Lead Better
posted by LAGuy @ 11:16 AM
Pajama Guy
"You couldn’t have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances [at ‘60 Minutes’] and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing.”
-Jonathan Klein, former CBS Executive
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4 Comments:
In my lifetime, the basic structure of twelve-bar blues has been inviolable. So I find it odd when Lead Belly varies it. Was this his own idiosyncrasy, or were the rules for blues not yet fixed in his time?
Lead Belly's "Mr. Hitler" is a great example. Just when he's convinced you it's an iconic twelve-bar blues song, he intersperses a fast break. But as a later blues-rooted band proclaimed, "you can't do that"!
As far as I understand, while the blues developed into a particular structure (or structures), there were always variations along the way. People might have learned what it sounded like growing up, but it wasn't as if they were taught it had to be a certain way. Perhaps later people who worshiped the style (too much?) didn't want to break the rules, but some will always go their own way, just as Shakespeare didn't respect the classical unities (and was criticized for it).
They taught me the classical unities in high school, and I thought "Those are the dumbest rules ever".
The rules for the blues, however, let the rest of the band know what's coming. But I suppose when it's just one guy singing and playing guitar, he doesn't need to worry about what the bend expects.
Back in the 1970s, Bruce Springsteen came to a Chuck Berry concert, and when Berry recognized him before the show, he invited him to play guitar along with his band. Five minutes before the show started, Springsteen wondered what the set list was going to be, and asked Berry, “Chuck, what songs are we going to do?” Berry smiled and replied, “Well, we’re going to do some Chuck Berry songs.” Springsteen was dumfounded. But if all your songs are twelve-bar blues or three-chord sixteen-bar pop songs, you just listen to the first chord, then you know all the changes.
The classical unities come not from any dramatist, but from Aristotle, who was an analyst operating decades after the fact. It's not even certain they've been understood by readers--perhaps he was just being descriptive, not prescriptive, and it's even possible he was referring to how plays take place in one place during one time, as opposed to other entertainments.
But even if they were understood properly, it's not like we need to listen to Aristotle--except that he was listened to, almost as if everything he wrote was holy writ, no matter how silly or even mistaken he was.
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