I grew up on the blues, and I’ve come to learn that there are many types - from Roosevelt Sykes to Willie Dixon to Dave Mason to Robert Cray to Steve Earle, and everything in between, I’ve had a lifelong relationship with the genre. At times I’ve turned away from the blues, probably because (as Bleeding Gums Murphy says) the blues isn’t about making you feel better, it’s about making everyone else feel worse, but I always come back.
I dabbled in a few different types of the blues at Thursday’s Good Hurt show, some old some new, some throwback. I also somehow managed to completely lose my capo somewhere on stage halfway through the set, triggering a whole new kind of embarrassment blues - remedied when Ryan the sound guy found it stuck in the lighting rig at my feet - oops. Musically, I got some seriously credible help selling a couple of these tunes from my good friend Anthony Mancini of the band Night on Fire. Anthony definitely has the blues and more importantly knows how to use them.
This set was rounded out by some other homages to artists that play fairly different types of music (The Clarks, Ani Difranco), but somehow the blues seems to sneak it’s way into most music I enjoy, one way or another. Here’s the boxscore…
June 23, 2011 - Club Good Hurt - Acoustic Show
1. “Transcendental Blues” - Steve Earle (Transcendental Blues - 2000)
I mentioned this album in the last setlist blog, as Steve is the father of Justin Townes Earle. It was as I was writing that blog that I decided to learn and play “Transcendental Blues,” the title track from my favorite Steve Earle album. I saw him do this live in Nashville in May of 2001 and was captured by the history in his voice. Steve has been to hell and back and you can hear it in every lyric. Purchase this album now on iTunes and check out his performance of the song on Conan:
2. “Perfection Not Required” - The Clarks (I’ll Tell You What Man… - 1987)
The pride of Pittsburgh, The Clarks have been a staple in the northeast rock scene since this debut album in 1987 - in fact, the quartet will be playing their 25th Anniversary show this Saturday - congrats yuinz! I’ll Tell You What Man… (a GREAT album title) is a raw snapshot of a small market band ignoring the glam sensation of the late 80’s and making killer, straightforward, crafty, garage rock - something The Clarks have done ever since. For me, mining their deep catalog is like flipping through the pages of The Treasury of the Familiar - however, there is a fire in this debut album - blazing quite loudly on “Perfection Not Required” - that captures the band’s adrenalized starting point. Great albums can redefine themselves as they enter your life at different times. 21 years after it’s release, when I started Ocelot Robot with my friends in 2008, I came to understand the fire of this album even more intensely and learned to love it more than ever. The Clarks, and specifically Rob James’ guitar playing, remain one of my most paramount influences to this day.
3. “When I Paint My Masterpiece” - The Band (written by Bob Dylan) (Cahoots - 1971)
If you’re not familiar with The Band, you really should be. They began as Bob Dylan’s backing band and well before their fourth album, Cahoots, they had grown far beyond his shadow into a folk/country/rock mega-force marked by the distinctive voices and personalities of each member of the band. Danko, Manuel, Helm, Hudson, and Robetson - each one offering something so compelling and unique and combining to form, in my eyes, the greatest band ever. ”When I Pain My Masterpiece” is a slice of that greatness, and a nice connector between their Dylan roots and the legendary status they achieved on their own. Listen here:
4. “Mother Earth” - Memphis Slim (Mother Earth - 1969), featuring Anthony Mancini on guitar
A song I could not pull off on my own, I went to my friend Anthony from the makers of LA’s best gritty blues rock, Night on Fire. We paid respect to one of my favorite blues piano greats, Memphis Slim with this slow 12-bar tune about the value, or lack thereof, of money. Though this album came later in Memphis Slim’s career than much of the material he’s remembered for, I still call it one of his best (that I own at least). All of the versions of this tune on iTunes pale in comparison to the version that appeared as the title track from the 1969 album (which includes a soulful guitar part and opts for a tasty horn arrangement instead of the overwhelming doo-wop background vocals in the alternate version). For starters though, a truly great blues album to download immediately is Willie’s Blues - 1959 collaboration between Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon, and a total lyrical and musical gem - if you’re not sold somewhere during the first verse of the first song, you definitely don’t have the blues. Get ‘em.
5. “Boom Boom Mancini” - Warren Zevon (Sentimental Hygiene - 1987), featuring Anthony Mancini on guitar
It was a complete coincidence that I asked Anthony to play this song with me, despite the shared last name. Apparently this was not the first such coincidence for him. When we got together to rehearse, he told me that he always gets asked about Boom Boom - and he knew the story much better than I did (the song only tells a portion). It’s actually quite tragic, despite the grinding sneer of my rendition. Anthony added his own darting injection of blue notes to fill this tune out. What I love about Anthony’s playing is the space he explores between the box scales that limit most guitarist (myself included). He can take a simple chord structure and blow it wide open through unearthing the secrets in between the chord tones that make a solo speak. I hope to have many other chances to play to play music with Ant in the future… A song Anthony described as Zevon’s own “Hurricane” (by Bob Dylan), to hear “Boom Boom Mancini” best, you should really track down the studio version (not on iTunes), found on this amazing collection released toward the end of Zevon’s life - also check it out live on Letterman, though it comes across far more dated:
6. “Hour Follows Hour” - Ani Difranco (Not A Pretty Girl - 1995)
What blows me away about Ani Difranco, after I’ve had my heart slayed by her lyrics and my ear hooked by her voice, is her absolutely phenomenal guitar playing. ”Hour Follows Hour” is a great example of her prowess in all three areas - she says all of the things you wish you were clever and wise enough to think of, she delivers those words with unapologetically honest phrasing and melodies that match the song’s sentiment every time, and yet it is the subtlety, touch, and explosive aggression of her guitar playing that leaves me in such awe of her. Not A Pretty Girl is a her trademark album and a great launching point to exploring her catalog. What an incredible musician…
7. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” - Tom Waits (Blood Money - 2002)
The darker, more twisted brother to 2002’s Alice (see setlist blog #1) Blood Money embraces negativity and reads as the memoirs of the worlds greatest pessimist attending life’s shadiest carnival, possibly drunk. This song is an insight into Tom’s brain (at least hypothetically), and it’s not pretty in there - but he has a way of extracting the smallest details from life and presenting them as looming forces.
There are no more Razorface performances currently scheduled this summer, but look for more shows in the fall including full band, tribute, originals, and other themes. I’d also love to hear any song suggestions and can’t wait to get back to it. See you then and always keep listening!
Photo by Michael Kang
