Re: [Harp-L] Re: Mama Thornton



Only the Pete Seeger public television show -- after he was banned from 
commercial TV during the Red Scare.




In a message dated 12/14/09 5:46:05 AM, steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:


> I can understand some of the less favorable comments posted here 
> about the harmonica playing in this video but would like to put it in 
> a historical perspective. We're talking about 1965 here, when 
> segregation was a fact of life in the USA (listen to J.B. Lenoir's 
> songs on the subject) and Afro-American blues musicians were not 
> generally being asked to appear on TV. It's only thanks to Horst 
> Lippmann, the initiator of the AFBF and the man who brought the blues 
> to Europe, that these artists were given the chance to do so. In many 
> cases these German TV recordings are the only existing film material 
> showing them in their prime rather than much later in life and offer 
> invaluable insight into their music.
> 
> From the musicans' viewpoint: When the nice man (who has brought you 
> to Europe, put you up in a series of comfortable hotels and paid you 
> a handsome fee to perform your music to respectful and enthusiastic 
> audiences) then even manages to arrange a TV appearance, you'd 
> probably go along with the producer when he says "I've got this great 
> idea, why don't you all play harp and take turns at the mic ....".
> 
> Personally I'm immensely grateful to Horst Lippmann und the German TV 
> station SWF for giving us the opportunity to see some of the seminal 
> artists of the blues in action, even if it's staged in this dated and 
> artificial manner and then took 40 years to emerge from the vaults. 
> Is there any comparable American footage of these artists from the 
> same era?
> 
> Steve Baker
> www.stevebaker.de
> www.bluesculture.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 




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