Having been prompted to listen to the Skip James version mentioned in the previous post I've gone back to listen to more of his. Wonderful. I don't and haven't listened to that much 'original' blues so there are more discoveries to be had there.
The title for this post could also apply to the purpose of this blog. Why am I writing it? I know that in reality very few, if any, will read this! A few friends will initially dip in out of curiosity and kindness. People are busy and have other interests.
It is like a diary and I thought it would be fun/useful to record some of my daily listening. I hoped - and this has proved the case - that it would focus my listening and encourage me to research the music more. At the very least keep those ex-teacher's brain cells ticking over. For example, in reading a little about Skip James this morning on Wikipedia I picked up two interesting aspects: 1. the Cream 'I'm So Glad' track is a Skip James song and is, allegedly, one of the few if only covers that earned James money through royalties in his lifetime [and it's a favourite version of mine, 'Fresh Cream' being one of my first album purchases]; and 2. that Wikipedia has a verification process -which is a good thing obviously - but for the Skip James page/s there is an interesting and pedantic debate going on about certain statements made [and thus my 'allegedly' observation] but also a salient discussion on what is 'opinion' and what is 'verifiable' comment. When it comes to any art, but in this case music, isn't it always just opinion?
Anyway, currently listening to 'Sickbed Blues' and this has the most distinctive James vocal of all I've heard so far this morning. Love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment