Introduction to the Blues for the Youngsters ???
So lets say the kids have outgrown the Jonas Brothers and are kind of losing interest in the Pop radio station. What BLUES albums (top 2 or 3) would you throw on their iPod? What LiveBluesWorld or MySpace etc... pages should they click on in order to tweek the ears a little bit?
I think Clapton may have done it for me but I've only owned 2 or 3 of his albums. I jumped right into Robert Johnson and just kept rollin' south from there.
I think Clapton may have done it for me but I've only owned 2 or 3 of his albums. I jumped right into Robert Johnson and just kept rollin' south from there.
Tags: alt-blues
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kaspar on -
Robert Johson is probably a little bit too "heavy" to start kids on blues. I'd say, all of this old delta, fingerpicking, country blues probably is...
Try some artists which practice a more modern style of blues.
One guy that comes to my mind is Ronnie Baker Brooks who's style is leaning quite a bit towards rock (a / b), but then again can be very powerful, solid straight forward blues (a / b).
Another artists I'l recommend is Chris Thomas King who managed to mix very traditional blues elements with elements of modern hip hop (check it out here).
Keb'Mo could also be a candidate to open the door to the blues for kids (see a / b).
Hope that'll help ya...
Bluesly Yours
Kaspar
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on -
Robert Johnson probably took a few years to absorb after first hearing him. It's an acquired taste compared to Pop music for sure.
I listened to Clapton's "From The Cradle" yesterday. That's a good blues greates hits kind of album that's close to rock but still pure blues.
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee are easy to understand examples.
Personally I'd crank up R.L.'s "Burnside on Burnside" live album after a brief introduction to the standard blues tunes. I think it illustrates blues in raw form. Still modern in comparison, it's easier to hear than say Charley Patton or Blind Lemon Jefferson if you haven't dug in that deep yet.
Howlin' Wolf: "His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)" was sort of my point of no return. Of course I was never into pop music after about age 8. My ears were a little more weathered.
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Permalink Reply by WorldofBlues.com on -
Keb Mo does have a kids album out there (thought not very highly rated). Eric Bibb is another one with a smooth sound and entertaining lyrics. If the kids are into metal or punk R.L. Burnside has been credited with combining those genres with blues. I did a post on that http://worldofblues.com/Blog/?p=655
I think kids would also identify with the next generation of blues players - I did a post on John Lee Hooker Jr. that they may think is cool http://worldofblues.com/Blog/?p=723
I also did a blog on Blues in the School if you're interested in inspiring them as musicians Here is the entry
http://worldofblues.com/Blog/?cat=22
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Permalink Reply by Fitzgerald on -
Why not start with kids who play the blues;
The Homemade Jamz Blues band is a couple of brothers and a sister that play the blues.
check out their myspace >> http://www.myspace.com/homemadejamzbluesband
I blogged about them here >> http://squeezemylemon.blogspot.com/search/label/Homemade%20Jamz%20B...
And you can check out their latest album here >>> http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Homemade-Jamz-Blues-Band/dp/B00181GGT4/&...
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Permalink Reply by Fitzgerald on
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And speaking of kids that the kids may like;
I just found these young ladies right here on livebluesworld >>> http://www.livebluesworld.com/profile/TheSledgeGritsBand
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Permalink Reply by nekkidhead on -
Clapton probably is the universal gateway these days but the original Allman Brothers, select Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Lang and of course, Stevie Ray Vaughn, were a good introduction to my daughters and grandson. For the Allmans "Live at the Fillmore", Jimi "Red House", Johnny Lang "Lie to Me" and Stevie's Live at the El Mocambo" DVD seemed to work pretty well.
Before I took 'em to the Delta of Blind Willies (Johnson and McTell), Robert Johnson, Skip James and the like, Muddy Waters' "Fathers and Sons" was a good intro into Chicago blues.
Now my daughters bring me rare classic finds, download new indie blues artists' work and take me to performances of my aging heroes. It has worked out pretty well.
"Let the ol' guy play"
nekkidhead
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Permalink Reply by Jim Moody on
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The Blues Gateway albums for me was The Allman Brothers Fillmore East and Led Zeppelin II. I worked back from there. Led Zeppelin is still considered cool to kids. My own son got into my collection and gravitated to Hendrix and SRV. I explained the blues connection they had to him. Taj Mahall is an artist that I think covers the fringes and all points in between. The newer artists that they may connect with are The Black Keys, North Mississippi Allstars, even John Mayer has been exploring the blues a bit. There are so many artists from Bonnie Raitt to Keb Mo that have a broad appeal based on the blues. I think you play them an assortment of artists and explain the connection to the blues. It is more obvious in some than in others. Heh it all came form the blues it is just connecting the dots and rather than explain why it isn't the blues point out how it is.
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on
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"rather than explain why it isn't the blues point out how it is"
That's really the key. The blues in this case can serve as a window into all types of music that is made for something other than commercial purposes. Kids don't hear that through the media very much.
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Permalink Reply by nekkidhead on
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While working on an adolescent psychiatric unit, I found that you didn't have to teach much. In fact they often taught me. The activity was to lay down a groove while asking what gave them the blues or made them happy or angry etc. and then improvise lyrics on their subject matter. Before long they would be singing their own lyrics. Pitch may not have been perfect and timing was sometimes a challenge with the phrasing but it was always true blue in the emotion. From that some requested recorded material to listen to and some continued to use it as a medium to express themselves. These were kids with experience beyond their years and I think that is why it appealed to them. They could identify with the artists they heard.
"I just had the boogie and it had to come out" JL Hooker
nekkidhead
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Permalink Reply by Chad Nordhoff on
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...and having been a resident in an adolescent psychiatric unit, i must concur.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Sheather on -
I don't think youngsters will go far wrong with Hillstomp from Portland Oregon..they have three stomping albums that are not heavy & a good introduction to Hill Country trance Blues & they do wonderful cover jobs too of some Blues classics...then the young 'uns can try out deeper blues as time goes on,like I did with the Rolling Stones 1st album all them years ago,that sent me onto the direction of Slim Harpo,Texas Alexander,Chuck Berry,Howlin'n Wolf, Robert Johnson & Bo Diddley etc, as I wondered who wrote these great compositions from them early Stones albums !!
good luck..Dave (DJ HILLFUNK) UK
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Permalink Reply by mckinley morganfield on -
My boys are 10 and 12. Stevie Ray Vaughn was a good introduction as was early Allman Brothers ... especially the radio edits and not the 11 minutes versions ; -)
But how I really got them interested was to put together my own mix CD and forced (smile) them to listen to "Dad's Music" when they were riding with me. Both of my boys immediately seems to like slide guitar blues songs (but the did NOT like Elmore James' voice :-(
Good luck!
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