I play guitar some, but not in any particular style, just folk stuff, mostly fingerpicking. I'm trying to expand my repertoire and have picked up a Robert Johnson and Rev. Gary Davis book/cd.
I've recently been exploring a lot of that old music prompted by reading Dylan's Chronicles last winter and wanting to hear some of the music he was referring to. I've heard some of those old blues guys over the years, of course, but really heard other people doing their stuff more than the originals. I really like the acoustic blues, all different styles. Anyhow, my local library led me to a treasure trove of old material from the 20's, some blues and some not, and I found myself fascinated, intrigued, and captivated. There's a great series called "Times Ain't What They Used to Be" on Yazoo Records. And one thing led to another. A lot of the material they release is pretty obscure. Some of these people, like Richard "Rabbit" Brown and Luke Jordan only ever recorded a few tracks. It was Richard Rabbit Brown that led me to Venerable Musica phenomenal sitewhere I found Luke Jordan and a pile of others on a three cd set. www.venerablemusic.com. They have an online radio station of old music and you can make requests. There's a box on the left that says "Click here to tune in" and that takes you to the playlist where you can select the player you want to use and it tells you what's playing, what's on deck and what's been played. You can make requests by clicking on the appropriate link. For a great Luke Jordan tune go to this link, scroll down to his name and the tune "Won't You Be Kind", then click request. http://www.venerablemusic.com/samphpweb/playlist.php?start=1350&limit=50&letter=L&search= It seems to queue requests three or four songs in so you don't have too long to wait. Richard Rabbit Brown's terrific "James Alley" can be found the same way at this page: http://www.venerablemusic.com/samphpweb/playlist.php?start=550&limit=100&letter=R&search= I'm having a lot of fun listening to this material. Listening is one of the best ways to learn. I've never been all that disciplined about learning to play systematically; I more just pick things up and incorporate bits into what I do. I admire what you do, making a living busking. It takes dedication. Enjoyed the clips from your record site too. FairfieldLife relevancy check: Luke Jordan has a song titled "Church Bells Blues" which contains the line "The low down dirty Deacon done stole my gal and gone," about the sexual exploits of a spiritual leader which is a favourite theme on FFL. :) --- In [email protected], "curtisdeltablues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I had never heard of Luke Jordan, thanks for turning me on to him. I > have been searching on the Web and can find info but no examples of > his music. I guess there are only 6 songs in circulation? If you > have any links so I can hear him please let me know. > > from what I read Jordan is a Piedmont player. I am skewed towards the > Delta guys, although I live in the Piedmont area where guys like John > Jackson, and Archie Edwards played in that style. I got to see those > guys before they died. For some reason the Piedmont style doesn't > move me like the Delta stuff. Mississippi John Hurt was such a > fixture in the folk revival I grew up in, but aside from appreciating > what he does, I don't listen to or play that style. I dig the holy > trinity of Charley Patton, Son House and Robert Johnson, and Booker > White, Skip James, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi Fred Mcdowell, RL > Burnside, Sonny Boy Williamson and Jack Owens among others. My > favorite modern players are John Hammond and Rory Block. > > Do you play? You can hear samples of my music at www.cdbaby/curtisblues > > Thanks again for the tip on Luke Jordan. > > > > To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
