Grammy Controversy
Re: Grammy Controversy
I can see both sides of it. Chris's album sounds more like Cajun or Americana than blues, but it is kind of sickening to give traditional blues grammys to Clapton and the Stones. And I did like the Stones version of "Just A Fool" on that blues album.
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StevieFan13
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Re: Grammy Controversy
I don’t know the guy one way or another so I can’t tell how hideous a snub it is.
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
Re: Grammy Controversy
Neither did I but I checked him out on youtube.StevieFan13 wrote:I don’t know the guy one way or another so I can’t tell how hideous a snub it is.
Re: Grammy Controversy
If you've seen the Coen brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? you know King - he's the guy who played Tommy Johnson, the Robert Johnson-inspired bluesman who's sold his soul to the devil.Hymie wrote:Neither did I but I checked him out on youtube.StevieFan13 wrote:I don’t know the guy one way or another so I can’t tell how hideous a snub it is.
Re: Grammy Controversy
Here's what a friend of mine had to say about this:
You have to start with the premise that usurpation of black culture is as old as the country. One would have thought that challenging music such as avant-garde jazz or hip-hop would have been “too black” for the host culture to appropriate but that wasn’t the case. What history has proved is that the American society absorbs all indigenous culture, dilutes it & brings it mainstream. The process is never about acknowledgement, rather it’s solely about profits. No group has given more to this country & has got so little in return as blacks. American, in an effort to pat itself on the back, will allow the elevation of a few but mostly still want to keep blacks in cages.
British rockers & early white Chicago imitators truly loved the blues & some were quite good at it. A number of 1st generation & a few 2nd generation bluesmen benefited monetarily from the increased spotlight but the far majority remained in obscurity. The media in its total ignorance thought BB King was the beginning & end of the blues & had little regard for anyone else. So it’s no wonder that the Grammys would consider a black bluesman as inauthentic. The Grammys, as the Oscars, are popularity contents that want to showcase stars. Otherwise who would watch such bull shit.
You have to start with the premise that usurpation of black culture is as old as the country. One would have thought that challenging music such as avant-garde jazz or hip-hop would have been “too black” for the host culture to appropriate but that wasn’t the case. What history has proved is that the American society absorbs all indigenous culture, dilutes it & brings it mainstream. The process is never about acknowledgement, rather it’s solely about profits. No group has given more to this country & has got so little in return as blacks. American, in an effort to pat itself on the back, will allow the elevation of a few but mostly still want to keep blacks in cages.
British rockers & early white Chicago imitators truly loved the blues & some were quite good at it. A number of 1st generation & a few 2nd generation bluesmen benefited monetarily from the increased spotlight but the far majority remained in obscurity. The media in its total ignorance thought BB King was the beginning & end of the blues & had little regard for anyone else. So it’s no wonder that the Grammys would consider a black bluesman as inauthentic. The Grammys, as the Oscars, are popularity contents that want to showcase stars. Otherwise who would watch such bull shit.
Re: Grammy Controversy
I think it’s problematic to define a genre as a relic preserved in a jar and then exclude anything that pushes it or plays on the fringes.
But I also think there’s a fine line between integration and usurpation. Artists should influence each other. If you hear something new and great and it inspires you to do something special of your own, it’s not stealing, it’s just how art evolves.
They should both be considered.
But I also think there’s a fine line between integration and usurpation. Artists should influence each other. If you hear something new and great and it inspires you to do something special of your own, it’s not stealing, it’s just how art evolves.
They should both be considered.
Re: Grammy Controversy
The Grammys have "traditional blues" and "modern blues" categories. Of course the "modern blues" includes more evolved sounds.Jirin wrote:I think it’s problematic to define a genre as a relic preserved in a jar and then exclude anything that pushes it or plays on the fringes.