"BLUE" JIMMY: LOWDOWN BLUESMAN
BLIND DOG OZZY: NEUROTIC CHIHUAHUA
"Ain't but one school for The Blues and that's down in the (Mississippi) Delta" - Blind Dog Fulton ( From the 1986 film, "Crossroads").
"Ain't but one school for The Blues and that's down in the (Mississippi) Delta" - Blind Dog Fulton ( From the 1986 film, "Crossroads").
"BLUE" JIMMY: I bin posting a lot of critical reviews and commentary on the Internet about bands, guitar, music and musicians in general. People have angrily written to me and asked, "Do you even play?" Oh yeah I play and I do it well, thank you. This lesson is about improvising The Blues in such a manner that you don't look foolish in front of people.
BLIND DOG OZZY: You done that many times!
"BLUE" JIMMY: The other day, I heard a band called Five Finger Death Punch on the radio doing a cover of the song, "Bad Company" by Classic Rock Legends, BAD COMPANY. Nice try, but I considered this sacrilege. This is a song I would like played at my funeral because it says it all about the life of a musician in a hard rockin', bluesy manner. But this version was cold and stiff and sounded like typical 90's - influenced , Alternative Rock. The lowdown is, young musicians today didn't grow up listening to The Blues like 60's and 70's bands such as: BAD CO. ; ZEPPELIN; DEEP PURPLE; HUMBLE PIE; FOGHAT; GRAND FUNK RAILROAD; ZZ TOP and AEROSMITH. Before going onstage in huge arenas with Marshall Stacks and blinding light shows all these bands at one time, sat down in their bedrooms and picked acoustic guitars trying to copy their Blues idols.
BLIND DOG OZZY: Today's musicians think The Blues is a color you tint your hair!
"BLUE" JIMMY: The Blues is a simple, some say even primitive, form of music that originated in the Southern United States in the early part of the 20th century. Early practitioners of this music such as Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Blind Willie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy and others made a name for themselves playing the Gospel, Ragtime and Jazz music popular at the time and adapting it to Blues guitar which was a lot more difficult than it sounds. Some pieces, such as those by Blind Blake, have never been duplicated ... by anyone!
BLIND DOG OZZY: F**k that! Don't even try!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Then the Great Depression hit in the late 1920's and everyone had to go from listening to swingin', uptown, big city Blues to hearing primal, plantation field hollers played by dirt poor sharecroppers who often played on cheap and sometimes even homemade instruments. Experts of this style included Charlie Patton, Son House, Muddy Waters and the mythical Robert Johnson who some say couldn't play s**t, then disappeared for a few years and when he reappeared, was playing a unique form of Blues so advanced that when he recorded, people thought there were two guitar players on the record! His myth seems to parallel great spiritual leaders of history such as Buddha and Jesus Christ who left mainstream life and then returned later with great wisdom. Mississippi Delta legend has it that Robert Johnson went down to a country crossroads where he met The Devil and made a pact where he had to sell his soul in return for incredible talent and success. Again, this idea of selling your soul to The Devil in return for musical virtuosity, goes back to at least the time of the great Italian violinist, Niccolo Paganini (1782 - 1840) who, rumored to have sold his soul to The Devil, was denied a proper burial by the Catholic Church.
BLIND DOG OZZY: Others say Robert Johnson most likely went away for a few years, loaded up on bootleg whiskey and practiced his ass off!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Whatever happened, it is the spirit of Robert Johnson, Charlie, Son and Muddy that I try to capture in this video. Keep in mind that I grew up listening to Classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal as well as The Blues and in the middle of this example, you'll hear me step on the Tube Screamer and the Crybaby simultaneously and do things to a Telecaster that you best not allow your young children to see!
BLIND DOG OZZY: At least PG-13 for sure!
"BLUE" JIMMY: I start off in the key of E in the first position, using an intro and various Blues turnarounds that are typical of the Delta Blues, leanin' heavy on the open strings.
BLIND DOG OZZY: The guitar seems to play itself like this ...
"BLUE" JIMMY: Then I do some heavy choking with my thumb over the top of the neck that allows me to sound some low E- string rumbles that sound like Delta thunder! If you ever took a Classical Guitar class, they will tell you that this is absolutely wrong, forbidden, lazy guitar technique and you will have to stay after school and "correct" this ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: ... But it feels so good!
"BLUE" JIMMY: The Blues is all about breakin' the rules and you will see Bluesmen using unorthodox technique, bad fingering, slurs, string noise and especially, string "bending" which is considered "cheating" in Classical Guitar ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: ... Because those guys are fags!
"BLUE" JIMMY: But every once in a while, a Bluesman will surprise you and throw in some big -city, fancy-ass, Jazz runs or chords in the style of T Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown or Pee Wee Crayton and you will know that they did their homework at one time or another!
BLIND DOG OZZY: From about the 1920's to about the 1980's Bluesmen did what I remember doing when I was a kid and played phonograph records over and over to learn how to play, lifting the phonograph needle back and forth to learn how to play a certain part. This was an inexact, torturous, frustrating process and resulted in only limited results.
BLIND DOG OZZY: You old f**k!
"BLUE" JIMMY: I'm not even that old and I remember when I started learning to play the guitar, there was no CDs that you could just pop in and out and pause and fast forward and rewind, no videos, no computers, no Internet, no YouTube, no programs, no apps, no talking phones or Skype or devices that tune up the guitar for you, there was only this ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: What the Hell is that ... a licorice pizza?
"BLUE" JIMMY: But those records got me where I needed to go and to tell you the truth, I even miss the hiss and the crackles and the pops and the skips because I know I'm in the last generation of Bluesmen to learn how to play the way Robert done it ... slow an' easy an' right!
BLIND DOG OZZY: As Hound Dog Taylor once said he wanted put on his gravestone, "He couldn't play s**t but he sure made it sound good!"
"BLUE" JIMMY: Sake's Alive!
BLIND DOG OZZY: Wow! Wow!
bluejames61@hotmail.com
BLIND DOG OZZY: Today's musicians think The Blues is a color you tint your hair!
"BLUE" JIMMY: The Blues is a simple, some say even primitive, form of music that originated in the Southern United States in the early part of the 20th century. Early practitioners of this music such as Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Blind Willie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy and others made a name for themselves playing the Gospel, Ragtime and Jazz music popular at the time and adapting it to Blues guitar which was a lot more difficult than it sounds. Some pieces, such as those by Blind Blake, have never been duplicated ... by anyone!
BLIND DOG OZZY: F**k that! Don't even try!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Then the Great Depression hit in the late 1920's and everyone had to go from listening to swingin', uptown, big city Blues to hearing primal, plantation field hollers played by dirt poor sharecroppers who often played on cheap and sometimes even homemade instruments. Experts of this style included Charlie Patton, Son House, Muddy Waters and the mythical Robert Johnson who some say couldn't play s**t, then disappeared for a few years and when he reappeared, was playing a unique form of Blues so advanced that when he recorded, people thought there were two guitar players on the record! His myth seems to parallel great spiritual leaders of history such as Buddha and Jesus Christ who left mainstream life and then returned later with great wisdom. Mississippi Delta legend has it that Robert Johnson went down to a country crossroads where he met The Devil and made a pact where he had to sell his soul in return for incredible talent and success. Again, this idea of selling your soul to The Devil in return for musical virtuosity, goes back to at least the time of the great Italian violinist, Niccolo Paganini (1782 - 1840) who, rumored to have sold his soul to The Devil, was denied a proper burial by the Catholic Church.
BLIND DOG OZZY: Others say Robert Johnson most likely went away for a few years, loaded up on bootleg whiskey and practiced his ass off!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Whatever happened, it is the spirit of Robert Johnson, Charlie, Son and Muddy that I try to capture in this video. Keep in mind that I grew up listening to Classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal as well as The Blues and in the middle of this example, you'll hear me step on the Tube Screamer and the Crybaby simultaneously and do things to a Telecaster that you best not allow your young children to see!
BLIND DOG OZZY: At least PG-13 for sure!
"BLUE" JIMMY: I start off in the key of E in the first position, using an intro and various Blues turnarounds that are typical of the Delta Blues, leanin' heavy on the open strings.
BLIND DOG OZZY: The guitar seems to play itself like this ...
 |
| GUITAR PLAYING ITSELF |
"BLUE" JIMMY: Then I do some heavy choking with my thumb over the top of the neck that allows me to sound some low E- string rumbles that sound like Delta thunder! If you ever took a Classical Guitar class, they will tell you that this is absolutely wrong, forbidden, lazy guitar technique and you will have to stay after school and "correct" this ...
 |
| CHOKIN' THE NECK |
BLIND DOG OZZY: ... But it feels so good!
"BLUE" JIMMY: The Blues is all about breakin' the rules and you will see Bluesmen using unorthodox technique, bad fingering, slurs, string noise and especially, string "bending" which is considered "cheating" in Classical Guitar ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: ... Because those guys are fags!
"BLUE" JIMMY: But every once in a while, a Bluesman will surprise you and throw in some big -city, fancy-ass, Jazz runs or chords in the style of T Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown or Pee Wee Crayton and you will know that they did their homework at one time or another!
 |
| BIG-CITY, FANCY-ASS, JAZZ CHORD |
BLIND DOG OZZY: From about the 1920's to about the 1980's Bluesmen did what I remember doing when I was a kid and played phonograph records over and over to learn how to play, lifting the phonograph needle back and forth to learn how to play a certain part. This was an inexact, torturous, frustrating process and resulted in only limited results.
BLIND DOG OZZY: You old f**k!
"BLUE" JIMMY: I'm not even that old and I remember when I started learning to play the guitar, there was no CDs that you could just pop in and out and pause and fast forward and rewind, no videos, no computers, no Internet, no YouTube, no programs, no apps, no talking phones or Skype or devices that tune up the guitar for you, there was only this ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: What the Hell is that ... a licorice pizza?
"BLUE" JIMMY: But those records got me where I needed to go and to tell you the truth, I even miss the hiss and the crackles and the pops and the skips because I know I'm in the last generation of Bluesmen to learn how to play the way Robert done it ... slow an' easy an' right!
BLIND DOG OZZY: As Hound Dog Taylor once said he wanted put on his gravestone, "He couldn't play s**t but he sure made it sound good!"
"BLUE" JIMMY: Sake's Alive!
BLIND DOG OZZY: Wow! Wow!
bluejames61@hotmail.com
