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No matter how much music you have listened
to throughout your life, there are things you just can't find
on your own. Somehow, each one of us has a special kind of music
that seems to chase us down, sometimes even against our will.
This was not apparent when I was a teenager, but by the time
I was in college two very different musical forces, that changed
my way of thinking forever, hit me. First it was "Jefferson
Airplane," soon followed by "Led Zeppelin." Never
mind that almost every radio station in the worldhd plays "White
Rabbit" and "Stairway To Heaven" on a permanent
rotation. I'm talking about the stuff you're not supposed to
know about unless you were around when a record was released.
Some of my friends joke about every time I "discovered"
a classic rock artist, because I would play it over and over
until everybody around me was sick and tired of it. The joke
would go even farther. One of my friends would threaten his roommate
to do something, or "I'll show Pedro my Electric Light Orchestra
collection."
The next level is what I call the "Beatles/Elvis"
stage. Since my generation missed both "The Beatles"
and Elvis, we grew up watching the same video clip with "The
Beatles" playing on Ed Sullivan's show, or even worse, Elvis
during his decline. During the "Beatles/Elvis" stage,
I started to discover all these great songs that I missed because
of commercial radio. I confess that the first time I paid attention
to "Strawberry Fields Forever" I almost freaked out.
It still gives me the creeps. And now I think Elvis is pretty
cool.
The final stage is when you realize that
under Rock & Roll there is a simpler layer of music, something
more basic, with less noise and more feeling. The Blues.
You don't wake up one day and decide you're
going to start to listening to the Blues, it's the other way
around. You wake up one day and you realize that all that music
that you've been listening to over the years is nothing more
than a very liberal interpretation of the Blues.
>From "Led Zeppelin" and "Pink
Floyd," to today's modern bands, the Blues are the underlying
fabric that ties it all together. The nicest thing is that it
doesn't come as a "rude awakening" of sorts. Instead,
you will feel like you understand your music even more.
Because of this, I have a lot of trouble
"digesting" traditional Blues, since I'm so used to
listening to a sound that is louder and electric (imagine drinking
coffee with sugar all your life, but you can't eat a single spoonful
by itself). "Rory Block," and her "Confessions
of a Blues Singer," is that special breed of recording that
manages to maintain the Blues sound in an almost pure form, with
just a hint of flavor that provides some individuality for the
artist and her work.
My first reaction was that Rory sings like
she's a mix of Bonnie Rapt and Janus Poplin at a different pitch.
There's a little touch of folk and country, but the rest is plain
old blues. In the liner notes to "Confessions Of A Blues
Singer," Rory explains that she wanted to let her feelings
reign over the recording, going for "feeling over perfection."
She then turns almost apologetic about recording her imperfect
intonation, buzzing notes and unfinished endings.
Rubbish! It is perfect! She managed to
achieve exactly what she aimed for - a great CD that equals recordings
made years ago, all feeling, soul and raw power. Oh, since I
mentioned Bonnie Raitt earlier, note that she plays slide guitar
on "Rambling On My Mind," which is arguably the best
track on this CD. This was a surprise to me, until I realized
Rory and Bonnie have performed together many times over the years.
Also memorable are Charlie Patton's "Bo Weevil Blues,"
which is just beautiful, and "Silver Slide Moan."
If you call yourself a Blues fan, then
you owe yourself this CD. It's a great historic piece, putting
together classic Blues with this lady who is the worldhd's foremost
authority in country Blues. |
