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The Chicago Blues Goin' to Chicago, sorry that I can't take you, Goin' to Chicago, sorry that I can't take you, There's nothing in Chicago, that a monkey woman can do.
When you see me comin' raise your window high, When you see me comin' raise your window high, When you see me passing, hang your head and cry.
If you love your baby tell the world you do, If you love your baby tell the world you do, There comes a day your baby really learns to love you too.
Hurry down, sunshine, see what tomorrow bring, Hurry down, sunshine, see what tomorrow bring, And that sun went down, tomorrow brought us rain.
You so mean and evil, you do things you ought not to, You so mean and evil, you do things you ought not to, You got my brand of money, guess I'll have to put up with you.
... Jimmy Rushing
The Blues is a separate and distinct form of Jazz, and is actually the music from which Jazz emerged near the end of the last century. From listening to old recordings, it is quite clear that instrumental Blues evolved from vocal Blues, which in turn either developed from the call-and-response form of field hollers and other early Negro work songs (commonly sung in many parts of Africa), or developed along with work songs from other, more primitive African music and West African fertility rituals. Many lyrics often sung by contemporary Blues singers are so old their origins are obscure.
I asked my baby for a nickel and she gave me a twenty dollar bill, I asked my baby for a nickel and she gave me a twenty dollar bill, I asked her for a little drink of liquor, my baby gave me a whisky still
The Blues is like a Mother Tree, Jazz came out of the Blues. They started to make it sophisticated but it was still the Blues. When "Pops" Louis Armstrong got it, then they started making it swing, and it had beautiful lyrics, and the guys improvised. Still, deep down, it was bluesy, and it still is today. If you listen to some of the Rock players today you're gonna hear some Blues. You listen to your best Jazz musicians and your're gonna hear some Blues. Everbody's gotta play the Blues. Well you don't have to, but if you want to feel really good the way you can, and rock yourself a little bit, you make a few blue notes in there and everybody starts doing their stuff. B.B. King
Yes, when I'm sick she's my doctor, when I'm well she's my pride and joy, Yes, when I'm cold she's my cover, she calls me her little baby boy, Yes, when I'm tired and want to play, people, it's my baby that's my toy.
I think there is a Chicago Blues sound. When I listen to Chicago musicians I hear a special sound; it's a great music. It is different from other music that you hear in places now. I've gone down to New Orleans and heard New Orleans Blues and it's beautiful, but it's a different sound from what I hear from musicians here in Chicago.Musicians use the same type of instruments everywhere - you know, guitar, bass, piano, organ, drums, sometimes horns. They use the same basic instruments but it's just the way they play. And the only way I can describe the difference is that its like different accents in different states. They're all talking English, but it's a different sound. So it's the same way with Chicago Blues: it's the same music but the accent is just different.
... Koko Taylor
My landlord he done told me Not to worry about the rent, All he want to do is hold me, And my rent won't cost a cent! Now my coal man, he's an old man, He's almost eighty-two, But believe me when I tell you, He knows just what to do!
The Blues looks real healthy these days. I've seen the Blues go up and down over the years, and it's as strong as it's ever been since I've been playing music. All the years I've been playing, its just been hard. In the late sixties, when I first came to the West Coast, I thought the Blues was going to be really wild. But then everything started dying down, you know. Then, when the Blues Brothers were around I think they kind of helped us out. The Blues came back again.
... Albert CollinsIf trouble was money, I swear I'd be a millionaire, I said, if trouble was money, baby, I swear I'd be a millionaire, If worry was dollar bills, I'd buy the whole world and have money to spare.
I guess the Blues is about as old as buttermilk. Ever since people have been in the world, somebody's had the Blues. When I was young I listened to the radio a lot. The music did something to me, you know. I used to listen to John Lee Hooker when I was in the South. I used to listen to all the bands over the radio.
You know, we play Blues in the South and we play Blues in the North, East and West. The Blues is the Blues. It's everywhere.
... Otis RushOh, I was standin' at my window, when I heard that whistle blow, Yes, I was standin' at my window, when I heard that whistle blow, Yes, it sound like the Streamline, oh, but it was the B&O. So many roads, so many trains to ride, So many roads, so many trains to ride, I've got to find my baby, oh, before I be satisfied.
Most of the things we sing about in the Blues are true. It didn't have to happen to me, but the things I sing about are true because they happened to somebody. And the Blues automatically touches people because most of the things you sing about people can understand - it's happened to them or somebody they know, this is why people call it the Blues - because it's something everybody has.
... Junior WellsI slipped this woman a brand-new twenty dollar bill, Lord, I slipped that woman a brand-new twenty dollar bill, Now, if that don't bring her back, I'm sure this old shotgun will.
When my baby she left me, she left me with a mule to ride, When my baby she left me, she left me with a mule to ride, When her train left the station, that mule laid down and died.
John Lee Hooker's style of Blues is different from B.B. King's style, and B.B.'s is different from Muddy Waters' and Robert Cray's is different from Stevie Ray Vaughan's, and so on. But there's always going to be variety and different styles, and that's great. I mean Blues is Blues. Now if you just like 12-bar Blues, well then you can like 12-bar Blues but just because it gets more than 12-bars, that doesn't mean that its not Blues. So, yeah, there are different styles but I think that that's something that's been needed in order to bring the music even more to the forefront. ... Donald Kinsey
I had a good woman, so I thought, And everything she wanted, I bought. But I had to cut that woman loose, Somebody else was ridin' my caboose.
Just doing what I do best. I'm bringing it to you, trying to do it the best I can, and if you want me back I'll come back and do it again. But if you think you're gonna see me on television, or in a video, or with a big album out, don't hope for it.I go to play for whoever thinks enough to come see me. At the festivals, I look out there smiling at the ones that came, and say thank you, here I come 110%. And I intend to make you listen and I intend to make you feel good. If I don't, at least you can say I tried.
... Buddy GuyYes, good mornin' Blues, I wonder, I wonder what you're doing here so soon? You know you be with me every morning, Blues, Every night, and every noon.
Most of the Blues that you hear on the radio now is pretty diluted. They don't want to put on anything too deep, so they'll put on a Robert Cray Blues, or they'll put on a B.B. King Blues, because he's got a big name and they can take chances with him. Now you've got some stations where they play the Blues from back in the forties and fifties and they might play the old tunes. But those are little stations, probably college stations, that you can only hear across town, not like the stations you can hear over three or four states while you're driving in your car. Most of the hard-core Blues like Muddy Waters is only on the small stations that, in a big city like Chicago, if they play it on the North Side you won't hear it on the South Side.
... Lonnie BrooksI heard you was out, high as you can be,
Kissing another fellow, and you know it wasn't me. That ain't right baby, no no no that ain't right. What goes on in the dark will soon come to light.
Playing with Muddy Waters was beautiful. Muddy was one of the true Blues men that I've known. He wouldn't change for anything. He didn't care what was going on, you know, he was a Blues man. He just stayed with his Blues. It didn't make any difference if he didn't get but twenty dollars a night, he'd still play the Blues and he didn't want anybody to tell him anything different. I had to play the Blues to play with Muddy. That's the only way you could play with him, you know, there was no other way.
... James CottonMan, I moved to Chicago in the year of 1951, Man, I moved to Chicago in the year of 1951, Yeah, you know, Muddy Waters told me, he said "Son, boy, you better get a gun"
........ She came home this mornin', Asked her where she'd been, Said, don't ask me no questions, James, I'll be leavin' again.
Came home this mornin' bout a half past four, I caught a man runnin' out of my back door. My wife got mad, said the hell with you, Next time wait till my man get through.
........Well, you said you needed night school, And I went along with that, Till I followed you last Wednesday, baby, Up to Sonny's flat. I put one and one together, And it added up to two, 'Cause what Sonny's got to offer, baby, Ain't teachin' it in any school!
........I got money this mornin' I ain't goin' to work today, I got money this mornin' I ain't goin' to work today, Well if I tell the truth, people, I don't wanna work no way.
........Some of you L.A. women, Lord, you make me so doggone tired, Some of you L.A. women, Lord, you make me so doggone tired, You got a handful of gimme, and a mouthful of much obliged.
........Oo-wee, oo-wee, Lord, Lord Oo-wee, oo-wee, Lord, Lord You know I'm so crazy about my baby now I love that woman just like a dog.
........What makes these men go crazy when a woman wear her dress so tight? What makes these men go crazy when a woman wear her dress so tight? Must be the same old thing that makes the tomcat fight all night.
........I ain't got no diamonds, I don't have no gold, But I got a lot of lovin', baby, That'll satisfy your soul.
........Some folks are built like this, some folk are built like that, But the way I'm built, y'all, don't you call me fat. I'm built for comfort, and I ain't built for speed, You know I got everything, everything a good woman like you's gonna need.
........First you want it slow, then you want it fast, You know that I give you whatever you ask, Now, baby, you got me wherever you want me, so why don't you want me?
........Yes, the eagle flies on Friday, babe, and Saturday, Saturday I goes out to play, Yes, the eagle flies on Friday, babe, and Saturday, Saturday I goes out to play, And Sunday, when I go to church, then I kneel down and pray.
........My time is expensive, baby, and I'm tryin' to make it last, My time is expensive, baby, and I'm tryin' to make it last, So if we goin' to get together, we'd better do it fast.
........She won't write me no letter, won't even call me on the telephone, No, she won't write me no letter, she won't even call me on the telephone, Well, I ain't had no real good loving, since that gal of mine been gone.
........When you see me on the street, go on and pass me by, When you see me on the street, go on and pass me by, Because someday the table's gonna turn, and it's gonna be your, your turn to cry.
........Rock me, baby, rock me all night long, Rock me, baby, rock me all night long, I want you to rock me like my back ain't got no bones.
........Now let me tell you people about this blackjack game, It cause me so much trouble, I have myself to blame. Hey, hey, hey, yeah - how unlucky can one man be? Well, every dollar I get, you know blackjack take it away from me.
........Next time I start hoboing, I'm gonna have my baby by my side, Mmm, Lord have mercy, have my baby by my side, Then my road won't be so rough, I won't be travelling all by myself.
******** In Tribute:
John Lee Hooker * Otis Rush * Snooker Pryor * Roosevelt Bland * Jimmy Davis * Mighty Joe Young * Hubert Sumlin * Etta James * Professor Eddie Lusk * Albert Collins * Jimmy Johnson * Clarence Gatemouth Brown (not only a superb guitarist, but a highly sought-after fiddler) * Albert King * Koko Taylor * Son Seals * Robert Covington * Little Willie Littlefield * Big Time Sarah * Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials * Melvin Taylor * B.B. Odom * Pinetop Perkins * James Cotton * Homesick James * John Watkins * Buddy Guy * Junior Wells * The Kinsey Report * Valerie Wellington * Sunnyland Slim * Michael Coleman * Jimmy Burns * David Honeyboy Edwards * Gloria Hardiman * Lonnie Brooks * Ronnie Brooks Baker * Eddie Shaw * Casey Jones * Charles Brown * Wayne Bennett * Jimmy Reed * Willie Dixon * Bobby Bland * Johnny Dollar * Tah Mahal (has been a Blues spokesman and standard bearer for more than thirty years) * Robert Cray (was born in 1953 in Columbus, Georgia) * Magic Slim * B.B. King * Muddy Waters * Howlin' Wolf ...
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