Blues Pinoy

Exactly 100 years ago, Chester Arthur Burnett was born. He would later grow on and become "300 pounds of heavenly joy." A prolific guitarist, an underrated harp player, a great singer with that distinct booming voice, he shared the gift of music to the world and for that, we shall all be forever thankful. Once again, Happy Birthday, Mr. Howlin Wolf! You can read more about him HERE

This is the original version of the hit made famous by Elvis. Listen to the sweet sound of Buddy Guy's strat, and the soulful voice of the original singer, Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. From the American Folk Blues Festival DVD series.

One of the best piano Blues songs ever, by John Len Chatman, popularly known as Memphis Slim. This video was recorded and filmed in July of 1962. He is backed by jazz drummer Kansas Fields. From Wikipedia: One of Slim's 1947 recordings for Miracle, released in 1949, was originally titled "Nobody Loves Me." It has become famous as "Every Day I Have the Blues." The tune was recorded in 1950 by Lowell Fulson, and subsequently by a raft of artists including B. B. King, Elmore James, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Natalie Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Mahalia Jackson, Sarah Vaughan, Carlos Santana, and Lou Rawls.[5] Joe Williams recorded it in 1952 for Checker; his remake from 1956 (included in Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings) was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1992. "Every Day I Have the Blues" is also seen in John Mayer's, Where The Light Is, a DVD (and CD) live recording in Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre featuring Steve Jordan (dru...

Ever wanted to learn how to play the Blues harp?  YouTube is definitely your friend when it comes to this. Search for "blues harp lesson" and the top of the list shows a video by Adam Gussow, also known as KudzuRunner, with more than 140,000 views. Adam Gussow is an American scholar, memoirist, and blues harmonica player. Gussow is currently an associate professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. He spent twelve years (1986-1998) working the streets of Harlem and the international club and festival circuit with Mississippi-born bluesman Sterling Magee as a duo called Satan and Adam. As of February 22, 2007 Gussow has been running YouTube tutorials aimed at passing on his proficiency and knowledge in the harmonica to those who are interested in learning to play blues harmonica. Gussow from his first lesson says, "I'm tired of this mystification, I'm going to teach you all I know." As of November 11, 2008 the series ...

Don't consider yourself a true Pinoy Blues fan if you have no idea who Tom Colvin is. Well for those who need some answers - he's the American guy who did the blues harp chores for the legendary band Lampano Alley. Visit his site at http://www.words-sounds-images.com/ I got a pleasant surprise when I checked his Multiply account (click here) , the entry on November 14, 2009 mentioned my site. Cool! Coming from someone who's a legitimate bluesman himself, this truly is an honor. Thanks, Tomcat!!!

- Willie Dixon The contribution of Blues music to the development of many other genres of music is very significant. From the perspective of musical structure, jazz as we know it would not exist without the Blues. The twelve-bar Blues chorus, with its familiar harmonic structure and narrative form, was the single most popular template for early jazz improvisation, as compact yet profound in its way as the sonnet proved to be in the realm of poetry. In the 1950's, youthful artists like Elvis Presley and Bill Haley were wrapping the Blues in a new envelope called "Rock'n'Roll" and the players of the electric Blues guitar like B.B. King were heralding the arrival of the lead guitar, soon to be a great attraction for both musicians and audiences. Throughout the evolution of the Blues the electric guitar had always been used for solos in jazz bands but now it competed with the singer for the awareness of the listeners. After years of imitating their idols something odd...