How appropriate that I am reading this as a pot of greens cooks down on my stove. They might be foreign to some of you, but they are one of the best foods for your body that you can find on earth. Gonna add some Great Northern beans and mashed taters to go along.
On Feb 18, 3:10 pm, Robin Gravina <robin.grav...@gmail.com> wrote: > Well in my Spanish ghetto we have plenty of greens of mustard and collard > sort, and there has yet to be a heavy blues and southern funk movement > coming out of Castilla. I have to go with Val and say that the emotion does > it, and if you change a couple of words so that a song has some relation to > your own life, then you can own the emotion and sing the thang. In fact I > think that is how the folk process goes pretty much. In the US you have the > luck that people worked on the land and played music until recording > started. In the UK people had largely moved to the city and worked 12 hours > in the cloth factory and had no time or energy for singing, so the tradition > pretty much turned stomach up. > > Now if I make a big plate of black eyed peas cooked with a hambone and some > hot pepper, and serve it with rice and collard greens, also with the > hambone, why do Spanish people say it reminds them of home? > > Why does Flamenco exist? Why are the lyrics so similar to blues? Are we sad > and do we like dancing? Are we all human? Can I get another beer? > > (this was the random rambling thread right?) > > > > On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 8:37 PM, Dasspunk <dassp...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Personally, I'm a fan of mustard greens... and had many a helping as I > > carpet bagged down in the land of Tater (old times there are not > > forgotten, look away...). > > > If you are what you eat... do you play what you hear? That is to say, > > playing a style well, requires listening to the style. If this is so, > > I would think this "collared greens" theory would have had more merit > > back in the day... before recordings and such. Recordings would allow > > more non-regional folk, and even more interestingly, more not-yet- > > living folk, to listen and learn. To this, I would like to thank those > > sons-a-bitch recording pioneers that screwed nice musical folk out of > > royalties and such for their own gains... and my gain 'cause it allows > > me to own the recordings. Thanks bastards! > > > And this will be nothing to what the web can offer. Take Mr. Tate R. > > Bug for example. That boy's been given lessons over them internets for > > years now. I'd call him a trailblazer (among other things). Who'd a > > thunk it (besides me I guess)? He's spreading his collared greens all > > over the world, live and in person... and all this without having to > > leave his house. Amazing really... > > > B > > > On Feb 18, 12:18 pm, Val Mindel <vmin...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Mike H, if you ever get a chance to catch "The secret lives of > > > banjos," you should. It's a show put together by Jody Stecher and Bill > > > Evans and includes a great story about Arctic explorations, banjos and > > > penguins ... It also shows the broad reach of the instrument. They use > > > something Iike 27 banjos in their show and demonstrate convincingly > > > that the banjo has a wild and well-traveled history. > > > > Meanwhile, for my $.02, I think we can play outside our immediate > > > zones, just as we listen outside those zones, given sufficient will > > > and passion/obsession. It's a matter of relating to the underlying > > > emotion. Music really is generated from just a few main themes -- > > > love, death, god, events, work -- mixed and matched as appropriate, > > > and we can relate to these themes, even if the specifics (collard > > > greens) are foreign. Granted there is music that is outside my ken > > > (Chinese opera, for example), but I suspect that if I wanted to and > > > had a spare lifetime to mess around with it, I could tackle anything > > > that moved me. But being moved by it is the key. Just look at some of > > > our Japanese old-time musician friends who play great, with scrupulous > > > regard for the channels the music has come through. Of course, the > > > farther you are from the source, the harder it is to pick up the > > > nuances, rhythmic and otherwise, but I don't buy the you-gotta-have- > > > been-born-there notion, nor do I think the music died with some past > > > generation. Many young people are playing it well, with great > > > attention to detail and history, and not-so-young people like me are > > > still working at playing it, and that's a good thing, I think. But > > > then I've spent much of my life in zones where the frost-free date > > > skated to the end of June (or where other climatic realities dominate) > > > so I'm hardly any sort of argument for regional authenticity. best, > > > val > > > > On Feb 18, 11:19 am, Mike Hoffmann <mikehoffma...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Tater tater tater tater tate- > > > > Your post was about ethnic groups and then there was a sentence about > > > > Chicago. I drank a cup of coffee and read a big chunk of a book > > (Making the > > > > second ghetto - race and housing in chicago 1940-1960) that I really > > should > > > > have already finished yesterday before working on music. The chapter I > > left > > > > half finished was on white ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago. Then the > > coffee > > > > actually started working and I picked up my mandolin and was playing > > and > > > > listening to stuff on my computer whence I should have been doing > > homwork. > > > > That lead to reading this mailing list and thus your post, reminding > > me > > > > about white ethnic groups and Chicago and that I should be reading that > > > > book. I guess I should have just left the response in my head! Sorry > > for > > > > leading us off track. > > > > > On another note, I was once told that NJ was a hotbed of classical > > banjo > > > > activity. I also just read an account of a North Pole expedition that > > > > mentioned banjos AND accordions playing home sweet home while in the > > arctic. > > > > I think banjos were everywhere. Fred Van Eps and Vess Ossman both > > lived > > > > here and played extensively in Asbury Park, but certainly not old-time > > > > music. My dad always calls our local area banjo land because he gets > > > > frustrated at the inability to think liberally at school board meetings > > and > > > > such. I always get mad and remind him that it takes a large mind to > > play a > > > > banjo. The banjo gets pigeonholed as a rural, southern thing. Even a > > lot > > > > of the minstrel stuff was written in NYC, and it certainly romanticized > > the > > > > south. There is something about fantasizing about the South for us > > > > Northerners. Even Dixie was written up North. Maybe that is why > > old-time > > > > music is so popular up North in New England, MN, and Wisconsin > > specifically. > > > > It's cold and in the south it is so warm. I get jealous when I listen > > to > > > > Charlie McCoy sing, "in the wintertime I'm doing mighty well, but in > > the > > > > summertime its a burning hell" because in the wintertime here it is > > cold! > > > > > On a side note, I am watching Dora the Explorer with my niece right now > > and > > > > a flower is lost in the snow and they are trying to find their way back > > to > > > > warmer climates. Perhaps that is the same as us Northern flowers > > listening > > > > mournfully to southbound trains. Also, in the background I could swear > > they > > > > keep playing little brown jug. > > > > > need to organize my thoughts better > > > > Mike H- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. 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