The blues grew up in an environment of the most virulent racism and discrimination, perpetrated by white people on the black communities of the Southern States. Many of the early blues songs bear witness to the suffering endured by black communities. In 1930, Lead Belly sang Jim Crow, bemoaning the inequity he found everywhere he went: “I been traveling, I been traveling from shore to shore, Everywhere I have been I find some old Jim Crow.” Eleven years later, Josh White gave us Jim Crow Blues, where he complains he “ain’t treated no better than a mountain goat.”
Lead Belly also suffered racism in the nation’s capital. In Bourgeois Blues, he tells us about the ostracism he faced as a black person: “Well, me and my wife we were standing upstairs, We heard the white man say’n I don’t want no niggers up there.” Then:
“Well, them white folks in Washington they know how
To call a colored man a nigger just to see him bow.”
But those days are long gone, right?
Last week the news emerged that the police commissioner of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Robert Copeland, admitted to publically calling the president of the United States a “f***ing nigger.” In March Jane O’Toole overheard Copeland make the remark as she finished her dinner in a local bistro.
O’Toole complain to the town management, but Copeland was unrepentant, saying in an email to his fellow police commissioners, “I believe I did use the ‘N-word’ in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse. For this, I do not apologise – he meets and exceeds my criteria for such.” His loudly stated opinion, according to Copeland, was merely an exercise of his first amendment rights.
The sorry tale was compounded by the Chairman of the Police Commission, Joseph Balboni, saying he had no plans to ask Copeland to resign. He said of Copeland, “He’s worked with a lot of blacks in his life. . . . He said some harsh words about Mr. Obama, and here we are. This woman, she’s blowing it all out of proportion.” Mr. Copeland has now resigned.
There have been other incidents of expressions of racism recently. One Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who is leading a ranchers’ dispute with the government over cattle grazing, recently wondered whether the “Negro” shouldn’t be back in chains. He recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids – and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch – they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do…And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do? They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”
Bundy, the New York Times reported, has become a celebrity, “drawing hundreds of supporters, including dozens of militia members, many carrying sidearms, and members of Oath Keepers, a militia group, who have embraced him as a symbol of their anger and a bulwark against federal abuse.”
Then there’s the recent case of Donald Sterling, manager of the LA Clippers basketball team, who asked his girlfriend not to take pictures with black friends or bring them to games. “Admire him, bring him here, feed him, f*** him,” he said of former basketball legend, Magic Johnson. “But don’t put him on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me.”
Racism is alive and well on the other side of the Atlantic as well. The host of the BBC’s successful Top Gear programme, was caught on camera reciting a version of “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” from his childhood in which he is heard to mutter “catch a nigger by the toe.” Clarkson’s got form in this regard, of course, previously calling Mexicans “lazy, feckless and flatulent.”.
Perhaps this is just a few ignorant and well-known people getting caught saying some things they shouldn’t. In a recent Guardiannewspaper article, however, Gary Younge argued that racism is “a system of discrimination planted by history, nourished by politics and nurtured by economics, in which some groups face endemic disadvantage” and went on to say that, “The reality of modern racism is…the institutional marginalisation of groups performed with the utmost discretion and minimum of fuss by well-mannered and often well-intentioned people working in deeply flawed systems. According to a recent US department of education report, black preschoolers (mostly four-year-olds) are four times more likely to be suspended more than once than their white classmates. According to a 2013 report by Release, a UK group focusing on drugs and drug laws, black people in England and Wales are far less likely to use drugs than white people but six times more likely to be stopped and searched for possession of them. In both countries black people are far more likely to be convicted, and to get stiffer sentences and longer jail time.”
The blues, forged as they were at a time of deep distress and racial oppression, continue to be a howl of protest and a stark warning about the racism that, sadly, often seems to be just under the surface.
“War” is a Viet Nam war protest song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1969. It was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year. It has been famously covered by Bruce Springsteen, added to the set list for the final few shows of his Born in the USA Tour in 1985. The September 30, 1985 performance as a part of his 1986 box set, Live 1975-85. The Boss has continue to play the song at his concerts over the year.”
It’s a powerful piece of lyricism, asking the very basic question: War – what is it good for? In our world there are over 40 armed conflicts going on right now, with innocent women and children as the primary victims. We might well ask – what’s it good for?
“You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you.” Jesus of Nazareth
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War is something that I despise
For it means destruction of innocent lives
For it means tears in thousands of mothers’ eyes
When their sons go out to fight to give their lives
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War
It’s nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
War is the enemy of all mankind
The thought of war blows my mind
Handed down from generation to generation
Induction destruction
Who wants to die
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War has shattered many young men’s dreams
Made them disabled bitter and mean
Life is too precious to be fighting wars each day
War can’t give life it can only take it away
War
It’s nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
Peace love and understanding
There must be some place for these things today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord there’s gotta be a better way
That’s better than
War
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
The second biggest bike race in the world, the Giro d’Italia swung into Belfast for two days this weekend. It was a big deal for the city and country which was festooned in pink (the race’s official color); people turned out in their hundreds of thousands to cheer on the riders as they whizzed past, all colourful lycra and bulging thighs. For once we were united, old grievances forgotten in a haze of sporting, multi-colored, cycling fever.
It reminded me of that old 12-bar blues song, C.C. Rider or See See Rider, or possibly even Easy Rider, recorded by a great many artists over the years, first by Ma Rainey in 1924. It’s hard to know exactly what or who this See See or Easy Rider was. Theories vary, from it referring to a person with easy going sexual morals, to it being an itinerant bluesman with a guitar slung over his back or a “county circuit” preacher, to Big Bill Broonzy’s tale of a local fiddle player named See See Rider who taught him the blues. Seems to me that “see see” and “easy” sound pretty similar and that the term most likely refers to an easy lover, man or woman, someone who was habitually unfaithful – the subject of many a blues song.
The song has been recorded by a host of artists, including classic blues artists such as Big Bill Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt, Lead Belly and Lightnin’ Hopkins, as well as artists like Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the Animals and Elvis. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s also been covered by Bruce Springsteen, appearing on the Boss’s “Detroit Medley” contribution to the 1979 No Nukes Live album.
Film director Martin Scorsese counts Lead Belly’s version of the song as formative for him: “One day, around 1958, I remember hearing something that was unlike anything I’d ever heard before…The music was demanding, “Listen to me!”…The song was called “See See Rider,” [and the] name of the singer was Lead Belly… Lead Belly’s music opened something up for me. If I could have played guitar, really played it, I never would have become a filmmaker.”
High speed racing
Whatever exactly the easy rider of the song means, there’s nothing easy about what these professional cyclists do. It’s a punishing sport with riders clocking up hundreds of kilometres of racing day after day, in all weathers, up and down mountains and across countryside and urban landscapes. Now that the sport’s cleaned itself up after decades of drug abuse culminating in the shameful Lance Armstrong years, the sight of the peleton whizzing past at speed or the pain endured by the riders on the upper slopes of high mountains is a thing of wonder. Easy it’s not.
But I guess that’s true for almost everything in life. As author Scott Alexander says, “All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy.”
Hans Theessink, is one of the fiercest acoustic players in Europe and one of the top acoustic blues stars worldwide, a man who has played with the best and is one of the best, American or European, black & white, old and young, since the 1960s.This guy is the real deal, simply a blues master who is as good as it gets on every level. www.thecountryblues.com
Photo courtesy Beate Sandor
DATC: Hans, you’ve been playing the blues, releasing albums and entertaining people for over 40 years now. It’s clear from listening to your music that you have a deep appreciation and love for the blues – how did this all start, how did this music come to make such a deep connection with you? – particularly for someone from the Netherlands and not some Southern USA state!
HT: Actually I’m celebrating “50 Years On The Road” this year! My musical journey started when my dad gave me a mandolin. A few years later I got my first guitar and just loved it. I liked the songs that I heard when the skiffle craze hit Europe. Exciting music; later on I learned that they actually were adaptations of southern folk and blues (Leadbelly e.g.). I didn’t know of the existence of the blues as a musical genre; just loved to play around with what I knew. One night I heard Big Bill Broonzy on the radio – a revelation to me that touched me and sent the shivers down my spine. Great guitar playing and a voice full of emotion. Big Bill Broonzy set me off on my blues journey.
Over the years I’ve met quite a few colleagues in different parts of the world that had a similar key experience. It’s probably just about having your feelers/antenna out and tuning into the signal! For a kid from the Netherlands this music was exotic, new and exciting. I suppose that if you grew up around it somewhere in the south, it was more like a common everyday kind of thing. Maybe the guy next door was a great bluesman but you probably didn’t think too much of it unless you had your antenna out and were tuned into that certain something. Of course I travelled to Missisippi and other southern states to experience the blues in its original surroundings. That was like blues heaven to me – I sucked it all in.
When I started working with African American tuba player Jon Sass, I played my kind of blues to him, and he said: “My grandfather in W.Virginia used to play like that.” That was his natural family connection, but musically he had classical training and was much more into James Brown, Steely Dan and jazz. The blues came back to him via Europe so I suppose it’s a two-way system.
DATC: The blues arose in the context of black experience and suffering in the Southern States in the early part of the twentieth century. How aware are you of that as you sing the songs you sing? How straightforward is it for a white European to perform the blues?
HT: Of course the blues hails from southern black context where hardship and suffering was a daily experience but that’s most likely also the reason why this music is so vibrant and appeals to people all around the globe who have had their share of troubles too. Most people can relate to a person/musician that survives all the hardships helped by the power of his/her music. The feel of the music is glorious and comes across to anybody with some sort of sensitivity. Maybe people in Europe (and N. America for that sake) sometimes tend to romanticise the black blues experience. I’ve met and played with lots of blues old-timers over the years; they all had one thing in common: a great sense of humor and their own kind of philosophy and wisdom about life. Great people to be around.
For all of them “Blues is a feeling” – it’s not about a million notes but about the feeling and the emotions in the music and their performances were a 100% all the time. If you feel it and are earnest about it, you can do it; black, yellow or white, young or old.
I’m not a Mississippi sharecropper or Louisiana cotton picker – I’m alien to that side of the blues experience but there are many other aspects of human condition, love, death, hardship, joy etc. that I do understand very well as a common human experience. So I got plenty of things to sing about from my own experience and use the country-blues vehicle as a musical art-form. I just love the sound of the blues. It got a hold of me when I was a kid and heard Big Bill Broonzy on the radio – a key experience to me – so I suppose that I just do the music that I love and enjoy doing. Since the early nineties I’ve had collaborations with Terry Evans – one of the great american voices – who hails from Vicksburg MS and is old enough to still have had the cotton picking experience. On our latest duo album Delta TimeTerry does a haunting version of J.B.Lenoir’s“Down In Mississippi” that silences audiences all over the world; people sense the truth and feel the urgence of hard times and prejudice that the song relates.
DATC: How often do you get to play in the US and how you been received there?
HT: Some of my earlier records were released on the Flying Fish label out of Chicago in the late eighties. (Unfortunately Flying Fish stopped their activities after the untimely death of record boss Bruce Kaplan). These records made some impact and I got really good reviews that led to invitations from clubs and festivals in N.America. I’ve made regular trips to N.America ever since that time. The reception has always been really good and for me it was a real bonus to bring American style music back to the US by Europe. Playing at the New Orleans Jazzfest and the Chicago Blues Festival were highlights and a wonderful experience for me.
DATC: As you look around, how healthy is the blues in Europe – in terms of both performing artists and in terms of the appetite of audiences?
HT: I think it looks pretty healthy. Blues societies get established in many places and do a great job spreading the news. Also lots of younger musicians seem to be drawn to the blues or a blues based kind of music. There’s an audience there, especially if you – like me – have built up a following throughout the years. Young musicians probably may find it a little harder to make a name for themselves. My brand of acoustic blues-based music attracts audiences that listen carefully. The music takes center-stage – be it in small intimate clubs, concert halls or big festivals.
DATC: I’m sure you’d say there have been many influences on your music and your guitar playing – are there any in particular that stand out?
HT: There are so many but I should probably mention Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt, Yank Rachell (mandolin), Sleepy John Estes, Fred McDowell, Brownie McGhee, Mance Lipscomb, Blind Willie Johnson… I’ve had the pleasure of spending time and playing with Yank Rachell, Honeyboy Edwards, Louisiana Red, Champion Jack Dupree, John Jackson, Sam Chatmon, Odetta, Wilsson Pickett, Luther Allison, Bo Diddley, Son Thomas, Taj Mahal, Henry Townsend to mention a few. I suppose they’ve all influenced me more in the sense of feeling and understanding the music than guitarlines and notes. But of course you pick up things left and right. I’m self-taught and learning to play wasn’t easy in the east of Holland in the early sixties – no teachers, books or videos. Brownie McGhee was the first bluesman that I saw live in concert. I sat in the first row and watched carefully what he did – my introduction to fingerpicking: thumb + 2 fingers. All of a sudden I was able to figure some things out – a real eye-opener that gave me a direction.
DATC: You always make playing the guitar look so easy and effortless. Any advice for aspiring acoustic blues players?
HT:Play, play, play – that’s all I can say. Go to see other good pickers play and play with other people. If you’re dedicated and have the love for the music and your instrument, someday it will fall into place.
DATC: Hans, congratulations on your album, Wishing Well. About half the album is traditional songs and the other half has your own compositions – some of which, like Early This Morning Blues, sound like traditional blues songs. Tell us a bit about your song-writing, Hans – is that something that comes easily, naturally to you?
HT: Actually I already have another album 65 Birthday Bash recorded live in 2013 and released in april 2014!
Wishing Well is from last year and a pretty laidback kind of album. Songs that have accompanied me throughout my musical career (e.g. Brownie McGhee’sLiving With The Blues that I picked up when I saw Brownie at my first ever live blues experience – or Wayfaring Stranger that I picked up from Johnny Cash at a dressing room session before a concert – I was the support act). Songwriting comes quite naturally to me. I don’t write all the time but I’ve probably written 3-400 songs over the years and whenever I get some good idea or have a certain experience that’s worth a song, I get going. I suppose that’s a good way too to find your own personal expression. I’ve included a few lyrics: Big Bill’s Guitar (about hearing Broonzy and playing his guitar in Chicago) and Mississippi (written after my first trip to the state). [Click here]
DATC: You seem very much at home performing and recording gospel blues songs or songs with spiritual content – your album Jedermann is full of such songs, whether it’s Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down, or Oh Sinner Man or Way Down in the Hole; and some of the songs from your collaborative album with Terry Evans have a gospel feel, not just Heaven’s Airplane. How do these songs fit in the overall blues genre? And how well do you relate to them?
HT: Musically it’s more or less the same idiom and both are closely related. Gospel puts “God” or “The Lord” where the blues puts “My baby” – just about. Bluesmen like Fred McDowell used the same musical vehicle to play and sing gospel style material and blues.
I especially like the vocal aspect of the gospel sound – with its emotional output and great harmonies and spirituality. Especially on our latest collaboration Delta Time where, besides Ry Cooder on guitar, we were backed by Willie Greene and Arnold McCuller with their great gospel blues voices we got a gospel inspired sound. I think it has a lot to do with the voices and 3- or 4 part harmonies. Terry, Arnold and Willie all sang in church when they came up and know how to wrap their voices around a song. We’re not trying to put a religious viewpoint across though – just enjoy singing together and I think it really fits well with the blues. In my band I work with 3 singers from Zimbabwe – a similar thing: rich harmonies with an African twist. To me the human voice is the greatest instrument and singing with others is an inspiring and glorious experience.
The Jedermann Remixed album is more explicit with its spiritual content. I was asked to do the soundtrack for this film based on an old medieval morality play where religion and the fight between good and bad, “God” and the “Devil” play a big role.
DATC: Finally, Hans, what does the rest of 2014 hold for you?
HT: Just had my 66th birthday on April 5th – where we had 2 great “Birthday Bash” concerts with myself and musical friends here in Vienna (where I make my home). I’m trying to work a little less as I get older but it’s hard to say no and I’m still playing many concerts all over Europe in 2014. I play lots of solo gigs but also duo’s and bandgigs – keep it interesting and varied. There are no plans for N.America this year but I may come over in 2015.