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07-06-2009, 10:46
(This post was last modified: 07-06-2009, 10:49 by Tiggi.)
Was listening to TV on The Radio recently, and it I started to think about black Rock musicians, or the lack of them. Particularly all black Rock bands.
Yes, there are exceptions that everyone can think of, but they are few & far between. I can only think of Bad Brains, Living Colour, & maybe Fishbone, and I'm sure there may be others.
Point is, given that Rock & Roll is a direct descendant of Blues, an almost entirely black medium, why are there so few all black rock acts out there.
Yes, I'm aware that white musicians "stole" the music in the early R&R days, but surely there's no barrier to successful black bands these days ??
And yes, I know that black populations have their own tastes in music, but isn't it still odd that these dividing lines are so strong ??
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i cant think of many either hendrix is a big name and today bands well [I]lajon witherspoon from sevendust but thats about it[/I]
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I think that all of the black people got together and decided that nobody can top Hendrix, and that it would be more fun just to sit on the sidelines and watch the white man make a fool of himself trying.
mile:
Apart from that theory, I don't know. But I've been hoping for the next Hendrix, Charlie Parker, Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry, Sly, etc. to come along and break us out of this long musical rut so that us white folks will have something new and exciting to steal.
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I think that it's mostly decided by location. where do black people live(not to be racist) east coast and the south. southern communities stayed and caught on mostly blues, as this moved around it became different things, it really did evolve through white community areas. in the poorer getto communities it evolved into rap. once you're going down a road like that it is hard to turn back. even today these cultural society borders still kinda bar other races to a traditional music. although in other countries it's not necessarily the same way- you don't see alot of asain rock bands in USA but in japan and china they are extremely common. it may be the same- i bet africa and jamaica have alot more black rock bands.
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I think you're obviously right, but it still surprises me that more haven't made the crossover...
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Funkadelic's early 70s stuff was heavy psychedelic rock, a continuation of the stuff that Hendrix was doing.
Black Merda were also from the same area at the same time, also psychedelic rock, and their stuff is worth seeking out. Also, the band Death (nothing to do with the death metal group) who were also from the same era fit the black rock bill. They played a punkish sort of garage rock, and released one single in the 70s. They also recorded an album, For the Whole World to See..., but it wasn't released at the time and only saw the light of day early this year - well worth getting.
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George Clinton's various incarnations are due a bit of further investigation, I feel...
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Bionic Jive is one example of a criminally neglected all-black metal band.
Perhaps it's not so much a lack of interest for the genre (by Blacks) as lack of recognition by the genre and it's promoters:
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up7ZRxc6Aik
