Coffee Cup Blues

I'm no technical expert in the music genre of the Blues. Exploring the science of the 12 Bar Blues really doesn't get me giddy.

Delta, Urban, Country, Texas, Chicago, and on and on....I have no favorite and probably couldn't tell you the difference between one or two of the genres.

What I do know is that sometimes when I hear the Blues my head will drop, my eyes will close, and my heart will sway. Other times I can't help but jump outta my chair and scream along with the song.

All this craziness began with an album by the super group Led Zeppelin. When I got my hands on the album and tuned my ears in, the songs that struck me most were written by legendary Blues gent, Willie Dixon. The songs, You Shook Me and I Can't Quit You, started me on a wondrous journey of discovery and enlightenment that I hope will never end.

Finding out about Willie Dixon led to Muddy Waters and I haven't looked back since.

One of the coolest aspects of the Blues community goes way beyond support. There is a family atmosphere that is sometimes overwhelming.

Robert Johnson lived with Robert Lockwood Jr.'s family. Johnson was 15 years old and already a local legend. He didn't have to take 11 year old Lockwood under his wing, but he did. Johnson taught Lockwood the secrets of his success, then played gigs with him.

Buddy Guy is famous for giving a hand up to up and coming Blues artists. Just ask superstar John Mayer and nine year old Blues sensation Quinn Sullivan.

What's more, if you attend a Blues concert, chances are that you'll end up seeing a super jam involving all the performers at the show.

There are no ego battles.

Perhaps the greatest display of this family aspect comes in the form of Jimmy Vaughan and Steveie Ray Vaughan, his younger brother.

The older of the two, Jimmy, taught little Stevie how to play the guitar before he set out on his Blues path. SRV went on to eclipse his younger brother in the spotlight, but you would never know it if you saw them together. They were tight. Tight as two snakes on a warm spring day.

Before Stevie's tragic and abrupt finish to his life, the two recorded what was to be the first of many collberations. Family Style was released just days after Stevie's death.

SRV's passing shook Jimmy to the core. It took Jimmy five years to record anything, many thought he was going to disappear for good, but that wasn't going to be the case. The first recording that Jimmy made after Stevie's death was a tribute live performance at Austin City Limits. This wasn't just any old tribute either. Not with the likes of Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, and Buddy Guy on hand to perform Stevie's Music.

Where there is one, there will be more.

If this video ain't all about brotherly love than you can kiss the bottom of my lily white feet!

Delta Blues cerntainly wasn't the origins of the genre, heck Delta Blues weren't even the only recognized sub genre in the 1920's, but the artists of the sub genre turned the music world on its ear through their talent and expression.

The Mississippi River Delta was ripe with poor sharecroppers and other poverty stricken inhabitants in the early twentieth century, and one thing that the downtrodden know how to do is to sing their problems away. This is exactly what so many African Americans did at the time.

Songs about penitentiary an workhouse stints, sexuality, being a traveling artist, and the pitfalls of that lifestyle were the major themes of the Delta Blues songs. Songs that became more than regionally popular. So much so that major recording labels sent reps into the area to record what became known as Race Records.

The 1940's prosperity of the post-war era brought on a migration from the rural areas into the urban centers of America, and with that movement came the Delta Blues. Once inside the cities, the Delta Blues gave birth to many other sub-genres including Chicago Blues and Memphis Blues.

The music world of today is heavily influenced by one form of the Blues or another, but all the noise can be traced back to the 1920's Missippi Delta and the pioneers of folks like Robert Johnson and Son House.

There really is no torch being passed from one generation of the Blues to the next. No real overlapping.

There is just a circle of artists that grows.

Being invited into the circle are names like Shannon Kurfman, Johnny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, "Monster" Mike Welch, and many , many more.

Kids are turning out in droves with guitars in their hands and songs in their hearts. If you don't believe me, check the local listings in your newspapers. Every weekend, everywhere, there is a handful of young musicians setting to play the blues. Some of them move on, but none of them forget home, and they always remember the Blues.

Alvin Youngblood Hart was one such musician as he won the 1996 W.C. Handy Award for Best New Blues Artist. Alvin could have easily blended his stylings into something more electric and popular, but to this day he remains what some call a purist.

I call him an artist.

Here's Alvin performing a Leadbelly song that was also covered by Zep.