A much needed Black Music thread.
- Thread starter Insidious Von
- Start date
Jews and the blues
BY DAN PINE| SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
Ask guitarist Steve Freund and he’ll tell you as fast as he can bend an E string: Jews have long been part of the blues.
As evidence, the Vallejo-based Jewish bluesman cites Peter Green (from the original Fleetwood Mac), Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, Al Kooper, Barry Goldberg and Bob Margolin as members of the Jewish blues hall of fame, if there was one.
Freund’s name should be added as well. At 53, he has been performing with his own band and numerous blues legends for years.
The many blues greats Freund has played with include James Cotton, Hubert Sumlin, Big Walter Horton, Floyd Jones and Sunnyland Slim (for whom he served as lead guitarist for more than a decade). Though a distinctly African American art form, the blues has always attracted Jewish musicians such as Freund. As to why, the guitarist has his theories.
“Ray Charles and Muddy Waters said the only other people who could play the blues besides blacks are the Jews,” he notes. “A lot of the older players would tell me, ‘We know you Jewish people caught hell.'”
Freund believes that a shared history of persecution may have been the original source of the mutual affinity for the blues.
African Americans, he says, “remind me of a newly emancipated people, like our people out of Egypt. I always felt, being Jewish, we should help each other. The civil rights movement was mostly Jews hand in hand with blacks. And the music is just killer anyway.”
He felt that way ever since he first picked up a guitar. But that didn’t happen until his late teens. Prior to that, the Brooklyn-born son of a yeshiva bocher grew up in a typical Jewish home, which of course included having a bar mitzvah. One of his boyhood influences was the superintendent of his building, an elderly African American man who played old 78 rpm blues records and always found time to talk to Freund.
“My parents always taught us about equality,” he says. “Once I studied the history of our people, I saw a tremendous similarity with modern-day African Americans.”
Musically, he was impacted by the doo-wop and R&B of the day. Later, eclectic country and electric blues artists like B.B. King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Eric Clapton and the team of Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry shaped his style. Freund eventually moved to Chicago for many years, working with blues masters like Buddy Guy and Otis Rush. He also toured with mainstream artists like Boz Scaggs.
But the frigid Lake Michigan winters finally got to him and in 1994 he relocated to the sunnier climes of the Bay Area. Since then, he has been a fixture on the local blues scene, and has taught guitar and blues history. He also has a sizeable record collection (mostly vinyl) that, he says, “I’ve shlepped across the country for 25 years.”
The recent disaster in New Orleans hit him hard, given the importance of the Big Easy to American music history. The city, he says, “is really the root of all American music. It was very sophisticated way before anywhere else.”
Though most of the original blues giants are either dead or elderly (King turned 80 last week), Freund is optimistic about the future of the genre he loves.
“There are people who carry on the tradition,” he says. “There are some fabulous young musicians playing blues today. I have nothing bad to say about them.”
Meanwhile, Freund keeps himself young by playing the blues every day. Of his own style he says, “I like to paint on a particular palette and create something fresh. I’ve caught flack from purists who say I’m too rock, and the blues-rock guys who say I’m too pure.”
BY DAN PINE| SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
Ask guitarist Steve Freund and he’ll tell you as fast as he can bend an E string: Jews have long been part of the blues.
As evidence, the Vallejo-based Jewish bluesman cites Peter Green (from the original Fleetwood Mac), Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, Al Kooper, Barry Goldberg and Bob Margolin as members of the Jewish blues hall of fame, if there was one.
Freund’s name should be added as well. At 53, he has been performing with his own band and numerous blues legends for years.
The many blues greats Freund has played with include James Cotton, Hubert Sumlin, Big Walter Horton, Floyd Jones and Sunnyland Slim (for whom he served as lead guitarist for more than a decade). Though a distinctly African American art form, the blues has always attracted Jewish musicians such as Freund. As to why, the guitarist has his theories.
“Ray Charles and Muddy Waters said the only other people who could play the blues besides blacks are the Jews,” he notes. “A lot of the older players would tell me, ‘We know you Jewish people caught hell.'”
Freund believes that a shared history of persecution may have been the original source of the mutual affinity for the blues.
African Americans, he says, “remind me of a newly emancipated people, like our people out of Egypt. I always felt, being Jewish, we should help each other. The civil rights movement was mostly Jews hand in hand with blacks. And the music is just killer anyway.”
He felt that way ever since he first picked up a guitar. But that didn’t happen until his late teens. Prior to that, the Brooklyn-born son of a yeshiva bocher grew up in a typical Jewish home, which of course included having a bar mitzvah. One of his boyhood influences was the superintendent of his building, an elderly African American man who played old 78 rpm blues records and always found time to talk to Freund.
“My parents always taught us about equality,” he says. “Once I studied the history of our people, I saw a tremendous similarity with modern-day African Americans.”
Musically, he was impacted by the doo-wop and R&B of the day. Later, eclectic country and electric blues artists like B.B. King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Eric Clapton and the team of Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry shaped his style. Freund eventually moved to Chicago for many years, working with blues masters like Buddy Guy and Otis Rush. He also toured with mainstream artists like Boz Scaggs.
But the frigid Lake Michigan winters finally got to him and in 1994 he relocated to the sunnier climes of the Bay Area. Since then, he has been a fixture on the local blues scene, and has taught guitar and blues history. He also has a sizeable record collection (mostly vinyl) that, he says, “I’ve shlepped across the country for 25 years.”
The recent disaster in New Orleans hit him hard, given the importance of the Big Easy to American music history. The city, he says, “is really the root of all American music. It was very sophisticated way before anywhere else.”
Though most of the original blues giants are either dead or elderly (King turned 80 last week), Freund is optimistic about the future of the genre he loves.
“There are people who carry on the tradition,” he says. “There are some fabulous young musicians playing blues today. I have nothing bad to say about them.”
Meanwhile, Freund keeps himself young by playing the blues every day. Of his own style he says, “I like to paint on a particular palette and create something fresh. I’ve caught flack from purists who say I’m too rock, and the blues-rock guys who say I’m too pure.”
Barry Goldberg blues Band -Blowing My Mind (Full Album) (youtube.com)
X Montrealer....i have this album....i bought it a long long time ago..lol....cherrypick the tunes if you want
X Montrealer....i have this album....i bought it a long long time ago..lol....cherrypick the tunes if you want
