The Gantry Launchpad

Country or Blues

Or is that country and blues?

As is not unusual {g}, Dean got me to thinking when he started a thread discussing the close similarity between country and blues music.

What surprises me is that this is news to people. I suppose it's one of those "everyone knows" things; everyone knows that country and blues are really, really different.

There's some good stuff over there; Alan of The Yellow Line points out one of the roots of country: Irish folk music.

Country music can trace a lot of its roots back to Irish folk music. Many if the 19th century Irish immigrants ended up in New Orleans and then worked their way up the Mississippi into Tennessee and the surrounding areas. These immigrants often worked alongside blacks.

Head-banger and Limey Andrew Ian Dodge of Dodgeblogium sez

I always described country music (traditional) as "white boy blues."

You have a lot of company, my friend.

Bithead raises some interesting points. If the Allman Brothers came out today they'd probably be labled some sort of "alternative" country.

They'd have company, too. Charlie Daniels started out as Southern Rock in the same vein as the Allman Brothers, but they've definitely "gone country." If you go back and listen to what Steven Stills did (besides CSN&Y), you'd hear a lot of blues/country influences. Try to find his live (acoustic) rendition of Crossroads.

Actually, Stills provides a starting point which leads to a fascinating series of intertwining threads. Stills and Richie Furay were members of Buffalo Springfield. Furay moved to Poco (Richie Furay, Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham, Randy Meisner), with Meisner later joining the Eagles. Furay went on to create Souther, Hillman, and Furay, with Chris Hillman having previously been with the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Stills' Manassas. JD Souther's songs have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Roy Orbison, James Taylor, CS&N, Warren Zevon, Joe Cocker and Hugh Masekela. He appeared on Roy Orbison's last album, and there's that pesky rockabilly again... ;)

Jim Messina was in Poco, and did a lot of engineering work, which is how he met Kenny Loggins.

Messina's Telecaster licks gave Loggins & Messina a distinctive sound; I challenge anyone to characterize his solo in the extended version of Angry Eyes as belonging to any particular genre!

If Loggins & Messina came out today, they would almost certainly be seen as "mainstream" country.

Lest I forget: what about Jimmy Buffet? He's been moving towards country since his 1984 Riddles in the Sand. Not only are more country artists doing his stuff, more country stations are playing his work. And -in case you didn't know- there are two Jimmy Buffet Capitols in the US: Cincinnati, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia.

Marshall Tucker Band would probably be considered country, as well as Pure Prairie League, and maybe even Little Feat. Actually, Cincinnati-born Pure Prairie League included Craig Fuller and George Powell, both of whom ended up in Little Feat. Oddly enough, while double-checking some of the group lineups tonight, I found out that country legend Vince Gill was a member of Pure Prairie League for a few years. Go figure...

Bithead mentioned Rainy Night in Georgia. Well, earlier in the thread I mentioned the PBS special Rhythm, Country, and Blues. It's about ten years old; I have a very well-played tape of it. :) Basically they interviewed a wide variety of artists and music historians, and their conclusions pretty much agree with what's been said here. Country was frequently called "white man's blues," with both "white" and "black" blues having strong rural and Gospel roots. If nothing else, you should watch it just to see and hear Rufus Thomas's impressions.

Anyway. Part of the show was filming various artists record songs which could be blues, country, or both; and before I forget one of the guys involved was Don Was. Those who know, know. :) The truly interesting twist was that they paired a country artist with a blues artist on each song. The results were ... interesting.

The reason I'm reminded of all this is that one of the songs used was Rainy Night in Georgia. The two artists? Conway Twitty and Sam Moore. Before you laugh, recall that Twitty started out in rockabilly before he went full-bore country, and the man still has great pipes.

The songs?
-Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby, Vince Gill and Gladys Knight
-Funny How Time Slips Away, Al Green and Lyle Lovett
-I Fall to Pieces, Aaron Neville and Trisha Yearwood
-Something Else, Little Richard and Tanya Tucker
-When Something is Wrong with My Baby, Patti Labelle and Travis Tritt
-Rainy Night in Georgia, Sam Moore and Conway Twitty
-Chain of Fools, Clint Black and the Pointer Sisters
-Since I Fell for You, Natalie Cole and Reba McEntire
-Southern Nights, Chet Atkins and Alan Toussaint
-The Weight, The Staple Singers and Marty Stuart
-Patches, George Jones and BB King

They're all excellent performances. My personal favorite keeps bouncing between Since I Fell for You and When Something is Wrong with My Baby. Both contain unbelievable harmonies.

Posted by Casey at June 4, 2005 1:47 AM | TrackBack