A few years back, Guy Davis was heralded as a young “great black hope,” reclaiming acoustic blues as black music along with other young black artists like Corey Harris and Alvin “Youngblood” Hart. Davis admitted to his rather “unbluesy” privileged upbringing as the son of two successful actors, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, in an article he wrote for Blues Revue Magazine. He grew up in a large Harlem brownstone with access to the best education and far removed from the poor, rural, and southern roots often associated with “authentic” blues credentials. Yet in the article he firmly stated his belief that blues is “a treasure that belongs to my people.” For Davis, “The issue is racism. White folks can never really know what it means, what it feels like, to be a nigger.”
This article got under my skin like no other, largely due to the hypocrisy of Davis’ arguments. He accused his white peers as being imitators who learned from books and tried to imitate black vocal delivery. Yet Davis was unwilling to admit that he learned from the same books and is guiltier than most of a contrived whiskey and cigarette growl in his singing.
Davis grew up in a world of relative wealth, entitlement and culture. He is educated and talented, but his whining that he wants to see “more black faces” in his audiences rings hollow to me. Without any real effort, I’ve played for plenty of black audiences at schools and clubs. Davis could do the same. If he wants, as he stated in a Dirty Linen interview, black kids “to learn how to play blues…from black-skinned people” perhaps he could donate money from his trust fund to finance such an endeavor. Trying to disprove or discredit my abilities or merits (or those of any other white performer), to validate his own, will not get Davis far in my eyes. Being white doesn’t mean that I can’t understand the painful legacy of racism any more than being black gives him automatic insight into something outside of his direct personal experience.
4 comments:
" For Davis, 'The issue is racism. White folks can never really know what it means, what it feels like, to be a nigger.' "
Sounds like Davis is the one with a Racism problem.
Where I live, most Blues musicians are white. Some are very good. If we feel the pull of the music, and we're driven to preserve the art form, who says we're less qualified than someone of another color? It ain't about color - it's a feeling - anybody's entitled to feel Blue.
Well said, Scott! NO music is the domain of only one group of people. I'm largely Native American yet have played in Celtic bands. How dare I? I can't possibly conceive of the problems of the Irish!
Really, I get so tired of the "blcak music/white music" thing. Back in the day, people learned from each other. White musicianers would hear black players on streetcorners, etc., and vice-versa.
Anyone who says a white person can't play the blues has never heard Frank Hutchison or Bayless Rose. Likewise, there are numerous recorded examples of black artists borrowing from what are considered traditionally "white" styles and themes.
It's this kind of thinking that separates people and harms the music. One of the ting that bothers me the most about modern music making (even in old time traditions of today)-- there are so many "rules", as in what instrumentation can or cannot be used in a bluegrass band, how tight and fast the players have to be, etc.
End rant.
To the second comment:How would most black,or white,blues enthusiast react to the fact Robert Johnson(and others)followed Charlie Patton's playing style.Full blooded Cherokee?
To the second comment:How would most black,or white,blues enthusiast react to the fact Robert Johnson(and others)followed Charlie Patton's playing style.Full blooded Cherokee?
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