1<!DOCTYPE html> 2<html class='no-js'> 3 <head> 4 <title>John Milward</title> 5 6 <meta content='width=device-width,initial-scale=1' name='viewport'> 7 8 <meta name="description" content="Americanaland: Musings from the Crossroads of Popular Culture"/> 9<meta property="og:title" content="John Milward"/> 10<meta property="og:type" content="website"/> 11<meta property="og:url" content="https://johnmilward.com/"/> 12<meta property="og:site_name" content="John Milward"/> 13<meta property="og:description" content="Americanaland: Musings from the Crossroads of Popular Culture"/> 14<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qeQ1XR85kPc/hqdefault.jpg"/> 15<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 16<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 17<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0r4Hnz04zAw/hqdefault.jpg"/> 18<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 19<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 20<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_5WJWfOoi-k/hqdefault.jpg"/> 21<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 22<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 23<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691686/hCffrJhrsDHMTgoTAhjNiAtm_1E/large_Willie_72.jpg"/> 24<meta property="og:image:width" content="576"/> 25<meta property="og:image:height" content="797"/> 26<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691689/L3EAmujzC-T6KFcM3rKY7ebeboA/large_71_3JvkQCzL.jpg"/> 27<meta property="og:image:width" content="667"/> 28<meta property="og:image:height" content="1000"/> 29<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PKzKOFmPPwY/hqdefault.jpg"/> 30<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 31<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 32<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691687/TM4v6VmdfCJO8EB0IJoe8jWm778/large_Dylan_72.jpg"/> 33<meta property="og:image:width" content="576"/> 34<meta property="og:image:height" content="806"/> 35<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0BsUIbQTMZc/hqdefault.jpg"/> 36<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 37<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 38<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xx-WWY_s9dw/hqdefault.jpg"/> 39<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 40<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 41<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Fm1qtX7Mz5w/hqdefault.jpg"/> 42<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 43<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 44<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TqwDxct3Z5U/hqdefault.jpg"/> 45<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 46<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 47<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bBVhBnoarus/hqdefault.jpg"/> 48<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 49<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 50<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZVIPTBIRPbg/hqdefault.jpg"/> 51<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 52<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 53<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-CGbTTfUDj0/hqdefault.jpg"/> 54<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 55<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 56<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/37fNUR3aWrk/hqdefault.jpg"/> 57<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 58<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 59<meta property="og:image" content="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/bXbxknk0NHo/hqdefault.jpg"/> 60<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 61<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 62<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/1093573/alM9_tzGTUvHKaRfrIkn1eJeMLc/large_6_Mike_Bloomfield.jpg"/> 63<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"/> 64<meta property="og:image:height" content="1489"/> 65<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UnhhG7F-7ow/hqdefault.jpg"/> 66<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 67<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 68<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cria5Ekc0kI/hqdefault.jpg"/> 69<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 70<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 71<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eAFY8HwnnzQ/hqdefault.jpg"/> 72<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 73<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 74<meta property="og:image" content="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/bG3DTvgVmv8/hqdefault.jpg"/> 75<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 76<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 77<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/999936/G1SdhtiKPpbwLvEyE2AE8wB30yA/large_7_BB_King_72.jpg"/> 78<meta property="og:image:width" content="500"/> 79<meta property="og:image:height" content="574"/> 80<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dOAQd3JK0sc/hqdefault.jpg"/> 81<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 82<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 83<meta property="og:image" content="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/P6L8CEuJzsA/hqdefault.jpg"/> 84<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 85<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 86<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4cbvuhQ6Pl4/hqdefault.jpg"/> 87<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 88<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 89<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0yq-Fw7C26Y/hqdefault.jpg"/> 90<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 91<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 92<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/986175/eho53R9JjFvuqS8GQDU2R5TNvZs/large_12_Peter_Green_72.jpg"/> 93<meta property="og:image:width" content="521"/> 94<meta property="og:image:height" content="620"/> 95<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TqKKGDcexZs/hqdefault.jpg"/> 96<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 97<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 98<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xztTQmFNnn4/hqdefault.jpg"/> 99<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 100<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 101<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IxgY9eEFiYM/hqdefault.jpg"/> 102<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 103<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 104<meta property="og:image" content="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/9gytJemzNTM/hqdefault.jpg"/> 105<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 106<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 107<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yX908Qi-7DE/hqdefault.jpg"/> 108<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 109<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 110<meta property="og:image" content="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/nKkw4nkifa8/hqdefault.jpg"/> 111<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 112<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 113<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/964422/Mv4h9kL8D5V2lTps9KXdfyelz00/large_5_Mississippi_John_Hurt_s.jpg"/> 114<meta property="og:image:width" content="576"/> 115<meta property="og:image:height" content="652"/> 116<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/955123/JJbq1KOaVD9oOYSa3r4hYnox3F4/large_3.jpg"/> 117<meta property="og:image:width" content="547"/> 118<meta property="og:image:height" content="551"/> 119<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FmywB9Fnfn0/hqdefault.jpg"/> 120<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 121<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 122<meta property="og:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4iVsImMOykI/hqdefault.jpg"/> 123<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 124<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 125<meta property="og:image" content="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/jciPN8E2Pq8/hqdefault.jpg"/> 126<meta property="og:image:width" content="480"/> 127<meta property="og:image:height" content="360"/> 128<meta property="og:image" content="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/profile_pic/asset/2609892/Cht_K2W_q5fjLGw5Jdgvtn8vwes/large_John_Milward.jpg"/> 129<meta property="og:image:width" content="200"/> 130<meta property="og:image:height" content="200"/> 131<meta property="twitter:card" content="summary"/> 132<meta property="twitter:image" content="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qeQ1XR85kPc/hqdefault.jpg"/> 133 134 <link href="https://phthemes.s3.amazonaws.com/1/lpmGCkGbHyh0vsId/images/favicon.ico?v=1575993674" rel='shortcut icon' type='image/x-icon'> 135 <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Oxygen:400,700,300|Crimson+Text:400,400italic&subset=latin,latin-ext" 136 media="screen" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> 137 <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://phthemes.s3.amazonaws.com/1/lpmGCkGbHyh0vsId/blog.css?v=1594371214"> 138 139 <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://johnmilward.com/posts.atom"> 140
140<script> 141 window.Posthaven = window.Posthaven || {}; 142 window.Posthaven.currentPage = {"postIds":"1886350,1821144,1746578,1679166,649807,623726,601921,596770,589315,586682","pageCounter":"site-5929"}; 143 window.Posthaven.domain = 'posthaven.com'; 144 window.Posthaven.strings = {"archive.no_results":"No results found.","date":null,"forms.comment.anon_error":"Please enter your name and email.","forms.subscribe.after_subscribe_notice":"You have been subscribed. Check your email to confirm your subscription.","forms.subscribe.after_follow_notice":"You're now following this blog.","forms.subscribe.after_unfollow_notice":"You've unfollowed this blog.","gallery.of":"of","relative_date":null}; 145 </script>
145 146 <link href="/assets/blog-internal-ebf9cc379e51c299993a0f443d1fee65.css" 147 media="all" rel="stylesheet" /> 148 149 150 151
151<script> 152 window.fbAsyncInit = function() { 153 FB.init({ 154 appId : '488600357843531', 155 xfbml : true, 156 version : 'v2.6' 157 }); 158 }; 159 160 (function(d, s, id){ 161 var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; 162 if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} 163 js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; 164 js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; 165 fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); 166 }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); 167 </script>
167 168 </head> 169 170 <body id='site_5929'> 171 <div id='container'> 172 <nav class='posthaven-user-menu posthaven-control'> 173<span class='posthaven-user-required' style='display: none;'> 174<span class='posthaven-admin-required' style='display: none;'> 175<a href="https://posthaven.com/dashboard#sites/5929">Manage</a> 176<a href="https://posthaven.com/dashboard#sites/5929/posts/new">New Post</a> 177</span> 178<a href="/posthaven/xd/logout" data-posthaven-method="delete">Logout</a> 179</span> 180<span class='posthaven-anon'> 181<a href="https://posthaven.com/users/sign_in?return_host=johnmilward.com" class="posthaven-login">Login</a> 182</span> 183</nav> 184 185 186 <header id='topbar'> 187 <a href="https://posthaven.com/"><div class='posthaven-tab'></div></a> 188 </header> 189 190 <div id='flash'> 191 192 </div> 193 194 195 <header id='header'> 196 <h1> 197 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/">John Milward</a> 198 </h1> 199 200 201 <h2>Americanaland: Musings from the Crossroads of Popular Culture</h2> 202 203 204 205 </header> 206 207 208 <div id='main_container'> 209 <div id="main"> 210 211 212 213 <article class="post"> 214 215 216 217 <header> 218 219 220 <div class="post-title"> 221 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/when-i-paint-my-fiscal-masterpiece">When I Paint My Fiscal Masterpiece</a></h2> 222 223 224 </div> 225 </header> 226 227 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_1886350"> 228 229 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p><iframe width="800" height="452" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qeQ1XR85kPc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen title='Bob Dylan "Money Honey" 15 Nov 1999 Ithaca New York'></iframe></p><p>Over the summer, a friend hosted a pool party and complained about the delays and challenges involved in getting his water heater fixed. This is the sort of champagne problem, we joked, that you wouldnât bring up at a Black Lives Matter demonstration. I thought of this when I presented a paper at âBob Dylan and the Beats,â a weekend conference at the Bob Dylan Institute in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was invited because Dylan is a central character in my book âAmericanaland: Where Country & Western Met Rock ânâ Roll.â At one point, before beginning his presentation, one of the participants mentioned that amidst all the talk of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, nobody had mentioned his membership in NAMBLA, the North American Man/Boy Love Association. The comment was met with an awkward silence that made me think of another topic that might be met with disfavor: âWhen I Paint My Fiscal Masterpiece.â      </p><p>The paper would begin when after the release of his 1962 debut album, Dylan agreed to be managed by Albert Grossman, who was riding high with the folk supergroup that heâd created, Peter, Paul & Mary. Grossmanâs brainstorm had been to jazz up folk music with humor, social consciousness, and a sexy woman. Peter, Paul, and Maryâs 1962 debut album sold more than two million copies and earned black-listed folk singer Pete Seeger a nice payday by including his âWhere Have All the Flowers Gone.â Dylan took $1,000 of his managerâs cash to buy himself out of his publishing deal with Leeds Music for which heâd received a $100 advance. Grossman then arranged for Dylanâs songs to be published by Witmark and Sons, with whom the manager had his own deal to receive half of the publishing income of any artist he brought to the company. All was in order by the time Peter, Paul, and Maryâs second album made an enduring hit out of Dylanâs âBlowinâ in the Wind.â</p><p>âThey were kindred spirits,â said Dylanâs girlfriend Suze Rotolo. âAlbert never denied who he was, but he had that way of observing and not being forthcoming. Bob never gave a straight answer. . . . He was creating his own legend and his own fiction of himself.â The two changed each otherâs lives. âYou could look at Albertâs passport pictures,â said Vinny Fusco, who worked for Grossman, â[and] there was B.D. and A.D.âBefore Dylan and After Dylan.â</p><p>Working with Grossman earned Dylan an MBA in the music business. The manager had already taught the young songwriter that the real money in the music business was in music publishing and Dylan soon enjoyed the fiscal fruits of being one of musicâs most successful songwriters, with his songs covered by everybody from The Byrds to Johnny Cash, and from Van Morrison to Jimi Hendrix. In 1966, when Dylan went into seclusion in Woodstock after a tumultuous world tour and a tumble over the handlebars of his Triumph motorcycle, Grossman was quick to exploit the new songs he wrote while woodshedding with his backing band. The sessions at a home dubbed Big Pink began with Dylan leading the musicians through a wide variety of country, folk, and rock tunes, but before long, new songs began to tumble out of Dylanâs imagination. âIt amazed me,â said keyboardist Garth Hudson, âhow he could come in, sit down at the typewriter, and write a song.â</p><p>Grossman kept tabs on the sessions and had sixteen new Dylan songs copyrighted; the object was to create âmailbox money,â which is to say revenue for Dwarf Music, the new publishing company that Grossman had established for Dylan. Money soon flowed in from songs recorded by, among others, Manfred Mann (âQuinn the Eskimoâ), the Byrds (âYou Ainât Going Nowhereâ), and Fairport Convention (âMillion Dollar Bashâ). Dylan also collaborated on a few tunes with his backup musicians, giving lyrics to Richard Manuel, who put music to âTears of Rage,â and to Rick Danko, who co-wrote âThis Wheelâs on Fire.â These songs plus Dylanâs own âI Shall Be Releasedâ would be on <i>Music from Big Pink</i>, the debut album by the musicians who now called themselves The Band. The group was also managed by Grossman, and it should surprise no one that all the songs on <i>Big Pink </i>were published by Dwarf Music.</p><p>
229Robbie Robertson, who would quickly become The Bandâs primary songwriter, was also a student of Albert Grossman, and he had a bitter falling out with drummer Levon Helm when he declined to share his publishing income with the group. âLevon was influenced by a more recent model,â said John Simon, who produced the first two albums by The Band. âSongwriters in [some] bands would show up in the studio with their songs only in fragmentary form. Then the other players in the group would contribute a little bit, often only their parts, and claim partial authorship for their efforts. But what those players did is not writing. Writing is the creating of melody and lyrics. . . . And though I completely understand and sympathize with Levonâs anger about it, all in all I have to side with Robbie on the traditional definition of authorship.â</p><p>Dylan was angry when he discovered that Grossman owned 50 percent of Dwarf Music though was oddly oblivious that his subsequent publishing contract with Big Sky Music contained the same split with his manager. Before long, however, Bob fired Albert and lawsuits would linger until a final settlement in 1987 required Dylan to pay the late Grossmanâs estate $2-million. By that time, Dylan had streamlined his operation for maximum profit; one example of his business savvy was getting a 70-30 financial split for a 1987 tour of outdoor stadiums with the Grateful Dead. In recent decades, on his âNever Ending Tour,â Dylan has employed compact and talented bands. Rumors have it that some personnel changes have been precipitated by salary disputes. Meanwhile, back at the home office, Jeff Rosen has acted as âGeneral Managerâ to Dylanâs business and music publishing enterprise..</p><p>While Dylan has released new records throughout his career, he has also enriched his reputation and bank account with 16 volumes of âThe Bootleg Series,â which have collected unreleased songs and alternate takes from his deep catalog. Bruce Springsteen has similarly dug into his archives for lavish boxed sets. Meanwhile, both Dylan and Springsteen have each cashed out in the streaming era by selling their publishing and master recordings for somewhere north of $500-million. One item that wasnât included in Dylanâs sale was his recent collaboration with T Bone Burnett on a new recording of âBlowinâ in the Windâ rendered as a one-of-a-kind item etched into a lacquer-coated aluminum disc said to offer superior sound quality. The recording was sold at Christieâs auction house for $1.8-million. Who pocketed the lootâexcepting Christies, which typically takes 25%-- remains a mystery. Dylan has long used auction houses to handle his paintings and iron-work sculptures; liquor stores sell his high-end whiskey, Heavenâs Door. Dylan has also authored two non-fiction books: a best-selling memoir, <i>Chronicles Volume 1</i>, and a new book, <i>The Philosophy of Modern Song, </i>with the unusually high list price of $45.</p><p>None of this is meant to question Dylanâs motivations or artistic achievement; indeed, heâs earned his riches and his career offers a worthy example of how to handle the business of music. In recent years, items from Dylanâs history have found their way to the auction block. In 2014, a handwritten copy of âLike a Rolling Stoneâ sold for $2 million, while the electric guitar Dylan played at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival fetched nearly $1 million. Ultimately, the contents of Dylanâs personal archives were purchased for $20-million by Tulsa billionaire and philanthropist George Kaiser, who had earlier paid $3-million for a similar cache belonging to the estate of Woody Guthrie. The archives form the basis of a new museum administered by the University of Tulsaâs Institute for Bob Dylan Studies. The core collection consists of 6,000 purchased items that include writings, recordings, memorabilia, and film. Wandering through the exhibits, however, I also saw instruments and other items on loan from musicians and other associates of Dylan. There are also painted portraits by Dylan on loan from private collectors. Talk about a win-win for Bob, who at the age of 81, continues to make art without neglecting the bottom line.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="452" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0r4Hnz04zAw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen title="When I Paint My Masterpiece (Shadow Kingdom) -- Bob Dylan"></iframe><br></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <br></p><br></div> 230 231 </div> 232 233 234 235 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 236 237 238 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 239<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 240<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='1886350' href='javascript:void(0);'> 241<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 242<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 243<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 244<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 245</span> 246<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 247<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 248<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 249<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>1</span> 250</span> 251</span> 252</a> 253 254</div> 255<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 256<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text='When I Paint My Fiscal Masterpiece' data-url='https://johnmilward.com/when-i-paint-my-fiscal-masterpiece' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 257</div> 258<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 259<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/when-i-paint-my-fiscal-masterpiece' data-layout='button_count'></div> 260</div> 261</div> 262 263 264
265 <span class="response-count"> 266 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/when-i-paint-my-fiscal-masterpiece"> 267 1 response 268 </a> 269 </span> 270 271 <span class="slash-divider"> // </span> 272 273 274 <span class="display-date"> 275 Posted 276 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/when-i-paint-my-fiscal-masterpiece"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 277 data-unix-time="1664826058"></span></a> 278 279 </span> 280 </footer> 281 </article> 282 283 <article class="post"> 284 285 286 287 <header> 288 289 290 <div class="post-title"> 291 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/reflections-of-a-rock-critic-turning-70">Reflections of a Rock Critic Turning 70</a></h2> 292 293 294 </div> 295 </header> 296 297 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_1821144"> 298 299 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p><br></p><p><iframe width="666" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_5WJWfOoi-k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>Over a recent dinner, I asked a therapist friend how her patients reacted to celebrating their 70<sup>th</sup> birthday. I wasnât asking for a friend. She said that the milestone prompts many to take pause to both assess their past and consider their hopes for what suddenly seems like a finite future. Everybody brings their own perspective to this rite of passage, and for me that included looking back on a professional life that revolved around popular culture. And since I didnât die before I got old, this rock critic at seventy can be akin to a crotchety old man with tinnitus telling kids to stay away from his stereo.</p><p>Being born in 1952 might have helped to steer me into this dubious career choice. On the day before I turned twelve, the Beatles appeared on the <i>Ed Sullivan Show</i> and I remember commenting to my sixth-grade peers that the group was âpretty catchy.â Â A few years later, I
299wrote a review of <i>Cheap Thrills</i> by Big Brother and the Holding Company for my high school newspaper. By then friends and I were travelling from the suburbs into Manhattan to see shows at the Fillmore East, including the Who performing <i>Tommy</i> and the East Coast debut of The Band. On one trip, we observed Janis Joplin making out with some guy on the subway. Janis and her friend also got off at Astor Place and went their own way while we went to see Traffic. The Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park kept us busy in the summer with shows by Van Morrison, the Allman Brothers Band (flutist Herbie Mann dropped by to jam), and B.B. King opening for Led Zeppelin. I bought tickets for day two and three of the Woodstock Festival, but by the time we got stuck in traffic some 15 miles from Yasgurâs Farm, my buddy decided that he couldnât risk abandoning his parentsâ car at the side of the road, so we drove home. I later joked that this was the moment I decided to become a rock critic and have access to free concert tickets if not free parking.</p><p>At Northwestern University in the early-1970s, I was a deejay at WNUR and one of the hosts of an evening program called (with undergraduate irony) âGodâs Own Jukebox.â My friend Harry and I would compete to see who could end their show with the most depressing song (âIâll see your Townes Van Zantâs âWaitinâ Around to Dieâ and raise you Van Morrisonâs âSlim Slow Slider.ââ). I also became a regular at Laurieâs Records in Evanston buying $2 copies of new releases that had stickers on them that said, âNot for Sale. Promotional Use Only.â It wouldnât be long before I discovered where these bargains came from. By now, rock criticism, which didnât much exist at the time of the Beatles arrival, had flowered in magazines (<i>Rolling Stone</i>, <i>Crawdaddy, Creem</i>), âundergroundâ papers like the <i>Village Voice</i>, and eventually in mainstream daily papers. My first music reviews appeared in the <i>Chicago Reader</i>, the cityâs alternative weekly; eighteen months later I was hired by the <i>Chicago Daily News</i>, one of the cityâs three major newspapers, each of which had a designated rock critic. On my second day at the paper, I wrote my first story: an obituary of Elvis Presley. Reflecting on the twelve years between the birth of Beatlemania and the death of Elvis, itâs clear that Iâd grown up during an especially sweet spot of popular music and at the perfect time to become a rock critic.</p><p>When the <i>Chicago Daily News </i>folded in 1977-- it was the first of many afternoon papers to close as people turned to television news for their evening updateâI freelanced for numerous outlets, including <i>Rolling Stone</i>. But after an editor from <i>Penthouse</i> asked if Iâd like to go to Los Angeles to do a profile of Marvin Gaye, I moved back to my native New York where over the years I freelanced for <i>The New York Times</i>, the <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i>, <i>Newsday</i>, <i>USA Today</i>, the <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, the <i>Boston Globe Sunday Magazine</i>, and many others. In 1994, after moving to Bearsville, New York, I covered Woodstock â94 for <i>Rolling Stone</i>. The late Michael Lang, the curly-haired promoter famous for the â69 festival, jokingly offered to refund my tickets to the original fest. Unlike my bummer trip in 1969, for Woodstock â94, I could sleep in my own bed, watch Al Roker giving the weather from the festival site in Saugerties, and drive to the big to-do.</p><p>Since 1976, the job of the rock critic had changed in many ways. Back in the day, over-night concert reviews were a newspaper staple, which meant frenzied dashes back to the office to flesh out oneâs scribbled notes. A decade later, while working at <i>USA Today</i>, Iâd file a review of, say, the first night of a Cyndi Lauper tour in Portland, Maine, and the next morning it was seen from coast to coast. It was in the late-â80s, phoning in a review to the <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i> of the local stop of Alice Cooperâs âRaise Your Fist and Yellâ tour, that my job began to feel a tad ridiculous. During those years, I was  often lucky enough to sell the same music feature to the<i> Inquirer</i>, <i>Newsday</i>, and the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>. But those days waned as budgets tightened, the internet exploded, and freelance writers were increasingly looked upon as âcontent providers.â Today, concert reviews are rare beyond coverage of the occasional superstar, and jazz and classical music are accorded far less space in the paper. In another reveal
299ing change on the arts pages, television critics now review new programs alongside episode recaps of particularly buzz-worthy programs. In the culture biz, coverage is increasingly about what people are talking about at the expense of criticism.</p><p>The biggest change, however, is that popular music was no longer at the center of the cultural zeitgeist. The baby boom grew up with AM Top 40 radio that culled hits from the Beatles to Motown, and from the Rolling Stones to James Brown. When FM stations found success catering to the counter-culture rock audience, it confirmed that music was a common denominator among the younger generation. That was pretty much over by the 1980s, with listeners increasingly balkanized between genres, and with rap and hip-hop eventually dominating the pop charts alongside slick dance and pop hits created by multiple writers and producers. Artists that appealed to older rock fans, from Steve Earle and Wilco to Lucinda Williams and the Jayhawks, were dubbed alt-country, which soon evolved in Americana. The rise of Sirius with its many genre-specific stations codified this trend. I originally thought it silly when music business executives complained about losing customers to the lure of video games. But then the digital revolution took center stage, with Napster not only cannibalizing record sales but lending credence to the fact that smart phones, the internet, and social media had become our new common denominator. Meanwhile, many critics migrated to digital platforms like Substack.<br></p><p>As I tip-toed into middle age in the â90s, my friend Tom and I would note what we called our âmidrock crisis,â which was an increasing inability to appreciate or give-a-hoot about popular hits. Itâs not that I couldnât find new music that appealed to me, but that it was no longer at the top of the pops. Thatâs why my work increasingly focused on roots music for publications like <i>No Depression</i>. At the same time, I began playing guitar and singing in my living room with musician friends and eventually formed a blues-rock band called the Comfy Chair. When our harmonica player invited a fiddler friend to join the ensemble, I met Larry Packer, whom I had apparently seen three decades earlier when he was member of Cat Mother and the All-Night Newsboys and they opened for The Band at the Fillmore East. At our fourth gig, Larry invited a guitarist buddy to sit in and we met Steve Burgh, who looked like Burl Ives and played with the intensity of Eric Clapton in John Mayallâs Bluesbreakers. The next morning, I rifled through my record collection researching the Chairâs new lead guitarist. Turned out that Burgh had played and toured with David Bromberg, written a song with Steve Goodman, and had recorded with Billy Joel, Phoebe Snow, and Willie Nelson. Burgh also produced and played guitar on Steve Forbertâs highly acclaimed debut, <i>Alive on Arrival</i>. In a sense, my two worlds, that of the veteran critic and the fledgling musician, had merged.<br></p><p>The last ten years of my life have been professionally consumed with writing two books about American roots music: <i>Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock ânâ Roll (and Rock Saved the Blues) </i>and <i>Americanaland: Where Country & Western Met Rock ânâ</i> <i>Roll. </i>The books reflected the music I was playing with the Comfy Chair and my current combo, the Sunburst Brothers. No longer getting free records, I borrowed discs from a critic friend still on promo lists and built a library of classical LPs from a used book store that got a new stock every month. While my listening largely revolved around the subjects of my books, two passions of the past decade made for an odd couple: Taylor Swift and Drive-By Truckers. The Truckers became my midrock touchstone after seeing them in 2003 (while Jason Isbell was still in the band) and recognizing that the hard-rocking group would have been huge in 1975 but, like rock in general, now played to a minority audience. I started to buy tickets for multiple shows whenever the Truckers were in the area.  O
299n my 65<sup>th</sup> birthday, I drove through a snowstorm to see the band on Long Island and saw them the next night in Manhattan. My first live show as the pandemic eased was a pair of performances by the Truckers at the Brooklyn Bowl. Only the band, it seemed, was happier to be there than their fans.<br></p><p>Taylor Swift was a whole different experience for the aging critic. From her first single, âTim McGraw,â it was clear that she had a gift for a melodic hook. The old guy in me thought, âBy her fifth album, sheâll be doing her version of Joni Mitchellâs<i> Blue</i>.â But Taylor existed in another world, and while I consistently found songs to like on her albums, only a couple (<i>1989</i> and <i>Lover</i>) rang my album-oriented bell. It was during the pandemic that Swift hit her mature stride with two outstanding collections, <i>Folklore</i> and <i>Evermore</i>. Coincidentally, Iâve also become especially fond of contemporary female artists like Aoife OâDonovan, Sarah Jarosz, Phoebe Bridgers, and Kasey Musgraves. But itâs not like I only like girls; Iâm digging the new Spoon album and, cancelled or not, still like Ryan Adams, who recorded his own full-length tribute to Taylorâs <i>1989</i>. I dutifully check new releases each week on Spotify where I recognize increasingly fewer artists that I know and hardly any collections that draw me back for repeated visits. Last night, I listened to Wet Leg while reading a review of its debut in the <i>New Yorker</i>. Yeah, I get it, brittle new wave ennui, but at this point of my life, having lived through the actual birth of punk and new wave, I donât anticipate returning for too many streams. Color me too old to care about even pretending to be hip.</p><p>If I turned 70 and played golf instead of tennis, Iâd already be in the middle of the back nine. After a life immersed in the pop hits of the day and then the roots of that music, thereâs no point in living just in the here and now.  Been there, done that, and time is tight. I recently read a lacerating sentence about culture brokers in Dawn Powellâs <i>The Locusts Have No King</i>. âFrederick listened,â wrote Powell, âmeditating on the curious way newspaper men, despite their apprenticeship in realities, end up convinced by their own romantic inventions, respectful of the celebrities their own lies created, teary over sob-stories they had made up themselves, doffing their plumes reverently to whatever powers had kept them down.â Iâve been out of the rock critic game for a while now, but music still pulses through my life; my bandâs got a gig next week, Iâm presenting a paper at the Bob Dylan Institute in Tulsa in June and just bought tickets to see the Truckers (not that I had to run to the box office) in August.   <br></p><p> </p><p> <br></p></div> 300 301 </div> 302 303 304 305 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 306 307 308 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 309<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 310<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='1821144' href='javascript:void(0);'> 311<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 312<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 313<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 314<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 315</span> 316<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 317<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 318<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 319<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>1</span> 320</span> 321</span> 322</a> 323 324</div> 325<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 326<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text='Reflections of a Rock Critic Turning 70' data-url='https://johnmilward.com/reflections-of-a-rock-critic-turning-70' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 327</div> 328<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 329<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/reflections-of-a-rock-critic-turning-70' data-layout='button_count'></div> 330</div> 331</div> 332 333 334 335 <span class="response-count"> 336 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/reflections-of-a-rock-critic-turning-70"> 337 7 responses 338 </a> 339 </span> 340
341 <span class="slash-divider"> // </span> 342 343 344 <span class="display-date"> 345 Posted 346 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/reflections-of-a-rock-critic-turning-70"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 347 data-unix-time="1650477079"></span></a> 348 349 </span> 350 </footer> 351 </article> 352 353 <article class="post"> 354 355 356 357 <header> 358 359 360 <div class="post-title"> 361 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/americanaland-the-uncomfortable-art-of-the-deal">Americanaland: The Uncomfortable Art of the Deal</a></h2> 362 363 364 </div> 365 </header> 366 367 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_1746578"> 368 369 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p>Because of circumstances beyond my control, I stayed at home in Woodstock, New York instead of going to Septemberâs Americanafest in Nashville to promote my new book, <i>Americanaland: Where Country & Western Met Rock ânâ Roll.</i> Iâd certainly planned to attend, but the Delta variant and the many folks who refuse to be vaccinated left this old guy reluctant to navigate a Covid hot spot to spend days in conference rooms and nights in crowded clubs. Made me consider a title for a new tome: <i>Americanaland: Where Stupidity Stumps Science</i>. But enough about me; letâs talk about my book!</p><p>Â </p><p> <div class="posthaven-gallery " id="posthaven_gallery[1767306]"> 370 <div class="posthaven-gallery-car"> 371 <p class="posthaven-file posthaven-file-image posthaven-file-state-processed"> 372 <img class="posthaven-gallery-image" src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691689/L3EAmujzC-T6KFcM3rKY7ebeboA/medium_71_3JvkQCzL.jpg" data-posthaven-state='processed' 373data-medium-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691689/L3EAmujzC-T6KFcM3rKY7ebeboA/medium_71_3JvkQCzL.jpg' 374data-medium-width='667' 375data-medium-height='1000' 376data-large-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691689/L3EAmujzC-T6KFcM3rKY7ebeboA/large_71_3JvkQCzL.jpg' 377data-large-width='667' 378data-large-height='1000' 379data-thumb-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691689/L3EAmujzC-T6KFcM3rKY7ebeboA/thumb_71_3JvkQCzL.jpg' 380data-thumb-width='200' 381data-thumb-height='200' 382data-xlarge-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691689/L3EAmujzC-T6KFcM3rKY7ebeboA/xlarge_71_3JvkQCzL.jpg' 383data-xlarge-width='667' 384data-xlarge-height='1000' 385data-orig-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691689/L3EAmujzC-T6KFcM3rKY7ebeboA/71_3JvkQCzL.jpg' 386data-orig-width='667' 387data-orig-height='1000' 388data-posthaven-id='2691689'/> 389 </p> 390 391 </div> 392 <div class="posthaven-gallery-cdr"> 393 394 </div> 395 </div> 396Â </p><p>Â </p><p>I spent nearly four years researching and writing <i>Americanaland</i> in an isolated bubble of reading, writing, combing through 40 years of my own journalism, reading some more, and forever editing and rewriting. Publishing a book with the University of Illinois Press required two different peer reviews, one by a pair of writers conversant with the subject matter, and another by a couple of opinionated academics. Questions were asked, answered, and resolved; the text then went to a conscientious copyeditor who pored over the nuts and bolts of the prose. I hired an old friend and ex-librarian to create the index and along the way he thankfully caught a few lingering mistakes. The manuscript finally went to print accompanied by 27 portraits (including Willie) created by Margie Greve using cloth and embroidery floss.</p><p>Â </p><p> <div class="posthaven-gallery " id="posthaven_gallery[1767302]"> 397 <div class="posthaven-gallery-car"> 398 <p class="posthaven-file posthaven-file-image posthaven-file-state-processed"> 399 <img class="posthaven-gallery-image" src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691686/hCffrJhrsDHMTgoTAhjNiAtm_1E/medium_Willie_72.jpg" data-posthaven-state='processed' 400data-medium-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691686/hCffrJhrsDHMTgoTAhjNiAtm_1E/medium_Willie_72.jpg' 401data-medium-width='576' 402data-medium-height='797' 403data-large-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691686/hCffrJhrsDHMTgoTAhjNiAtm_1E/large_Willie_72.jpg' 404data-large-width='576' 405data-large-height='797' 406data-thumb-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691686/hCffrJhrsDHMTgoTAhjNiAtm_1E/thumb_Willie_72.jpg' 407data-thumb-width='200' 408data-thumb-height='200' 409data-xlarge-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691686/hCffrJhrsDHMTgoTAhjNiAtm_1E/xlarge_Willie_72.jpg' 410data-xlarge-width='576' 411data-xlarge-height='797' 412data-orig-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691686/hCffrJhrsDHMTgoTAhjNiAtm_1E/Willie_72.jpg' 413data-orig-width='576' 414data-orig-height='797' 415data-posthaven-id='2691686'/> 416 </p> 417 418 </div> 419 <div class="posthaven-gallery-cdr"> 420 421 </div> 422 </div> 423</p><p>Â </p><p>After the relative isolation of writing a book, promoting the product is played out in public. Preparing for publication, we sent advance copies to the usual suspects including contacts from my decades as a music critic. Out of the blue, LibraryJournal gave it a wonderful, starred review (<a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=americanaland-where-country--wester
423n-met-rock-n-roll-2116029"><i></i></a><i><a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=americanaland-where-country--western-met-rock-n-roll-">https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=americanaland-where-country--western-met-rock-n-roll-</a></i>2116029). This was significant because it prompted many libraries to buy the book, though particulars now gnaw at this authorâs gutâlike how come the book isnât in the Los Angeles Public Library but ready to be borrowed in Santa Monica? San Francisco is in, but what's with Berkeley? If you think such google searches make me sound positively anal, you donât want to know how many times an insecure author checks the Amazon sales ranking. Did you know that the sales of just a handful of books can result in climbing up above hundreds of thousands of other books?</p><p>The wait for reviews that might not come can be excruciating. As the weeks pass, one looks with decreasing hope at the weekly â10 New Books We Recommendâ in <i>The New York Times</i> and the âIn Briefâ column in the <i>New Yorker.</i> I anticipated a review from <i>No Depression,</i> the self-proclaimed âJournal of Roots Musicâ that I wrote for when it was a print magazine, but it never happened. Ironically, a British publication named <i>Americana UK </i>came through with both a review (<a href="https://americana-uk.com/book-review-john-milward-americanaland-where-country-western-met-rock-n-roll">https://americana-uk.com/book-review-john-milward-americanaland-where-country-western-met-rock-n-roll</a>) and interview (<a href="https://americana-uk.com/interview-john-milward-talks-about-his-new-book-americanaland-where-country-western-met-rock-n-roll">https://americana-uk.com/interview-john-milward-talks-about-his-new-book-americanaland-where-country-western-met-rock-n-roll</a>). To keep my anxiety at bay, I busied myself creating Spotify playlists to go with each of the bookâs seventeen chapters (plus the introduction) and launched a monthly podcast that mixed a taste of the text with great music. (Both can be found by searching my name or Americanaland on Spotify.) My spirits rallied when Tennesseeâs <i>Chapter Sixteen</i> ran a to-die-for review by novelist David Wesley Williams that also ran in the <i>Knoxville News Sentinel</i> and the <i>Memphis Commercial Appeal </i>(<a href="https://chapter16.org/americanaland-the-beautiful/">https://chapter16.org/americanaland-the-beautiful/</a>).<br></p><p>A new book calls for a splashy hometown event, and Woodstockâs Golden Notebook agreed to sell books at an event held in the lounge of the Bearsville Theater. Woodstock is the biggest small town in Americanaland, and was the one-time home of Bob Dylan, The Band, a string band of influential instrumentalists (including John Sebastian, Bill Keith, Happy Traum, John Herald, and Eric Weisberg), and the man who was a pioneer of music management, Albert Grossman, whose clients included Dylan, The Band, Paul Butterfield, and Janis Joplin. Grossman, who died in 1986, also built the Bearsville Theater, located a stoneâs throw from where Dylan had his famous motorcycle accident. The theater (and a surrounding constellation of restaurants) had fallen into disrepair in recent years, and was purchased by Lizzie Vann, who invested part of the multi-million-dollar fortune sheâd made selling organic baby food to restoring the property. Lizzie wanted to charge a $10 admission for the event, which I argued would not be helpful in trying to sell a $30 book. When Lizzie kindly relented, Margie gifted her the Dylan portrait from <i>Americanaland.</i> Meanwhile, I booked my band, the Sunburst Brothers and the Cousins, who played for free books.<br></p><p> <br></p><p> <div class="posthaven-gallery " id="posthaven_gallery[1767303]"> 424 <div class="posthaven-gallery-car"> 425 <p class="posthaven-file posthaven-file-image posthaven-file-state-processed"> 426 <img class="posthaven-gallery-image" src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691687/TM4v6VmdfCJO8EB0IJoe8jWm778/medium_Dylan_72.jpg" data-posthaven-state='processed' 427data-medium-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691687/TM4v6VmdfCJO8EB0IJoe8jWm778/medium_Dylan_72.jpg' 428data-medium-width='576' 429data-medium-height='806' 430data-large-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691687/TM4v6VmdfCJO8EB0IJoe8jWm778/large_Dylan_72.jpg' 431data-large-width='576' 432data-large-height='806' 433data-thumb-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691687/TM4v6VmdfCJO8EB0IJoe8jWm778/thumb_Dylan_72.jpg' 434data-thumb-width='200' 435data-thumb-height='200' 436data-xlarge-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691687/TM4v6VmdfCJO8EB0IJoe8jWm778/xlarge_Dylan_72.jpg' 437data-xlarge-width='576' 438data-xlarge-height='806' 439data-orig-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/2691687/TM4v6VmdfCJO8EB0IJoe8jWm778/Dylan_72.jpg' 440data-orig-width='576' 441data-orig-height='806' 442data-posthaven-id='2691687'/> 443 </p> 444 445 </div> 446 <div class="posthaven-gallery-cdr"> 447 448 </div> 449 </div> 450</p><p> <br></p><p>On August 22, the day of the event, Hurricane Henri was bearing down on the east coast and promising to bring heavy rain and punishing winds to the Hudson Valley. Lizzie called in the morning, and we decided that Henri be damned, it was on with the show. I added the Everly Brotherâs âCrying in the Rainâ to the Sunburst Brothersâ set list and continued to polish the script for the reading. Beirne Lowry arr
450ived at the theater with a collection of GoPro cameras to document the reading. Despite the stormy weather, the reading played to a full house, with a healthy showing of friends and competitors from the Woodstock Tennis Club. Itâs a toss-up as to whether I sweat more performing music or playing tennis, and public speaking added another element of tension to my personal experience of the event. But in the end, the prose, the music, and an appreciative, book-buying audience made this author a happy citizen of Americanaland. Now excuse me while I check todayâs ranking on Amazon.</p><p><iframe width="800" height="452" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PKzKOFmPPwY?start=5&feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p></p></div> 451 452 </div> 453 454 455 456 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 457 458 459 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 460<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 461<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='1746578' href='javascript:void(0);'> 462<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 463<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 464<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 465<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 466</span> 467<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 468<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 469<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 470<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>0</span> 471</span> 472</span> 473</a> 474 475</div> 476<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 477<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text='Americanaland: The Uncomfortable Art of the Deal' data-url='https://johnmilward.com/americanaland-the-uncomfortable-art-of-the-deal' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 478</div> 479<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 480<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/americanaland-the-uncomfortable-art-of-the-deal' data-layout='button_count'></div> 481</div> 482</div> 483 484 485 486 <span class="response-count"> 487 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/americanaland-the-uncomfortable-art-of-the-deal"> 488 3 responses 489 </a> 490 </span> 491 492 <span class="slash-divider"> // </span> 493 494 495 <span class="display-date"> 496 Posted 497 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/americanaland-the-uncomfortable-art-of-the-deal"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 498 data-unix-time="1633975692"></span></a> 499 500 </span> 501 </footer> 502 </article> 503 504 <article class="post"> 505 506 507 508 <header> 509 510 511 <div class="post-title"> 512 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/one-fine-picker-blues">One Fine Picker Blues</a></h2> 513 514 515 </div> 516 </header> 517 518 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_1679166"> 519 520 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p>Â Â Â Â A year of sheltering in place has encouraged people to pursue everything from baking bread to sorting through the junk of a lifetime to binging on way too much TV. In search of sanity and new skills, Iâve spent a lot of my time learning how to play the mandolin. To that end, I bought Homespun Music tutorials from Chris Thile, host of the covid-cancelled <i>Live From Here</i> radio program, and David Grisman, the virtuoso best known for his work with Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.</p><p>Â Â Â Â Â Â While nothing replaces a hands-on teacher, taking lessons via DVDs (or YouTube) lets a student study with all sorts of gifted musicians. Thatâs how I learned the elements of fingerstyle guitar from Happy Traum, mainstays of my blues repertoire from Rory Bloch, and the feel of playing in DADGAD tuning with Richard Thompson. At the piano, Iâve studied the basics of playing blues with David Cohen of Country Joe and the Fish, and became all thumbs trying to get my fingers around the funky rhythm & blues of Dr. John.</p><p>Â Â Â Â Â Â As any musician knows, countless hours of practice are required to learn to play any instrument, and along the way, one is apt to ask whatâs the point? After all, these talented teachers are just the visible tip of a multitude of superior musicians whoâve mastered a cornucopia of styles. For instance, Iâll be working until the next pandemic to acquire the driving thumb thatâs essential to replicating the propulsive fingerstyle blues of Big Bill Broonzy.</p><p>Â </p><p><iframe width="666" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fm1qtX7Mz5w?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>Â </p><p>Â Â Â Â Â Â But while the execution of âHey Heyâ is difficult, it at least employs a recognizable blues pattern and common chord inversions; none of that applies to a haunting song that continues to elude my fingers, Geeshie Wileyâs âLast Kind Words Blues.â</p><p>Â </p><p><iframe width="666" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bBVhBnoarus?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>Â </p><p>Â Most every fact there is to know about Wiley can be found in this article from the New York Times (<a href="https://www.nytimes.c
520om/interactive/2014/04/13/magazine/blues.html">https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/13/magazine/blues.html</a>); the song itself was heard in Terry Zwigoffâs 1994 documentary <i>Crumb</i>, in which underground comic artist and vintage music fan Robert Crumb is seen listening to a rare 78 rpm recording of the tune. âIf I get killed, if I get killed,â Geeshie sings as Crumb nods with appreciation, âplease donât bury my soul.â My personal quest to play the tune was helped by my discovery of a web site called 52weeksofblues.com, which offers guitar tablatures to dozens of country blues songs. The page devoted to each song also includes a bio of the artist, the songâs lyrics, and sometimes, a link to a contemporary YouTube performance of the song. Thatâs how I had the pleasure of discovering another great blues woman, Christine Pizzuti.</p><p> </p><p><iframe width="800" height="452" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xx-WWY_s9dw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Be still my heart! With such brilliantly rhythmic picking supporting a lovely, understated vocal, you can understand why her laundry can wait. An internet search revealed that these blues were nurtured in the fertile delta of New Yorkâs Hudson Valley. And the 2012 recording date suggests that the clip was made while Ms. Pizzuti was getting her Master of Science in environmental policy at Bard College, the small liberal arts school that famously gave birth to Steely Dan (âMy Old Schoolâ). Itâs anybodyâs guess whether this is a dorm room or an off-campus residence, but those walls sure heard a lot of fine country blues.</p><p> </p><p><iframe width="666" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TqwDxct3Z5U?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p> </p><p>More of her music can be found on YouTube, where Ms. Pizutti goes by the somewhat disturbing name âIplayBanjoNow.â (Masterful guitar playing isnât enough?) Pizutti has recorded a collection of original tunes, <i>Dirty Home</i>, and played her rendition of âLast Kind Wordâ for <i>American Epic: The Collection</i>, a soundtrack that accompanied a PBS documentary about the early history of recording American roots music. But playing country blues is hardly a promising path to a music career. Consider one of her gigs at a busy restaurant.</p><p> </p><p><iframe width="666" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0BsUIbQTMZc?start=43&feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p> </p><p>Makes that bedroom look awfully cozy. Christine Pizzuti currently does public relations for Camphill Village, a rural community run for adults with developmental disabilities. Sheâs also the co-founder of Olde Forge Farms, a sustainable operation that raises greens, fish, and poultry. Does she still have the time and inclination to play this intricate music? If I stopped by her farm stand for some good food, could I hear a little guitar? No matter. She already inspires another Hudson Valley picker. The household chores can wait. Iâm going to practice.<br></p><p><br></p></div> 521 522 </div> 523 524 525 526 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 527 528 529 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 530<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 531<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='1679166' href='javascript:void(0);'> 532<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 533<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 534<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 535<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 536</span> 537<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 538<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 539<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 540<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>2</span> 541</span> 542</span> 543</a> 544 545</div> 546<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 547<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text='One Fine Picker Blues' data-url='https://johnmilward.com/one-fine-picker-blues' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 548</div> 549<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 550<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/one-fine-picker-blues' data-layout='button_count'></div> 551</div> 552</div> 553 554 555
556 <span class="response-count"> 557 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/one-fine-picker-blues"> 558 3 responses 559 </a> 560 </span> 561 562 <span class="slash-divider"> // </span> 563 564 565 <span class="display-date"> 566 Posted 567 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/one-fine-picker-blues"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 568 data-unix-time="1618516197"></span></a> 569 570 </span> 571 </footer> 572 </article> 573 574 <article class="post"> 575 576 577 578 <header> 579 580 581 <div class="post-title"> 582 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/born-in-chicago">Born in Chicago</a></h2> 583 584 585 </div> 586 </header> 587 588 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_649807"> 589 590 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p><br></p> 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606<p> <div class="posthaven-gallery " id="posthaven_gallery[631204]"> 607 <div class="posthaven-gallery-car"> 608 <p class="posthaven-file posthaven-file-image posthaven-file-state-processed"> 609 <img class="posthaven-gallery-image" src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/1093573/alM9_tzGTUvHKaRfrIkn1eJeMLc/medium_6_Mike_Bloomfield.jpg" data-posthaven-state='processed' 610data-medium-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/1093573/alM9_tzGTUvHKaRfrIkn1eJeMLc/medium_6_Mike_Bloomfield.jpg' 611data-medium-width='800' 612data-medium-height='993' 613data-large-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/1093573/alM9_tzGTUvHKaRfrIkn1eJeMLc/large_6_Mike_Bloomfield.jpg' 614data-large-width='1200' 615data-large-height='1489' 616data-thumb-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/1093573/alM9_tzGTUvHKaRfrIkn1eJeMLc/thumb_6_Mike_Bloomfield.jpg' 617data-thumb-width='200' 618data-thumb-height='200' 619data-xlarge-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/1093573/alM9_tzGTUvHKaRfrIkn1eJeMLc/xlarge_6_Mike_Bloomfield.jpg' 620data-xlarge-width='2142' 621data-xlarge-height='2658' 622data-orig-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/1093573/alM9_tzGTUvHKaRfrIkn1eJeMLc/6_Mike_Bloomfield.jpg' 623data-orig-width='2142' 624data-orig-height='2658' 625data-posthaven-id='1093573'/> 626 </p> 627 628 </div> 629 <div class="posthaven-gallery-cdr"> 630 631 </div> 632 </div> 633</p> 634 635<p>Â Â Â James Cotton was 636playing harmonica with Muddy Waters the first time he saw white faces at 637Smittyâs Corner. âMuddy thought they were the tax people,â said Cotton. âHe 638owed some taxes, said, âGoddamn, theyâve come to get me. Thatâs got to be 639them.â Muddy hid in the office between sets.â Turned out that one of the white 640guys was Paul Butterfield; before long, Michael Bloomfield also arrived at the 641clubs on the South Side of Chicago. âMuddy Waters, he was like a god to me,â 642said Bloomfield, the subject of a new 3-CD boxed set, <i>From His Head To His 643Heart To His Hands</i>. âWell, if he was 644a god, B.B. King was a deity where I couldnât even imagine ever knowing someone 645of his magnitude and greatness. But Muddy was in Chicago.â </p> 646 647<p>Â Â Â Butterfieldâs 648harmonica and Bloomfieldâs guitar would soon be the instrumental catalysts of 649the highly influential Butterfield Blues Band, and in 1965, the group turned 650heads when it played the Newport Folk. Hereâs a brief, tantalizing clip from an 651afternoon workshop that drew an unusually large crowd.</p> 652 653<p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-CGbTTfUDj0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>Â Â Â âTo 654me, the Butterfield Blues Band was the most important thing to happen at 655Newport in 1965,â said Geoff Muldaur, who performed at the festival as a member 656of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. âNot Dylan going electric, which people have 657milked for so many years (Bloomfield also performed at Newport with Dylan, 658after having played on his <i>Highway 61 Revisited</i>). The thing that happened that changed the world map 659of music was that an integrated band came in from Chicago and played real 660Chicago blues. Sure, that model was based on guys like Muddy Waters, but the 661fact was that this white guy was so good, and had a band that could pull it off 662and hold their own among the kings, which they did. In the blink of an eye,
663there would be two hundred thousand blues bands in the world based on that 664model.â<br></p> 665 666<p>   Influential songs by the 667Butterfield Band featuring Bloomfield are included in this chronicle of the 668career of one of the rock eraâs original guitar heroes. One of them is the 669epic, raga-inspired title tune of the bands second album, <i>East-West</i>. âThe future of rock guitar was in âEast-West,ââ said 670[Blasters guitarist] Dave Alvin. âAt one point or another youâre hearing what 671would become the Grateful Dead, Santana, the Allman Brothers, Crazy Horse, 672Television, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band.â Dig this live version of âWork 673Song,â another <i>East-West</i> 674instrumental thatâs not included in the new set.<br></p> 675 676<p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZVIPTBIRPbg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 677 678<p>   Bloomfield soon left the 679Butterfield and formed the Electric Flag, which made its high-profile debut at 6801967âs Monterey International Pop Festival. The original band released just one 681album, and broke up soon thereafter, and while Bloomfield himself panned the 682Monterey appearance, itâs easy to see the excitement he could create when 683curled around his sunburst Les Paul.<br></p><p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/37fNUR3aWrk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>   The last truly memorable 684music of Bloomfieldâs career was when he spent a day recording half of 1968âs <i>Super 685Session</i> with keyboardist-singer Al 686Kooper, who produced the new collection, and is rightly proud that he captured 687some of the best-sounding playing of Bloomfieldâs career on tracks like 688âAlbertâs Shuffleâ and âHis Holy Modal Majesty.â More albums (mostly live) would follow, but sadly, the rest of Bloomfieldâs career was less than 689super. He was brought down by show-biz angst, insomnia, heroin, booze, and 690insecurities rooted in the disapproval of a wealthy businessman father who 691never approved of his son's musical pursuits, let alone its roots on the black side of town.<br></p><p>   Once, in the 1970s, 692Bloomfieldâs mother approached B.B. King after a Chicago performance and asked 693him to reach out to her troubled son. King, who like many other bluesmen had 694received a valuable career boost when Bloomfield encouraged Bill Graham to book 695them at the two Fillmores, wrote a letter to the guitarist encouraging him to 696keep those hands in shape. On âCarmelitaâs Skiffle,â my favorite unreleased jam 697from the setâs third disc, <i>Last Licks</i>, 698itâs clear that while Bloomfield could channel the sound of a variety of 699players, his style was most intimately inspired by King. Bloomfieldâs blues ultimately 700ended on a February morning in 1981 when he was found dead from a drug overdose 701in the front seat of a locked, banged-up Mercury.<br></p> 702 703<p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bXbxknk0NHo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 704 705<p>   Perhaps thereâs a clue to 706Bloomfieldâs troubled relationship to his art in the very title <i>From His 707Head To His Heart To His Hands</i>. 708Bloomfieldâs music-loving heart was in the right place, and his hands rarely 709failed him. Demons, though, lived in his head, keeping him up all night, and 710ultimately, putting him in a premature grave. The new collection, which 711includes a DVD documentary light on music and heavy on talking heads, is a fitting, albeit 712expensive tribute to an extraordinary musician. For about 20-bucks less, one 713could buy the four essential albums of Bloomfieldâs career: <i>The Butterfield 714Blues Band</i>, <i>East-West</i>, <i>A Long Time Cominâ</i> by the Electric Flag, and <i>Super Session</i>. The portrait of Bloomfield that tops this post is by 715Margie Greve, and is from our book, <i>Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock ânâ 716Roll (and Rock Saved the Blues)</i>. <br></p></div> 717 718 </div> 719 720 721 722 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 723 724 725 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 726<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 727<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='649807' href='javascript:void(0);'> 728<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 729<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 730<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 731<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 732</span> 733<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 734<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 735<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 736<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>1</span> 737</span> 738</span> 739</a> 740 741</div> 742<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 743<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text='Born in Chicago' data-url='https://johnmilward.com/born-in-chicago' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 744</div> 745<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 746<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/born-in-chicago' data-layout='button_count'></div> 747</div> 748</div> 749 750 751
752 <span class="response-count"> 753 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/born-in-chicago"> 754 1 response 755 </a> 756 </span> 757 758 <span class="slash-divider"> // </span> 759 760 761 <span class="display-date"> 762 Posted 763 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/born-in-chicago"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 764 data-unix-time="1391468141"></span></a> 765 766 </span> 767 </footer> 768 </article> 769 770 <article class="post"> 771 772 773 774 <header> 775 776 777 <div class="post-title"> 778 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/the-best-band-youve-never-heard-of">The Best Band You've Never Heard Of</a></h2> 779 780 781 </div> 782 </header> 783 784 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_623726"> 785 786 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p>   âThis 787is one of the best bands Iâve ever seen,â I whispered to Margie as we watched 788the Time Jumpers, an 11-piece ensemble that youâve probably never heard. Much 789of the crowd at the concert in Kingston, New York, were attracted to the show 790by the top-line billing of one of the bandâs two lead guitarists-- country star 791Vince Gill-- but the real attraction was hearing the cream of Nashville session 792players who for years have spent their Monday nights playing a repertoire of 793western swing and country chestnuts at a club in their hometown, Third and 794Lindsley.<br></p> 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810<p><iframe width="800" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UnhhG7F-7ow?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 811 812<p>   Listening to the bandâs multiple singers and murdererâs 813row of soloists make such successful Americana acts as Mumford & Sons and 814The Lumineers sound like relative amateurs, strummers instead of pickers. 815Decades of seasoning informs this most accomplished ensemble, who signal 816musical cues with a glance of an eye, and can make new songs sound like vintage 817hits. At the heart of the group is 818a three-man string section led by the bandâs amiable emcee, Kenny Sears; the trio are all accomplished 819soloists, but also cohere for sublime ensemble work. Pianist Jeff Taylor also 820flavors the music with accordion, while Gill and Andy Reiss played guitar solos 821that touch upon country, blues, and jazz. Paul Franklinâs virtuosic steel 822guitar provides the icing on the cake. Gill and Franklin (plus other Time 823Jumpers) recently collaborated on <i>Bakersfield</i>, a celebration of the West Coast 824country sound personified by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. The Kingston show 825featured one of the collectionâs highlights, Owensâs âTogether Again.â<br></p> 826 827<p><iframe width="800" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cria5Ekc0kI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 828 829<p>   The 830Time Jumpers donât pretend to be trendy; instead, theyâre keepers of a 831tradition. âI think thereâs a way to do something new that feels timeless,â 832Gill told the <i>Washington Post</i>. âPut on a Beatles record and it sounds fricking great 833today. A Ray Charles record? Sounds amazing. The things that really last are 834the things that arenât completely stamped with all of the trappings of a fad. 835To me, thatâs how you move forward. Create new music that feels old.â    </p> 836 837<p>   Gillâs presence in 838the Time Jumpers is problematic when the group strays from its home base in 839Nashville; in Kingston, some customers grumbled that Gill sang no more or less 840than the other vocalists in the ensemble (including Dawn Sears, whose harmonies 841have long accompanied the country star). Dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a 842flannel shirt over a Time Jumpers T-shirt, Gill could have been mistaken for 843the guy next door, if your neighbor happens to be a world-class singer and 844guitarist. The truth is that despite all the awards and records sold, Gill saw 845the writing on the wall when he wrote 2003âs âYoung Manâs Town,â and brought 846his friend Emmylou Harris into the studio to add a harmony. When he sang the 847song on the annual CMA awards, Gill was joined by his daughter Jenny.</p> 848 849<p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eAFY8HwnnzQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 850 851<p>   Gill 852hardly hung up his guitar, and in 2006 released <i>These Days</i>, an ambitious 4-CD set that 853collected original songs that ranged from honky-tonk to ballads, rock, and 854bluegrass and featured duets with artists ranging from Bonnie Raitt and Diana 855Krall to Rodney Crowell and Guy Clark. Gill also maintained his status as a 856working musician quick to play and sing on another artistâs recording session 857(he recently produced <i>Like a Rose </i>by Ashley Monroe, who is also a member of the Pistol Annies), 858and is quick to pay heartfelt tribute to the giants of country music (Gillâs 859most viewed YouTube clip captures him breaking down during a nonetheless 860stirring performance at the recent memorial for George Jones).<br></p> 861 862<p>   Truth be 863told, I didnât get hip to Gill until his 1998 album, <i>The Key</i>, as I favored edgier country-oriented 864artists like Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam. By then, Gillâs mainstream 865popularity was beginning to wane, and <i>The Key</i> was his virtuosic tribute to the 866classic country styles that had been his original inspiration. The reason why 867heâs now happy to strap on his Gibson and play with the best-unknown band in 868America was captured in that albumâs closing number, âThe Key to Life.â<br></p> 869 870<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvhfASfAC-c">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvhfASfAC-c</a>  <br></p></div> 871 872 </div> 873 874 875 876 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 877 878 879 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 880<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 881<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='623726' href='javascript:void(0);'> 882<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 883<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 884<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 885<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 886</span> 887<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 888<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 889<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 890<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>0</span> 891</span> 892</span> 893</a> 894 895</div> 896<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 897<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text="The Best Band You've Never Heard Of" data-url='https://johnmilward.com/the-best-band-youve-never-heard-of' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 898</div> 899<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 900<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/the-best-band-youve-never-heard-of' data-layout='button_count'></div> 901</div> 902</div> 903 904 905
906 <span class="response-count"> 907 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/the-best-band-youve-never-heard-of"> 908 2 responses 909 </a> 910 </span> 911 912 <span class="slash-divider"> // </span> 913 914 915 <span class="display-date"> 916 Posted 917 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/the-best-band-youve-never-heard-of"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 918 data-unix-time="1385499871"></span></a> 919 920 </span> 921 </footer> 922 </article> 923 924 <article class="post"> 925 926 927 928 <header> 929 930 931 <div class="post-title"> 932 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/long-live-the-king">Long Live the King</a></h2> 933 934 935 </div> 936 </header> 937 938 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_601921"> 939 940 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p>Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â </p><p> <div class="posthaven-gallery " id="posthaven_gallery[580460]"> 941 <div class="posthaven-gallery-car"> 942 <p class="posthaven-file posthaven-file-image posthaven-file-state-processed"> 943 <img class="posthaven-gallery-image" src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/999936/G1SdhtiKPpbwLvEyE2AE8wB30yA/medium_7_BB_King_72.jpg" data-posthaven-state='processed' 944data-medium-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/999936/G1SdhtiKPpbwLvEyE2AE8wB30yA/medium_7_BB_King_72.jpg' 945data-medium-width='500' 946data-medium-height='574' 947data-large-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/999936/G1SdhtiKPpbwLvEyE2AE8wB30yA/large_7_BB_King_72.jpg' 948data-large-width='500' 949data-large-height='574' 950data-thumb-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/999936/G1SdhtiKPpbwLvEyE2AE8wB30yA/thumb_7_BB_King_72.jpg' 951data-thumb-width='200' 952data-thumb-height='200' 953data-xlarge-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/999936/G1SdhtiKPpbwLvEyE2AE8wB30yA/xlarge_7_BB_King_72.jpg' 954data-xlarge-width='500' 955data-xlarge-height='574' 956data-orig-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/999936/G1SdhtiKPpbwLvEyE2AE8wB30yA/7_BB_King_72.jpg' 957data-orig-width='500' 958data-orig-height='574' 959data-posthaven-id='999936'/> 960 </p> 961 962 </div> 963 <div class="posthaven-gallery-cdr"> 964 965 </div> 966 </div> 967</p><p>Â Â Â Â It takes a mighty, 968mighty man to blow out 88 candles on a birthday cake. Thatâs as many candles as 969there are keys on a piano, and 82 more than the strings on a Gibson ES355 970electric guitar. But you can be sure that sometime on September 16, 2013, B.B. 971King will take a deep breath and extinguish the candles that represent a 972monumental life during which heâs reigned as the King of the Blues.<br></p> 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988<p>Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Over the years Iâve 989spent writing and researching <i>Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock ânâ Roll 990(and Rock Saved the Blues),</i> I 991couldnât help but wonder if B.B. King would be alive upon its publication 992(Margie Greveâs portrait of B. is one of 19 in the book). The life of B.B. King 993is virtually the only through-line in the bookâs narrative, which runs from the 994Mississippi Delta of Kingâs youth through the blues revival of the 1960s and 995the last four decades that has seen the influential singer-guitarist recognized 996as a cultural icon. </p> 997 998<p>Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Arriving in Memphis 999in 1946, King bunked with his musician cousin, Bukka White, and found work 1000hosting a radio show on WDIA, the exposure helping to promote his live 1001performances. He recalls his first gig at the 16<sup>th</sup> Street Grill in 1002Memphis: âThat night I couldnât sleep for the pictures running through my head. 1003I saw them [women] dressed and undressed, bending over and stretching, grinding 1004and grinning and showing me stuff I ainât ever seen before.â B. likes women 1005almost as much as music.</p> 1006 1007<p>Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â King recorded his 1008breakthrough hit, âThree OâClock Blues,â in 1951, and spent the rest of the 1009decade traveling the chitilinâ circuit of black clubs and theaters; in 1956, he 1010played an unbelievable 342 one-nighters. One can only imagine the music that went down during those days, but this extended performance from the 1960s 1011showcases a superior bandleader whoâd found the perfect balance between his 1012full-bodied vocals and supple lead guitar.</p><p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P6L8CEuJzsA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â It was during the 10131960s that King began made his presence felt beyond the black community. White 1014blues-rock guitarists like Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield sang his praises in 1015rock magazines like <i>Rolling Stone</i>, 1016prompting rock hounds like me to seek out the King album regarded as a 1017style-defining classic, <i>Live at the Regal</i>. Such exposure was vital for King, who like such blues peers as Muddy 1018Waters and Howlinâ Wolf, were losing much of their black audience to the 1019contemporary stars of soul and rhythm & blues.<br></p> 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035<p>Â Â Â Â Â In 1036February of 1967, King arrived to play on a bill with the Steve Miller Band and 1037Moby Grape at San Franciscoâs Fillmore Ballroom. King was unnerved to play for 1038a crowd of hippies, but was touched by promoter Bill Grahamâs introduction: 1039âLadies and gentlemen, I bring you the Chairman of the Board, B. B. King.â 1040Bringing his blues to a new audience-- Carlos Santana was just one of the 1041soon-to-be rock stars in attendance-- turned out to be a life-changing 1042experience. âThey didnât seem to look at me as B.B. King, the blues singer,â he 1043said. âIt was B.B. King, the musician.â King was welcomed as a VIP at 1044after-hours jam sessions. YouTube has a number of recordings of King playing 1045with Jimi Hendrix, though heâs all but lost amidst Hendrixâs high-volume 1046assault. More characteristic of Kingâs style is a jam that also features Paul 1047Butterfield on harmonica.</p> 1048 1049<p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4cbvuhQ6Pl4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>Â Â Â Â Â If 1050Kingâs career was transformed by playing rock ballrooms, it also set the table 1051for bigger-budgeted studio sessions that paid off with the 1970 release of âThe 1052Thrill Is Gone,â a career-defining performance that cemented Kingâs reputation 1053as a true giant of American musical culture. Here heâs performing the song at a 10541974 all-star concert in Zaire, Africa, produced in conjunction 1055with âThe Rumble in the Jungleâ between George Foreman and the Muhammad Ali.<br></p> 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071<p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dOAQd3JK0sc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>Â Â Â Â Â B.B. 1072King has been blessed to live half his life as a celebrated ambassador of the blues, touring 1073the world, performing on television, opening blues clubs, and recording with 1074everybody from U2 (âWhen Love Comes to Townâ) to Eric Clapton (<i>Riding With 1075the King</i>). As a popular artist who's been comfortable growing old on the public stage, he's also served as a role 1076model for musicians who grew up in a culture defined by youth. Nobody cares that he 1077now mostly performs while seated. Indeed, whenever Eric Clapton periodically organizes one 1078of his Crossroads festival, devotees of the King are happy to pull up chairs 1079and trade licks with the man who's taught them valuable lessons in both life 1080and the blues.<br></p><p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bG3DTvgVmv8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br></p> 1081 1082 1083 1084<p><br></p> 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100<p>
1100 </p></div> 1101 1102 </div> 1103 1104 1105 1106 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 1107 1108 1109 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 1110<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 1111<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='601921' href='javascript:void(0);'> 1112<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 1113<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 1114<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 1115<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 1116</span> 1117<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 1118<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 1119<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 1120<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>0</span> 1121</span> 1122</span> 1123</a> 1124 1125</div> 1126<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 1127<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text='Long Live the King' data-url='https://johnmilward.com/long-live-the-king' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 1128</div> 1129<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 1130<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/long-live-the-king' data-layout='button_count'></div> 1131</div> 1132</div> 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 <span class="display-date"> 1138 Posted 1139 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/long-live-the-king"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 1140 data-unix-time="1379344538"></span></a> 1141 1142 </span> 1143 </footer> 1144 </article> 1145 1146 <article class="post"> 1147 1148 1149 1150 <header> 1151 1152 1153 <div class="post-title"> 1154 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/peter-greens-fleetwood-mac">Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac</a></h2> 1155 1156 1157 </div> 1158 </header> 1159 1160 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_596770"> 1161 1162 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p> <div class="posthaven-gallery " id="posthaven_gallery[574222]"> 1163 <div class="posthaven-gallery-car"> 1164 <p class="posthaven-file posthaven-file-image posthaven-file-state-processed"> 1165 <img class="posthaven-gallery-image" src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/986175/eho53R9JjFvuqS8GQDU2R5TNvZs/medium_12_Peter_Green_72.jpg" data-posthaven-state='processed' 1166data-medium-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/986175/eho53R9JjFvuqS8GQDU2R5TNvZs/medium_12_Peter_Green_72.jpg' 1167data-medium-width='521' 1168data-medium-height='620' 1169data-large-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/986175/eho53R9JjFvuqS8GQDU2R5TNvZs/large_12_Peter_Green_72.jpg' 1170data-large-width='521' 1171data-large-height='620' 1172data-thumb-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/986175/eho53R9JjFvuqS8GQDU2R5TNvZs/thumb_12_Peter_Green_72.jpg' 1173data-thumb-width='200' 1174data-thumb-height='200' 1175data-xlarge-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/986175/eho53R9JjFvuqS8GQDU2R5TNvZs/xlarge_12_Peter_Green_72.jpg' 1176data-xlarge-width='521' 1177data-xlarge-height='620' 1178data-orig-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/986175/eho53R9JjFvuqS8GQDU2R5TNvZs/12_Peter_Green_72.jpg' 1179data-orig-width='521' 1180data-orig-height='620' 1181data-posthaven-id='986175'/> 1182 </p> 1183 1184 </div> 1185 <div class="posthaven-gallery-cdr"> 1186 1187 </div> 1188 </div> 1189</p><p>     My book <i>Crossroads</i> is filled with sad stories, ranging from drug 1190overdoses to a literal castration, but for me, the most heartbreaking is the 1191tale of Peter Green, the subtly brilliant guitarist who created Fleetwood Mac. 1192Greenâs first big break was to replace Eric Clapton in John Mayallâs 1193Bluesbreakers, and he surprised everybody by proving himself to be an equally 1194masterful guitarist.<i> </i>His 1195girlfriend at the time attributed his emotional touch to the childhood taunts 1196heâd endured for being Jewish. âQuite obviously the scars were still there,â 1197said Sandra Elsdon-Vigon. âThe blues to him are Jewish blues.â<br></p>     When 1198Green left Mayallâs band in 1967, his original plan was to move to Chicago and 1199play in a blues band. Instead, he stayed in London and formed a Chicago blues 1200band with the rock solid rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood on drums and John 1201McVie on bass. Naming his new band after its rhythm section wasnât Greenâs only 1202act of modesty; he also enlisted singer-guitarist Jeremy Spencer to avoid what 1203he considered the self-indulgent virtuosity of Eric Claptonâs power trio, 1204Cream. Green and Spencer represented two sides of Fleetwood Mac, with Green 1205fiercely disciplined and Spencer defined by his curly locks and rowdy, Elmore 1206James-styled slide guitar. Hereâs Fleetwood Mac on French television, with 1207Green singing an Otis Rush song, âHomework.â<div> 1208<br><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xztTQmFNnn4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br></div><div> 1209 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 1222 1223        Fleetwood Mac became 1224hugely successful in Britain and topped the charts with a wistful instrumental 1225called âAlbatross.â The bandâs first two albums (released in the U.S. as <i>Fleetwood 1226Mac</i> and <i>English Rose</i>) are among the best of all British blues albums. 1227The early Mac song that everybody knows is âBlack Magic Woman,â famously 1228covered by Santana, and itâs easy to see the influence Greenâs laid-back style 1229had on Carlos Santana. By the bandâs third album, <i>Then Play On</i>, rockier tunes began to infiltrate the repertoire. 1230One of the best was the percussive guitar jam, âOh Well.â </div><div><br></div><div> 1231 1232 1233 1234<iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0yq-Fw7C26Y?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br></div><div>     Do you think Hugh 1235Hefner got the wink-wink, nudge-nudge joke when the band played âRattlesnake 1236Shakeâ on his television program, <i>Playboy After Hours</i>? </div> 1237 1238<p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TqKKGDcexZs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 1239 1240<div>     The original Fleetwood Mac 1241would implode by 1970. Green felt guilty for the monetary success that music 1242brought him, and became restless when his band mates rejected the idea of 1243giving most of their money away to charity. Finally, after taking a 1244particularly bad acid trip in Munich, Germany, Green announced that he was 1245going to quit the group. Greenâs mental state deteriorated during the 1970s, and 1246he was eventually committed to a mental institution where he was subjected to 1247electroshock therapy. Meanwhile, Fleetwood Mac, who by now included Lindsey 1248Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie, was becoming one of the biggest 1249bands in the world. In the late-1990s, friends helped Green establish and 1250record with a band called Splinter Group. But his gift was gone, and it was his 1251life, and not his music, that had become Peter Greenâs most vivid expression of 1252the blues. Hereâs one last example of what was lost:  <br> 1253</div><div><br></div><div><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IxgY9eEFiYM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> 1254 1255 1256 1257 1258 1259 1260 1261 1262 1263 1264 1265 1266 1267 1268 1269<div>  <br><p></p> 1270 1271 1272 1273 1274 1275<div><br></div> 1276<div><br></div> 1277</div></div> 1278 1279 </div> 1280 1281 1282 1283 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 1284 1285 1286 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 1287<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 1288<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='596770' href='javascript:void(0);'> 1289<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 1290<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 1291<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 1292<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 1293</span> 1294<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 1295<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 1296<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 1297<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>1</span> 1298</span> 1299</span> 1300</a> 1301 1302</div> 1303<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 1304<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text="Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" data-url='https://johnmilward.com/peter-greens-fleetwood-mac' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 1305</div> 1306<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 1307<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/peter-greens-fleetwood-mac' data-layout='button_count'></div> 1308</div> 1309</div> 1310 1311 1312
1313 <span class="response-count"> 1314 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/peter-greens-fleetwood-mac"> 1315 1 response 1316 </a> 1317 </span> 1318 1319 <span class="slash-divider"> // </span> 1320 1321 1322 <span class="display-date"> 1323 Posted 1324 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/peter-greens-fleetwood-mac"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 1325 data-unix-time="1377292263"></span></a> 1326 1327 </span> 1328 </footer> 1329 </article> 1330 1331 <article class="post"> 1332 1333 1334 1335 <header> 1336 1337 1338 <div class="post-title"> 1339 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/589315">The Fingerstyle Wisdom of Mississippi John Hurt</a></h2> 1340 1341 1342 </div> 1343 </header> 1344 1345 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_589315"> 1346 1347 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p> <div class="posthaven-gallery " id="posthaven_gallery[565580]"> 1348 <div class="posthaven-gallery-car"> 1349 <p class="posthaven-file posthaven-file-image posthaven-file-state-processed"> 1350 <img class="posthaven-gallery-image" src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/964422/Mv4h9kL8D5V2lTps9KXdfyelz00/medium_5_Mississippi_John_Hurt_s.jpg" data-posthaven-state='processed' 1351data-medium-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/964422/Mv4h9kL8D5V2lTps9KXdfyelz00/medium_5_Mississippi_John_Hurt_s.jpg' 1352data-medium-width='576' 1353data-medium-height='652' 1354data-large-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/964422/Mv4h9kL8D5V2lTps9KXdfyelz00/large_5_Mississippi_John_Hurt_s.jpg' 1355data-large-width='576' 1356data-large-height='652' 1357data-thumb-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/964422/Mv4h9kL8D5V2lTps9KXdfyelz00/thumb_5_Mississippi_John_Hurt_s.jpg' 1358data-thumb-width='200' 1359data-thumb-height='200' 1360data-xlarge-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/964422/Mv4h9kL8D5V2lTps9KXdfyelz00/xlarge_5_Mississippi_John_Hurt_s.jpg' 1361data-xlarge-width='576' 1362data-xlarge-height='652' 1363data-orig-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/964422/Mv4h9kL8D5V2lTps9KXdfyelz00/5_Mississippi_John_Hurt_s.jpg' 1364data-orig-width='576' 1365data-orig-height='652' 1366data-posthaven-id='964422'/> 1367 </p> 1368 1369 </div> 1370 <div class="posthaven-gallery-cdr"> 1371 1372 </div> 1373 </div> 1374</p><p>Mississippi 1375John Hurt was the sweet soul of the blues revival of the 1960s, and the first 1376of a trio of bluesmen who walked straight from Mississippi Delta obscurity onto 1377the stage of the Newport Folk Festival. Hurt recorded for Okeh in the 1378late-1920s, and was best known for a pair of tunes that appeared on Harry 1379Smithâs influential 1952 collection, <i>Anthology of American Folk Music</i>. A select few, however, hunted for Hurt â78s and 1380traded tapes of his recorded repertoire. The interest of Tom Hoskins was particularly 1381piqued by a little-known tune called âAvalon Bluesâ in which Hurt sang, âAvalon is my hometown, always on my 1382mind.â<br></p> 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398<p> After 1399consulting a vintage map of Mississippi, Hoskins found a speck of a town called 1400Avalon, and on a whim and a prayer, set out on a journey to past. Pulling into town, he stopped at Stinsons, a combination general store, gas station, and 1401post office that constituted downtown Avalon. Inquiring if John Hurt was still 1402alive, Hoskins was told, âIf he ainât died since he went that way with two 1403sacks of groceries at eleven oâclock this morning.â At Hoskinsâ urging, Hurt 1404moved to Washington, D.C. and embarked on a most remarkable second act. The 1405discovery of John Hurt encouraged other gumshoes to search for old bluesman, 1406and soon Hurt was joined on the contemporary stage by two other Delta legends, 1407Son House and Skip James.</p> 1408 1409<p>But Hurt was hardly 1410your typical blues musician. âWhen you think of Mississippi Delta blues,â said 1411Stefan Grossman, âyou think of a type of music that has nothing to do with John 1412Hurt. Heâs playing as if the guitar is a piano with a boom-chick in the bass 1413imitating the left hand of the piano player and melody on the treble strings 1414like that played by the right hand. There are no extra notes in his music, 1415there is just the sound, and the sound is rooted in his thumb.â
1415</p> 1416 1417<p><iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL6zGbXjcziZmOjNoSNrtyNEIIKj9JV4ao" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>John 1418Sebastian found a name for his group in the lyric to Hurtâs âCoffee Bluesââthe 1419âLovinâ Spoonful.â âWhat I heard in the music of John Hurt,â said Sebastian, 1420âwas that it was more swinging than a lot of the finger picking that I had 1421heard up to that time. His groove was just deeper, and yet when heâd talk about 1422his playing, heâd made it sound so simply. âWell, you get your thumb doing 1423this,â heâd tall me, âand then you got these fingers left over so you can kinda 1424get a little melody going on that.â Hereâs another example of his sublime 1425style:<br></p> 1426 1427<p><iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9gytJemzNTM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> 1428 1429<p>âSome of the rediscovered 1430bluesmen were exploited,â said Geoff Muldaur, âand very few of them made sense 1431of the rediscovery. John Hurt is an example of somebody who did. They 1432rediscovered him, he smiled, and started to play until he died. A lot of those 1433guys were bitter and sad and a lot of them were drunks. But John Hurt was 1434really the quintessential wonderful guy.â 1435In the early 1960, Muldaur was friends with Phil Spiro, a Cambridge disc 1436jockey who was among the trio that found Son House living in Rochester, New 1437York; Spiro also shared an apartment with Al Wilson, who would later form Canned 1438Heat, and who sometimes played with both House and Hurt. On this tape from October 1964, Spiro invites Mississippi John Hurt and 1439Skip James into his studio for a live performance during the heyday of the blues revival.<br></p><p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL28DAEFD303EBC38C" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>The portrait of John Hurt is by Margie Greve, one of 19 original illustrations in our new book, <i>Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock 'n' Roll (and Rock Saved the Blues)</i>.</p><p><br></p></div> 1440 1441 </div> 1442 1443 1444 1445 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 1446 1447 1448 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 1449<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 1450<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='589315' href='javascript:void(0);'> 1451<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 1452<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 1453<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 1454<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 1455</span> 1456<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 1457<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 1458<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 1459<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>0</span> 1460</span> 1461</span> 1462</a> 1463 1464</div> 1465<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 1466<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text='The Fingerstyle Wisdom of Mississippi John Hurt' data-url='https://johnmilward.com/589315' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 1467</div> 1468<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 1469<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/589315' data-layout='button_count'></div> 1470</div> 1471</div> 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 <span class="display-date"> 1477 Posted 1478 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/589315"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 1479 data-unix-time="1374077400"></span></a> 1480 1481 </span> 1482 </footer> 1483 </article> 1484 1485 <article class="post"> 1486 1487 1488 1489 <header> 1490 1491 1492 <div class="post-title"> 1493 <h2><a href="https://johnmilward.com/fishing-blues">Fishing Blues</a></h2> 1494 1495 1496 </div> 1497 </header> 1498 1499 <div class="post-body" id="post_body_586682"> 1500 1501 <div class="posthaven-post-body"><p> <div class="posthaven-gallery " id="posthaven_gallery[562288]"> 1502 <div class="posthaven-gallery-car"> 1503 <p class="posthaven-file posthaven-file-image posthaven-file-state-processed"> 1504 <img class="posthaven-gallery-image" src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/955123/JJbq1KOaVD9oOYSa3r4hYnox3F4/medium_3.jpg" data-posthaven-state='processed' 1505data-medium-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/955123/JJbq1KOaVD9oOYSa3r4hYnox3F4/medium_3.jpg' 1506data-medium-width='547' 1507data-medium-height='551' 1508data-large-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/955123/JJbq1KOaVD9oOYSa3r4hYnox3F4/large_3.jpg' 1509data-large-width='547' 1510data-large-height='551' 1511data-thumb-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/955123/JJbq1KOaVD9oOYSa3r4hYnox3F4/thumb_3.jpg' 1512data-thumb-width='200' 1513data-thumb-height='200' 1514data-xlarge-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/955123/JJbq1KOaVD9oOYSa3r4hYnox3F4/xlarge_3.jpg' 1515data-xlarge-width='' 1516data-xlarge-height='' 1517data-orig-src='https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/image_part/asset/955123/JJbq1KOaVD9oOYSa3r4hYnox3F4/3.jpg' 1518data-orig-width='547' 1519data-orig-height='551' 1520data-posthaven-id='955123'/> 1521 </p> 1522 1523 </div> 1524 <div class="posthaven-gallery-cdr"> 1525 1526 </div> 1527 </div> 1528</p><p>        Determining who
1529wrote a vintage blues song can be akin to casting a fishing line into very 1530muddy waters. Thatâs because in the early decades of the last century, blues 1531was an oral tradition, with songs and lyrics and guitar licks passed from one 1532musician to the next. Such a transformation mirrors the musical story 1533chronicled in my new book, <i>Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock ânâ Roll 1534(and Rock Saved the Blues)</i>. As Dave 1535Van Ronk, a master of the folk-blues, once said, âTheft is the first law of 1536art, and like any group of intelligent musicians, we all lived with our hands 1537in each otherâs pockets.â Added folklorist and song collector Paul Clayton: âIf 1538you canât write, rewrite. If you canât rewrite, copyright.â<br></p> 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554<p>      A vintage 78 rpm 1555disc might give writerâs credit to a particular blues singer, but unless the 1556song was copyrighted, he was unlikely to ever see publishing royalties. Talent 1557recruited for so-called ârace recordsâ rarely thought in such terms, and 1558typically took a one-time cash payment (Lightninâ Hopkins did this throughout 1559his long career). Skip James was paid $40 for the 18 sides he recorded for 1560Paramount in 1931, and his songs werenât copyrighted until his rediscovery in 1561the early-â60s. (James came into a late-life windfall when Cream covered his 1562âIâm So Gladâ on <i>Fresh Cream</i>; his 1563heirs got serious scratch when âHard Time Killinâ Floor Bluesâ was included on 1564the soundtrack to 2000âs <i>O Brother, Where Art Thou?</i>)</p> 1565 1566<p>      Robert Petway 1567recorded âCatfish Bluesâ in 1941; he was cited as the writer but blues 1568researchers say the song had circulated around the Mississippi Delta and was in 1569the repertoire (and perhaps composed by) a singer of his acquaintance, Tommy 1570McClennan. Whoever wrote it, however, borrowed a lyrical motif found in a 1928 1571hit called âJim Jacksonâs Kansas City Blues Part 3â by a medicine-show 1572entertainer named Jim Jackson (âI wished I was a catfish, swimming down in the 1573sea; Iâd have some good woman, fishing after meâ). </p><p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FmywB9Fnfn0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>        âCatfish Bluesâ 1574barely caused a ripple commercially, but it was no doubt familiar to one of 1575Petwayâs Delta neighbors, Muddy Waters, whom Alan Lomax recorded that same year 1576for the Library of Congress. Muddy brought the song with him to Chicago, and 1577cut it for Chess in 1950 with his ringing electric guitar representing a clear 1578bridge from the country blues to the sound of the city. Muddy moved the 1579âcatfishâ lyric to the top, added some new words, and put his name on a song 1580whose title he changed to âRollinâ Stone.â Hereâs Waters playing the tune about 1581a decade later, and not long before a British rhythm & blues quintet who 1582idolized Muddy decided to call themselves the Rolling Stones.<br></p><p><iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jciPN8E2Pq8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>        Many others have 1583covered âCatfish Blues,â with B.B. King giving Petway writing credit, John Lee 1584Hooker taking it for himself, and Jimi Hendrix citing the song as a 1585traditional. Hendrix undoubtedly learned the song via the Waters recording. 1586âWhen I was a little kid,â Hendrix told Sharon Lawrence, âI heard a record 1587playing at a neighborâs house turned way up. That song called to me, and I left 1588my yard, went down the street, and when the song was over, I knocked on the door 1589and said, âWho was that playing?â âMuddy Waters,â the guy said. I didnât quite 1590understand. He repeated it and spelled it outââM-u-d-d-y.ââ  For Hendrix, "Catfish Blues" was also a launching pad for "Voodoo Chile" and "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)." Here's a live version of the later (from London's Royal Albert Hall) synched to footage from the Woodstock festival:</p> 1591<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhyL4lUn-DI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhyL4lUn-DI</a></p> 1592<p>At a recent reading/concert 1593to celebrate the publication of <i>Crossroads</i>, which includes 19 original portraits by Margie Greve (including the 1594Muddy Waters on this page), I performed the song with guitarist Josh Roy Brown, 1595who was confused when I introduced the tune as âRollinâ Stone.â âI thought we 1596were playing âCatfish Blues?â" said Josh. And so we did. <br></p><iframe width="667" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4iVsImMOykI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><p></p><p></p></div> 1597 1598 </div> 1599 1600 1601 1602 <footer class="homepage-post-footer"> 1603 1604 1605 <div class='posthaven-share-links'> 1606<div class='posthaven-share-item'> 1607<a class='posthaven-upvote posthaven-control' data-post-id='586682' href='javascript:void(0);'> 1608<span class='posthaven-upvote-holder'> 1609<span class='posthaven-upvote-icon'> 1610<span class='posthaven-upvote-side'></span> 1611<span class='posthaven-upvote-arrow'></span> 1612</span> 1613<span class='posthaven-upvote-label-area'> 1614<span class='posthaven-upvote-label'><span>Up</span>vote</span> 1615<span class='posthaven-upvoted-label'><span>Up</span>voted</span> 1616<span class='posthaven-upvote-number'>2</span> 1617</span> 1618</span> 1619</a> 1620 1621</div> 1622<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-twitter-share'> 1623<a class='twitter-share-button share-item' data-text='Fishing Blues' data-url='https://johnmilward.com/fishing-blues' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a> 1624</div> 1625<div class='posthaven-share-item posthaven-facebook-share'> 1626<div class='fb-share-button' data-href='https://johnmilward.com/fishing-blues' data-layout='button_count'></div> 1627</div> 1628</div> 1629 1630 1631
1632 <span class="response-count"> 1633 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/fishing-blues"> 1634 2 responses 1635 </a> 1636 </span> 1637 1638 <span class="slash-divider"> // </span> 1639 1640 1641 <span class="display-date"> 1642 Posted 1643 <a href="https://johnmilward.com/fishing-blues"><span class="posthaven-formatted-date" data-format="RELATIVE" 1644 data-unix-time="1372710074"></span></a> 1645 1646 </span> 1647 </footer> 1648 </article> 1649 1650 1651 1652</div> 1653 1654<aside id='sidebar'> 1655 1656 1657 <section id='bio'> 1658 <h3>John Milward</h3> 1659 John Milward has written about music and popular culture for more than forty years, contributing to such publications as Rolling Stone, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and No Depression, among many others. He is the author of "Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock 'n' Roll (and Rock Saved the Blues)" and "Americanaland: Where Country & Western Met Rock & Roll." Email contact: [email protected]. 1660 1661 1662 <div class="profile-pic"> 1663 <img src="https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/files/profile_pic/asset/2609892/Cht_K2W_q5fjLGw5Jdgvtn8vwes/medium_John_Milward.jpg" 1664 width="72" 1665 height="72"> 1666 </div> 1667 1668 1669</section> 1670 1671 1672 <section class="search-archive"> 1673 <form action='/archive' class='posthaven-archive-form'> 1674<input name='query' placeholder='Search this site...' type='text'> 1675</form> 1676 1677 1678 <div class="archive-link"> 1679 <a href="/archive">Browse the Archive »</a> 1680 </div> 1681 </section> 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 <section class="subscribe"> 1688 <form action='/posthaven/subscription' class='posthaven-subscribe-form posthaven-control'> 1689<a class='posthaven-anon posthaven-subscribe-prompt' href='javascript:void(0)'> 1690<strong>Subscribe by email »</strong> 1691<span>We'll email you when there are new posts here.</span> 1692 1693</a> 1694<div class='posthaven-user-required' style='display:none'> 1695<div class='posthaven-user-unsubscribe' style='display: none'> 1696You're following this blog. 1697<a data-method='DELETE' href='javascript:void(0);'> 1698Unfollow » 1699</a> 1700</div> 1701<div class='posthaven-user-subscribe'> 1702<a data-method='POST' href='javascript:void(0);'> 1703Follow this Posthaven » 1704</a> 1705</div> 1706</div> 1707<div class='posthaven-anon posthaven-subscribe-anon' style='display:none'> 1708Enter your email address to get email alerts about new posts on this site. 1709Unsubscribe anytime. 1710 1711<div class='posthaven-subscribe-error posthaven-form-error' style='display:none'> 1712Email address is invalid. 1713</div> 1714<input name='email_address' placeholder='Email Address' type='text'> 1715<input type='submit' value='Subscribe'> 1716</div> 1717</form> 1718 1719 </section> 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 <section> 1726 <nav id="menu_blogroll"> 1727 <ul> 1728 1729 1730 1731 </ul> 1732 </nav> 1733 </section> 1734 1735 1736 <section id="feed_link"> 1737 <a href="http://johnmilward.com/posts.atom"> 1738 <span class="feed-icon"></span> 1739 </a> 1740</section> 1741 1742</aside> 1743 1744 1745 </div> 1746 </div> 1747 1748
1748<script async="async" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" 1749 type="text/javascript"></script>
1749 1750
1750<script src="/assets/blog-56896baaa1bed614a7389ca92efb3991.js" 1751 type="text/javascript"></script>
1751 1752 1753
1753<script type="text/javascript"> 1754 var _gaq = _gaq || []; 1755 _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-38525690-2']); 1756 _gaq.push(['_setAllowLinker', true]); 1757 _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); 1758 </script>
1758 1759 1760
1760<script> 1761 (function() { 1762 var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; 1763 ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + 1764 '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; 1765 var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); 1766 })(); 1767 </script>
1767 1768 1769
1769<script type="text/javascript"> 1770 (function() { 1771 var desired_protocol = 'https:'; 1772 var incoming_protocol = window.location.protocol; 1773 if(desired_protocol != incoming_protocol){ 1774 window.location.href = desired_protocol + window.location.href.substring(incoming_protocol.length); 1775 } 1776 })(); 1777 </script>
1777 1778 </body> 1779</html>
Line numbers count LF bytes from the start of the resource, as the search results do. Vendor segments are library code the classifier recognised; they are stored but not indexed. Bytes are shown as Latin1 characters, one per byte.