BobbyBluz
Super Member
With the exception of Peter Green none of the Brits ever "got it" when it came to actually playing Blues. I say this as a Blues musician who was Hubert Sumlin's driver and guitar tech for several years and got free guitar lessons from Otis Rush and Louis Myers. Hubert and Otis had Peter Green recordings in their music collections, I know because I had free access to them. They didn't have a single thing by anybody else and didn't have any reason to either.
Having been on the inside and heard things firsthand from the Chicago Blues musicians the Brits ripped off I have a very different view than most folks who haven't been there do. I don't care what some may have read in liner notes or interviews, after getting to know and be trusted by those guys the truth came out. They despised them for various mixed reasons. The Brits never understood or experienced the Black culture the music came from and neither did most Whites. Life on things like the old "Chitlin' Circuit" was brutal and terrifying at times. It was a very cruel, hard business and life to be a Black Blues musician and until the mid-60's was extremely segregated. I've heard stories from those guys that still make me cringe thinking about them today.
If anybody has ever seen the unedited VHS tape of the Rolling Stones at the Checkerboard in Chicago that was later "cleaned up" and made into a DVD it's an insight as to what was really thought of bands like the Stones by actual Black Blues musicians and audiences. I have friends that were in Muddy's band that night and they said Lefty Dizz's drunken mockery and tormenting of Mick Jaeger was just a small part of the general disdain. That has been edited out of the DVD, Hubert had the VHS and we used to crack up watching it. The Stones were not nearly as loved as they thought they were by any means.
Don't confuse Blues-Rock with actual Blues, they're two entirely different worlds and cultures. Each has their own merits but they're far from the same thing. I learned this from having been there seeing, experiencing the life, learning and playing the music with some of those who created it. If any of you live in areas that still have local Black bars & clubs that feature Blues go pay them a visit. You may be surprised to see real Blues musicians you've never heard of that are far better than any Brit "cover band". Enough of my rant, I have to get a guitar ready to go play in one of those places tonight. Keep live Blues music alive!
Having been on the inside and heard things firsthand from the Chicago Blues musicians the Brits ripped off I have a very different view than most folks who haven't been there do. I don't care what some may have read in liner notes or interviews, after getting to know and be trusted by those guys the truth came out. They despised them for various mixed reasons. The Brits never understood or experienced the Black culture the music came from and neither did most Whites. Life on things like the old "Chitlin' Circuit" was brutal and terrifying at times. It was a very cruel, hard business and life to be a Black Blues musician and until the mid-60's was extremely segregated. I've heard stories from those guys that still make me cringe thinking about them today.
If anybody has ever seen the unedited VHS tape of the Rolling Stones at the Checkerboard in Chicago that was later "cleaned up" and made into a DVD it's an insight as to what was really thought of bands like the Stones by actual Black Blues musicians and audiences. I have friends that were in Muddy's band that night and they said Lefty Dizz's drunken mockery and tormenting of Mick Jaeger was just a small part of the general disdain. That has been edited out of the DVD, Hubert had the VHS and we used to crack up watching it. The Stones were not nearly as loved as they thought they were by any means.
Don't confuse Blues-Rock with actual Blues, they're two entirely different worlds and cultures. Each has their own merits but they're far from the same thing. I learned this from having been there seeing, experiencing the life, learning and playing the music with some of those who created it. If any of you live in areas that still have local Black bars & clubs that feature Blues go pay them a visit. You may be surprised to see real Blues musicians you've never heard of that are far better than any Brit "cover band". Enough of my rant, I have to get a guitar ready to go play in one of those places tonight. Keep live Blues music alive!
