Black, white and blue
by Frank Matheis © 1996
A base controversy has been raging in American blues circles, much to the chagrin of idealists, like me, who believe music to be the “universal language”. Divisive issues of race, racial criteria, racism and reverse-racism have slashed a deep valley between both musicians and the audience. Will we let them shatter the notion that music should be a unifying force? For years now the bizarre and ugly debate has consumed the blues press, blues organizations and the noble idiom in general. On and on, over and over, in every major blues magazine: Who can play the blues, feel the music and who has a right to it, blah, blah. These are most often issues by whites in the blues press against white performers, only sometimes by blacks questioning the participation of whites- in a pathetic paradox! Then you have white listeners writing inflamatory letters to blues magazines, infuriating blacks , tempers flare and soon everybody has fightin’ words.
While the majority of blues musicians and listeners, black and white, wouldn’t think of engaging in this folly, too much has been said of it lately by feeble minded people on both sides for this writer not to want to take a clear stand: Race is an illegitimate measure in music, as in anything else!
Charley Pride, an African-American, sang country music and initially did not appear on his album covers, expecting racist rejection. That should never be. Today, Africans sing lead in opera and play first violin in symphony orchestras all over the world. Who would question that they could “feel” the music or that they had to have certain experiences to be good at it ? Logically, people of all races can promote and contribute to a musical tradition and cultural heritage of another. Dominating cultural and artistic movements reach success beyond their origins, and eventually borders, leading to inter-cultural integration. European classical music is a perfect example, as it is broadly accepted and practiced seriously all over the world. No one would sensibly argue that to be a great classical violinist one must be European. Nor would we argue that Japanese people can’t play bluegrass banjo.
The blues and the musical forms that derive from it have reached broad international success for some very simple reasons: people like it, they relate to it , and they feel it in their soul. Of course they will play it. This is cultural evolution and should be a tremendous source of pride. While the blues constitutes one of the many significant global cultural contributions of black Americans, there is no racial purity in music beyond its origin. Music is supposed to be fun- not political. Ultimately, there is no black or white music- and if there is, there ought not be. The blues today is played and listened to in multi-racial, multi-cultural forums- just like all successful musical forms. As such, black culture continues to be celebrated, emulated and honored. What could be more positive?
Last year I was Mr. Lucky and had a chance to converse on e-mail with John Lee Hooker and I asked him about his opinion on this very subject. He said: “… Feeling the blues comes from the inside. It does’nt matter what race you are or even what language you speak. It’s a feeling you get from the tunes you hear inside.”. Muddy Waters once said ” The blues don’t know no color”. These guys know best!
Let’s listen to them and put this thing to rest, once and for all ! Black and white, unite!