American Music

With so much lunacy in the world, thank God we have music. Sometimes I wonder if our Creator tolerates us just because we can sing, Everyone has music they love and I love it all, with 3 exceptions. I cannot listen to the insipid pop music around now. The Katy Perrys and Justin Biebers of the world need to just go away and count their money, quietly. I cannot listen to much metal. Those guys can play, but they are a wee bit too aggressive for me. I feel like I am being assaulted when I listen to more than 30 seconds of hard metal. And, with no exceptions, I cannot abide even 3 seconds of hip hop. Heavy beat mixed with electronic squeals is not music, especially when topped with the vilest excuse for lyrics imaginable. If you can make a case for the musical value of any of these 3 forms, please, leave a comment.



American music has 2 roots, the blues and the old Appalachian folk music. From this came country, rock, and jazz. Add a bit of classical influence, a touch of European folk styles, and German Polkas, and you have completed the stew. I will say, with no hesitation, that American popular music is something that is unmatched in the world.


Just think, the Mississippi Delta gave us Robert Johnson and the strange world of sex, booze and the Devil he lived in. His high, haunting voice and the shivering of the strings as he worked the bottleneck up and down his guitar takes you from this world into the world of spirits, ghosts, and demons, violent men and Saturday nights and the crossroads at midnight.

If Johnson seems to paint a picture of a man chased by the Devil, go to the West Virginia hills and hear Dock Boggs, the Devil who was likely chasing him. Boggs was a wicked banjo player and sang in a voice from the Old Country, from the high hills of Scotland and he sang the ancient songs of love and betrayal, of loyalty and murder, of banshees and things that wait along the dark roads of the forest. His voice is cold, distant, as if guilty of horrible crimes or witness to nightmares .

Listen to Muddy Waters, who moved the blues north and electrified it or to the Carter Family, who stayed home and sang of the traditions of family and church and the traditions of booze and wanderlust. Listen to Miles, who smoothed things out and found the sensual soul of melancholy or to Johnny Cash who walked the line between his Baptist faith and amphetamine madness.
Original, one and all, and what other country could give us Elvis and Coltrane and  Willie Nelson and Sinatra?


Where else could full blown lunatics like Captain Beefheart find a space to create their earthy magic? Where else could .a strange genius like Frank Zappa find and audience or a kid from Memphis like Arthur Lee put together a find band like Love? And trust me, no where else could a self taught master like Jimi Hendrix appear.

If I seem a bit old school in my taste, it is because I am afraid that we will lose sight of where we came from, not just musically, but culturally. Also, I simply don't hear a whole lot of new music that I can even think of as music. Again, I am open to suggestions and would love comments but, in the meantime, give a listen to some of our older music and you will be pleasantly surprised.