As someone who came-of-age in the early seventies listening to the blues and blues-rock: it was almost all a male-dominated music scene, and with guitarists who were at least in their twenties. The past decade or saw saw the rise of some very young guitar prodigies (such as Jonny Lang for example) but also many women, and not only on the North American continent.
Time permits only a survey; a cursory look at some of these performers - and this will begin after the jump .....
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The current group of guitar standouts stand, of course, on the shoulders of giants. Two in particular were Memphis Minnie as well as Sister Rosetta Tharpe - who died within two months of each other in 1973, and both braved criticism when they moved away from Gospel-based music into secular, 'devil's music' as well as both playing electric guitar when that was pretty much a male preserve. Sister Rosetta, in fact, did not even have a proper headstone until two years ago. Yet today's female guitarists owe a great deal to these two women.
Someone who is well aware of these and other R&B musicians is Bonnie Raitt - who was left-for-dead by the record business in the mid-1980's before her 1989 smash album Nick of Time made her a certified star. Besides her own music (including bottleneck-guitar playing when that was primarily a male pursuit) and political activism: she has been keen to help remember those who went before her. She paid for a headstone for Memphis Minnie and does even more work as a co-founder of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. I recall the late Ruth Brown waxing about her to the WGBH-Boston evening jazz host Eric Jackson years ago, saying how much she did to help the older performers who never received a fair day's pay for their work.
And while the rest of those cited here are electric guitarists, proper note should be taken of the acoustic guitarist Rory Block - who was born just two days before Bonnie Raitt in 1949 - and is dedicated to promoting the Delta blues, with several Blues Music Awards to her credit.
She is finishing up a tour in Texas this week, and her latest recording is a Mississippi Fred McDowell tribute album.
And at this link you can hear her perform the Robert Johnson classic Crossroads.
I love the title of this article: 5 Badass Female Blues Guitarists Who Rock Harder Than You - kinda says a lot, huh?
Joanne Shaw Taylor is an Englishwoman who was discovered by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics at the age of 16. Now 25, she has begun a UK tour and at this link you can hear her perform "White Sugar."
Susan Tedeschi is a Boston-area native, who established herself with her own band - including this soulful tune Hurt So Bad - before her desire to spend more time with her family. What to do? Why, join forces with her husband Derek Trucks who also had his own band - and they now co-front the Tedeschi-Trucks Band who begin a tour in Denver this week.
Deborah Coleman is from Portsmouth, Virginia and had to put her career on hold while raising a family. The wait was worth it, as you can hear on this instrumental entitled "My Love Belongs To You".
Shannon Curfman burst onto the scene at only age 14 - and I first heard her (and fellow Fargo, North Dakota native Jonny Lang - on John Mayall's Along for the Ride album in 2001. Now at only age 26 she is a member of Kid Rock's band. But at this link you can hear her perform her own song "Little Things".
A blues guitarist you might not imagine coming from Serbia ..... but that's what you get with Ana Popovic whom I first heard while reading the newspaper. I had the TV blues channel playing and looked up to see who was playing that fine guitar ..... and had no clue who she was. I do now ... currently, she is on a European tour and just have a listen at this link to her version of House Burning Down - the Jimi Hendrix classic.
I could write forever: but want to add a quick mention of two Canadian guitarists: Sue Foley - whom you can hear at this link on "Long Distance Lover" ..... as well as Roxanne Potvin - who was inspired when she saw an equally young Jonny Lang on TV - whom you can hear at this link on "A Love that's Simple".
And lastly, a quick shout-out to the Finnish guitarist Erja Lyytinnen - who is less well-known in North America, but who you can hear at this link handle the Elmore James song "It Hurts Me, Too" with aplomb.
One late, late addition: woman does not live by guitars alone, and the Australian bassist Tal Wilkenfeld is a prime example. She has performed with Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock and many others (including Susan Tedeschi mentioned above). And she will only turn age twenty-five next month - and so while she is probably more of a jazz bassist as you can hear at this link - she'll grace many a stage playing blues for years to come.
In summation: I think the blues will be in good hands for years to come.
Now, on to Top Comments:
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From Giles Goat Boy:
This reply - to my diary of a broken window at a Madison cafe - by Corporate Dog had me in stitches. For those who don't remember, the Walker Administration originally estimated "damage" to the state capitol from the spring protests at $7.5 million. They had to revise that figure later to a much lower figure that also included repairs to previous wear and tear.
From Angie in WA State:
In this diary by MrLiberal - I like this comment from JenneJ - for concisely explaining the route from 'more and better Democrats' to "#Occupy". Plus a truly great comment header "awe-wakening"...
It's not often that I send a comment by someone, when it's a comment in their own diary. But in this case, workingforprogress followed up this diary with this comment - and it needed to be done... for giving us a conversation worthy of having (re: where was Pres Obama regarding the OWS clearings late Mon night) AND a 'elevator conversation' soundbite on just what modern Democratic views of politicians truly are.
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In today's Elections Morning Digest - the interview from Gabby Giffords left mcmom wishing it could be a stand-alone story.
One extra-extra-late addendum: RIP to the musician Mark "Moogy" Klingman -– best known as keyboardist and a founding member of Todd Rundgren's group Utopia – died last night (Nov. 15) following a battle with cancer. He was 61.
He co-wrote (with William "Buzzy" Linhart) the song (You Got To Have) Friends which soon became Bette Midler's de facto theme song. And as a teenager, he briefly performed with an unknown Jimi Hendrix, just before he went to England and became a star.
And finally, yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
1) Go after Bloomberg directly by Dallasdoc — 240
2) Screw us, we Multiply by FishOutofWater — 239
3) Bloomberg gave OWS more publicity by FishOutofWater — 234
4) I don't see the problem here... by Trix — 226
5) Does President Obama want to lose his base? by Giles Goat Boy — 164
6) like Tribbles by Horace Boothroyd III — 158
7) You're doing a magnificent job, my friend by Dallasdoc — 151
8) THIS is why strong unions are needed. A union by Thomasina — 146
9) I was swapped before. by Lightbulb — 142
10) Every once in a while they make a mistake by Hayate Yagami — 136
11) I just heard about it by MinistryOfTruth — 130
12) Agreed, Dallasdoc by MinistryOfTruth — 127
13) So we lose our freedom, but we gain safety? by MinistryOfTruth — 125
14) I think he is hopelessly addicted to... by Giles Goat Boy — 121
15) Occupy courtrooms by Dallasdoc — 107
16) An eviction notice, handed out at 1am by blue armadillo — 105
17) Particularly if Wall Street Barons by JekyllnHyde — 103
18) This does not surprise me one damn bit. n/t by Richard Lyon — 99
19) WHAT! FUCK THAT!?!? by MinistryOfTruth — 96
20) When Free Speech is outlawed, by Dallasdoc — 96
21) If the mayors in all those cities are actually by tonyahky — 91
22) No Surprise for Me Except to Come In So by Gooserock — 90
23) Bob sounds like a great guy by ShoshannaD — 86
24) L'etat, c'est moi by Dallasdoc — 86
25) It was a great rally! by badscience — 86
26) it will land on his desk eventually by limpidglass — 85
27) "The good news is that the Federal ... by Meteor Blades — 84
28) I think the Nobel Committee.... by ratmach — 83
29) Bloomberg... just admitted by LieparDestin — 80
30) Excellent! Will Lord Bloomberg by Lisa Lockwood — 77
31) thank for herding cats by Debbie in ME — 77