Is this Townsman chergeuvara-submitted clip of legendary (in some circles, such as Irish rock/Thin Lizzy/hard rock circles) guitarist Gary Moore‘s original Skid Row the best white-blooz performance ever? And by “best white-blooz performance ever” I don’t mean “best,” necessarily. I don’t mean “best-worst” performance, as you might expect me to snarkily mean it. I mean best performance that exemplifies the best and worst aspects of white dudes playing da blooz.

Along these lines, for example, an argument could be made that Cream was a great white-blooz band. Their white, heavily amplified, possibly even non-American psychedelic rock approach to a musical form removed from the band members’ culture both added appealing new aspects to the genre while occasionally overstepping stylistic bounds of good taste. At their best, Cream was really easy to dig while also providing unintentional laughs. I think this Skid Row clip adds as many valuable new wrinkles to da blooz while simultaneously doing more in the name of whiteness. I think I now finally understand the cult appeal of Gary Moore.

Check out this video from Big Mama Thornton:

Now you show me a song/performance that oozes sex more than this one.

I don’t know much about Big Mama. I didn’t realize she was still performing in 1971. She would have been 45 years old then and looks a decade or two older. Looking at other videos—and you’d be wise to check more out, especially this one:

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Each Sunday while preparing dinner I greatly enjoy listening to Nick Spitzer‘s American Routes show on NPR. He plays American roots music, much of which I would not listen to without Spitzer as my guide. I don’t know what it is about the guy, but he’s one of those DJs who just sounds so nice, knowledgeable, and inviting that I even find myself enjoying the occasional zydeco song. As if to prove how much of a non-American roots enthusiast I am, rarely does a week go by that he doesn’t throw in one Rolling Stones cover of a blues or Chuck Berry chestnut so I can think to myself, Man, young Mick Jagger was the best blues singer ever!

With Spitzer’s focus being on American roots music and the term “American roots music” usually excluding the “roots” music from my northeast city boy perspective, I’m bound to be faced with a challenging episode now and then. Yesterday’s episode, Living With the Blues, was probably the most challenging one to date. Here’s the description: Continue reading »