The Steel Guitar Forum

This whole Robert Randolph and Sacred Steel discussion has made me wonder why don't we play blues on the steel. I started fopoling around with some numbers and have found they sound great on my Carter U12 where I use both tuning concepts,

Anyone else out there, besides Dan Tyack, playing blues on a regulat basis?

i started playin' Musik learnin' the Blues.
it got me started on understandin' Bars + Chords.
i got my first lap Steel in 70 and played Blues on that.
So when i got to PSG, well i could'nt help but play Blues. it's the Country stuff i began to learn !
even today i get to play Blues when it comes to meetin' a Musician and jammin' together.
i'm sure there are a more Steelers than one thinks playin' Blues.
Po' Dan T, are you lonely out there ?
i find many Swing tunes are sophisticated Blues tunes. (but then it becomes Jazz...)
The Blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad !

I was noodling around at the piano the other day, key of C, trying to write a straight country tune. I was feeling kind of sad, and for some reason couldn't stay off the accidental notes.

That begs the question: Can a blue man play the "whites?"

(do I hear faintly audible groans in the background? )

------------------
Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

What is blues?
Chicago? Delta? R&B? Jazz?
(those are all different in instrumentation, complexity, and feel)

Songs with the basic blues progression -- usually 12 bar structure -- can be heard in Country, Western Swing, Jazz, Pop, Rock, many of the idioms that we already play. In that context, I play blues. I may sit in with a blues band, but I get tired of the melodic and harmonic simplicity unless some of the jazzier elements are added -- like some of the Parker blues -- Billie's Bounce, Now's the Time, some of that kind of stuff.

I personally enjoy playing the blues as much as any musical style I can think of. I do prefer, however, to mix it in with other stuff -- both by the choice of material and combining blues ideas with other styles.

Just my two cents.

------------------
<small>Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Emmons D-10 9x9, 1971 Dobro

I would imagine it's partly a financial thing.
I have no doubt that lots of steelers would relish playing with a blues band, but unless you are the leader of the group....
How many blues bands would be so anxious to include a steel guitar that they would split the wages one more time to add one?
I know lots of country players that aren't getting jobs right now, partly because of the $$ factor.
I sit in with some blues bands from time to time, but that's about it.
CrowBear, according to Bleedin' Gums Murphy, of Simpsons fame, You don't play the blues to make yourself feel better.. you play the blues to make other people feel worse!
-John

My first "blues" experience was when I started playing bass, following the Elvis/Beatles explosion in the 50s when the steel disappeared from the scene and I had to find another way to make a livin'.

Then, when steel "returned", I really got into those progressions on the steel. But I think the definition of "blues" needs to be identified. Like jazz, what constitutes blues are not perceived the same by the current generation as in earlier generations. Many renditions of both blues and jazz that are "charted" are not either.

By most definitions, anything that is not entirely "improvised" within the parameters of a chord structure is not blues or jazz.

Some of Randolphs playing is close, but is contaminated by the abscence of a progressive chord structure.

But, then what do I know....I've only been around this stuff for about 50 years, and my age alone makes my opinions not creditable. www.genejones.com

I sit in with blues bands from time to time. People are always skeptical at first, (That's a country instrument. You can't play blues on that thing) but after they hear me play, I'm usually invited back.

Personally I like playing a wide variety of music, and could not dedicate my life to any one genre, be it blues or country or whatever. But when I get the urge, playing the blues is a lot of fun.

I'll be doing a blues rock gig on Oct 12. See events and announcements.

I have to say that at our downtown blues club, the Old Fat Man with the Wooden Plank do do blues. At least according to the 20 somethings that keep the Old Fat Man in Crown & Coke most Monday nights.

I'm thinking of Willie Nelson's "Nightlife"; both Buddy Emmons and BB King play ripping versions of that song. When I lived in the south, I listened to almost nothing but blues and soul/r&b, when I moved to Chicago (supposed Home of the Blues - I say the real home is probably West Memphis or Helena or Clarksdale) I started to listen to straight-up honky tonk. Go figure. I've been trying to marry the forms ever since. Just started playing steel two years ago - always loved the sound, but my standard guitar I've played for half my life - nineteen years. If you could cross James Burton with Steve Cropper or Eldon Shamblin with Kenny Burrell then that's the ballpark that I'm shooting for. I could go on here - a whole essay about the southern blues guys listening to the Grand Ole Opry, etc., but I'm afraid I'm digressing from the point of the thread, so I'll quit.

Rob

Down here in Texas, the club scene seems to be either country, or blues. So there has been every opportunity for me to have gone the blues route. Seems to me that real blues artists, because of their respect of tradition, (i.e. old guitars, harmonicas, resonator guitars, etc) would not welcome a steel guitar. Not because you can't play blues on steel, but because of tradition.

Perhaps it's a personal misconception, but I always considered Blues to be built more around expression and feeling, rather than what you're actually doing. Superfically, Blues seems quite simple, musically. But, the secret's in the expression that the musician (or singer) conveys. Now, with all the expression required, it should be a perfect style for steel. Unfortunately, some steel players, and guitar players as well, think Blues requires distortion. It's much more than that...or less, rather.

When it comes down to technicalities, we often find that "simple" really isn't so simple, after all. Authentic Blues is hard to come by, and B.B. King is one of the best modern examples, IMHO.

How can you call that a Blues band??? Didn't you notice the musicians...they were smiling!!!<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 28 August 2001 at 01:37 AM.]</p></FONT>

Robert,
I do a Blues Jam in Jackson , Ms. on occassion. it is on Thursday nights and takes place at a club called George Street Grocery. I'm with you,,, the S12U is really good for Doing Blues. Glad to see another S12U player liking what I like. e mail me with more info. on your set up when you can.
later,
jeff reynolds
Jackson, Ms. www.theearthangels.net

<SMALL>This whole Robert Randolph and Sacred Steel discussion has made me wonder why don't we play blues on the steel.</SMALL>

What do you mean by "we"? I played in a blues band for a few years. I believe that a 12-string pedal steel is the ultimate blues axe. Playing blues on steel is great fun.

------------------
<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (E7, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

I occasionally sit in with a few blues bands around town, and it's different and fun. It's another way to learn more about what the steel guitar is capable of. These guys I play with just love it. Most of them never played with a steel guitar before but they seem to really enjoy it.
John

Yesterday (Sunday) I went to play a benefit just south of Fort Worth. I played the first set with a Country band, but for some reason I couldn't seem to find the groove.

A couple hours later a Blues/Rock band started their set and something came over me. I just had to get up and play with this band. It was one of the best sets I've played in years.

It was a strange thing for an ol' Country picker.

John Paul Jones

Quote:

"There's only two kinds of music . . . Zippity-Doo-Dah... and the Blues"

-Townes Van Zandt
(circa 1975)

David Wright,on the u-12,playes some killer blues!!!!!

I do.