Came across this little sub site completely by accident; honest gov, too difficult, complicated, scary and boring to detail in depth.
Anyway, thought it was quite a nice little primer for what I guess is a continually dwindling audience for the genre. Doesn’t bother me though, love the music and by and large admired the choice of artists included in the site. And am I the only other fan of Larry Garner other than your good self? Most surprising.
Anyway my beef is one of omission. As the Primer site makes play of the need for blues players to garner (sic) new fans to its genre, I’m surprised that Van Morrison wasn’t included. Right from the days of Them, through his live concerts (culminating in the great “It’s Too Late to Stop Now“), and a plethora of recent releases, Van’s music has made clear his appreciation and love for blues and R&B. Without referring to my Van collection as I write this, I can recall both album and concert performances of Bobby Bland, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Joe Turner, Solomon Burke, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke etc. etc. Surely if you want to make the connection between traditional blues players and current music trends (no, not the contemporary chart shit), then Van’s place in the Primer should be mandatory. And I haven’t even mentioned the “Roll With The Punches” CD of 2017 and the very recent “Accentuate the Positive“.
Go on, be a star and make me a happy man….
Good wishes
Larry
Thanks for the query comment Larry.
Bit of a can of worms if I’m honest.
The short and easy answer is to point out that the web site Primer is only a very introductory starter to the subject of true R&B and therefore concentrates to a large extent on the pioneers of the genre. It does include the occasional current performer (Larry Garner is as close as it gets) but the artist section is limited to twelve so the line was drawn. Mind you, the Shades of Blue booklet details 50 artists and there is very little reference to the ‘modern artist’ with a passion for R&B demonstrated within his/her output. Van does get namechecked in the booklet however, how could my favourite artist not be at least referenced.
Your query did get me thinking however. How about a companion to the R&B Artist section on the site, (another twelve artists) labelled something along the lines of ‘R&B today’ and covering the current trail bearers for an admittedly dwindling but core audience? Well, you never know but at least it’s an excuse for popping back occasionally to see if I make good on the promise!
And your posting did start me off on a musing that started off with a slanted take on Van Morrison but morphed into something much broader and wider in scope. I await the ‘cancellation’ with baited breath.
