Good evening, everybody, peoples tell me, how do you do?
We the King Biscuit Boys, we just came out to welcome you.
(King Biscuit Stomp - Joe Williams)
Here’s an offer you couldn’t refuse? It’s free! – no guitar strings attached. John Hood (ex Sid Rumpo/The Elks) has, as the title of his book proclaims, immersed a lifetime in the blues and you can too simply by downloading the book (just email John from his website, https://www.jhredguitar.com).
This is John’s take on his book.
“It is about my blues journey and the musical places and thoughts and ideas that the music has revealed to me. It is a disparate collection of sixty nine chapters about the concept and structure of blues, my early obsession with the form, blues history, record labels, classic albums, seminal blues players, geographic regions and styles, together with a lot of my own thoughts about the blues”.
As you peruse through the chapters, his depth of feeling, knowledge and passion abounds and the journey for the reader flows effortlessly. I can highly recommend this pilgrimage for anyone, not just blues connoisseurs, who have a love for music. As Willie Dixon once referenced “the blues is the roots, the rest are the fruits”.
There is a caution associated with the reading of the text, there will be a sudden urge to spin a blues black wax disc on the turntable.
Check out Sid Rumpo’s GTK version of Don’t Bug Me Boogie with John blowing harp. How good is this (even with a sloppy mix)? A pity the album version didn’t feature the Ol’ In & Out Box.
Thanks for sharing this Shep. I have added his site to Bookmarks, so will take a deep look later. I can listen to the blues and boogie all day long to be honest. It was inherent back in our teenage years. Played it in various keys too. And both open and barre/bar chords were experimented with.
There is a lovely vibe when you play it as a musician and it goes into a very peaceful playing state of affairs. Thanks for the link too.
I’m doing some digging into my ‘vinyl under the stairs’ gems today Shep. Not sure if you have heard of a band called Sailcat. Was thinking of their Motorcycle Mama album last night. Especially the title track. Such a nice groove about that one. I can’t remember harp on any of the tracks though. When a teenager I picked it up in the library in town. Used to pop in after school and get a few albums each week. A good way to learn eclectically. That’s how Tyrannosaurus Rex and Marc Bolan came into my life thinking about it. Loved the Sailcat album so much I had to buy it. I reckon it may suit your ears too.
Cheers and have a good day. 🙏🏽🍁🍂
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