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| You Can't Beat The House; Track 3 from Get Lucky | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sunday, 15. May 2016, 23:27 (99 Views) | |
| 3Pints | Sunday, 15. May 2016, 23:27 Post #1 |
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Old Pigweed
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....copied over from the thread about Track "7. Long Cool Girl" on the Tracker album:
Hi Suprlinda, Right up until the late 1960s when multi-track tape machines became an industry standard, it was not uncommon to hear a count-in or incidental talk between the musicians on a record - and often-times while they were actually playing. It was wasn't always easy, or even possible in some cases to edit those things out with the technology of the day. Things like the count-in or spontaneous chatter that happened before or after the performance sometimes could be cut out without affecting the track, but were left in for any number of reasons. For one example, a lot of old blues and pop records were made after the musicians had performed at a club until 2:00 am and then they'd gone over to a studio to lay down a couple of tracks. If they got a take that they liked, that was it! They were going out for breakfast or home to bed. Nobody was going stick around and edit the tape! :blink: The song you're referring to, "You Can't Beat the House" is a traditional Chicago-style blues song, so it's quite natural that they might want to add a touch of 'authenticity' or a 'coolness' factor to the recording. B) |
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Cheers, 3Pints "It’s a quiet life from here on in, You’ve dropped your poisoned cup The telephone is ringing, but you’re not picking up" | |
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| suprlinda | Monday, 16. May 2016, 13:48 Post #2 |
Making Movies
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Hi, 3Pints. Thanks for copying your comments over from the other thread. I thought of it also when I read it. I don't think Mark's comment detracts from the song, only that you don't, these days, hear those type of parenthetical comments on studio albums very often. On live albums, you are likely to hear anything! :lol: |
| A pack of dog jackals and a rabble of ravens | |
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| Stanko | Monday, 16. May 2016, 21:14 Post #3 |
Communique
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Thanks here again 3Pints. I always thought that the song is set in early 30's (maybe back in prohibition era) in American south perhaps Tennessee, Alabama or Mississippi? However it would just be the scheme I always build up around the Jazz and clubs as this one from the song. Anyway I would like to know from where you can be sure it is Chicago instead of any other city? Thanks in advance. |
| ... always at your boots, the mud behind the byre with its clammy hold ;-) | |
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| suprlinda | Wednesday, 18. May 2016, 13:18 Post #4 |
Making Movies
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Hi, Stanko. 3Pints doesn't post all the time so I'll toss in a word or two so you aren't left hanging. He is much more of an expert about these types of blues and jazz. I think when he mentioned 'Chicago-style,' he meant that there was a certain style which originated and became popular in Chicago and became known as Chicago-style. I would guess it would be much the same as saying something had a 'Detroit' sound or a 'Seattle' sound. This wouldn't preclude anyone from recording and playing a song in that special sound style, whether that was where the story in the lyrics took place. I hope 3Pints will add his wisdom, too! :) |
| A pack of dog jackals and a rabble of ravens | |
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| Stanko | Wednesday, 18. May 2016, 20:26 Post #5 |
Communique
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Thanks Linda, I got it (actually I overlooked word "style" in 3Pints post as well). Nevertheless, It would be great if I hear some of his further insight on this one also - perhaps one is 3 pints worth :) |
| ... always at your boots, the mud behind the byre with its clammy hold ;-) | |
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| 3Pints | Saturday, 21. May 2016, 20:47 Post #6 |
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Old Pigweed
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Hi Stanko, SuprLinda is absolutely right. But since you asked, here's a little more information - a full 3Pints worth, as requested: :P In it's simplest definition "Chicago-style Blues" is simply blues played with electric amplification - i.e. electric guitars, microphones, ...and drums. Afro-American blues music as we know it developed in the southern United States in the late 1800s and was of course an entirely acoustic style of music. There was no public electric utility at that time. By the turn of the century some of the African-American population of the United States had gradually started to move northward and by the 1920s millions of them were gravitating to the industrialised northern cities looking for work. New York and Chicago saw the biggest increases in African-American population. By the end of the Second World War, electricity was becoming quite common in households and in public establishments. With that came the invention of electric guitars and amplifiers, and of course microphone technology improved immensely as well. So many small blues combos (guitars, bass, and vocals) began to use electric instruments that allowed them to play at similar volumes as the big bands. The blues singers and harmonica players could now be heard in larger, noisier rooms where they wouldn't have been audible with only acoustic instruments. And the bands could also employ a drummer now, to accentuate the strong beats and rhythms that had always been inherent in the music. The same thing was happening in other cities as well, but Chicago had one of the largest and most vibrant African-American cultural communities - particularly on the South Side - and also some of the best recording studios in the country. Chess Records was arguably the most famous of the blues labels, but RCA Victor, Columbia, and Paramount Records also recorded many early progenitors of the electric blues. And with wider distribution their popularity spread to the rest of the country and before long, overseas to Europe as well. Some of the most influential Chicago blues artists would include singer/songwriters Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, and Koko Taylor; guitar players such as Freddie King, Otis Rush, Luther Allison, Jimmy Rogers, Buddy Guy, Robert Lockwood Jr., Bo Diddley, Mike Bloomfield, Homesick James, J. B. Hutto, and Elmore James; harmonica players like Big Walter Horton, Little Walter, Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Butterfield, Junior Wells, and James Cotton; and piano players like Otis Spann, and Lafayette Leake. These folks and others had an enormous impact on young British and European musicians in the 1950s and '60s who were captivated by the raw sound and energy of the music. They copied the style, developing it further with new sounds and better equipment, and eventually brought it back to the U.S. making it more accessible to young white audiences. Some of those artists also made best-selling recordings with the original blues musicians who had inspired them, affording them recognition from a whole new audience. So everything came "full circle" as they say - back to it's beginnings. Exciting times! These days, most electric blues that is played in a traditional style is referred to as "Chicago-style" blues simply because that style and sound is most widely associated with the music coming out of Chicago from the 1940s through the 1960s. Make sense? ....Cool. (Phew! I think that deserves another pint!) :cheekyb: |
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Cheers, 3Pints "It’s a quiet life from here on in, You’ve dropped your poisoned cup The telephone is ringing, but you’re not picking up" | |
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| Stanko | Saturday, 21. May 2016, 23:11 Post #7 |
Communique
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Hi 3Pints, It all makes sense for me now. Beside of the facts you have mentioned here which I just didn't know of I have also forgotten to think in that way as well :-) Thanks. Also, the quoted lines are just what Mark has been doing and what he would be mentioning numerous times before and how he is enjoying in that process. I like that! (Think of "In The Sky" what is exactly that - he actually "signs" about that - waiting of what would be the song is carrying back on its "gliding in to the homing" after being out there (as far as I could interpret this one)). It's 3 pints worth though - now I"ll get another one! alch |
| ... always at your boots, the mud behind the byre with its clammy hold ;-) | |
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12:43 AM Jul 11