BIGGER AND BRIGHTER BLUES YEAR 2012

Here's wishing everyone a healthy, prosperous 2012!!

I had the opportunity to see some friends of mine doing a New Year's Eve show at a local casino here in Detroit last night.  It was a big
night at the casino, the room was shoulder to shoulder with folks out celebrating.  One of the things that struck me was how much
the crowd was enjoying the music!  We're talking old school, electric blues.  The audience was a good mix of older and younger people
who were dancing, smiling, and in general really grooving to the band. 
Why is this music (blues) suffering so much when it's pretty clear it can be very enjoyable listening?  The crowd for the most part
was not there to hear this particular band.  They were there because it was a New Year's Eve party at the casino.  And they found themselves
having a great time listening to music that I'd be willing to bet, was not all that familiar.   It was so great to see this!
I've been around playing blues long enough to know that the popularity of this music goes in cycles.  But it seems like the cycles keep
getting longer and longer, meaning it's taking longer for it to bounce back.  I guess all we can do is keep putting it in front of the people.
I was really encouraged watching the folks last night.  Here's to a Bigger and Brighter Blues Year in 2012.

This week's Blues Artist is Mr. Billy Cox. Billy was the bassist in Jimi Hendrix's BAND OF GYPSYS. He has a new recording "OLD SCHOOL BLUE BLUES"  his web site is:
http://www.bassistbillycox.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVZGvmKDYBU

Happy New Year Everyone

Pete 'Big Dog' Fetters

http://www.petebigdogfetters/

A BLUES FUNERAL

Last summer I had the opportunity to play some solo gigs down in the great state of Kentucky. I was asked by a funeral director to play at a grave side service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back-country.   As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost; and being a typical man I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight.   There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.   The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends; I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.   And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up and started for my car. Though my head hung low my heart was full.   As I was opening the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

FEATURED BLUES ARTIST - CEDELL DAVIS - DELTA BLUES MAN (Where There's A Will, There's A Way)               

"Cedell Davis was born Ellis Davis on June 9, 1927, in Helena, then a booming river town on the Arkansas bank of the Mississippi. He grew up there and in the upper Mississippi Delta around eight miles south of Tunica, on the E.M. Hood plantation, where his brother lived. Together with one of his childhood friends, Isaiah Ross (future Sun recording artist Dr. Ross the Harmonica Boss), Cedell began playing blues, first harmonica, then some guitar. Then tragedy struck -- during his ninth and tenth years he grappled with severe polio. He returned to Helena, to his mother, who was locally renowned as a healer, though she worked as a cook, and there he began the painful process of relearning, in fact rethinking the guitar, which he could no longer play in the conventional manner. "It took me about three years," he recalls. "I was right- handed, but I couldn't use my right hand, so I had to turn the guitar around; I play left-handed now. But I still needed something to slide with, and my mother had these knives, a set of silverware, and I kinda swiped one of 'em." This was the beginning of a guitar style that is utterly unique, in or out of blues. The knife-handle on the strings produces uneven pressure, which results in a welter of metal-stress harmonic transients and a singular tonal plasticity. Some people who hear Cedell's playing for the first time think it's out of tune, but it would be more accurate to say he plays in an alternative tuning. Over the years Cedell has played in Southern juke joints with a number of other musicians. His most significant and longest-lasting association was with the great Robert Nighthawk, who was considered the Delta's finest slide guitarist by no less an authority than Muddy Waters. They worked together for ten years straight, roughly 1953-'63, trading off "bassing" and lead duties song by song. During the early part of his time with Nighthawk, Cedell was based in St. Louis, where he got to know Big Joe Williams, Charlie Jordan, J.D. "Jelly Jaw" Short, and other leading lights. But during the last part of 1957, he was badly injured in a St. Louis tavern, when an apparent police raid caused a massive stampede. Before that, Cedell could at least walk on crutches. But his legs were broken in so many places during the stampede that he has been largely confined to a wheelchair ever since. Cedell is a remarkable communicator, and quite possibly the greatest hard core vocalist around." - Robert Palmer

Cedell Davis Videos http://youtu.be/V2FhDtndMJE http://youtu.be/GXMOLmunfNc

Pete 'Big Dog' Fetters http://www.petebigdogfetters.com/

The Blues Has A Funny Bone

The late great Willie Dixon was fond of saying "The whole of life itself expresses the blues. That's why I always say the blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling and understanding.  The blues can be about anything pertaining to the facts of life.  The blues call on God as much as a spiritual song do.  The blues call on happiness and understanding.  The blues calls on sadness as much as prayer do.  The blues calls on working, even working on the railroad and chopping cotton, they could always build a rhythm up to this that made the blues.
     Ninety-nine percent of the people that wrote stories about the blues gave people phony ideas and this gave the blues a bad reputaion.  They had people believing the blues was a low down type of music and underestimating the blues one hunderd percent.  The majority of people have been taught to stay away from the blues because the world didn't actually want you to understand what the blues want.  To brainwash people, they have to make you think that things that are good for you are against you."

Seems to me that there are still way too many people out there that think the blues is about depression, being sad, talking about nothing but being down and out.  This music can be lots of fun and I think we can be building it's popularity by showing off the lighter side.

A Blues player dies and goes to Heaven, where he is directed to the heavenly night club. He sees a wonderful room, capacious stage, and an all-time all-star group of musicians. Recognizing Hubert Sumlin, he walks over and asks "How's the gig here?" Hubert  says, "Well, you can see that the layout and the equipment is fine, we get fed gourmet food, the best wines and a little reefer to take the edge off."
"That sounds perfect," says the new guy. "There's just one thing," Hubert adds. "God's got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing...."

This week's featured musician is SEASICK STEVE...check him out...http://www.seasicksteve.com/

Thanks for reading,
Pete 'Big Dog' Fetters
http://www.petebigdogfetters.com/

CHICAGO BLUES

A lot of us have for years thought of Chicago, IL as the home of modern day electric blues.  Many of the great performers were based
in Chicago.....Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter Jacobs, Willie Dixon...to name a few.
Here is an article that recently appeard in the The Chicao Tribune about the state of the blues in its' home town:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-ae-1127-blues-clubs-20111126,0,1781010,full.column

Give it a read and tell me what you think.

My featured band for this week is a Dutch group called BIG WILL AND THE BLUESMEN
Here is the first couple paragraphs from their bio:

"Big Will & the Bluesmen is a Dutch bluesgroup with roots in the authentic Delta- and Chicago blues tradition. The songs they are performing live are a mixture of their own material and traditionals. Anyone who pays attention can hear the influence of legendary bluesmen like Robert Johnson, Son House, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Lightning Hopkins ...echoing in the band’s music. The songs are characterized by the raw and refined bluesharp notes played by Will and the lack of long bluesrock-guitarsolos.
The band was formed in the beginning of 2008. Will (bluesharp) and Alex (vocals/guitar) started searching for some bluescompanions and after some changes Jos (drums) and Henk (bass) were added to the Bluesmen."

You can follow their exploits by visiting their web site:
http://www.bigwill.nl/

til next time, your friend in the blues
Pete 'Big Dog' Fetters
http://www.petebigdogfetters.com/

Welcome To My Blog - Blues Musings

"That's the reason I always say about music, the blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits.  Without the roots, you
have no fruits so it's better  keeping the roots alive because it means better fruits from now on.  That's why I say the blues
will always be because the blues are the roots of all American music." - Willie Dixon

Howdy folks,  my name is Pete 'Big Dog' Fetters.  I started this blog to maybe help people realize the importance of
keeping this music we call 'The Blues' alive and well.  I'm not talking about howling guitar players masturbating their way
through solo after solo and calling it the blues.  I'm talking about songs that lyrically express an emotion or feeling about
the human condition, that are well written, sung well and complimented by tastefully played musical instruments.  On a weekly basis
I'll have a few comments to make (that are my personal opinion) concerning the current condition of Blues Music and then feature a band or solo artist who I believe is adding something to this, dare I say,  Sacred Music.
Woof, Woof, Baby
Pete 'Big Dog' Fetters
http://www.petebigdogfetters.com/