February 2010

RAMBLINGS

Wowwee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A huge thank you to all those who have viewed South of France Blues. You are part of a group of interested readers in France (many), the UK (just as many), Spain, Denmark, and the good old US of A. The response has been overwhelming and it is clear that there is a real desire to keep The Legend alive.

However, don’t forget, this is your site too. If you play I want to know, we all want to know, about your experiences, your likes and dislikes, and where you play so that we can all come and hear you.

If you like to listen, tell us what you like to listen to and why. Let us all know about that favourite track or album that we can all add to our collections. And PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do tell me about gigs coming up soon in your area – wherever you are.

One of the nicest emails I have received since creating this site was from a French blues artist who wrote “Thank you for putting the light on us french blues players. We need more recognition”. That makes it worth doing – doesn’t it?

BLUES NOTE

My next blues legend has to be Memphis Minnie and what a lady of blues she was.

Born in 1897 and named Lizzie Douglas she spent her early years growing up in Louisiana, near to New Orleans. She then moved to Walls, Mississippi, south of Memphis, and by her early twenties she was playing and singing on the local streets.

By the time she was thirty she had moved to Chicago and was playing the clubs with Joe McCoy as Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie (original eh?). However, this only lasted until 1935 and then in 1939 she married guitarist Ernest Lawlars (Little Son Joe). They worked together to produce some potent blues, much of her songs crying out events in her life in true blues style.

Arguably the best example of this period in her life can be heard, on YouTube, with “In My Girlish Days” – and you gain the benefit of a mildly saucy video clip too! But do concentrate on the music, please.

“In my Girlish Days” and 24 other fabulously gritty songs can be found on her album “Me And My Chauffeur Blues”. A must for any serious collection.

As a singer/songwriter and instrumentalist she was the only female blues artist that matched her male contemporaries, and boy, did she do it good.

Minnie was a warm favourite well into the 50’s. Retiring and spending her remaining years back in Memphis. She died, aged 76.

THE COLLECTION


Ever since I saw Jimi Marshall Hendrix, around 1967, in London at what was said to be his last UK performance (he did do others later on), I have been a fan of his everlasting music. However, I had not thought of him as a blues man – until now.

“Blues”, by Jimi Hendrix, has proved to me that he was not influenced from the planet Zogg but that he was   beautifully weaned on blues legends Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and the like.

The more I play this album, well ……. the more I play it.

  I just love the acoustic version of “Hear My Train A Comin’” (Track 1) this is real    country blues that he performs remarkably well. There is an ‘electric’ version of the same song which definitely has an “Are You Experienced” feel about it. Not my favourite track but the others more than make up for it.

Other great tracks are “Red House”, “Voodoo Chile Blues”, and “Bleeding Heart”, all undeniably blues and all undeniably Hendrix.

It will be a long time before I stop playing this one.

ARTIST OF THE MONTH

Nico Wayne Toussaint is from Toulon, just east of Marseille – one of my favourite parts of France – and he found The Blues when he was just 15. Music was in his blood. His father played jazz and Cajun country music on piano and even helped Nico form his first band, Vent du Sud.

Nico now spends his time performing, on tour, in the USA, France, Spain, Switzerland, and elsewhere, playing over 100 gigs a year.

Track him down and you will find his music pleasantly lively, full of the passion you would expect from a southern boy, and wonderfully influenced by Muddy Waters and James Cotton, in the Chicago Blues style.

All music to my ears, and I wanted to know more about this great French Blues Man.


South of France Blues: "Hi Nico. You are now living in Miami, USA. Does this mean that we will not see you performing in France"?
 
Nico: "No, of course not. I play a lot in France and will be on tour during 2010. I'm in BORDEAUX this month"!
 
South of France Blues: "Do you write your own music and where do you go for your inspiration"?


Nico: "Yes, I like to write my own music and have done so for some of the tracks on my albums. I still am influenced by the great blues players like Muddy Waters but also by Parisian French singers as Brel or Brassens".
 
South of France Blues: "Tell us about your albums Nico, what is your favourite"?
 
Nico: "I have 8 albums available, all through Dixiefrog Records. I loved 'My Kind of Blues', and 'Transgender' has a special meaning as it was written for a good friend. My 'Blues Entre Les Dents' is my latest album and I love it. It is the result of many years of hard work and has 70% of the songs in French. I hope you like it".
 
South of France Blues: "I certainly do like it. Thanks Nico. Keep blowing that harp (I wish I could play just half as well!!), and we look forward to seeing you on tour.
 

Awesome. I love the green suit!!
 
Do try to see Nico. His full tour is listed on his website and, if you can't make it, you can find all his albums on Dixiefrog Records. Either way you will not be disappointed.
 
WHATS GOING ON ?


12 February           Nico Wayne Toussaint at Comptoir du Jazz, BORDEAUX (33)             

13 February          Nico Wayne Toussaint at Salle Jeliot, OLORON SAINTE MARIE (64)

13 February          ZIA at Les Pratx, GINESTAS (11) 0468 33 90 76                                  



10-17 July                The Cahors Blues Festival, CAHORS (46)                                      
22 July – 1 August    Cognac Blues Passions, COGNAC (16)                                                  
I hope you liked the Blog. Keep your comments and ideas, and gigs near you, coming in.

Cheers

January 2010

Talking the Blues
There is very little that I could add to the heaps that have been written on the origin of the Blues. Without doubt it has a remarkable part to play, not only in terms of modern music, but also in the culture we now live in.

The Blues not only formed the base for Rock & Roll, and then R & B, but has strong links with Jazz and, of course, Gospel music. Early Blues was also the voice of Civil Rights movements throughout the southern states of America, and reflected the conditions of everyday life, the feelings and humour that helped people endure those conditions, and the long struggle for equality and freedom.

It is fabulously amazing that, from it's roots in Africa, the Blues is now performed and appreciated in practically every country and within almost every culture on this planet.

The Blues is truely the heart and soul of modern music and it is quite impossible to think of how music would have developed without it. In my small way I wish to help keep that great legend alive.

Better still Max D. Spiegel, Publisher, The Mudcat Café wrote:

"The Blues is very simply the purest form of Art that I have yet witnessed on this earth. Its meaning and history are something that are very nearly evidence of divine intervention. For such beauty from such pain, is magic, is glory to the human spirit. How strong it is, how it can find joy in misery, how it always has hope. Glory to the powers of creation and the reasons for it. Glory to the men and women that gave it to us. Men and women that you will see on this page. Men and women that should never be forgotten, for their example is a needed one. This project is in service to the preservation of American History, the History of Music, and the strength of humankind."

 

Blues Note
It is impossible to to talk about the Blues without talking about Mr Robert Leroy Johnson (8 May 1911 - 16 August 1938).

Robert Johnson was a gifted singer, guitarist and songwriter whose style has influenced a broad range of musicians, including Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck and, of course, Eric Clapton who has called Robert Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived" and has dedicated an album to him; Me and Mr Johnson released in 2004.

Mr Johnson is known to have recorded only 29 songs before his death, at the age of just 27, in 1938 and, there exists only two photographs of him. His short but productive life is shrouded in mystery. He was known to be spontainious and, even, reckless jumping on freight trains just to see where they would take him. For him the Blues spoke of good-time women and big-shot gamblers, and he was to die, murdered, by a jealous husband or maybe a jealous girlfriend, while performing at a juke joint near Greenwood, Mississippi.

Listen to the lyrics of "Hell Hound On My Trail" - is he singing about his own lifestyle? Then listen to the marvelous "Sweet Home Chicago" which further expresses the feelings of this brilliant but insecure father of the Blues. A true legend whose music continues to influence and entertain us more than 70 years after his nimble fingers plucked their last chord.

If you want to know more about this incredible man see the The Robert Johnson Blues Foundation. Their aim is to ensure that Robert Johnson's legacy and the delta blues heritage continue into the future by recognizing and assisting young blues musicians through the New Generation Award.

Artist of the Month

This section will normally be dedicated to artists playing in, or having a connection with, the South of France. However, it is winter in these parts and not a lot is going on, but I will endeavour to introduce you to some great musicians in the coming months.

So, I would like to feature a young lad I have seen busking in the city of Cambridge, England. His name is Jack Luskin (Jack, if I've got your name wrong please let me know), and he sits on a corner of the market square in the city centre. Twice I have listened to him play his guitar, hooked up to a battery amp, and both times it was freezing, but his music was clear, bluesy, and beautiful. A real talented artist who I guess is only about fourteen (sorry if I got that wrong too). Hopefully I will see him play somewhere warmer in the future so I can listen a bit longer. If you are ever in Cambridge, with a big warm coat, check him out. He is good.

What's Going On?

As I said, there ain't a lot happening down here at the moment. At least, not a lot that I know of. However, a couple of don't miss events for 2010 are:

• STF Chante le Blues at "Relais de Riquet" La bastide d'Anjou - near Castelnaudary(11) 09 January
• STF Chante le Blues at "Club 620" Fonties Cabardes (11) - (montagne noire) north of Carcassonne 16 January
• The Heavy at Espace Tatry, BORDEAUX (33) 26 January
• Boney Fields & the Bone's Project at Le Jam, MONTPELLIER (34)   30 January
• The Cahors Blues Festival 10 - 17 July
• Cognac Blues Passions 22 July - 1 August

I'll give you more details on these and other great events nearer the time. Meanwhile, if you know of upcoming gigs let me know.

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In future issues of South of France Blues I intend to bring you local artists, and review clubs and bars. A hard job but I really must do it!

Thanks for reading.

South of France Blues