There was a time when 'Rhythm and Blues' conjured up images of smokey coffee bars and cellars resonating to the sound of harmonicas, semi-acoustic guitars and Selmer or WEM amplifiers. These days the phrase has been hijacked by acts such as Beyoncé, John Legend, Ariana Grande, Frank Ocean and - God help us - Pharrell Williams....
What any of this has to do with the genre popularised - invented, even - by Howlin' Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Fats Domino and Bo Diddley is beyond me. Maybe I'm just getting old...
What any of this has to do with the genre popularised - invented, even - by Howlin' Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Fats Domino and Bo Diddley is beyond me. Maybe I'm just getting old...
Well: no 'maybe' about it! I'll be 65 in January..... But! Last night my bass-player mate Colin and I played two hours solid rock, blues and R&B: no electronic effects, no autotuner and no vocoder: just two old guys who learned to play and sing when people didn't take shortcuts.
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