I know you want to stay out of that debate, but really, I don't remember Cosby, Chris Rock, Pryor, Prince, Rev Gary davis, Howlin Wolf, Rev Reggie White, Randal Cunningham... ever being anything other than good human beings. And presumably all of these people who picked themselves up from their bootstraps had worse problems -- to the extent that those problems even exist(ed).
Smith: I'm a classical guitarist, but I'm constantly humbled by the likes of Rev Gary davis. He was so very creative! There are a ton of things that (black) blues guitarists do with thumb/one finger that I can only mimic with four fingers.
Even basic bluegrass -- I think the good musicians do that with thumb/index finger, but I have to do it with thumb/middle finger. Part of this is because if you play classical guitar, you have to turn your right hand in a certain way, which makes your index finger almost useless. I used to play Arabic music with my thumb, middle and ring finger -- it was fun, but I had to re-tune the guitar such that the strings would break in a week.
Now I just hit classical 'tremolo' for colour.
Still -- the early blacks, up until Clapton co-opted 'blues' were absolutely masterful.
I always thought Clapton was respectful and acknowledged his influenced though. Thats so cool! I can talk old school blues, country, bluegrass, and folk all day. Jazz too but that is for another time. You have a favorite guitarist? I love how in the south you had influences going back and forth like how Hank Sr learned from a blues musician and Howlin Wolf and Mississippi John Hurt considered Jimmie Rodgers a big influence
Smith: Clapton was great. I re-read my comment, and it did seem like I was saying that everything was fantastic until... clapton. Nah, all of those era of guitarists were fantastic -- they were figuring out things in real time!
I do have favourite guitarists, but two I'd recommend for you, since you like to discover things... Paco Pena, the man who introduced flamenco into the wider western world. And... Roy Clark, a 'country' musician who'll blow your socks off. Someone asked Eddie Van Halen: "what's it like being the best guitarist in the world..." His response: "I dunno, you'll have to ask Roy Clark"!
Smith: to be fair, she's jewish.
I know you want to stay out of that debate, but really, I don't remember Cosby, Chris Rock, Pryor, Prince, Rev Gary davis, Howlin Wolf, Rev Reggie White, Randal Cunningham... ever being anything other than good human beings. And presumably all of these people who picked themselves up from their bootstraps had worse problems -- to the extent that those problems even exist(ed).
Aerotrain
I’m impressed by your knowledge. Rev Gary Davis and Howlin Wolf are some old school names
Smith: I'm a classical guitarist, but I'm constantly humbled by the likes of Rev Gary davis. He was so very creative! There are a ton of things that (black) blues guitarists do with thumb/one finger that I can only mimic with four fingers.
Even basic bluegrass -- I think the good musicians do that with thumb/index finger, but I have to do it with thumb/middle finger. Part of this is because if you play classical guitar, you have to turn your right hand in a certain way, which makes your index finger almost useless. I used to play Arabic music with my thumb, middle and ring finger -- it was fun, but I had to re-tune the guitar such that the strings would break in a week.
Now I just hit classical 'tremolo' for colour.
Still -- the early blacks, up until Clapton co-opted 'blues' were absolutely masterful.
Aerotrain
I always thought Clapton was respectful and acknowledged his influenced though. Thats so cool! I can talk old school blues, country, bluegrass, and folk all day. Jazz too but that is for another time. You have a favorite guitarist? I love how in the south you had influences going back and forth like how Hank Sr learned from a blues musician and Howlin Wolf and Mississippi John Hurt considered Jimmie Rodgers a big influence
Smith: Clapton was great. I re-read my comment, and it did seem like I was saying that everything was fantastic until... clapton. Nah, all of those era of guitarists were fantastic -- they were figuring out things in real time!
I do have favourite guitarists, but two I'd recommend for you, since you like to discover things... Paco Pena, the man who introduced flamenco into the wider western world. And... Roy Clark, a 'country' musician who'll blow your socks off. Someone asked Eddie Van Halen: "what's it like being the best guitarist in the world..." His response: "I dunno, you'll have to ask Roy Clark"!
Aerotrain(1971)