Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller

     Blues developed through Blind Boy Fuller “Rag Mama Rag” and Blind Blake “West Coast Blues”. Both songs gave listeners an ideal meaning of blues.  In both songs there are several comparsion and diffrence between the two. Both Blake and Fuller display a unique sense of blues through their music.

     The similarities of both recordings are the melody. Both songs have four melodies. In “West Coast Blues” the instruments seem to have several beats in it. The beats turn out to be a catchy beat; which keeps the attention alive. Well, during “Rag Mama Rag” it has several beats as well. The thing different between these two songs is the “Rag Mama Rag” is at a faster pace. During the song Blind Boy Fuller repeats he verse and you can notice the melodies being repeated as he talks. Blind Blake also has the same repeating of melodies as the song goes on. Both of the song melodies have several pitches that are alike. They both start off very high, high, medium, and low. The pitches are has a very catchy tone.

     Blind Boy Fuller involves his music with beats and rhythms in “Rag Mama Rag”.  The first couple of lines of the song are being repeated by the singer “Oh Rag, Oh Rag” which creates a repetition. The repeating of this phrase is understandable. It seems he enjoys singing this song with passion. The pitch of his voice changes as he states “Oh Rag, Oh Rag”. This catches the listeners’ attention. As he repeats this verse, the instruments in the background match the pitch of his voice. Not only that, the speed at which the instruments are being played changes as he sings. After Fuller is done repeating “Oh Rag, Oh Rag” the pitch of his voice transitions. He starts talking about a woman with a rag. The instruments quicken as he goes into his verse; this makes his music flow in rhythm to match his verse. During the song there was a moment where the instrument was the only thing playing. Having this moment changes the mood of the song for several seconds. After that, the song goes back to the same mood as before and it picks up the fast paste.  The singer’s attitude during the song seems to enjoy singing. He is trying to sing to an audience at that moment. This gives a good vibe to be a on the dance floor.  

     In contrast of “Rag Mama Rag”, Blind Blake recording of “West Coast Blues” starts off with a usual discussion. Instead of actually singing, he talks to the audience. During the song he didn’t display a decent amount of emotion to what he was saying (this will go on throughout the entire song). As he start the verse, the instruments in the background doesn’t blend with his voice. Because he voice doesn’t blend in with the song, the song doesn’t flow. It causes the mood of the song to be dying off but at the same time the instrument in the background is keeping the mood alive. He doesn’t repeat any of his verse during the song. There are not many rhythms in this song besides the instruments. The singer’s attitude is sending a signal as if you’re talking to him. He is trying to make a statement to his audience. At one point during the song he states like he running out of time to sing. This makes it seem as if he doesn’t have much to say. He didn’t sound enthusiastic about it.

 

Refinement of the Blues

Progression of blues throughout a decade is displayed through Blind Blake’s “West Coast Blues,” and Blind Boy Fuller’s “Rag, Mama, Rag.”   There are many similarities in the two compositions, but there are also many differences that show the evolution of the genre as a whole through ten years.  Differences and similarities can be seen in the songs melody, rhythm, vocals, and use of pitch. 

            In “West Coast Blues,” the classic blues guitar melody can be heard in the background.  The melody repeats over and over again until the end of the song.  There is no background rhythm accompaniment, just the guitar lick.  The melody is separated into four different sections, the first one spanning from high-pitched notes to low-pitched notes in the last section.  After the last section the melody repeats from the high pitched section.  The happy, light, and informal melody sounds like it could be heard at the counter of a bar, or in the lobby of a motel.  The singer does sing a long to the pitch or the rhythm of the melody.  Blind Blake almost seems like he’s having a conversation with his audience rather than singing a song.  This adds to the informal feel of the song.  His lyrics are often off beat and unstable, seemingly going off of his own rhythm rather than following the guitar.  The combination of these factors gives the song a ragged, authentic feel to listeners. 

            In “Rag, Mama, Rag,” the refinement of the blues is obvious. Blind Boy Fuller adds rhythm accompaniment in the background of the classical blues guitar.  The rhythmic background sounds like it is coming from a knee slap, and a cranking noise.  The background beat gives the song another dimension that “West Coast Blues” lacked.  The beat allows people to dance or nod their heads to the beat that was lacking in “West Coast Blue’s.”  The rhythm accompaniment also gave “Rag, Mama, Rag,” a whole different textual feel from “West Coast Blues.”  Instead of just singing to the audience without any regard to the beat, Blind Boy Fuller uses the background rhythm accompaniment and melody when he is singing.  The result is a song that flows much better and textually feels more cohesive.  Similar to “West Coast Blues,”   “Rag Mama Rag,” repeats the same melody over and over again until the conclusion of the song.  It has four sections that transition for a high pitch in the first section to a low pitch in the last section.  This stylistic remnant from the earlier made “West Coast Blues” shoes that the roots of blues are still unchanged after ten years.  Although both of the melodies use the same pitch transition, “West Coast Blues’” beat slowly speeds up as the song progresses.  Its speed progression adds to the buildup affect until the end of the song where the rhythm is at a frenetic pace.  Its almost like the increase in speed is like the sprint to the finish line of a race.  The speed change serves to add to the climax of the song and symbolize the end of the song while giving the song yet another dimension that “West Coast Blues” didn’t have. 

            Another technical aspect that Blind Boy Fuller added to his song that “West Coast Blue’s” didn’t have was the instrumental bridge near the end of the song.  There are no lyrics and the cranking noise that accompanied the melody returned.  Throughout the song, the melody had been constant, but during the instrumental bridge the melody is changed up.  This gives the song a different feel than the constant repeat of the melody in “West Coast Blues.”   After the bridge, Blind Boy Fuller attempts to use his voice as an instrument a la Bobby McFerrin in contemporary music.  This is also something that Blind Blake didn’t intertwine into his song.  

Analysis of Pre-War Country Blues

     Pre-war country blues, specifically the styles represented by Charlie Patton and Blind Willie Mctell, paint a colorful picture of the southern African American lifestyle. This music was influenced by a culture of people seeking social being and cultural identity. Many songs such as “Statesboro Blues” by Blind Willie McTell sing about everyday activities and troubles in a way that normal people can identify with. By appealing to the masses through the use of believable yet motion invoking lyrics, pre-war blues artists were able to communicate with their audiences. Lyrics such as “She’s a mighty mean woman, to do me this a-way oing to leave this town, pretty mama, going away to stay” speak directly of woman troubles that many listeners could relate to. Many blues songs such as this one lament life’s mistakes and hardships, which is interesting because musically the song is not quite as sad. The song in question uses a Delta blues style guitar accompaniment, that is surprisingly upbeat and hopeful. In a sense, the song is saying that although life can bring you down in so many ways, the true victory is to overcome these hardships and keep on moving. Blind Willie describes this by stating: “Sister got ‘em, daddy got ‘em,  Brother got ‘em, friend got ‘em, I got ‘em, Woke up this morning, we had them Statesboro blues”. Many people can relate to the feeling of the blues, and this sort of music revolution brought a multiple ethnicities of people together by describing and evolving this feeling.

     Charlie Patton used many of these same themes and styles in his form of blues. In his song “Moon Goin’ Down”, Charlie Patton uses a strong guitar part to accompany the singer. The texture of the song seems to be a interesting form of the Delta Blues, that creates a strong beat by alternating the use of low and high pitches on the guitar. He even uses what sounds like percussive hits on the down beats of the song, solidifying the simple duple feel of the song. This sort of percussive aspect of the song is quite different from the other recordings from this time period, and gives it a “live” sound. This type of blues music has a comforting  and nostalgic feel to it, as if it was meant to be listened to live. This is because southern blues evolved from rural forms of entertainment. The lyrics incorporated into this tune depict images of dark times, such as ” Oh well, where were you now, baby, Clarksdale mill burned down”. The blues often describes events in life that are not the fondest of memories, but essence, that is partly the reason for the coming of this music; to help overcome life’s sad sides with the help of catchy tunes and up-beat (sometimes) melodies.

     Female artists of this time period were just as important and influential as their male counterparts. Ruth Willis performs the “Experience Blues” with Blind Willie Mctell, and brings a whole new side of blues to the table. While the ideas in this song are quite similar to the ones in the previous pieces, the fact that a woman is singing it changes the feel of the song. Female artists began reaching out to their communities through music, and began forming closer knit relationships between themselves and other rural women. With lyrics such as “I once loved a man, that didn’t mean me no good”, it was clear that female artists wanted to be heard, and wanted to distinguish themselves in the music industry. With slogans such as “trust no man”, as shown by Angela Davis’s article “Mama’s got the Blues”, southern female artists wanted to create a sense of identity and strength in their communities.  In many cases, the subjects sung about were sad, but the women in the songs had a sense of strength and stability that ensured their listeners. Even the name of the song, Experience Blues, implies that the artist has seen their fair share of disappointments but has overcome them. This unique character of blues songs makes them uplifting, because while most people associate “the blues” with sadness, many of these songs represent a never-ending cycle in which people overcome whatever troubles that life can throw at them.

 References:

Davis, Angela. “Mama’s Got the Blues”, http://benleedscarson.com/storage/readings/blues_legaciesCh2Davis.pdf

Dog vs. Moon

A comparison between two pre-war country blues categories - John Hurts’ “Salty Dog” and Charlie Patton’s “Moon Goin’ Down” – depict an epic era of history where authentic blues were either characterized under Piedmont style or Delta style Blues.  These two categories refer more closely to the strumming of the guitar.  Mississippi John Hurts’ “Salty Dog” is a classic example of piedmont style, due to its layering of different syncopated rhythms with multiple strumming of strings.  On the other hand, Charlie Patton’s “Moon Goin’ Down” is a classic example of Delta Style Blues, due to its simpler one strumming guitar picking. 

Looking just at the singing style of these two men in different Blues categories, Hurts accompanies his layered guitar rhythms with a more complex tone of voice.  He emphasizes his words to suggest that the song is a more comical approach to the serious subject of adultery.  His emphasis on the word “dog”, which is accompanied by a timbre, suggests that this song is of a light nature (not to mention the humming, instead of singing that is present throughout the song).  In the song by Patton, he accompanies his simple one strumming rhythm guitar playing with deep, soulful lyrics and melody.  This particular song he also sings of adultery but in a more serious tone.  He wants to know if the women he is with was with another man when the “Moon Gone Down.”  In his rendition of a original Delta Style Blues song, he uses the simple strumming rhythms of the guitar to emphasize the serious matter of the song.  It comes together quite nicely, especially with the sliding of the guitar and his deep melodic voice.   

The background of both of these songs suggests that adultery and heartache are very common themes of the Blues.  Although the Delta Style Blues is credited with being the first commercial use of the Blues, the Piedmont Style Blues is just as worthy of recognition in the blues and the African American community.  Even though both styles are from different regions and have differing disporic cultures, they both want to convey a sense of what it means to be an African American.  This “race” music, which is categorized that way because of the lower power status that one group of people encompasses based on the periphery society, was a hit with the greater American society.  Once Okeh records started distributing this music, after much disdain among what kind of music should be played on this new technology called “the phonograph,” the American society as a whole could not get enough of it (even though the audio was not of great quality in the 1920’s and it was quite difficult to make out many of the lyrics, it was incomprehensible that the singer could be “in the room with you” without actually being there). 

Although each of the songs originates in either Mississippi or Louisiana, the diasporic nature of each song differs.  The song by Hurts embodies more of an American Folk country diaspora than the song by Patton.  Coming from Mississippi Hurts might have been influenced in a greater respect by the white Euro-American folk music.  It has a bit of a banjo feel to this song.  It also has a story telling aspect thrown into it, which can be attributed to the rhyming and comparisons within the song (i.e. women’s lips to honey).  It is also very short and catchy, which is also a white culture aspect (due to Americans always wanting to sing along to songs and play them in a parlor).  This might be one of the earlier instances where white society was exposed to the African American culture, which might be a reason why this song was so catchy (to be popular).  This is typical of the Piedmont Style Blues (due to its great influences from ragtime and music and American folk songs).  Through this song, white Americans can get a feeling that African Americans are light-hearted and do not take matters very seriously, even though they very well should (the women was caught cheating!).  In a sense, one can claim that Hurts is displaying a sense of minstrelsy toward his African American community.

In Patton’s song “Moon Goin’ Down” the larger American audience that has not been truly exposed to the Blues, especially Delta Style Blues would interpret this song as an authentic rendition of an “African American song.”  This shows, unlike the Piedmont Style Blues, what it’s really like to be a down-on-your-luck African American.  With his accusatory tone of voice, one can tell that he did in fact live through this.  The white society that hears this song might think this music is indeed “untouched” by Euro-American folk music, however, I would argue that the African American diaspora in this song is in fact influenced by the larger white community (due to one community cannot isolate itself from the periphery society).           

References:

Ferris, William Jr. Blues From the Delta. London: Studio Vista, 1970.

Wald,  Elijah. “What is Blues?” Chapter 1 of Escaping the Delta. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.