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What is THE texas blues sound?


Faber

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"The Texas Blues" sound is not a particular tone, but the range of sounds in that broad tradition.


This question is like asking "who is *the* Catholic writer?" or " who is *the* Hollywood fimmaker?"

 

 

 

Um...that would be the apostle Paul and Steven Spielberg....And for THE Texas Blues sound you have to play a telecaster through a cranked blackface Fender amp.

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Get a copy of Stefan Grossman's book, "Texas Blues" and a Mance Lipscomb album for a real education in Texas Blues!

 

In the book, you'll get introduced to such Texas legends as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, Funny Papa Smith, Willie Reed, Little Hat Jones, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance, and Lil' Son Jackson.

 

Lots of folks call this "country blues," but I believe that the modern Texas sound owes a huge debt to these guys, especially those who play slide.

 

And if you can find a VHS copy of the movie "Mance Lipscomb: A Well Spent Life," by famed documentary director Les Blank, you'll be amazed by what you see and hear.

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Get a copy of Stefan Grossman's book, "Texas Blues" and a Mance Lipscomb album for a real education in Texas Blues!


In the book, you'll get introduced to such Texas legends as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, Funny Papa Smith, Willie Reed, Little Hat Jones, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance, and Lil' Son Jackson.


Lots of folks call this "country blues," but I believe that the modern Texas sound owes a huge debt to these guys, especially those who play slide.


And if you can find a VHS copy of the movie "Mance Lipscomb: A Well Spent Life," by famed documentary director Les Blank, you'll be amazed by what you see and hear.

 

 

When Bob Dylan first hit New York, he went around telling a bullsh*t story about how he lived in New Mexico and also in Texas, where he learned songs from Mance Lipscomb. (See the Martin Scorcese biopic.)

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Get a copy of Stefan Grossman's book, "Texas Blues" and a Mance Lipscomb album for a real education in Texas Blues!


In the book, you'll get introduced to such Texas legends as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson, Funny Papa Smith, Willie Reed, Little Hat Jones, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance, and Lil' Son Jackson.


Lots of folks call this "country blues," but I believe that the modern Texas sound owes a huge debt to these guys, especially those who play slide.


And if you can find a VHS copy of the movie "Mance Lipscomb: A Well Spent Life," by famed documentary director Les Blank, you'll be amazed by what you see and hear.

 

 

 

Done and done!

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Is there such a thing? I keep reading and hearing people refering to "the" texas blues sound in the singular, but it seems to me that the bluesmen out of texas sound pretty different - I don't hear a lot of tonal similarities between SRV, Copeland and Freddie King for example.


So, what is this texas blues sound? Do these people really just mean SRV's sound?

 

 

I think of the Texas Blues sound as the lazy shuffle groove that all the Texas greats have used in their tunes.

 

That said I think it's a marketing gimmick anymore.

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