tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36216104700582720162024-03-13T05:57:14.263-07:00Big Man's BlogBig Man's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194703242777493980noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621610470058272016.post-3575166933421327322019-02-12T04:51:00.002-08:002019-02-12T04:53:35.125-08:00Blues LyricsAs a songwriter, I really do enjoy listening to songs with adventurous lyrics.<br />
It would have been so easy for the the old bluesers to stick with the norm; "I woke up this morning, just about the break of day".<br />
Thank God they didn't!<br />
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I personally think that <b>Louis Jordan</b> has to top the list of the all time great blues songwriters.<br />
I don't think he ever wrote a bad one: <b>"Let the good times roll"</b>, <b>"Choo choo ch boogie"</b>, <b>"Early in the morning"</b>, <b>"Barnyard boogie"</b> etc etc etc.<br />
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As a young man, I was knocked out by <b>Mose Allison</b> singing,"Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is working overtime".<br />
<b>Cousin Joe</b> also knocked me for six with "I wouldn't give a blind sow an acorn, wouldn't give a crippled crab a crutch, 'cause I just found out baby that you aint so such a much".<br />
And <b>Willie Mabon</b> was definately from another planet: "Now I can go down to the bottom of the sea, count the grains of sand, peep through muddy water and spy dry land, I'm mad.......".<br />
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Of course the Blues has always had a blue side to it and there have been many a recording made and played on the airwaves.<br />
<b>Chick Willis</b> springs to mind with his "stoop down baby let your daddy see, you got something down there worrying the hell out of me"!!<br />
<b>Shake Rattle & Roll</b> isn't so innocent neither; "I'm like a one-eyed cat peeping in a seafood store, I can look at you 'till you aint no child no more", well well.<br />
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I bought a<b> Memphis Slim</b> record and played it on and off for a couple of years.<br />
There is a song on the record called <b>"If you see Kay"</b>.<br />
A nice story about Mr. Slim missing his gal Kay. So if you see her, tell her to go back home.<br />
It was only when I saw him on the TV live at Ronnie Scotts that I finally got it.<br />
He looks into the audience and hits them with,<b> "F, U, C, K, send her home to me"</b> !!!!!!<br />
And yes, I did add this song to my repertoire!<br />
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Indeed, lyrics are a true wonder.<br />
They can make you happy, sad, thoughtful, angry, suspicious..........................<br />
<b>Prince Partridge</b> asked "How come my dog don't bark when you come around"?<br />
<b>Steve Clayton</b> said "I heard my baby knockin' 'bout a quarter to four, knockin' from wall to wall, she had hair just like Medusa and I know I shouldn't accuse her but it looked just like she fell off a horse", (<b>Where did you stay last night</b>).<br />
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There have been countless books written on this very subject so I am going to leave you with lyrics written by <b>Lightnin' Hopkins</b> which for me really epitomise the Blues.<br />
"Good Lord just let me live 'till tomorrow, I'm gonna sing you another prayer, yes 'till tomorrow, this black man's gonna sing you another prayer. Sometimes I begin to wonder, what in the world am I doin' over here"<br />
A truly great live recording of <b>"Stool Pigeon Blues" </b>can be heard here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTOLJlblqM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTOLJlblqM</a><br />
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YO!<br />
Steve<br />
<br />Big Man's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194703242777493980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621610470058272016.post-55516123364123483512018-04-14T08:11:00.001-07:002018-04-14T08:11:41.809-07:00Early DaysWhat a fantastic feeling it is to be able to walk into a pub, order a beer, and go and bang out some low down Boogie Woogie on the old upright piano in the corner.<br />
Thirty five years ago I was doing that a lot, and being paid for it.<br />
Payment was made in pounds sterling, (a few), and beer, (a lot!!).<br />
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That, of course, was long after the arrival of the Jukebox and those evil, criminal activities known as "Piano Breaking Competitions"!!!<br />
It was hard enough to find pubs with piano's in Birmingham then, but there were some, and you certainly learnt your craft in those places, physically and mentally.<br />
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After spending several years playing in various Blues bands, I was looking for a venue where I could sit down and play & sing the songs that I was writing for a solo career.<br />
The Wellington on Bristol Street was one of these venues. <br />
Dave & Catherine were running the Wellington back then.<br />
Dave was a great cook and you really had to reserve a table in the "back room" so as not to be disappointed.<br />
His charming French partner, Catherine, loved to tell jokes, but she would always break into fits of laughter before getting to the punch line, so you never did "get it".<br />
They had a really dangerous piano, you had to dodge the bits that used to fly off it whilst playing.<br />
The boss should have made every piano player who played on it sign a declaration of liability.<br />
The audience, (if that is the right word to use), were, how can I say.......different 😊.<br />
I think they thought Boogie Woogie was probably something Dave had whipped up in the kitchen and would be served with chips during the break.<br />
But I loved it, and always looked forward to it every Monday night.<br />
It was as close as I was going to get to playing in a Barrelhouse.<br />
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When the Wellington changed hands I moved to the Adam & Eve on Bradford Street.<br />
The management informed me that the wooden box in front of the fire place was a piano and I spent a couple of years beating the living daylights out of it with my newly formed band "The 44s".<br />
Anyone who attended a Monday night gig at the Adam will tell you what a great night it was.<br />
Man, it used to get rammed!<br />
There are also some people who can tell you the night some weirdo came into the A&E and ended up sticking a gun to my head as I was playing the piano.<br />
I thought that was it, the bar at the A&E was the last thing I was ever going to see.<br />
If it wasn't for my hero,Terry, creeping up behind him and sticking a bottle over his head, it probably would have been.<br />
The police and ambulance duly arrived and took the weirdo off to a different A&E !<br />
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The piano moved from the Adam & Eve to The Old Railway, Curzon Street, then known as O'neils and I moved with it to continue my weekly residency.<br />
It wasn't long before I persuaded owner Mick to purchase a new piano, and we set off early one afternoon to do just that, stopping off at five or six pubs, (to say "hello"), on the way to Sparky's.<br />
By the time we arrived at Sparky's, I didn't have a clue what the difference was between a Steinway or a Banjo, but I pointed and he paid !<br />
Talking of paying, you couldn't have paid enough for some of those nights at O'neils.<br />
All the top dogs from the local scene would get up and join me for a couple of songs and I always encouraged up and coming piano players to "have a go", and it is nice to know that some of them are still "having a go" today.<br />
The crowd loved it..........................BOSTIN !!<br />
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It was during my stint at The Old Railway that I decided to move to Germany.<br />
That was1998, and I look back at those early days with great fondness.<br />
To me, it was like playing in your living room surrounded by friends, having a drink together. <br />
Of course I still return to the UK a few times a year to visit my family and do a few gigs.<br />
And yep, there are still some places which have real piano's to play on so things are looking up.<br />
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I did at one time, contemplate buying a small piano and putting it on the back of a trailer so I would always have a decent piano at my disposal.<br />
Although my mind was saying "yeah, yeah, do it" my back was telling me something else.<br />
I do own an electric piano which actually sounds great, but it don't look good.<br />
You can't see the hammers swinging to & fro or hear the clatter of fingers upon the ivory-nicotine-beer-stained keyboard or hear the creak of the sustain pedal, and not forgetting that smell !!!!!!<br />
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People often ask me if I prefer playing on a grand piano or an old upright.<br />
I always reply: "If I put the lid up on a grand piano, where do I put my beer ?"<br />
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YO!<br />
Steve <br />
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<br />Big Man's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194703242777493980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621610470058272016.post-10922310437622472202018-03-20T03:42:00.000-07:002018-03-20T03:42:10.072-07:00Time to blog !Well, I finally decided to do it......to blog!<br />
It seems like I'm being left behind in this fast and furious world.<br />
Newsletters are out and blogs are in.<br />
I mean I don't even have a smart phone or what's app !!<br />
<br />
So, it is time to grab this fast and furious world by the scruff of the neck and show it who the boss is.<br />
As it was with my newsletter, I wont be posting something everyday, only when needs must.<br />
Regarding themes, well I guess I will be posting things which I need to get out of my system and things which I think may be of interest to others.<br />
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My newsletter included things like latest news, tours, new CD's etc.<br />
All of these things are available on <a href="http://www.steve-bigman-clayton.com/" target="_blank">my homepage</a> anyway so blogging opens up another dimension for me, one which will take me and my readers into the great unknown :-)<br />
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Of course I will be welcoming your comments to my blogs, thumbs up or thumbs down.<br />
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Here we go then.................................................................. <br />
<br />
YO!<br />
Steve Big Man's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194703242777493980noreply@blogger.com2