Chapter 9

This week in class we talked about rhythm and blues. A chapter that really caught my attention was the chapter about T-Bone Walker! The book explains about how inspirational he was. People wanted to be like him and the girls went crazy over him. He could play any guitar or amp and still get the same sound! He could also play different than anyone else. T-Bone was one of the first who brought electric guitar to the blues. I know I’ve heard of his name before but that is about it. The past couple of days I took the time to look him up on YouTube. I was blown away by his passion for performing and playing guitar. When you watch his videos you can just see the joy on his face. Being a previous guitar player (and hopefully continuing again soon), I’ve spent much time looking at guitar covers and into famous guitar players. I’m interested in all aspects of guitars/guitar playing and I tried to learn as much as I could. I can honestly say I’ve never heard or seen anyone like T-Bone Walker. I was impressed how uniquely he holds his guitar flat and still plays without missing a note. Now I know exactly what they meant in the reading by, “they haven’t seen anyone like him”, “no one can touch him in the blues on guitar”, and that “he was a master showman.” T-Bone has such a strong, powerful, smooth voice. Every time I watched one of his videos I started smiling immediately because I could tell he loved what he was doing. I really like his songs “Goin’ to Chicago”, “Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong”, and “Mean Old World”. I could listen to T-Bone for hours.

 

Chapter 7

For this assignment I chose Chapter 7 to react to. Ever since I was really young I’ve had a deep interest in music. I had a karaoke machine that I would use all the time. I would sing everyday for hours. I never could get my voice to be very strong though. I try to connect with music and artists and I’m very open to listening to all kinds of music. To me, it was very interesting to read about Bessie Smith. I enjoyed reading everyone’s thoughts about her. You learn that it’s not all about the outside but what is on the inside. They were mostly very positive  comments and they all thought she was the best. After reading Danny Barker’s comments it made me want to hear her live. It definitely caught my attention when it said how loud and powerful she can sing. It’s awesome to see that her first record sold 780,000 copies. Also that she didn’t need a microphone and that she didn’t rehearse her records. I even got the chance to listen to some of her songs online. Personally I listen to a lot of powerful singers who really do put their heart and voice into their music. When I find a band I like I always look them up live on YouTube to hear their real voices. I could sit all day and listen to powerful singers and lyrics. I do like quite a bit of older music. Now, it’s hard for me to find music that I really enjoy. I might have to look into Bessie Smith’s songs more!