In the last post, I shared my
enthusiasm for what I call weird, old American music: fiddle tunes, blues,
early country, bluegrass, western swing, and all sorts of music that refuses to
be categorized. It’s an adventure to search out this music, give it a listen,
and try to understand the people, attitude and culture that produced it.
Over the decades, this musical
quest has led me to some talented musicians who have made music that shows a
lot of passion, humor, fun, anger, sadness and general humanity. The music may
be sound quaint or odd to our ears. The recording quality may be poor (not
surprising, if it’s 70, 80 or 90 years old), but a lot of this music still has
appeal, even for ears accustomed to radio-friendly current pop, country and hip
hop music.
But there’s the thing: Sometimes
today’s artists are creating their art by drawing DIRECTLY from weird, old
American music. Here are a few examples of pop gold made out of weird old
music. Okay, some of it isn’t exactly pop gold. It’s only gold to NPR listeners
or Americana fans. But these are thoroughly modern and contemporary recordings
made out of source material from weird, old America:
First up, Lily Allen channels
Professor Longhair. Here’s Allen’s song, "Knock ‘Em Out:"
Here’s Professor Longhair’s song “Big
Chief," from which the piano part was lifted in its entirety:
One could argue that Professor
Longhair’s music isn’t as old and weird as, say, Gid Tanner and the Skillet
Lickers. But one thing’s for sure: he’s utterly unique, and his life story is
compelling. If you’re not familiar with “Fess,” learn more here: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/professor-longhair-mn0000369270/biography
Next up, for you Boomers, "I’m So Glad" by Skip James:
"I'm So Glad" by '60s power trio Cream, with Eric Clapton on
guitar:
"John Henry" by Woody Guthrie:
An electronic version of the song by a band called Snakefarm:
Finally, "Crossroads" by bluesman Robert Johnson:
Like Professor Longhair, Robert Johnson maybe shouldn't be lumped in with some of the more obscure "old, weird" artists. As one of the key forefathers of rock 'n' roll, and a bluesman who died under suspicious circumstances, he's become a legend. But this is a great illustration of how a decades-old song, which was obscure at the time, was made modern and turned to gold. Here's the same song by Cream, with a fresh opening riff by Eric Clapton:
And about 10 year’s later, Steve Miller appropriated Clapton’s guitar lick for his song "Jet Airliner:"
Does that make Steve Miller the musical step grandson of Robert Johnson?
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