The Myth of the Blues

Here’s something that’s been rolling around in my head for a long time that still makes me laugh.

In about the mid-90’s, I was part of a blues trio called The Bluesmen. I played upright bass, Jim Richardson was on drums, and Gregg Schaeffer was on vocals and guitar. The three of us had a few things in common: we were all musicians, we were good, and we were white. It was my idea to put the group together because I knew Gregg’s work, truly admired it, and thought it wrong that he didn’t already have a little group put together so he could do that thing he does.

We used to play at various assemblies for the church we belonged to, and the response was always very positive. We’d also perform at open mics and stuff like that. Well, we eventually decided that we needed to go out and get some real gigs. So, we put a little demo together and shopped it around until we landed our first gig at a little Irish pub on Halsted Street in Chicago. We smoked. But because the way life works sometimes, it would be our last gig, too. Them’s the breaks.

The funny thing that happened along the way was what happened when I stopped one day at a well-known club called B.L.U.E.S. to try to land some work for our trio.

“You’re the wrong color to work here,” said the black proprietor with a smile. “You need to go to our other spot, Blues, Etc. That’s where the white bands work. Customers come in here and expect the real deal.”

Isn’t that funny? Okay, so when I say funny, you know I mean stupid.

I’ve heard it for years, and have heard it said or strongly implied even recently on some NPR segments: blues music is only genuine when played or sung by black folk, because you have to have lived a tough life…as a black person. Wrong.

You know, this same myth used to be prevalent in jazz. It’s a bunch of hooey.

I go back to my argument in a previous post that music is a language. Surprise, anyone can learn to speak any language. And anyone who is human and has half a brain can tell a sad story and make it sound convincing, even if one has not lived the story. It’s called acting. Do you have to have been a prostitute to sing a legitimate rendition of “Love For Sale”? Do you have to have been a serial killer to convincingly portray one? Is there something about Anthony Hopkins’ background that we should know about?

Blues is a style of music, and like any other style of music, it can be learned, played, and sung with authority and legitimacy by any man or any woman of any color. You honestly don’t have to be an old, grizzled black man who grew up workin’ the fields, gettin’ drunk, failing at relationships, and having run-ins with the law. Myth.

Otherwise, how do explain Andre Watts and Yo-Yo Ma playing Beethoven, Stevie Ray Vaughan playing the blues, Eminem doing rap, Stan Getz playing jazz, or Kathleen Battle singing opera? How can they all be recognized as masters in their field and yet be of the “wrong” color or background for the style of music they have chosen to pursue? Didn’t anyone tell Kathleen that she was supposed to be singing the blues and Motown? What was girlfrien’ thinking?

It’s all about learning the style and acting the role. If you can do it extremely well, you’re legit. Musical styles and genres are truly color blind and blind to your socio-economic upbringing, just like languages. Would you believe that there are actually black people who were born and raised speaking German? No lie.

“The blues is the music of the down and out.” Could be. But it isn’t performed by the down and out. Last I checked, the truly down and out had neither the time nor the luxury to sit around and hone their skills on a musical instrument. The truly down and out weren’t working at a bar or club where audiences are paying a cover charge to see them, sipping on $9 beers, and giving them thunderous applause and accolades for their artistic skills. Last I checked, nobody cared about the down and out, much less bought their CDs. If you’re a working blues musician of any race, look around: you’re up on a stage and working in a club. Get it? You’re neither down nor out.

Next time someone starts in on the old saw about how the blues is only legit if it’s being played by black musicians from underprivileged backgrounds, just offer this one-word rebuttal: marketing.

Gregg Schaeffer would have rocked at B.L.U.E.S. He was the real deal, the genuine article. Too bad that sometimes blues fans, black or white, can see things only skin deep. It’s enough to make me blue.

Comments

[The Genuine Article]

KH: Guess who this is! Just today I googled myself out of boredom (or sinful pride, depending on who you ask!) and found this delightful essay. I remember the exact day I earned your admiration as the "genuine article"...but hey, my pants were fallin' down onstage! What's a brotha to do?