Are blacks turning their backs on the blues?
Introduction
By LaDonna Jones, President of the Kansas City Blues Society
Members have expressed to me that they find the Blues News to be a font of information about where to hear favorite bands. They've enjoyed the articles about bands that they have come to know as well as learning about unknown bands as well.
The CD reviews have been a useful consumer asset, and Doyle Pace's Articles about the history of this music are always facinating and greatly anticipated. However, one member recently commented that he reads it front to back and somehow still feel that the content is somewhat lacking.
We all realize that this isn't The Washington Post. This is admittedly a budget newsletter put out by mostly volunteers and amateur writers, printed on newsprint that is cost- rather than design-based. In an effort to aspire to higher levels, we were recently challenged by KCBS member Tom Gieseke to address "Real issues!", such as "Is it possible that local bands can make it big, without having to leave town?" "Why couldn't blues make it as a commercially viable radio format?" "What could we do to make this blues society the model for other blues societies to imitate?" His most challenging question came last: "It seems that when I go to hear black musicians perform, that there are mostly...predominately white faces in the audience. This is music that was pioneered by blacks. Are blacks turning their backs on the blues?" We looked at each other. "Who will write this article?"
Tom squirmed in his chair. "Tom no write. Tom draw pictures." (Sigh.) Sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and just do it" Tom remarked. Wayne Robinson quickly and graciously volunteered to help with this endeavour. And El Dormido assured Tom that he would be close by to lend direction and support. And it was agreed that they would accept assistance and suggestions from anybody and everybody who may feel compelled to offer it to this effort.
So this is it. We are presenting articles about the state of race and the blues. In this issue we are featuring a conversation with Eugene Smiley by Connie "Crash" Humiston that looks over Smiley’s career, the people and the places where he played, and his comments on white and black and the blues.
We are also giving you the results of Tom and Wayne’s conversations with several men the met at the Club Mardi Gras, with ‘Amazin’ Grace Harris, and with Millage Gilbert on a Saturday afternoon at the Grand Emporium during his breaks at his matinee performance there.
We would like to have a definitive article for January (coinciding with Martin Luther King's Birthday). And because the subject cuts so deep into the psyche of all of us, it will no doubt warrant further articles in the future. We want to touch on the history, the present and the future of this topic, nationally and locally.
Most important, we are asking you for your assistance. Musician, non-musician, black, white, male, female, young or old, we would like your input. If you have strong feelings, observations or personal experiences about this topic please feel free to give Tom a call at 677-4593. And because of deadline restrictions, please call as soon as you can.
We are attempting to give all of the justice and sensitivity this subject deserves and your help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Black, blue and the race issue.
By Wayne Robinson
There has been talk for quite some time about addressing the perception of racism within the blues scene in Kansas City. I have, of course, been troubled by the allegation, but due to the well-known history of legally mandated segregation in the United States and the world at large, it was determined that we needed to take some sort of action. The course chosen has been to do a series of articles culminated from frank, open discussions and interviews with parties from all walks of life, but especially the black community. While this writer recognizes all forms of discrimination are to be loathed, whether they be sexism, homophobia, or due to a physical handicap, the ugly specter of racism is probably the most prevalent. Due to the very nature, indeed, the origins of blues music are a direct result of man’s inhumanity to man, namely slavery; it was felt that the time had come to bring the issue to the forefront in as direct and respectful way possible.
We, the other writers and I, ask you, the readers, to examine your thoughts and views on the state of the blues and how it relates to the very people, Americans of African and Caribbean descent, who gave us this wonderful gift we call simply the Blues.
The series of articles we are going to write are meant to open a dialogue. Without a sincere effort from each of us to break down barriers, real or imagined, we cannot succeed. This first article will talk of the blues and its relationship to the peoples of African ancestry in the present. What are the perceptions of those people right now, today? The following thoughts and quotations were culled from a limited number of interviews and discussions that included practicing musicians as well as fans. Again, these were described to all participants as being just what they are, a start of open, heartfelt dialogue.
Mary Moore, Tom Gieseke and I held conversations with Mr. Larry Brown and Mr. Milton Holmes, Jr., at the Club Mardi Gras recently. Mr. Holmes expressed amazement at the number of white fans attending musical events that featured primarily black musicians. He is pleased so many have taken the time and money to attend these events but holds out hope those folks appreciate the origins of the art form. Mr. Holmes, I might add, is an accomplished vocalist and graphic illustrator. He also pointed out that while he realizes racism is a two-way street (that is, blacks, when in the position to do so, discriminate), it occurs more often the other way around. Mr. Holmes stated, to my discomfort, "Being screwed is one thing; being killed is another." I’m not sure if he was making reference to the lynching that took place this spring in Texas or an attempt to put it in a historical context. Either way, it hit home with me. That led back to us talking about blues music being a way to bridge the gaps that exist and use it as a conduit, a common bond to unite us as human beings. He went on to talk about the need to get past the overgeneralizations and to interact with each other as individuals, not as a representative of a group. Trust was a word that came up with a great amount of frequency and the need to build our relationships on it, opposed to preconceived notions of what to expect from an individual.
Mr. Brown told us the music transcends boundaries of race and that to him it is an almost spiritual experience. I can relate to that, given the blues has frequently borrowed from the Gospel genre and given the amount of times I have been moved by a lyric or cool riff in a song. He went on to say his children, all in their early twenties or thirties, enjoy blues music. While he said they do listen to the rap and rhythm and blues artists of today, he thinks they go back to the roots of blues music because "it gives you time to think." I took it to mean that blues, in general, doesn’t expose the listener to a rapid fire delivery of lyrics and that there are pauses in songs that allow you to digest what the artist is saying.
I have had the pleasure of repeated exposure to Mr. Millage Gilbert’s musical style over the years, and when undertaking this project, I immediately thought of him. I thought of Mr. Gilbert because we have had some great conversations in the past, and with his experience in the blues, I was sure he would be a great source of information. I was not disappointed. You see, Mr. Gilbert has been playing the blues in Kansas City for quite some time, having connected with the master of the harmonica, Mr. Provine "Little" Hatch, way back in 1963 down in the 12th and Vine district. He states, "If you are going to play blues guitar in Kansas City, you’ve got to go through me." When asked what he thought of the current blues scene in town, he said, "Only about 20% of them are playing REAL blues; the rest of ‘em just don’t get it. They ain’t puttin’ their souls out there for the people." He also says, "Just being a musician isn’t enough; you’ve got to perform to connect with the people." Mr. Gilbert has enjoyed playing here in town, and judging by the number of gigs he and his band are booking, we enjoy having him here. That being the case, though, he thinks he may have to go overseas to "make it," as so many other blues musicians have done.
Ms. Grace Harris has been a mainstay in the Kansas City blues scene for many years. In fact, she was one of the first black women to be a club owner in the area that booked blues acts. In a recent conversation with Ms. Harris she said, "People say they don’t like the blues, both black and white people, but if just watch ‘em, you’ll see their feet tappin’. People have the blues every day, they don’t have no money, but they need new shoes or something to eat, now, that’s the blues."