got a little secret

yonder came the blues

they're gonna hang me sure

shakin' it at the soiree

spoonful

stone pony

brownskin shuffle

blues from the G

blues falling down like rain - alternate f# version

an improvised blues based around the styles of the 1920's and 30's pre-war american blues, relying on ragtime syncopation for it's jumpy feel...  brought about by me stomping away my blues resulting from the blame levelled at me by someone in my life a while back ... by about a third of the way through the tune starts to really come to life...  enjoy

Coz of me - felonious monk

hi there, i am a bluesman like back in the 1920's and 30's living and surviving from busking...someone whom got tired going along with a system that deliberately does certain elements of mankind down and in particular myself...back in the day it was due to skin colour and if you were brownskinned then you were done down...nowadays the new 'black' is white...it doesn't appear, to me at least, to be a bias based upon race any longer, merely upon the choices the individual makes in their life...if you believe that cannabis is a valued 'erb and economic/energy and food resource that we need to end the usual reason for wars and diminish our reliance upon the habitat destroying oil and paper industries and their affiliates, then you are done down...well i for one know that cannabis/hemp (the same plant) built our present day world and the seed of that plant is also the perfect long-term nutrition for mankind and thats why it's illegal and maligned in most folks minds...basically it suits their agenda to have this opinion amongst the many....gordon brown, the ex deputy prime-minister, was britains largest investor in hemp, why would that be i wonder..?  you figure it out...a clue would be 'jack herer's' book, 'the emperor wears no clothes' read that and you will become aware...anyway enough about why they've done us all down and a little background on me...i came to music  after an abusive childhood, using it as an escape first and foremost... arriving at playing an instrument seriously much later in life as something to learn patience...this was in late 1989, the week the berlin wall came down...i remember this because i was being shown my second chord by my good friend and neighbour, roy millard, a week after being shown my first chord and discussing whether we thought the wall would ever come down in our lifetimes, to which we both said in unison, nah..!  ...we watched in awe as a week later we were sat there and people were destroying it with hammers...since that time i had become an hobby guitarist and 8 years later a builder of high quality acoustic guitars...around 1990 i was exposed to complex ragtime inspired guitar arrangements and begun taking guitar playing far more seriously as a result...becoming proficient in finger-style...  i continued to add new and more complex right hand techniques to my repetoire and this began to add a different flavour and dimension to the tunes i already had in my repetoire and this has continued right up to the present day...the next big change in my playing came about in early 2011 when i was passed information that pertained to the 'goebels' imposed standard diapason of A4=440Hz and suggested i try tuning to 432Hz... as a result of this fella's reputation i gave it a try...i became certain of the veracity of this choice after finding out a considerable amount of info from the 'schiller institute' which backed up what i was told... after virtually re-learning my instrument for most of 2011 and part of 2012 i began soloing anew... so basically i am a bluesman akin to those back in the 1920/30's america, who called 'unfit for purpose' on the system that had subjugated them and caused their poverty, the only difference is i'm not brownskinned, i'm the new 'black'...hope you like the music you listen to whilst here, it is played with love and is me stomping away the blue feelings my life has left me with and hopefully changing the outcome of the suffering and abuse i was affected by, into aural pleasure in the ears listener hopefully, thereby turning around a disaffected life... 
	now for a little on the history of the musical style i play and a brief overview of the origin of the music follows... 
    The “Blues” as a musical form, is probably the best method of soulful expression, musically or verbally, to release the effects of traumas suffered by people enduring terrible or hopeless situations.  With the Pre-war styles being an almost perfect vehicle for those needing an outlet for the frustration, anger or rage that a troublesome and difficult life had built up inside them.  The thud, thud, thud, pounding approach to the finger-picking, allowing the musician to beat out their dis-satisfaction, thereby “stomping away the Blues”.  
    Song has been the chosen method used, throughout the ages, to pass down knowledge or stories from one generation to another or from one geographical area to another.  The “Blues” consist of a simple repetitive rhyming form that was simple to adapt or to verbally improvise with.  Originating on simple one stringed instruments reminiscent of the early banjo and transported to the Americas by traders from Guinea in West Africa, whom were able, because of their physical prowess and experience in navigating some of the worlds fiercest rivers on the African continent, to row across the ocean from West Africa to the coast of South America utilizing the ocean currents.  This hidden history is re-surfacing thanks to the diligent research into early population migrations into the Americas, made possible through archaeology, artefact discovery and DNA. 
    The commonly held belief is that this cross cultural musical pollination occurred solely as a result of the slave trade. Whilst this may be true in part, there were most definitely coloured peoples in the Americas long before Columbus or “slave ships”.  Writings and Artwork prior to the slave era exist depicting both the African facial characteristics and these trader Kings of old, believed to be the origin of the peoples known as the Olmec the precursor to the Mayan culture.  Giant stone heads found in the Americas depict African facial characteristics without a shadow of doubt, these stone carvings even pre-date our present day calendar let alone the “slave ships”.  These elaborately adorned ocean bound traders were known for their gold tipped spears, probably the origin of the name given to the old unit of British currency, the Guinea, as this was the name the traders themselves gave to their gold tipped spears.  It seems that the African forebears of the coloured race were much like their Afro-American cousins of today with their “bling” ;) .  The currency/gold connection is also likely to be one of the reasons why that part of Africa is still known as New Guinea today.  The “Blues”, or more correctly “the Blews”, as a generalized term for describing sadness or low spirits originates from the old Maritime term “the doldrums,” this was the name given to areas of the oceans and the times when there were no prevailing winds to carry the ships so ships would just sit motionless almost, sometimes for days on end, leaving those on board feeling helpless and hopeless, hence the old English Maritime phrase “in the doldrums,” or as it was more commonly known in those days by the Sea Captains of the British Fleet, as “the Blews”.  
    This hidden history aside, the widely recognized present day musical form of “the Blues” is radically different even from the early pre-war Blues, let alone the very earliest blues which sprang from the very primitive single stringed instruments and playing styles which have been traced back to Africa by the study of banjo playing and building techniques.  It's a very detailed and drawn out study and one we haven't the space or time to delve into now, so we'll concentrate on the more advanced blues styles of play from the late 1800's through the turn of the century until the Great Depression of the 1930's, as it's melodies and styling can be shown to have inspired and contributed considerably to most of today's musical offshoots from the Beatles to The Rolling Stones and from Rock to Pop music, or from Jazz to Rap.  All now owe they're present popular status to the roots from which they sprang, “the Blues”.  There are several geographical based differences to the ”Blues” that developed as distinctive styles in their own right.  Chief amongst these and the starkest and most haunting of all are the “Delta Blues” which emerged from the Mississippi delta, though there are some similarities with aggressive “Texas Blues”.  I believe that these stark, aggressive sounds are a reflection of the deeper hardships and suffering experienced by the coloured race in these areas, a result of the extremely hard work and the absolute poverty conditions that were experienced as the daily norm in these industrial and farming areas.  Poor water quality led to blindness being more common in the delta areas and this was why there were so many blind Blues artists, unable to work, they spent most of their time playing guitar on the streets, hence the level of technical skill achieved by some of them.  Rural musicians of the day would try and emulate the syncopations and feel, created in the recorded marching band music or early Jazz that was popular at that time.  “Ragtime” or “early Jazz” was created in part bizarrely, out of fear and racism.  Ragtime was so feared in it's heyday that the press carried insane comments such as - “the only cure for this modern menace to society is a bullet to the head”.   Remember this ridiculous level of hostility is about nothing more than musical syncopation!  Patterns within the melodies that simply caused people to get up and dance!  It sounds eerily reminiscent of the modern day hysteria and outcry over Acid House music in the late 1980's which was supposed to have ruined Society.  Nowadays nearly every single track you hear on the radio has a House/Dance music backing.  It just goes to show the retarded and over-reactionary thinking of the established order in their belief that we need protecting from ourselves or indeed shielding from fun and frivolity.
     Ragtime was sweeping america by the end of the 1890's, making so called “decent folk” actually tap their feet in public!!  The greatest concern was “white folk” being swept into “delirium and frenzy” by the marching bands of the day because of their catchy syncopated rythms.  This was deemed so unacceptable because cultural norms were so very strict back then.   It would have brought disgrace upon any “decent” white woman and her family for her to simply be seen in public tapping her feet!!  Let alone dancing along with coloured folk or to coloured folks music!!  How ridiculous you are probably thinking and rightly so, sadly this was how the situation was viewed by the ruling classes and just as sadly it is little different today, merely tolerated as opposed to being considered inappropriate though now.  You have common sense to thank for that.  
     “Ragtime” or early Jazz was first recorded in 1926, the name of the actual recording escapes me now, but it was recorded by a recording engineer with racist views, who warned the black musicians they would “only be getting one chance at recording and when the wax was cut, it was over”.   The musicians, knowing this might be their only chance to make a record, had a discussion and decided to play their piece of music at twice the normal speed, the decision to play it this fast was due to their awareness that in rural areas of America (most were without an electricity supply), most folks had wind-up gramophones (early record players with 78rpm and 33rpm) so they could slow down their “fast” piece of recorded music to almost the right speed.  Quite a clever idea really.  When this fast recording was released, it swept the nation selling 3 million copies in one week and “Ragtime” or “early Jazz” was born.  
     Jazz is not really a musical style as it is often thought to be, it is simply a method of approaching the playing OF the music.  Recognized by scholars as “musical freedom,” it relates to the bending of, or non-adhesion to, the strict musical rules that had been set in stone for years.  Very fitting really that this form of “musical freedom” which has brought so much joy to the world through all of it's offshoots, has it's origin in such a dark mentality as racism. Therefore the “musical freedoms” we all share and which we mostly take for granted now, is owed to the quick thinking of a group of racially abused, hard-up coloured musicians.  Shameful, but nice to know, is how best to describe it.  We people are truly all the same, there are no differences between blacks and whites except that is, for skin colour.  We all cry when we are sad and we all bleed when we are cut.  It should give us all real cause for hope, that just maybe, all of the worlds woe's may just remedy themselves in the very same silver lining/dark cloud manner, now that would be “nice” and worth waiting for.
     The means by which the Blues influenced musical history is certainly a strange one and no mistake. The early Blues players who'd made the switch from “hard labour” as tenant farmers with little or no reward, to working for a few coin in their “life on the road”, playing instruments in marching bands or with medicine shows as early busker's, were eventually forced to migrate to the Cities or cultural centres through economic hardship.  The imposition of Jim Crowe laws made it illegal for coloured people to vote or own property and virtually overnight this added an unusual level of musical proficiency to the mix of itinerant self taught Bluesmen and Blueswomen.  This occurred because a great many “Creoles of colour” were directly affected by this harsh racist legislation and they were a part of the aristocracy,  claiming descent from French royalty.  Having had wealth and a full education in the Arts, some even having coloured slaves and/or servants themselves prior to the Jim Crowe laws being enacted.  A great many of these very well educated coloured people were made homeless overnight.  These educated types were now in the same sorry situation as the rest of coloured America.  These “Creoles of colour” with their opulent lives now over, relied upon their Classical training and technical proficiency on multiple instruments and they advanced the quality of street music almost overnight, blending vastly different musical styles into the melting pot of the streets.  Before this great leveller, the only serious technical advancements that took place happened mainly as a result of the coloured servants taking Note of any snippets of musicality seen or heard whilst going about their chores, allowing them to gradually become more technically proficient through practising the remembered melodies later on home made stringed instruments or old brass instruments left over from the civil war, (some Blues recordings have a direct relation to this parlour music, solely because of this cultural overlapping).  These technique advancements were facilitated so rapidly, purely as a result of these racist Jim Crowe laws, yet again another silver lining scenario from the dark cloud of racism.  Street musicians then took their new found technical proficiency back to their local rural areas, enabling the “Blues” to develop further and to then begin influencing the recorded music of the day all over again, exactly as it had done before.  This continual back and forth development and influence, from Blues to Jazz and back again, is the main reason for the depth, complexity and variation of the styles inherent within the Blues genre.  
       The “ragging” comes from the capture and full command of the melody and the tampering with the timing or musical feel of the melodic line using syncopation and swing rhythms.  It has its origin in the Jass Houses of Storyville (houses of ill repute in an area of St.Louis), so named because of the Jasmine perfume the prostitutes used to wear.  These places had live music (the house piano player had spy holes and played along to what the prostitutes were getting up to with their clients), this quickly made the piano players highly proficient and they'd gather after work in the local gin joints to “Cut Heads” or “play off” against each other.  Stomp Time piano as a style was considered by the upper classes to be tarnished, not only by this sexual connection to the underbelly of Society but also because of the “insolent behaviour” was believed shown by the coloured folk playing it or those smoking cannabis and gathering where it was played.   Remember, these were very prudish times and sex was not even talked about in public, so it being on public show was bound to offend the more prim and proper elements of Society who just so happened to be the ruling class.     
      “Insolent Noise” or “Jazz” got some pretty bad press and the hysteria it created caused an immense fear of black people by running stories which created those very same racial divisions within Society.  “Insolent noise” and all connected to it, namely the usage of cannabis, the insolent behaviour and the prostitution etc. were first to be blamed when white women fell pregnant after affairs with the free and easy going, liberated, coloured musicians who were obviously being found attractive by white women leading to many false claims of rape etc. to excuse their infidelity.  Further sensationalist reporting of these situations by the press fuelled this and other ignorant fears of the coloured race, the remnants of which are still with us today.         “Insolent behaviour” amounted, at the time, to the following -  Standing on a white man's shadow!! Looking directly at a white man whilst being spoken to!  Looking a white woman in the eye!  Speaking to a white man without first being spoken to!  These “insolent behaviours” may be known as “normal life interaction” now, but if you were brown-skinned back then it would likely buy you a hanging.  
	Hence “the Blues” being a daily occurrence...
long live the life altering original blues...  ;)

felonious monk

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