"Hi" On behalf of Pattimax

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by Quahom1

Indeed, we are a strange lot. And yes we celebrate going back to school...

Now I know why you have so many shrinks in the US

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by Muslimwoman

Now I know why you have so many shrinks in the US

OAAAAWwwwwwwhhh, Doctor...she's pokin' fun at me. Now I gotta burn my letter jacket, oh, I don't feel so good..... (snif, snif, Lmao)

[bob x]

"Do you know about sock hops?
No but my brain is now singing that song 'At the Hop'. I assume it was a dance venue? "
A sock hop is for when you DON'T HAVE a dance venue, so you make do with a basketball court or the like, and everybody has to take their shoes off so you don't scuff the floor.

[pattimax]

Didn't they start at the innocent beginnings of Rock and Roll?

[bob x]

"Innocent" beginnings???? Everybody knew it was the DEVIL'S music, and no mistake!

[flowperson]

Hi Bob...

Music history teaches that " the Blues had a baby and they called it Rock 'n Roll. Actually the Blues was considered to be the "first devil's music". This all goes back to the mythos involving the life of Robert Johnson a famous troubador in the Mississippi delta country near Clarksville TN early in the 20th century.

The legend goes that he was travelling the "juke" circuit in the region and prayed for special talents on the guitar to further his career. He was met at a highway crossroads outside of Greenville Mississippi by a dark stranger who spoke briefly with him, shook his hand, and then walked away into the darkness. From then on Johnson dazzled everybody with his skills and became a Blues music legend, while living a miserable personal life before he died. Hence the legend concerning "the devil's music".

There's also a Hollywood connection in an older film about the life of W.C. Handy who wrote the St. Louis Blues, which I remember also as the title of the film. Handy's father was a Baptist minister and popularized the term "the devil's music" when his son W.C., who was played by Nat "King" Cole, was accused on screen by his father of writing and playing " the devil's music".

At the time (40's-50's) that this bit of dialogue was written and spoken in the film, current culture was highly focused upon picking up common knowledge by what the populace heard on the radio and watched in motion pictures. The "idiot box" had not yet taken over that primary role in cultural innovation. So the Hollywood introduction of the term probably had more of a public effect over time than did the Robert Johnson legend.

I'm a Blues fan myself and I love it because it's the music written and sung about sad things in life, but it magically makes you feel better when you listen to it. Perverse, but effective.

flow....

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by flowperson

Hi Bob...

Music history teaches that " the Blues had a baby and they called it Rock 'n Roll. Actually the Blues was considered to be the "first devil's music". This all goes back to the mythos involving the life of Robert Johnson a famous troubador in the Mississippi delta country near Clarksville TN early in the 20th century.

The legend goes that he was travelling the "juke" circuit in the region and prayed for special talents on the guitar to further his career. He was met at a highway crossroads outside of Greenville Mississippi by a dark stranger who spoke briefly with him, shook his hand, and then walked away into the darkness. From then on Johnson dazzled everybody with his skills and became a Blues music legend, while living a miserable personal life before he died. Hence the legend concerning "the devil's music".

There's also a Hollywood connection in an older film about the life of W.C. Handy who wrote the St. Louis Blues, which I remember also as the title of the film. Handy's father was a Baptist minister and popularized the term "the devil's music" when his son W.C., who was played by Nat "King" Cole, was accused on screen by his father of writing and playing " the devil's music".

At the time (40's-50's) that this bit of dialogue was written and spoken in the film, current culture was highly focused upon picking up common knowledge by what the populace heard on the radio and watched in motion pictures. The "idiot box" had not yet taken over that primary role in cultural innovation. So the Hollywood introduction of the term probably had more of a public effect over time than did the Robert Johnson legend.

I'm a Blues fan myself and I love it because it's the music written and sung about sad things in life, but it magically makes you feel better when you listen to it. Perverse, but effective.

flow....

Ever been to "Frog's" Annual Blues festival in Michigan or Florida?...

[flowperson]

Hi Q...Nope neither, but I never missed the Chicago Blues festival on the lakefront when I lived in Illinois. Really a lot of fun until they started to crack down on bringing coolers and grills into Grant park in the mid 90's. Y'know, "friends" of the city fathers were then contracted to provide food and beverage concessions. Hey...it's Chicago !

Also, the quality of the acts that the City booked dropped a couple of notches about this same time so I stopped going and just listened to the Public Radio FM feed of the festival and what I had in my collections.

My step son back then was also a VanHalen imitator and very good on the guitar. He also excelled at composing original lyrics and melodies. I convinced him of the "righteousness" of the Blues idiom. After graduating high school we moved him downstate to do his thing.

He hooked-up with a blues group in the university town where I originally lived downstate. The group had an older black man who'd been singing blues for 30+ years or so, a great bass player and drummer, plus a rhythm guitarist who was a professor at a community college where my stepson attended and did very well. The prof had a synthesizer pickup of some sort on his guitar that turned his chordings into great imitations of Hammond B-3 organ chording, and it gave the band some real classy sounds.

They had a lead trumpet man who used to tour with Ray Charles' band and he brought in some great horn players from the campus each weekend to jam the old R&B stuff. We'd go down a weekend a month or so to have a few brewskis and some great tunes before we went back to face the city for another month or so. It really helped us spiritually. But we ended up divorcing anyway after a few more years.

flow....

[pattimax]

Originally Posted by bob x

"Innocent" beginnings???? Everybody knew it was the DEVIL'S music, and no mistake!

Poor wording, I thought sock hops were fairly innocent. Were you involved in a sock burning?

Q, Robert Johnson?

[flowperson]

Hi Patti...There are lots of disclaimers and qualifications in this Wiki article, but then his life was shadowy, legendary, and controversial also.

flow....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson_(musician)

[pattimax]

Originally Posted by flowperson

Hi Patti...There are lots of disclaimers and qualifications in this Wiki article, but then his life was shadowy, legendary, and controversial also.

flow....

Robert Johnson (musician) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank you. I know VERY, VERY WELL who Robert Johnson was. I am a blues fan (b.c.) and since I have become a Christian, I have a different view.

The reason I mentioned the name is that there is some significance attached to the date of his death.

I wasn't asking a question, I was talking to Q (Quahom1).

[flowperson]

Golly Patti, sorry you took offense. I didn't know that it was meant for the Qster. Just trying to help others out here with things they might not know.

You'd be amazed how many people don't realize who he was. What's the significance attached to the date of his death to you if you don't mind my asking ?
Opted out of the blues scene after you became a Christian eh?
Care to elaborate on that ?
I'm interested since I've never felt the urge to stop believing in Jesus just because I like the Blues. Unless you really do believe that it's the "devils music".

flow....

[pattimax]

No, please I didn't take offense. (Text can portray the illusion of being peeved and snotty.) I apologize for the confusion. "Q's" can be confusing sometimes here.

I didn't really opt-out, I just set my mind on higher things. Devil's music? No, it's too good. Players (not just musicians)get pulled into the dark. You know the story. It is that way for so many things.

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by bob x

A sock hop is for when you DON'T HAVE a dance venue, so you make do with a basketball court or the like, and everybody has to take their shoes off so you don't scuff the floor.

What a great bit of information Sounds like fun, although a bit like iceskating.

Originally Posted by flowperson

Just trying to help others out here with things they might not know.

I didn't know who he was and I still don't, the link has got no info on it.

[flowperson]

Originally Posted by Muslimwoman

I didn't know who he was and I still don't, the link has got no info on it.

Salaam MW...Yeah I don't know why my link doesn't get you there, but click on the link in Patti's quote of my post and you'll get where you need to go to find out about Mr. Johnson and the legends surrounding his short life.


Patti...Snotty ? You Got A Cold ? Don't worry about a thing my dear. Someone as lovely as you couldn't possibly be snotty about anything UNLESS you did have a cold.


flow....