THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412080185
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: John Harper
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
When a reporter asked B.B. King his definition of ``the blues,'' King said, ``The blues? It's the mother of American music.'' Well said, B.B.
He was right. The blues are pure American, born of African-Americans in the l920s. The music sprang from the Mississippi Delta, Texas and other parts of the deep South, and Chicago.
The blues is a derivative of the gospel sung in black churches, where it was not unusual for people to leave a service and then meet for a jam session. Songs were sung with such conviction that the performance often frightened those witnessing it for the first time.
The blues were called ``the devil's music'' by the uninitiated. Performers were forced to play and sing in back-alley clubs and joints. Records were made but never widely distributed. Very few blues records made it on radio.
The music survived the '20s and '30s largely through the persistence and perseverance of performers such as Bessie Smith and W.C. Handy.
Smith was the first great blues singer. Handy was the first real public relations man. Smith was a big-voiced woman with impeccable phrasing. She made every song her own and in turn became the standard by which other blues singers are judged.
Smith was more than that, however. She was assertive in a time when women, especially black women, were expected to be subservient to men. Her success created an avenue for other blacks to travel.
Handy called himself ``the father of the blues.'' That was a slight exaggeration. Handy was the first to use the term ``blues'' in a song title (``Memphis Blues'' in l912). He also spent a considerable amount of time promoting the music. His contribution did not go unnoticed; there is a park, just off Beale Street in Memphis, named for him.
The blues lived through both world wars, and other innovators pushed the music into the mainstream: Robert Johnson, Chris Kenner, Tommy Johnson, Bobby Bland.
In the l960s, some white faces entered the world of blacks and blues. John Mayall, Eric Clapton and Johnny Winter, after years studying the blues masters, introduced a new audience to the ``mother of American music.'' Janis Joplin rose from the San Francisco rock scene to become the greatest white female blues singer of all time.
B.B. King led a parade of blues players through the l970s. One of his disciples, Robert Cray, sold millions of records in the l980s. Stevie Ray Vaughan was on his way to super-stardom when he was killed in a helicopter crash. A Robert Johnson box set sold a half-million copies in the late '80s.
Where are the blues now? Margie Beals of Aydlett in Currituck County has some answers.
Beals, 36, leads her band, Beals Street, through a round of blues every Wednesday night at Goombays in Kill Devil Hills. She is a veteran of several rock and blues bands. Just recently, Beals took up the blues full-time. She also hosts a blues radio show.
Q. I know how B.B. King defines the blues; what's your definition?
A. Blues to me is simply music sung from the heart. Blues is more about the expression than the words you're singing.
Q. There's a lot of heartache in the blues. Does it have to be sad?
A. Yes, there is some sadness. But there is also joy and happiness in the music. The music is more about soul than it is about showing off your vocal cords.
Q. I know Bessie Smith influenced most blues singers. Tell me about her influence on you.
A. Sure, she did the first actual blues recording. I listened to her records while I was growing up. Another reason I liked her is because she stuck up for herself in the man's world of the l920s. She did what she had conviction to do.
Q. You mention conviction. It seems to me that blues singers are the real thing. Is is it more nurture or nature that develops blues singers?
A. Definitely nature. I feel like it's something I've had in me since the day I was born.
Q. Is there a difference between a man singing the blues and a woman singing the blues?
A. For a woman to sing the blues, it's more of a sass thing. Most of the songs I sing are about standing up for myself. I'm tough.
Q. Do men in your audience feel threatened by that?
A. One of my favorite songs is one called, ``Never Trust a Man.'' And the song says just that. It's one of those songs I can really get into. I sing it with a lot of conviction. It's a definite gals' song. But usually I get a standing ovation from the men and the women.
Q. I know you sang pop and rock for a long time; do you feel different singing the blues?
A. When I sing the blues, I close my eyes and seem to leave myself. I lose myself, and I never did that with rock 'n' roll.
Q. I know you celebrated an anniversary recently. Tell me about that.
A. My radio show, ``The Sunday Blues Report,'' has been on the air for two years. (It airs on WERX-Rock 102). I'd never done a radio show, but through the patience of management the show is a success. I feel like I've done my part to promote the blues. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by
DREW C. WILSON
Blues artist Margie Beals, leads her band, Beale Street, through a
round of blues every Wednesday night at Goombays in Kill Devil Hills
and hosts a blues show on radio.
WHAT & WHERE
Who: Beale Street
Where: Goombays, Milepost 6 1/2, Beach Road
When: Jan. 4 and 18, starting at 9:30
by CNB