I listened to the Blues early in life and developed a love for the blues in its many forms. I saw Willie Dixon and John Lee Hooker in concert very early and they were thrilling experiences. Willie Dixon was supposed to have said that the Blues is the roots and the rest is the fruits. I find the Blues embedded in much of the music I listen to today.
The Dark Fantastic: Literature, Philosophy, and Digital Arts
“Blues is not a dream. Blues is truth.”
—BROWNIE MCGHEE
Soul Down and Mashed
My daddy used
to do it,
my uncle too.
Sing the blues
in that way:
slow beat to throat
moving like a ghost,
a woman riding night,
a man right beside;
soul down and mashed,
muddy waters
touching more than
is a face to tell. A light
touch sparks that
metal chord,
an ear awakens, hears –
a jackdaw’s screech,
clear and crisp: stops
and listens to this old
man on the bayou
sing and play the delta blues.
Knowing and Doing
We lived down
the bayou
back in the big green,
where there ain’t
nothing good
but a few ole coons,
a hound
or two; but let
me tell you, there’s something
in there
like no other place:
a people
with a certain
raging –
a desperation,
a dark
and heavy, a living
that comes
from knowing and doing,
saying…
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Thanks Yvon, been a long time since I heard these dudes.
Thank you. I have them on my loop in the car and they come up semi-regularly. I am also fortunate that the little radio station (CKUA) I listen to plays the blues from various eras.
I love good blues. The little town I am near (5500 people) has a blues festival each year. It’s coming up in September and I can’t wait!
It sounds like fun. We have one in Edmonton, but I am always away when it happens.