If you are new to the Blues or like it but don't know much about it, these fundamental rules can help.
1) Most Blues begin with --"Woke up this morning..."
2) "I got a good woman..." is a bad way to begin the Blues unless you stick something nasty in the next line, like "I got a good woman with the meanest face in town."
3) The Blues is simple. After you get a good first line, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes...sort of. "I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yeah, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher and she weigh 500 pound."
4) The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch...ain't no way out.
5) Blues cars: Fords, Chevys, Cadillacs and broke-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs or sport utility vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet airplanes and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6) Teenagers can't sing the Blues--they ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. "Adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7) Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawai'i or anywhere in Canada. Hard times in Seattle or Minneapolis is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis or Nawlins are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in any place that don't get rain.
8) A man with male pattern baldness ain't the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cuz you were skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg 'cuz a 'gator be chomping on it is.
9) You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the Dumpster.
10) Good places for the Blues: (a) jailhouse; (b) highway; © empty bed; (d) bottom of a whiskey glass
11) Bad places for the Blues: (a) Nordstrom's; (b) gallery openings; © Ivy League institutions; (d) golf courses
1) Most Blues begin with --"Woke up this morning..."
2) "I got a good woman..." is a bad way to begin the Blues unless you stick something nasty in the next line, like "I got a good woman with the meanest face in town."
3) The Blues is simple. After you get a good first line, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes...sort of. "I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yeah, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher and she weigh 500 pound."
4) The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch...ain't no way out.
5) Blues cars: Fords, Chevys, Cadillacs and broke-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs or sport utility vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet airplanes and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6) Teenagers can't sing the Blues--they ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. "Adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7) Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawai'i or anywhere in Canada. Hard times in Seattle or Minneapolis is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis or Nawlins are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in any place that don't get rain.
8) A man with male pattern baldness ain't the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cuz you were skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg 'cuz a 'gator be chomping on it is.
9) You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the Dumpster.
10) Good places for the Blues: (a) jailhouse; (b) highway; © empty bed; (d) bottom of a whiskey glass
11) Bad places for the Blues: (a) Nordstrom's; (b) gallery openings; © Ivy League institutions; (d) golf courses
A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind--Dr. Johnson
What he said. Amen, Bro--JazzboCR
What he said. Amen, Bro--JazzboCR