How do you play the blues?
I would say to learn how to play the blues without authenticity issues, you have to add something authentic to the formula. It doesn’t do for you to act authentic while playing other folks’ material. Figure out how to contribute to the music. It’s only three chords, gimme’ a break. You can’t think of anything?
I have been listening to blues since I watched Dani Rabin of Marbin mop the floor with boomer blues players on youtube up there. This got me to thinking, and the reason for this entry, Jerry Cantrell may be my favorite white blues guitar guy. If you are under the impression that what he played back in the day was not blues, that’s because he hid it.
What’s Kelly’s deal with Jerry Cantrell?
Jerry Cantrell rules because he manages to not only appeal to my love of the blues, he adds his own spices and textures to give it his own flavor. He’s so good at it, I can’t find anything like it. I can explain with a couple of examples. I’ve been talking about this for a while. I have never had this long of format to explain it. So I am using it.
First off, the sound of Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell together is timeless for me. It is much like the blues of old in that way. These weren’t sharecroppers though. This seemed like trailer park heroin blues for white boys skipping school. That was pretty much me. Before I could hear the blues link, I was already linked. It was their huge sound. But the mood was old black and white photos of Robert Johnson and The Great Depression. How in the world did they bring this mood to a hard rock sound? Well, I contend that’s where Jerry Cantrell came in.
Jerry Cantrell (unlike most guitarists these days when copying blues guitarists) will change what he is copying to put his spin on it. This used to be common practice. Now everyone just copies each other. Jerry’s blues spins are brilliant. The sources are varied too. I most often hear Muddy Waters, but I have heard Robert Cray, even T-Bone Walker. But if I’m not listening for them, I’d never hear that shit. Brilliant.
Robert Cray enters the ring.
This was the first song I heard Cantrell on. Sure it’s in a different key, maybe Jerry used an open tuning too. But the riff is the same. No doubt about it. Like, wow, lawsuit same. Then when you get to the solo, Jerry’s like, “Okay you got me, it’s a blues song.” haha. Did I mention I love that guy?
The Muddy Waters influence..
Muddy had a thing he did a lot. You hear it often in other songs from folks copying Muddy. Muddy probably copied it from someone too. It’s just the way things work. I am not trained enough in music to describe what I hear in Jerry’s playing that goes back to Muddy. I hope you can hear it with a nudge in that direction. Jerry really processed these things and put thought into them. It’s not like a gimmick, it’s Jerry.
A song like “Sludge Factory” from Alice in Chains shows Jerry accepted a formula from Muddy, and made it muddier. Muddy played something like “Mannish Boy” and Jerry got something like “Sludge Factory” out of it. Jerry altered the notes, slowed it down, but the formula for the verses and the half-note riff thing is Muddy. The riff itself is actually half of Muddy’s riff with a half step drop on a note to give it that meaner sound. If you play them both on guitar in the same key, the alarm will go off.
Heard T-Bone Walker recently.
I have been listening to blues this week as I mentioned earlier and noticed T-Bone Walker’s influence. T-Bone threw in a half-step at times in a manner that kinda’ signatures a song to me. I’ve have heard Jerry play with half-steps like that too. More of an in general similarity, but still easily identifiable if you know T-Bone.
I think you would avoid scrutiny from folks like me, although can’t speak for Dani, if you contributed to the blues somehow instead of robbed them. More than any kind of music, the blues is rooted in pain. Let’s keep it that way. Some of us need that. Jerry gets all this. One reason I like him so much.
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