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Rockman
How Many More Years cut
at Sun Studios August 1951 is
one of the greatest sounds ever laid down …….. CLASSIC
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LazarusSmith
i've always thought that there was NO better demonstration of the racism endemic to american society than the mind-blowing discrepancy of the popularity of brit invasion bands vs the black american musicians they emulated/stole from.
i mean, performances like the ones cited here by wolf, or others by jimmy reed or elmore james or chuck berry or little richard or muddy waters ... well, they are just musically more meaningful, heartfelt, and accomplished than the pale-by-comparison versions by brit bands that rocketed up the charts.
i don't mean to suggest that brit invasion bands themselves were guilty of racism -- in fact, i've always thought the stones' insistence on wolf's appearing on shindig with them was arguably their proudest moment. but, my god, when you look at that wolf shindig clip ... what other conclusion can you come to about its relative unpopularity? the blues music produced by american black artists was/is superior ... america's preference for - relatively speaking, of course - watered-down, safer versions of the same material was all - or mostly - about the skin color of the people making the music.
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Happy Jack
Isn't James Burton (later of Elvis' TCB band) playing guitar on the Shindig version?
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wonderboy
It wasn't racism. Even black audiences weren't buying the blues in 1965.
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LazarusSmithQuote
wonderboy
It wasn't racism. Even black audiences weren't buying the blues in 1965.
Interesting. What evidence is there for that? These guys had careers, right? Somebody must've been buying their records and going to their shows. My point is just that those numbers were miniscule compared to the acceptance of the Brit Invasion bands.
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wonderboyQuote
LazarusSmithQuote
wonderboy
It wasn't racism. Even black audiences weren't buying the blues in 1965.
Interesting. What evidence is there for that? These guys had careers, right? Somebody must've been buying their records and going to their shows. My point is just that those numbers were miniscule compared to the acceptance of the Brit Invasion bands.
They had careers playing clubs and selling a few records. I'm just saying there was never any kind of mass audience for blues music.
The British Invasion acts were not playing the blues. So the idea that American audiences rejected Howlin' Wolf for the Rolling Stones is just not true.
The British Invasion acts were playing pop-based rock and roll, which had been around for years.
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LazarusSmithQuote
wonderboyQuote
LazarusSmithQuote
wonderboy
It wasn't racism. Even black audiences weren't buying the blues in 1965.
Interesting. What evidence is there for that? These guys had careers, right? Somebody must've been buying their records and going to their shows. My point is just that those numbers were miniscule compared to the acceptance of the Brit Invasion bands.
They had careers playing clubs and selling a few records. I'm just saying there was never any kind of mass audience for blues music.
The British Invasion acts were not playing the blues. So the idea that American audiences rejected Howlin' Wolf for the Rolling Stones is just not true.
The British Invasion acts were playing pop-based rock and roll, which had been around for years.
So who else at the time - early 60's - was playing "pop-based rock and roll"? Little Richard? Chuck Berry? Is it fair to wonder whether the color of their skin had anything to do with their record sales in comparison to the Brits?
Also, just to be clear, I'm not saying that American audiences "rejected Howlin' Wolf for the Rolling Stones." I'm sayin that that white American audiences had already rejected Howlin' Wolf (by ignoring him) long before The Rolling Stones came on the scene ... and then when they did come on the scene those same audiences decided that "blues-based" music was just peachy.
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LazarusSmithQuote
Happy Jack
Isn't James Burton (later of Elvis' TCB band) playing guitar on the Shindig version?
Quite possibly. He was in the Shindig house band, along with:
Glen D. Hardin (piano),
Chuck Blackwell (drums),
Joey Cooper (guitar, vocals),
Delaney Bramlett (guitar, vocals, bass)
Apparently, they called themselves The Shindogs! But I'm not sure if it was The Shindogs alone backing up Wolf on that episode, since Billy Preston is clearly seen on keys, so maybe Wolf brought some of his peeps and some of the house guys played too.