay).  If you want to know my true thoughts about February 14, you can read all about them right HERE.  That's all I have to say about that, so on to the music!!


I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here or not, but I'm a huge fan of the blues.  I don't care if it's old Delta Blues, Hill Country Blues, Chicago Blues or old Country Blues . . .I like it all.  I made my pilgrimage to Mecca of the blues, the Mississippi Delta where, as legend has it, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil to play the blues near Dockery Plantation in Cleveland, Mississippi.  From there the blues gave birth to the early forms of R & B and rock 'n' roll.  Without the old Blues players, there never would have been the Beatles, The Stones, The Who . . .the list could go on and on.  The Blues quite possibly gave birth to music in general.

Although I'm partial to the Delta Blues, my collection runs the gambit of players, from Robert Johnson to Bobby "Blue" Bland to Muddy Waters to Johnny Winter to R. L. Burnside to Jimi Hendrix.  I like it all, including a more recent players influenced by the blues like all the incarnations of Jack White, The Black Keys, Rocco Deluca and this week's musician, Lincoln Durham.

The Texas native joins a long and impressive list of players that honed their skills in the bars and jukes that litter the monstrous southeastern state.  Along with blues masters like Freddie KingBobby "Blue" BlandAlbert CollinsLightnin' HopkinsBlind Lemon Jefferson (his song "Black Snake Moan" is where the title for the movie originated) and Johnny Winter, Durham manages to capture the feeling of the dirty floors and stale beer of the old time blues clubs in his playing, channeling the Texas greats while adding his own flavor to the slide he plays.  Durham plays like he's old enough to have seen Buddy Guy in his youth and sings like he's spent a lifetime on the road, traveling from dusty stage to dusty stage, somehow managing to pack two lifetimes of experience into barely a quarter of a life.

Listening to Lincoln Durham is like listening to history, to all the great blues players that came before him, somehow collectively playing the blues through this man and allowing him put his own spin on the songs, give them a new voice and a new outlet for their energy.

Lincoln Durham plays the blues, bridging the past with the present and giving me hope for blues in the future.  If you haven't noticed or if i haven't been clear enough, this guy is good.  His slide play reminds me of greats like Son House and present players like Rocco Deluca.  It's dirty . . .dirty like Jack White playing "Death Letter" live.  

I could go on and on about this guy, but I'll save you dribble . . .here's some links:


Do yourself a favor and listen to Lincoln Durham.  If you like the blues or you just like great guitar playing  . . .or if you just like great music.

Don't let your Monday get out of hand, and if you do, take lots of pictures afterwards.

Chris

p.s.  you'll notice that i made no mention of SRV when mentioning the great Texas blues players.  it's not from a lack of respect or any sort of grudge i have.  it's just that his name often gets thrown around and as soon as people see it, they discount those that came before him.  i'd rather look at the roots of the music, rather than the post popular players.

4 comments:

choder said...

what about Hill Street Blues? Are you a fan of that kind of blues also?

Chris said...

nah . . .i'm not a fan of crappy 80's police dramas.

i am, however, a huge fan of blue's clues.

Sonic Tooth said...

get out your handy dandy notebook.

Chris said...

that's where i write everything down!!