When electric guitars were still a futuristic concept, Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Robert Johnson found their humble acoustic models perfectly acceptable instruments with which to pioneer the blues.
After World War II, when T-Bone Walker and B.B. King changed and charged the sound by electronically amplifying their guitars, a few unplugged traditionalists such as Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee persevered. But acoustic blues has never been deemed commercially viable.
But recently–perhaps in response to the electric guitar-dominated state of contemporary blues and the success of some current rock stars who have gone unplugged–there’s a lot of action on the acoustic front, with young practitioners not only displaying reverence for their musical forefathers, but possessing fresh, genre-expanding ideas.
“It obviously has to do with really appreciating the roots and heritage of the blues,” says Jim O’Neal, a founder of Living Blues magazine and owner of Rooster Blues Records in Mississippi, which released an album by young Mississippi country bluesman Lonnie Pitchford in 1994. “I think they’re using a traditional black art form to state contemporary concerns.”
Keb’ Mo’ is the most successful of the new acoustic crowd. Born Kevin Moore (a jazz drummer pal hung the downhome handle on him, figuring it fit Moore’s blossoming blues persona), the Los Angeles-bred guitarist balances his dexterous guitar work with a polished pop sensibility and original material.
Mo’s 1994 debut album for Sony Music’s OKeh subsidiary sold more than 150,000 copies, making it a huge hit within the blues field where 25,000 in sales makes a big hit. His recent encore, “Just Like You,” is more varied, but showcases Mo’s acoustic talents on several cuts.
Mo’ credits Columbia Record’s hugely successful 1990 boxed set of Robert Johnson’s “Complete Recordings,” with 500,000 in sales, with fueling his blues interest and igniting the current acoustic boom.
“My CD came out in ’94,” says Mo’. “So I guess that was enough time for its effect to entrench itself in a new generation, to set the stage for it and make everyone ready to hear it.”
Initially his work–including a 1980 album for Casablanca Records that he released as Kevin Moore–was aimed at the pop marketplace. But Mo’ changed musical direction after he snared a prominent role as a Delta bluesman in a 1990 Los Angeles Theater Center production.
“The play (`Rabbit’s Foot’) gave me the catalyst,” he says. “It gave me an atmosphere that supplied pay, and a lot of material to study, and a deadline to meet. So it was just perfect to learn.”
Although he usually tours solo, Mo’ can sometimes be found playing electric guitar with his own band.
“I wish I could play electric more now,” he says. “I don’t get a chance to play it as much. The acoustic is consuming all of my time.”
Lessons on Maxwell Street
Mo’s OKeh labelmate, guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart, was born in Oakland (where he still lives), spent time as a child with his grandmother in rural Mississippi, and arrived with his guitar in Chicago when he was 14.
He headed for Maxwell Street to soak up the blues.
“I’d go down there, wanting to sit in and use the guys’ amps,” he says. “So if you’d buy ’em a drink, they’d let you sit in.”
Hart went acoustic for good in 1984, partly in response to the slick combos he encountered while living and performing in Southern California.
“The blues scene there was mostly guys in harmonica bands with sharkskin suits and sunglasses,” he says. “That wasn’t my thing.” Hart honed his guitar skills during a subsequent seven-year hitch in the Coast Guard.
Hart’s recent debut album, “Big Mama’s Door,” is a stunner. Although firmly rooted in the past, the disc is littered with witty originals (and features a cameo from Taj Mahal, one of the few to champion acoustic blues during its lean times).
Despite playing some impressive gigs (he opened two concerts for Neil Young and will soon tour Europe and Turkey), Hart isn’t entirely convinced that this acoustic revival will endure.
“I’m not sure if all these young artists are going to stick with it,” he says. “But I’ll certainly be at it.”
The youngest of the principal contenders for acoustic stardom, Corey Harris, is only 27. But his knowledge of pre-war styles runs deep on his 1995 solo debut for Chicago’s Alligator Records, “Between Midnight and Day.”
“It seems that as far as the focus of the market, people are definitely looking to acoustic music, acoustic blues and whatnot,” says Harris. “Tastes are so fickle, especially in America. It seems that this is a response to that.”
Harris’ odyssey has taken him from Denver to a post-college stint in Cameroon to playing on the streets of New Orleans (where both he and Keb’ Mo’ now reside). His acoustic guitar has been a constant companion.
“I was always interested in learning how to play so that I wouldn’t need to have other people if I didn’t want to have them, or (didn’t have to have) other instruments playing with me,” he says.
It’s not just newcomers
Established stars are taking note of the acoustic trend. Harpist James Cotton dispenses with electricity on his latest album for Verve, “Deep in the Blues.” Bay-area guitarist Joe Louis Walker occasionally visits acoustic territory on his acclaimed discs, while Chicagoans Lonnie Brooks and Lil’ Ed follow suit on their respective new albums, peppered with acoustic numbers.
This makes John Cephas look like a sage trailblazer. Not too long ago, this guitarist and his harp-blowing partner of nearly two decades, Harmonica Phil Wiggins, had little competition in the acoustic blues field. That’s no longer the case.
“I think it’s on the upswing,” says Cephas, whose latest disc with Wiggins, “Cool Down,” appears on Alligator. “We just finished a stint down in Australia. We played acoustically, and every house that we played in was jam-packed.”
Cephas used an electric guitar for house parties around Washington, D.C., when he began his career in the early ’50s–but not for long.
“I guess I was more drawn to the acoustic end of it,” the Virginia-based bluesman says. “That seemed to be more meaningful, and it wasn’t quite as loud. It’s more natural, I guess. It’s something that I was just drawn to and stuck to. I don’t think electric blues has the depth and quality that some of that traditional music has.”
