Gollywog
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Location: Debussy's brain
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 Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:08 am Post subject: Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker gets his due |
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NPR's got a nice piece on T-Bone Walker in honor of one of his recordings making it into the Library of Congress. T-Bone has always been my favorite blues guitarist, who, along with Leadbelly, probably did more to shape what evolved from blues into the rock of the 50's than anyone else.
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T-Bone Walker swung the blues, made his guitar cry like no-one else and wrote a classic in "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday's Just As Bad)." It's among the latest batch of recordings named to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.
Walker first recorded "Stormy Monday" in 1947. His daughter, Bernita Walker, says it's a classic because it speaks to everyone....
T-Bone Walker was born Aaron Walker on May 28, 1910, in Linden, Texas. He started playing guitar and banjo when he was 13. Blind Lemon Jefferson was a family friend and an influence on Walker � the young man would lead the legendary blind blues musician to gigs.
Walker played in carnivals as a teenager � singing, dancing, playing banjo, accompanying such well-known blues singers as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, and learning how to put on a show � a skill his daughter Bernita says he mastered.
"He would do the splits in time with the music that he was playing. And his facial [expressions] were just phenomenal. And the women would scream and holler. And even the men were clapping like, 'Go, Bone.' And I would just sit there smiling because that was my dad doing those great performances."
But T-Bone Walker was also a ground-breaking blues guitarist, says one of those who's followed in his footsteps: guitarist Duke Robillard.
"T-Bone Walker single-handedly developed the style and way to play blues on electric guitar that was totally different than anything that had been done before," says Robillard. "He used a lot of double timing in his soloing, which at that time was something only horn players did, you never heard a guitar player do it � very unusual and very innovative. He'd be playing actually twice as many notes per beat." |
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96761445
He really deserves more recognition than he's gotten. |
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