HEAR HERE:
PLAYLIST:
“Sliding” – Ellen McIlwaine
“A Man Of Many Words” – Buddy Guy And Junior Wells
“I’m A Woman (But I Don’t Talk Too Much)” – Lula Reed
“Punctuation Blues” – Luke Escombe
“Crazy Blues” – Mamie Smith And Her Jazz Hounds
“Mighty Tight Woman” – Bonnie Raitt
“In My Girlish Ways” – Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women
“Me And My Chauffeur Blues” – Memphis Minnie
“Forty-Four” – Howlin’ Wolf
“38 Special” – Charlie Musselwhite
“32-20 Blues” – Chain
“I Got What It Takes” – Koko Taylor
“Maybelle’s Blues” – Big Maybelle
With each edition of Nothin’ But The Blues, I am repeatedly reminded of how patriarchal the history of the Blues can usually appear. The very idea of the Blues evokes the image of a desolate soul, walking along a dirt road on the way out of town. Solitary. Encumbered only by the most meagre of possessions – and invariably, a well-worn acoustic guitar. Coat-collar turned up against the sharp sting from a chill-morning breeze. Ambling with slow determination towards an unclear destination. Another aspect, always typical of this image is that the soul in question is always that of a man. My intention, in saying this, is not to further stoke the flames in the unevenly contested gender wars but rather, to spotlight the often under acknowledged contribution that women have made in this otherwise heavily male-dominated arena.
In terms of the music’s more recent history, we might look no further than Bonnie Raitt to appreciate the size of the stone against which a woman must push in order to find acceptance and be taken seriously as a Blues musician. From her 1971 debut, Bonnie’s talent was obvious. She could interpret the Blues with convincing authenticity and from the outset, paid homage to the past, recording two songs by an all-but forgotten singer named Sippie Wallace: “(I’m A) Mighty Tight Woman” and “Women Be Wise”. In spite of here talent, however, it would take another 18 years of touring, recording, occasional wrong-turns – and sheer persistence – before Bonnie Raitt found the wider acceptance she deserved.
Looking further back (or rather, much further back), we find a vaudeville era chanteuse named Mamie Smith whose name is forever etched in Blues history for being the person who recorded what is widely accepted as being the first real Blues record. It’s success sparked the era of classic blues, a period dominated – not by men (at least, not at first) – but by women. And in this edition of Nothin’ But The Blues, we present our own tribute to the Women of The Blues.
Also in this edition, we look at language and some of the ways it can be employed. You’ll hear Junior Wells attest to his ability to “rap strong and rap long”, Lula Reed, claiming that she doesn’t to talk too much – in spite of being a woman. And Sydney musician, Luke Escombe, waxing cleverly about the art of punctuation – correct and proper.
Also in this edition we’ll be packin’ heat, with some classic Blues on the subject of handguns, and discovering that, between a 44 – a 38 – and a 32-20 – it’s really, just a numbers game.
And yeah, I understand… you want to know how we can possibly fit all those extremely talented women, thesauruses and dictionaries – as well as a sizeable cache of ballistic weaponry – and ammunition – into a single hour of explosively articulate feminine-skewed Blues radio?
Grab your favourite fast-talkin’ pistol-packin’ mama and press the play button above – and I promise, we’ll fire off the answers to all of these questions.
And as always, thanks for listening.
Gideon Rhyme – Cultural Detective
The show’s eleventh episode premiered on the gist.net.au at midday (CST) on Saturday the 6th May 2017, receiving an ‘encore’ airing at 7pm (CST) on Wednesday 10th May 2017.
