Language Variation and Music African American English as a Lyrical Strategy in the Blues
Word count: 22,317
Romeo De Timmerman Student number: 01507549
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Stef Slembrouck
A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics and Literature: language combination English - Dutch
Academic year: 2019 - 2020
[PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]
I hereby grant Ghent University my written consent and permission to release and/or use this master’s dissertation as part of the university's internal self-evaluation and/or assessment procedures, internal efforts to improve teaching and learning effectiveness, or to recognize student achievement.
Romeo De Timmerman, August 2020
[PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]
Abstract
Traditionally, language variation was considered to be governed primarily by geographical location, ethnicity and socio-economic status (Bailey & Bassett, 1986; Fasold, 1981; Labov, 1966, 1972). Over the last few decades, however, sociolinguists have started to deviate from this consensus, e.g. by examining the use of African American English [AAE] by non-African Americans (Bucholtz, 2010; Chun, 2001;
Cutler, 1999, 2015; Fix, 2014; Reyes, 2005). Additionally, recent sociological and psychological research has shown that music preference plays an instrumental role in shaping the personality of individuals and their judgement of others (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2007; Halliday, 2019; Marshall &
Naumann, 2018; Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003; Vella & Mills, 2016). To date, few scholars have attempted to combine these findings to consider the potential influence music has on language use. Consequently, the present study aims to provide support for the consideration of music as a factor governing language variation by comparing the lyrical language use of blues artists with a variety of socio-cultural backgrounds.
A corpus analysis is the language empirical focus of this project. Sixteen artists were selected based on accessibility of their live performed music, and were consequently categorized in four equally distributed groups: 1960s African American [AA], 2010s AA, 2010s non-African American [non-AA], and
2010s non-AA with English as a Foreign Language [EFL]. A corpus of 80 live performed songs, five for each artist, was composed, and five phonological features of AAE were selected as variables using relevant literature. A dataset containing the variant use of the selected variables and extralinguistic parameters, was created and analyzed using mixed effects logistic regression. Additionally, two contemporary artists were interviewed to provide more qualitative contextualization regarding the social concerns that might inform artists’ lyrical language use. This project attempts to combine insights from variation studies, sociological concepts like performance and performativity, and the discourse surrounding cultural appropriation to add to the theoretical and practical knowledge of their respective fields and provide an argument for the consideration of music as a factor governing language variation.
De Timmerman i
Acknowledgements
During the research and writing process of this study, I received aid and support from a number of people. Consequently, I would like to use this section to extend my gratitude towards these individuals.
First, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude towards my supervisor Prof. Dr. Stef
Slembrouck for allowing me to pursue this niche research project. Thank you for valuing my ideas and guiding me along the way.
Second, I want to thank Prof. Dr. Ludovic De Cuypere for assisting me in the annotation and analysis of my quantitative data, and for his insightful and engaging classes on statistical methods in linguistic research.
Third, I wish to thank Alexander De Soete, Thijs Gillioen and Dr. Sarah Haas for their advice and guidance throughout the last few years. You have taught me a great deal about research and writing, and have motivated me to pursue my interests on many occasions. For that, I am very grateful.
Next, my gratitude goes out to the many blues artists whose lyrics I used as data for this study, and to
Josh Smith and Matt Schofield in particular, for their cooperation in this project and invaluable insights regarding the blues. Thank you for fueling both my musical and academic interests.
Fifth, many thanks go out to Jasper Temmerman for his time and efforts in proofreading many iterations of this project.
Last, I would like to thank my parents and some of the people closest to me, namely Anne-Sophie
Bafort, Yasmin Crombez, Jaro De Smet and Jente Goddemaer, for their relentless support throughout the years.
De Timmerman ii
Table of Contents
Abstract ...... i
Acknowledgements ...... ii
Table of Contents ...... iii
List of Tables ...... vii
List of Figures ...... ix
List of Abbreviations ...... x
1 Introduction ...... 1
2 Literature ...... 3
2.1 Introduction ...... 3
2.2 Language Variation and Music ...... 3
2.3 Performance of Music and Identity ...... 5
2.4 Cultural Appropriation and the Blues ...... 8
2.5 African American English ...... 11
3 Research Objectives ...... 14
4 Methodology ...... 15
4.1 Quantitative ...... 15
4.1.1 Data Selection ...... 15
4.1.2 Data Transcription ...... 19
4.1.3 Data Annotation ...... 19
4.2 Qualitative ...... 23
4.2.1 Data Selection ...... 23
4.2.2 Data Transcription ...... 26
4.2.3 Data Annotation ...... 26
De Timmerman iii
5 Results ...... 28
5.1 Quantitative ...... 28
5.1.1 Random Effects ...... 29
5.1.1.1 B.B. King (AA, 60s) ...... 30
5.1.1.2 Albert King (AA, 60s) ...... 31
5.1.1.3 Muddy Waters (AA, 60s) ...... 31
5.1.1.4 Buddy Guy (AA, 60s) ...... 32
5.1.1.5 Josh Smith (non-AA, 10s) ...... 33
5.1.1.6 Matt Schofield (non-AA, 10s) ...... 34
5.1.1.7 Philip Sayce (non-AA, 10s) ...... 35
5.1.1.8 Robben Ford (AA, 10s) ...... 35
5.1.1.9 Kirk Fletcher (AA, 10s) ...... 36
5.1.1.10 Eric Gales (AA, 10s) ...... 37
5.1.1.11 Kingfish (AA, 10s) ...... 38
5.1.1.12 Gary Clark Jr. (AA, 10s) ...... 39
5.1.1.13 Tiny Legs Tim (non-AA, EFL, 10s) ...... 39
5.1.1.14 Artur Menezes (non-AA, EFL, 10s) ...... 40
5.1.1.15 Dan Patlansky (non-AA, EFL, 10s) ...... 41
5.1.1.16 Guy King (non-AA, EFL, 10s) ...... 41
5.1.2 Fixed Effects ...... 43
5.1.2.1 Distribution of Phonological Variables in Entire Corpus ...... 43
5.1.2.2 Correlation of Time Period and Variant Use ...... 44
5.1.2.3 Correlation of Social Group and Variant Use ...... 45
5.1.2.4 Correlation of Mother Tongue and Variant Use ...... 46
5.1.2.5 Summary ...... 47
De Timmerman iv
5.1.3 Mixed Effects Logistic Regression Model ...... 48
5.2 Qualitative ...... 52
5.2.1 Defining the Blues ...... 53
5.2.2 Writing the Blues ...... 56
5.2.3 Performing the Blues ...... 59
5.2.3.1 Pronunciation ...... 60
5.2.3.2 Authenticity ...... 61
5.2.3.3 B.B. King ...... 63
6 Analysis ...... 65
6.1 Use of AAE Features by Blues Artists with Different Socio-cultural Backgrounds ...... 65
6.2 Social Concerns of Contemporary Blues Artists ...... 67
6.2.1 Authenticity and Cultural Appropriation ...... 67
6.2.2 Authenticity, Performance and Performativity ...... 69
6.2.3 B.B. King as a Proxy for First and Third Wave Variationist Research ...... 70
6.3 Language Variation and Music ...... 71
7 Discussion ...... 73
7.1 Limitations ...... 73
7.2 Further Research ...... 74
8 Conclusion ...... 75
9 Reference List ...... 78
10 Appendices ...... 85
10.1 Additional Tables ...... 85
10.2 Corpus ...... 90
10.1.1 B.B. King – Live at The Regal (1965) ...... 91
De Timmerman v
10.1.2 Albert King - Live ’69 (1969) ...... 96
10.1.3 Muddy Waters - Live at Newport Jazz (1960) ...... 101
10.1.4 Buddy Guy - Live at Philadelphia Folk Festival (1968) ...... 108
10.1.5 Josh Smith - Live at The Voodoo Rooms (2018) ...... 114
10.1.6 Matt Schofield - Live at Brescia, Italy (2019) ...... 123
10.1.7 Philip Sayce - Live at Tarzana, California (2018) ...... 131
10.1.8 Robben Ford - Live at Dallas International Guitar Festival (2016) ...... 137
10.1.9 Kirk Fletcher - Live at Long Beach, California (2019) ...... 144
10.1.10 Eric Gales - Live at Dallas International Guitar Festival (2019) ...... 150
10.1.11 Kingfish - Dallas International Guitar Festival (2019) ...... 157
10.1.12 Gary Clark Jr. - Rock in Rio (2015) ...... 164
10.1.13 Tiny Legs Tim - Live at Sint-Jacobs, Ghent (2017) ...... 170
10.1.14 Artur Menezes - Live at Los Angeles, California (2019) ...... 178
10.1.15 Dan Patlansky - Live at Groesbeek, The Netherlands (2014) ...... 183
10.1.16 Guy King – Tarzana, California (2019) ...... 190
10.3 Interviews ...... 201
10.3.1 Transcriptions ...... 201
10.3.1.1 Matt Schofield ...... 201
10.3.1.2 Josh Smith ...... 233
10.3.2 Consent Forms ...... 247
10.3.2.1 Matt Schofield ...... 247
10.3.2.2 Josh Smith ...... 248
10.3.3 Questions ...... 249
10.3.4 Presented Data ...... 251
De Timmerman vi
List of Tables
Table 1 Performances and social groups of the selected artists ...... 18
Table 2 B.B. King: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 30
Table 3 Albert King: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 31
Table 4 Muddy Waters: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 32
Table 5 Buddy Guy: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 33
Table 6 Josh Smith: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 33
Table 7 Matt Schofield: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 34
Table 8 Philip Sayce: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 35
Table 9 Robben Ford: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 36
Table 10 Kirk Fletcher: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 37
Table 11 Eric Gales: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 37
Table 12 Kingfish: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 38
Table 13 Gary Clark Jr.: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 39
Table 14 Tiny Legs Tim: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 40
Table 15 Artur Menezes: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 40
Table 16 Dan Patlansky: Non-standard use of all variables, relative ...... 41
Table 17 Guy King: Non-standard use of all variables, relative...... 42
Table 18 Distribution of phonological variables in entire corpus ...... 43
Table 19 Variant use by all artists by time period ...... 44
Table 20 Variant use by AA artists by time period ...... 45
Table 21 Variant use by contemporary native-speaking artists by social group ...... 46
Table 22 Variant use by contemporary non-AA artists by mother tongue ...... 46
Table 23 Presence rates of non-standard variant across corpus subgroups ...... 47
Table 24 B.B. King: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 85
Table 25 Albert King: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 85
De Timmerman vii
Table 26 Muddy Waters: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 85
Table 27 Buddy Guy: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 86
Table 28 Josh Smith: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 86
Table 29 Matt Schofield: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 86
Table 30 Philip Sayce: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 87
Table 31 Kirk Fletcher: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 87
Table 32 Eric Gales: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 88
Table 33 Kingfish: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 88
Table 34 Gary Clark Jr.: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 88
Table 35 Tiny Legs Tim: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 89
Table 36 Artur Menezes: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 89
Table 37 Dan Patlansky: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 89
Table 38 Guy King: Use of all variables, absolute ...... 90
De Timmerman viii
List of Figures
Figure 1 Sample of the annotated dataset ...... 22
Figure 2 Estimated probability of standard use of phonological variables per social group ...... 49
Figure 3 Use of all AAE features per artist ...... 50
Figure 4 Complete node hierarchy ...... 52
Figure 5 Defining the blues ...... 53
Figure 6 Writing the blues ...... 56
Figure 7 Performing the blues ...... 59
De Timmerman ix
List of Abbreviations
AA African American
AAE African American English
AAVE African American Vernacular English
CA Conversation Analysis
EFL English as a Foreign Language non-AA non-African American
SE Standard English
SWVE Southern White Vernacular English
GLM Generalized Linear Model
De Timmerman x
1 Introduction
In the early stages of variationist research, language variation was understood to be governed by one factor: geographical location (Chambers & Trudgill, 1998, p. 13). The “overnight emergence” of sociolinguistics as a discipline in the 1960s moved away from this paradigm by suggesting that social factors, too, could influence the way individuals speak (Holmes & Wilson, 2017, p. 1). Up until the turn of the century, geographical location, ethnicity, gender and socio-economic status were hence considered to be the main variables in the language variation equation (Bailey & Bassett, 1986; Fasold,
1981; Labov, 1966, 1972). New research in the early 21st century no longer considered variation to be attributed to static categories of speakers. Rather, it suggested that individuals dynamically position themselves in different social categories through stylistic practices (Eckert, 2012, p. 91). Analogously, whereas the earlier view on language variation understood identity as simple category affiliation, this new paradigm argued “patterns of variation are not set in childhood but serve as resources in the construction of identity later in life” (Eckert, 2012, p. 92).
This dynamic view on the correlation between identity, social categories and language variation could in turn suggest that other factors related to our identities might in fact be correlated with language variation as well. One possible factor that sociology and psychology scholars have in recent years related to identity, is music, as it can play an instrumental role in shaping the personality of an individual and their judgement of others (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2007; Halliday, 2019; Marshall &
Naumann, 2018; Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003; Vella & Mills, 2016). When relating those insights to the views on stylistic practices described above, one could propose that music, too, might be a factor governing language variation. Consequently, my present goal is to provide support for the consideration of music as a variable in the language variation equation.
Specifically, I decided to research the blues genre from a linguistic perspective. My motivation for this focus comes from personal experience: as an avid listener of the blues, I noticed contemporary blues
De Timmerman 1
music to sound remarkably similar to blues from half a century ago. A preliminary project on the subject, in the form of my bachelor thesis, suggested that those similarities lie not only in the inherently guitar-driven nature of the songs, or their lyrical content (for textual analyses of blues lyrics, see Bridle,
2018; Kuhn, 1999; Middleton, 2006), but also in their phonological realization, as contemporary, non-
African American [non-AA] blues artists were found to use phonological features characteristic of
African American English [AAE] in a similar capacity as traditional, African American [AA] artists. As a result, this dissertation will attempt to expand upon this topic by conducting a mixed method research project comparing the lyrical language use of sixties and contemporary artists with a variety of socio- cultural backgrounds in a corpus analysis, and exploring how contemporary non-AA blues artists conceptualize their own lyrical language use compared to other artists with different backgrounds using interviews.
Before providing an account of the research I conducted, I will further contextualize the matter at hand in four theoretical sections, the first of which will further discuss variation studies and its possible correlation with music, whereas the second and third sections will provide theoretical foundations that can help approach the social concerns that might govern the stylistic behavior of contemporary blues artists. A fourth and last theoretical section, then, will provide remarks on some of the terminology used in this dissertation. These theoretical sections will be followed by a detailed description of the research questions central to this project. In the fourth section, the methodology central to this mixed- method study will be outlined, which will subsequently be followed by comprehensive results and analysis sections. Finally, the limitations of this research project will be covered in a discussion section, while the last section will present the general conclusions to be drawn from this study.
De Timmerman 2
2 Literature
2.1 Introduction
The theoretical motivation for the present research project is threefold. First, this project builds upon traditional variation studies research by focusing on language variation in a musical context. Next, this research has strong ties with studies on performance, performativity and indexicality, as the linguistic behavior of artists on stage might inform the performance of both their musical and social identities.
Third, since this project is concerned with international blues music performed by artists with different socio-cultural backgrounds, it can add useful insights into the processes and understanding of cultural appropriation. In this section, I will elaborate on these three theoretical motivations and illustrate how the present research project will combine insights from these domains to add to the theoretical and practical knowledge of their respective fields. Last, I will use this section to provide some general remarks on the terms ‘African American’ and ‘African American English’.
2.2 Language Variation and Music
According to Holmes and Wilson, the term “language variety” refers to “language in context” and entails a set of linguistic forms used under specific social circumstances (2017, p. 6). Before the 1960s, however, language variation – then referred to as dialect – was believed to be only governed by geography (Chambers & Trudgill, 1998, p. 13). The “overnight” emergence of sociolinguistics as a new linguistic discipline introduced a new, social dimension to language variation research (Holmes &
Wilson, 2017, p. 1). In the following decades, the development of variation studies occurred in three waves (Eckert, 2012).
The first wave started with Labov’s (1966) study on the Social Stratification of English in New York City and focused on the correlation between socio-economic status and the linguistic production of non- standard forms associated with overt or covert prestige (Eckert, 2012, p. 88). Throughout this first
De Timmerman 3
wave, other research introduced new variables, such as age (Labov, 1972) and gender (Macaulay &
Trevelyan, 1977; Trudgill, 1972; Trudgill, 1974; Wolfram, 1969). The second wave of variation studies, then, had “a focus on the vernacular as an expression of local or class identity” (Eckert, 2012, p. 91).
This new wave was established by Milroy’s (1980) research on phonological variation in social networks in Belfast. This study showed a correlation between the use of local variants and engagement in local, ethnically defined networks (Eckert, 2012, p. 91)
As illustrated above, both the first and second waves of variation studies focused solely on static categories of speakers and “equated identity with category affiliation” (Eckert, 2012, p. 91). The third wave deviated from this norm by establishing the concept of stylistic practices (cf. infra), which was introduced in variationist research of the early 21st century (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005; Irvine, 2002).
Researchers of this third wave no longer consider language variation to merely be a reflection of identity but rather research the social categories in which speakers position themselves through stylistic practices (Eckert, 2012, p. 91). Regardless, Holmes and Wilson still describe language variation to be governed by specific elements of our identity (2017, p. 131). Given these insights, other phenomena that are correlated with identity could be considered as new variables in the language variation equation.
A possible way to find these new variables is to consult sociological and psychological research on identity formation. Recently, scholars have been looking at the correlation between music and identity.
Marshall and Naumann (2018), for example, have found music preference to be a strong reflection of racial identity, while Halliday (2019) concluded music preference to be a reliable predictor for personality traits. Similar conclusions have been drawn by Rentfrow and Gosling (2003), Vella and Mills
(2016), and others. By combining these insights with the stylistic approach to language variation, one could argue that music might be a relevant variable governing language variation.
De Timmerman 4
Some studies have in fact provided tentative arguments for the correlation between music and language variation. In their research on language variation among Louisiana Cajuns, for instance,
Dubois and Horvath (1999) linked the use of certain phonological variants to speakers’ engagement in particular social practices, such as playing Cajun music. However, Dubois and Horvath (1999) mostly emphasized the variation as being linked to the engagement in shared social practices in general, not to Cajun music specifically. More recently, then, Drummond (2018) researched the use of th-stopping
(i.e. /θ/ realized as [t]) among urban British youth. Although Drummond (2018) expected ethnicity to be the governing factor in use of this variant, a multiple regression analysis found engagement with particular social practices, namely grime music (i.e. a variety of rap popularized in Britain), to be a more statistically significant variable. Much like Dubois and Horvath (1999), however, Drummond (2018) highly hedges the results of his study: “I am not suggesting that the use of [t] as a phonetic variant [..] has emerged in the speech of these young people purely as a result of their engagement with grime”
(p. 192).
Although I too will emphasize the social context that is inherent of the blues community, I believe more research on the potential correlation between music and language variation might reveal that music in and of itself might in fact govern our language use. Consequently, this research will try to provide support for this idea, and attempt to contribute to the traditional variation studies research by considering a new variable in the language variation equation.
2.3 Performance of Music and Identity
One of the main theoretical advancements the third wave of variation studies elicited, is the idea that linguistic variation has meaning and that it is an essential feature of language (Eckert, 2012, p. 94).
Scholars embracing this new insight would go on to describe how “speakers make social-semiotic moves, reinterpreting variables and combining and recombining them in a continual process of bricolage” (Torode & Hebdige, 1981; as cited in Eckert, 2012, p. 94). These social-semiotic moves – or
De Timmerman 5
stylistic practices (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005; Bucholtz, 2010; Irvine, 2002) – are used to “[express] the full range of a community’s social concerns” (Eckert, 2012, p. 94).
An essential concept within this stylistic context is indexicality (cf. Eckert, 2008; Silverstein, 2003), which refers to the practice of extracting a linguistic feature from its surroundings and context to index membership of a particular population or to affiliate oneself with a specific element or characteristic of that population (Eckert, 2012, p. 94). Non-AA blues artists using features of AAE in their lyrical language use could be categorized as an example of indexicality. To make sense of how and why blues artists would engage in such practice, I first want to point to the concepts of performance and performativity. The former was coined by sociologists like Erving Goffman and Harold Garfinkel, whilst the latter is associated with gender and queer studies, and most notably with Judith Butler. Because both concepts are often confused, and their theoretical background is elided in most practical studies,
I will rely on Chris Brickell’s (2003) article outlining the differences between both concepts and their theoretical foregrounders.
In his book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman (1956) presents the fundamentals informing the contemporary understanding of social performances. Essentially, “those involved in social interactions will develop their own sense of self as they are influenced by others’ impressions on the one hand and seek to manage their own self-impressions on the other” (Brickell, 2003, p. 159).
Additionally, Goffman argues that our social performances are always aimed at gaining “a favorable impression from others” (Brickell, 2003, p. 159). In line with the context of this project, Goffman relates these social performances of individuals to theatrical performances: up “front”, the public performance is witnessed by others, while the performance is adapted to the impressions of others out “back”
(Brickell, 2003, p. 159).
De Timmerman 6
In her book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Butler (1999) instead introduces the term performativity. The main theoretical difference with the ethnomethodological approach is
Butler’s dismissal of the individual’s agency. Performativity, Butler argues, is “the discursive mode by which ontological effects are installed” (1999, p. 112; as cited in Brickell, 2003, p. 165). Performativity is thus “a process of invoking the subject, not a performance by a subject” (Brickell, 2003, p. 166).
Additionally, performativity entails a “process of iterability”, a repetition of norms, that creates a structure by which the individual is invoked. Although Butler (1999) and Goffman (1956) differ in their interpretation of agency, their views are not mutually exclusive, especially when related to the research topic at hand.
When applying the ethnomethodological approach to the social reality of contemporary blues artists, one could argue that such artists might consciously use features of AAE as a strategy. In other words, they might actively manage their on-stage self-presentation by infusing a set of linguistic features in their lyrical language use. This implies reflexive agency: they want to perform the blues and therefore decide to sing like the other blues artists they know. Butler’s (1999) views applied to the social situation of contemporary blues artists, on the other hand, might rely more on an understanding of the blues community. By actively using a set of AAE features, contemporary blues artists might invoke the very reality of a blues artist. In other words, precisely by employing a specific type of lyrical language use, they inadvertently create and adhere to a set of characteristics or rules, by means of which the blues community in general, and other blues artists in particular, can give or deny them the label ‘blues artist’.
Consequently, the lyrical language use of a given artist might not be fully volitional, but rather governed by that very set of predispositions of the blues community.
Applications of Goffman’s (1956) and Butler’s (1999) ideas to the language use of contemporary blues artists not only illustrate their different interpretations of agency, but offer a specific situation in which both paradigms can be combined. As Holmes and Wilson (2017) remark in the gender and politeness
De Timmerman 7
chapter of their book on sociolinguistics and language variation, “people are not just passive language users; some demonstrate ‘agency’ or active engagement with language for social and political reasons”
(p. 327). The concept of agency can hence be related to language variation, as a speaker’s language use might be governed by both inadvertent choices (e.g. dialectal realizations due to geographical location), or deliberate ones (e.g. hypercorrect standard realizations due to sensitivity to overt prestige).
When applied to the context of this project, blues artist might consciously adapt their lyrical language use by actively using AAE (cf. performance), whilst inadvertently shaping the very definition of a blues artist (cf. performativity). These insights can in turn provide a theoretical explanation for how and why blues artists might engage in the stylistic strategies described above. The complexity of the social concerns blues artists are confronted with, will mainly be discussed in the next section (cf. 2.4). For now, I want to point to Rudinow’s (1994) definition of the blues as “a stance embodied and articulated in sound and poetry” (p. 135). This stance, Rudinow (1994) argues, is essential to the “stylistic and expressive authenticity” of a blues performer (p. 135). Consequently, the present research project will attempt to connect this artistic stance and claim to authenticity of blues artists to their stylistic practices, their on- and off-stage performances and the performativity characteristic of the blues community.
2.4 Cultural Appropriation and the Blues
Where the previous section (cf. 2.3) was mainly concerned with how blues artists might engage in stylistic practices and performative actions, this section will attempt to uncover why that might be the case. As alluded to previously, the subject of the present research project is inherently rooted in a cultural appropriation setting (cf. section 1). Before cultural appropriation became a well-established topic of academic and social debate, though, concerns about the performance of blues by white performers already permeated the blues community (cf. Rudinow, 1994). In the following paragraphs,
I will first introduce these concerns and their historical significance within the blues scene, to then come
De Timmerman 8
back to the idea of cultural appropriation, define it, and contextualize its role in the contemporary blues community.
Rudinow (1994) establishes a long-standing tradition of strong skepticism and criticism towards white blues performers, and demands appreciation of this phenomenon as a genuinely deep issue. According to Rudinow (1994), this problem is not built on a racist argument: nobody claims AA blues artists are better musicians because they would be genetically superior to their non-AA counterparts when it comes to singing or playing certain notes (Rudinow, 1994, p. 127). Rather, Rudinow (1994) proclaims authenticity claims to be the foundation of the negative attitudes towards non-AA blues artists. He defines authenticity as the “credibility that comes from having the appropriate relationship to an original source”, a credibility that is claimed to be lacking in the music of non-AA blues artists (Rudinow,
1994, p. 129).
Although the authenticity problem Rudinow (1994) addresses is rarely mentioned in the current discourse surrounding cultural appropriation, James O. Young (2010) does express how “[t]he jazz and blues styles developed in the context of African American culture have been appropriated by non- members of the culture, from Bix Beiderbecke to Eric Clapton” in the introduction of his book on
Cultural Appropriation and the Arts (p. 1). Additionally, when considering Rogers’ (2006) definition of cultural appropriation as the “use of one culture’s symbols, artifacts, genres, rituals, or technologies by members of another culture – regardless of intent, ethics, function, or outcome”, the concerns regarding white blues performers summarized by Rudinow (1994) immediately come to mind (2006, p.
474).
Given his broad definition of the concept, Rogers (2006) argues four specific subcategories of cultural appropriation can be distinguished:
De Timmerman 9
1 Cultural exchange: the reciprocal exchange of symbols, artifacts, rituals, genres, and/or
technologies between cultures with roughly equal levels of power.
2 Cultural dominance: the use of elements of a dominant culture by members of a subordinated
culture in a context in which the dominant culture has been imposed onto the subordinated
culture, including appropriations that enact resistance.
3 Cultural exploitation: the appropriation of elements of a subordinated culture by a dominant
culture without substantive reciprocity, permission, and/or compensation.
4 Transculturation: cultural elements created from and/or by multiple cultures, such that
identification of a single originating culture is problematic, for example, multiple cultural
appropriations structured in the dynamics of globalization and transnational capitalism creating
hybrid forms. (p. 477)
Rogers (2006) mentions how the public discourse and scientific literature almost exclusively use the term ‘cultural appropriation’ to refer to this third subcategory, i.e. cultural exploitation, without actually defining it as such (p. 486). I would argue that the concerns regarding contemporary white blues artists, too, can be attributed to this specific subtype of cultural appropriation.
Related to this, Rogers (2006) paraphrases four problematic characteristics of cultural exploitation originally identified by Ziff and Rao (1997):
1 Cultural degradation: loss of integrity due to erroneous depiction of heritage
2 Cultural preservation: cultural objects are best understood in their native contexts
3 Cultural deprivation: wrongful exploitation of cultural objects for financial gain
4 Failure to recognize sovereign claims: preventing traditional cultures to block inappropriate
adaptations or uses of their cultural heritage (p. 487)
To what extent all of these concerns can be applied to the blues as a genre is not discussed by Rogers
(2006), nor by Ziff and Rao (1997). Nonetheless, I believe these characteristics can be related to the subject of this project, as they might be associated with the social concerns of blues performers (cf. section 2.3). These concerns might in turn be correlated with their artistic stance and authenticity, and thus their use of stylistic practices, their on- and off-stage performances, and the performativity
De Timmerman 10
characteristic of the blues community. Therefore, the present research project will attempt to contextualize the lyrical language use of blues artists by considering the complexity of the social reality they are confronted with daily.
In addition to this theoretical dimension, a focus on the cultural appropriation context in the present research project can yield a practical contribution to the academic and social debate as well. Although some scholars have tried to combat the negative connotation associated with the term cultural appropriation, and have advocated – much like Rudinow, cf. supra – for a neutral and serious consideration of the issue, the concept remains “undertheorized in critical rhetorical and media studies” (Rogers, 2006; Young, 2010, p. 474). Consequently, this project can help contextualize and illustrate how contemporary social actors deal with a highly volatile process, and how that might be extrapolated to other public arenas.
2.5 African American English
Throughout this theoretical section, I have referred to the term AAE as a language variety. When considering the definition by Holmes and Wilson (2017) I cited earlier, however, that term can refer to
“accents, different linguistic styles, different dialects and even different languages which contrast with each other for social reasons” (p. 6). Deciding which of these definitions to apply when referring to AAE is not straightforward. Because of this, I would like to point to Lanehart’s (2001) definition of AAE as
“English spoken by or among African Americans” (p. 7).
As is apparent from the definition cited above, Lanehart (2001) does not consider AAE to be – as some other scholars would argue – a separate language, but rather a variety of English (p. 7). This definition is in turn compatible with Rickford’s (2012) creolist perspective. His theory describes AAE to have originated from a creole language that African slaves and European settlers used to communicate.
Later, then, this incipient version of AAE would have been heavily influenced by North-American
De Timmerman 11
dialects, which shaped it to become the variety of English as we know it today (Rickford, 2012, pp. 154–
200).
Additionally, Lanehart’s (2001) definition concretizes the distinction between African American
Vernacular English [AAVE] and AAE. The former is the variety that is associated with working-class speakers and has been researched extensively by linguistics scholars, whilst the latter is the overarching term encompassing AAVE (Patrick, 2006). Considering socio-economic status is not of interest in the present study, I will continue to use the term AAE as opposed to AAVE.
In relation to the insights listed above, I want to use this section to discuss another matter of terminology, namely my use of the term ‘African American’ as opposed to the term ‘black’. Two studies from the early 2000s attempted to uncover the preference of English speaking individuals of African descent for the terms ’black’ versus ‘African American’ (Aspinall, 2008; Sigelman et al., 2005). Sigelman et al. (2005) found both terms to be equally preferred by the larger population, but found a specific subpopulation, namely younger and more urban individuals, to prefer ‘African American’ over ‘black’, due to which they predicted the former term would further rise in popularity. A few years later, however, Aspinall (2008) again found near-identical preferences for both terms, but argued that the growing scientific preference for ‘African American’ was misplaced, as it ”is not an inclusive term for the African-decent population”.
Notwithstanding the above, I decided to use the term ‘African American’ because of its clear-cut ties with AAE and its prevalent use in the literature on the blues as a musical genre. I am aware, however, that the terminology to refer to minorities is a sensitive and dynamic subject, and that recent developments regarding the death of George Floyd and the subsequent riots throughout the United
States and other Western countries might bring about a change in the preferred terminology to refer to populations of African descent (Eligon, 2020). Nevertheless, given the fact that no recent scientific
De Timmerman 12
literature has dealt with the topic, I believe use of the term ‘African American’ in the context of the present project is warranted.
De Timmerman 13
3 Research Objectives
The research questions of this project can be segmented into three levels:
1 To what extent do contemporary blues artists with various socio-cultural backgrounds use
features of African American English in their lyrical language use?
2 How and why do contemporary blues artists with various socio-cultural backgrounds use
features of African American English? How can the lyrical language use of these artists be
correlated with indexicality, performance and performativity, and cultural appropriation?
3 In what way, if at all, can music be related to the field of variation studies; can music be
considered as a factor governing language variation? How should this be conceptualized?
The first (1) question is the quantitative language empirical focus of this project and its goal is to document and compare the lyrical language use of blues artists with different socio-cultural backgrounds and provide support for the consideration of music as a variable in language variation.
The second (2) question is qualitatively oriented and aims to explain the documented lyrical language use of the blues artists, add necessary societal contextualization to the project, and provide a practical and relevant contribution to the current discourse regarding cultural appropriation.
The third (3) research question is the broad, overarching question of this project and its goal is to use insights from the quantitative and qualitative inquiries central to this project, to contribute to the scientific understanding of the complex phenomenon that is language variation.
De Timmerman 14
4 Methodology
In the previous section outlining the research questions central to this project (cf. section 3), this research was presented to have both quantitative and qualitative dimensions. As Dörnyei (2007) puts it, such mixed-method approaches can help “achieve a fuller understanding of a target phenomenon”
(p. 164). In the case of this project, the target phenomenon is the lyrical language use of contemporary blues artists. Consequently, a quantitative dimension can help identify the extent to which contemporary artists of different social groups use features of AAE, whereas a qualitative segment can help describe why and how those artists might engage in such practices.
When combining different methodological paradigms, Dörnyei (2007) mentions data triangulation as the accepted way of corroborating findings (p. 165). Although in a narrow sense, the term triangulation refers to “validation-through-convergence”, Dörnyei (2007) reports problematic use of the concept as a simple umbrella term referring to mixing methods in general (p. 165). Therefore, this section will try to outline the different methodological dimensions of this project in a detailed manner, as well as argue why and how both paradigms can provide insights to further understand the research problem at hand.
4.1 Quantitative
The quantitative section of this research project is concerned with the use of AAE features by blues artists with a variety of socio-cultural backgrounds. This subsection will hence discuss the corpus analysis that was conducted to research this phenomenon. More specifically, it will shed light on the creation of the corpus, the variable selection, the dataset annotation, and the subsequent quantitative and statistical analyses.
4.1.1 Data Selection
To research the linguistic behavior of blues artists with different socio-cultural backgrounds, a corpus of their musical output, and specifically their lyrics, was compiled. Initially, a number of potential
De Timmerman 15
candidates was selected. To make this list, several criteria were applied. First, the artists needed to have released at least one blues album. This parameter proved to be rather difficult to apply, as the blues consists of “no more [..] than a simple chord progression shared by many other such
"compositions," with no definite key signature, no particular prescribed instrumentation, and a lyrical text which itself is open to ad lib interruption, interpretation, and elaboration in performance”
(Rudinow, 1994, p. 129). Rudinow (1994) does however suggest to define the blues based on its
“compositional minimalism and a complementary emphasis on expressive elements” (p. 129).
Regardless, some formal selection criteria are necessary to prevent the bias of “the arm-chair researcher who uses his record collection as a start” (Oliver, 1983, p. 380). Therefore, I paid attention to the following parameters: reliance on “12 bars of music using the tonic, sub-dominant and dominant chords” (i.e. the I-IV-V chord scheme), vocals and lead instruments trading musical spaces, and use of a “lyrical pattern” that is repeated throughout the song (Bridle, 2018, p. 22).
Next, the artists were only selected if they were musically productive during particular time frames, namely the 1960s and the 2010s. The motivation for these time windows is as follows. The 1960s were a prominent time for the blues, as it marked “the change from solo, acoustic performance to ensemble, electrically amplified performance”, whereas the 2010s are characterized by the general absence of blues music in popular media and the prevalence of non-AA artists in the blues scene (Bridle, 2018, p.
26).
Third, the artists needed to have live performances readily available, whether that be by means of a live album, official live recorded performances or fan recorded live performances. The choice for live recordings as opposed to studio material was deliberate: the blues is very much rooted in an oral tradition and is often characterized by a performer-audience dialogue that “influence[s] the length and structure of each blues performed” (Rudinow, 1994, p. 131). Although my personal experience would suggest that the disintegration of performer and audience role delineation is less drastic than Rudinow
De Timmerman 16
(1994) expresses, it can help understand the blues genre as an expressive exchange between performer and audience. Additionally, the variation in content and structure alluded to above might be characteristic of live performances in general, which implies that analyzing these performances as opposed to studio ones is more favorable for the goals of this project.
When the list of potential candidates was compiled based on the three parameters listed above, a selection of 16 artists was made. These artists were consciously devided into four equally distributed subgroups. A first subgroup contains artists who were active during the sixties, born in the United States and are of African descent, whereas a second group features 4 contemporary African American artists.
A third group of artists was born in North America but has no ties with the African American community, whilst the final group contains artists who were born in 4 different countries belonging to different continents (viz. Belgium – Europe, Brazil – South America, South Africa – Africa, Israel – Asia), do not belong to the African American community and are non-native speakers of English. Consequently, this last group received two labels: non-AA and English as a Foreign Language [EFL].
Ultimately, all artists’ live performances were listened to using the online video sharing service
YouTube, which allows videos uploaded to the platform to be used for research without getting permission from the copyright owner in accordance with the fair use section of its copyright guidelines
(YouTube Copyright and Fair Use Policies - How YouTube Works, n.d.). For each artist, five unique songs were selected for analysis. Instrumental songs – i.e. songs without lyrics – were not selected, and neither were contemporary covers of traditional blues songs, as artists might alter their linguistic behavior in favor of the original track (cf. section 5.2). Table 1, found below, lists the selected artists as well as their respective performances and social groups.
De Timmerman 17
Table 1 Performances and social groups of the selected artists
Artist Performance Social group
B.B. King Live at The Regal (1965) AA
Albert King Live ’69 (1969) AA
Muddy Waters Live at Newport Jazz (1960) AA
Buddy Guy Live at Philadelphia Folk AA
Festival (1968)
Josh Smith Live at The Voodoo Rooms non-AA
(2018)
Matt Schofield Live at Brescia, Italy (2019) non-AA
Philip Sayce Live at Tarzana, CA (2018) non-AA
Robben Ford Live at Dallas International non-AA
Guitar Festival (2016)
Kirk Fletcher Live at Long Beach, CA (2019) AA
Eric Gales Live at Dallas International AA
Guitar Festival (2019)
Kingfish Live at Dallas International AA
Guitar Festival (2019)
Gary Clark Jr Live at Rock in Rio (2015) AA
Tiny Legs Tim Live at Sint-Jacobs, Ghent non-AA, EFL (Belgium)
(2017)
Artur Menezes Live at Los Angeles, CA (2019) non-AA, EFL (Brazil)
Dan Patlansky Live at Groesbeek, The non-AA, EFL (South Africa)
Netherlands (2014)
Guy King Live at Tarzana, CA (2019) non-AA, EFL (Israel)
De Timmerman 18
4.1.2 Data Transcription
As Mary Bucholtz (2007) remarks, the correct transcription of phonological variation is a topic of extensive debate across multiple academic disciplines. Essentially, linguistically trained scholars prefer formal phonetic transcriptions in favor of the “unscientific and politically questionable” use of non- standard spelling to represent variation in pronunciation, whereas other scholars, namely “those whose focus is on language as performance or social action” promote orthographic transcription because of its accessibility and descriptive properties (Bucholtz, 2007, p. 796). Though a linguist herself,
Bucholtz (2007) argues “conversation analysts in particular, through their efforts to capture details of pronunciation in their transcripts, may help variationist sociolinguists to identify places in conversational data in which phonological variation occurs” (p. 796).
Although the focus of this qualitative inquiry is not on conversational data, it is very much concerned with phonological variation, and language use in general, as a performance (cf. section 2.3). Therefore, the selected songs were transcribed following Conversation Analysis [CA] conventions as described by
Hepburn and Bolden (2012), while paying particular attention to phonological variation displayed through orthographic, non-standard spelling. Paralinguistic factors such as volume, pitch and lengthening were included as well. In addition to regular lengthening, the use of vibrato – i.e. periodic oscillation of a note to create a pleasing tone (Dromey et al., 2015) – was also incorporated, as it is a technique commonly used in blues music (Ripani, 2006, pp. 57–58). This resulted in a corpus of 80 unique blues songs, performed in two different time windows and written by 16 artists with varying socio-cultural backgrounds, the annotation and analysis of which will be presented in the next section.
4.1.3 Data Annotation
Before the transcribed corpus was annotated and analyzed, a number of variables needed to be selected. Although initially, both phonological and lexico-grammatical variables were considered to compare the linguistic behavior of the selected blues artists, due to time constraints, only five
De Timmerman 19
phonological variables were selected for the analysis. The selection of these variables was strongly motivated by consulting relevant literature on AAE, and will be presented in the following paragraphs.
A list detailing the selected variables can be found below. Additionally, examples comparing the
Standard English [SE] and AAE pronunciations will be provided for each of the variables.
1 alveolar nasal /n/ in <-ing> ultimas
e.g.
2 post-vocalic, word-final /-r/ deletion
e.g.
3 post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion
e.g.
4 post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ deletion
e.g.
5 /aɪ/ monophthongization
e.g.
A first feature of AAE (1) that was annotated throughout the corpus is present participles and nouns with two syllables or more ending in /- ɪŋ/ being pronounced with an /-ɪn/ ultima (i.e. the word-final syllable). While Thomas does attribute this feature to AAE (Thomas, 2007, p. 456), discussion of it is absent in the comprehensive works by Weldon (1999) and Dillard (1972). To date, however, no study has explicitly proclaimed the identification of this phenomenon as a feature of AAE to be problematic.
Similarly, Fix (2014) still adopted the variable in her study on “AAE as a bounded ethnolinguistic resource for white women with African American ties”. Given these insights, this feature will be used as a variable in the present study.
De Timmerman 20
A second selected variable (2) is post-vocalic, final /-r/ deletion in words like
Although this feature is not only attributed to AAE, it is generally considered to be a “systematic consonantal variable” of AAE (Thomas, 2007, p. 453). Additionally, Feagin (1997) proposes that the origins of non-rhoticity lie with AAE, whilst Thomas (2007) stresses the steady decline of non-rhoticity in European American speech, especially in the South (p. 453). Regardless, research has consistently found African Americans to be more prone to /-r/ deletion than European Americans and it will therefore be used as a variable in this study (Edwards, 2014; Labov, 1968; Wolfram & Mallinson, 2002).
The third (3) and fourth features (4) that were annotated in the corpus are post-consonantal, final /-t/ and /-d/ deletion. The theoretical motivations for these variables are identical, as they can both be classified as instances of consonant cluster reduction. Although consonant cluster reduction appears to some degree in most varieties of English, it is far more common in AAE (Thomas, 2007, p. 455). Thus, the phenomenon has been studied frequently within the context of AAE studies (Labov, 1968, 1972).
Additionally, consonant cluster simplification before a vowel occurs almost exclusively in AAE (Thomas,
2007, p. 455). These insights support the use of this feature as a variable in the present study.
The fifth and final feature (5) that was looked at is /aɪ/ monophthongization. In his early work on AAE,
Dillard (1972) considers /aɪ/ monophthongization to be one of its most prominent vowel features.
Dillard does, however, mention that lengthened [a:] appears in many Southern White Vernacular
English [SWVE] as well. Thomas (2007) also attributes this glide weakening to both AAE and SWVE.
Elaborating on this idea, Anderson (2002) and Fridland (2003) state that /aɪ/ monophthongization can occur in pre-voiced phonetic contexts (e.g. tide) or pre-voiceless ones (e.g. tight). They stress that the former was traditionally considered to be a feature of both AAE and SWVE, whereas the latter spread from SWVE to AAE (Anderson, 2002; Fridland, 2003). Consequently, /aɪ/ monophthongization will be used as a variable in the present study.
De Timmerman 21
In addition to annotating use of selected the variables in the corpus using color codes (cf. Appendix
10.2), a dataset was created in Excel to document multiple variables, allowing for more fine-grained analysis (cf. infra). All tokens with potential variable use were listed, as well as whether or not the corresponding variable was used, and which phoneme or morpheme was alternated. In addition to these linguistic elements, a number of other factors were included in the dataset. The song’s name, length and artist were annotated, as well as the variant that was used (i.e. standard or non-standard).
Finally, the artist's mother tongue, social group (e.g. AA) and time period were annotated, as these factors too might influence the lyrical language use of a given artist. The completed dataset contains
3863 tokens, the first 15 of which are displayed in Figure 1, found below.
Figure 1 Sample of the annotated dataset
Ultimately, this dataset was analyzed in three phases. In a first (1) phase, the data was segmented per artist using pivot tables in Excel. In doing so, the data could be used to conceptualize the lyrical language use of each individual artist. To draw more meaningful conclusions in the second (2) phase, the data was looked at more generally, while using some of the extralinguistic variables that were annotated in the corpus as well. Hence, the data could be looked at diachronically (viz. by comparing the data from the 1960s and the 2010s) and per social group (viz. by comparing the data from the AA, non-AA and
EFL subgroups). In a third and final (3) phase, the compiled dataset was used for statistical analysis.
Building on the second phase of analysis, a mixed effects logistic regression model was calculated using
R, a software environment designed for statistical computing, to allow for more fine-grained analyses.
De Timmerman 22
4.2 Qualitative
Whereas the quantitative section of this research project is mainly concerned with whether and to what extent contemporary non-AA artists use features of AAE in their lyrical language use, the qualitative aspect of this project deals with why and how these artists might engage in such practices.
Additionally, gaining insights from blues artists regarding their own lyrical language use was a central goal to this qualitative section. Consequently, interviews were used to introduce the perspective of actual blues artists in this research, and find out how they perceived their own lyrical language use.
This section will shed light on the participant selection, nature of the interviews, and method of transcription, annotation and analysis.
4.2.1 Data Selection
One of the main goals of the qualitative section was to find out to what extent contemporary blues artists are aware of their own lyrical language use and how they might conceptualize it. Consequently, interviews were chosen as the preferred method to gather data. These interviews were designed using
Dörnyei’s (2007) book titled Research Methods in Applied Linguistics as a reference work. In the following paragraphs I will outline the methodological decisions made during the process of this qualitative inquiry.
After deciding interviews were the appropriate medium to gain insight in the awareness of artists regarding their lyrical language use, participants needed to be selected. Dörnyei (2007) critically remarks the differences in sampling when comparing quantitative and qualitative inquiries. In this case, however, the qualitative part of this research is highly complementary to the quantitative one.
Specifically, the main goal of the interviews was to add insight to the overall problem central to this research project: the indexical use of AAE features in contemporary blues music. To do so, it was in my opinion essential to use the gathered quantitative data (cf. section 4.1) during the interviews, to allow for further data triangulation (cf. Dörnyei, 2007, pp. 163–175).
De Timmerman 23
This introduced a practical complication: given the short time span of this project (viz. one year), starting the interview process only after the quantitative data had been gathered and analyzed, seemed unfeasible. Therefore, I decided to use the limited yet relevant and useful quantitative data I had gathered for my bachelor paper (cf. Appendix 10.3.4), which had a similar quantitative methodology as described above (cf. section 4.1). Specifically, I planned to interview artists to whom I could present the quantitative data I had gathered using their lyrics. In a later stage, I planned to interview more artists using the quantitative data gathered for this thesis, but due to time constraints this was not possible
(cf. section 7).
Because I decided to interview artists of whom I had already gathered quantitative data using their lyrics, the list of potential participants was narrowed down to three contemporary, non-AA blues artists, namely Matt Schofield, Josh Smith and Philip Sayce. Specifically. All three artists were contacted via email in August 2019 and after some reciprocal communication, Matt Schofield and Josh Smith agreed to participate. The data I would present them during the interviews showed similar use of AAE features in their own lyrics, compared to those of sixties, AA artists B.B. King, Albert King and Muddy
Waters (cf. Appendix 10.3.4).
The interviews were designed to be semi-structured, this way the interviews could be adequately compared, whilst still allowing for personal input by the artists (Dörnyei, 2007, p. 136). An interview guide was made, which contained questions of four categories (cf. Appendix 10.3.3). The first (1) category was aimed at gathering information regarding the artists’ introduction to the blues genre. The second (2) set of questions was targeted at the artists’ creative process, specifically aimed at finding out how their idols and other influential artists play a role in their creative process. A third (3) section dealt with the artists’ definition of the blues, whereas the fourth and final (4) section dealt with the lyrical language use of the participants by asking them to reflect on the quantitative data from my
De Timmerman 24
bachelor paper they were presented with. Although the interview could transpire in a semi-structured manner, questions of the fourth and final section were planned to be asked at the end of the interviews, as answers to the previous questions could have been – and turned out to be – useful to reference during these final sections of the interview.
Upon agreeing to participating in the interviews, Matt Schofield and Josh Smith were sent consent forms (cf. section 10.2.2) in which they agreed for the data of the interviews to be used in this project.
Both artists were offered two consent forms, one which detailed the data would be processed anonymously, and one which allowed for the artists to be quoted in this dissertation; both artists signed the latter (cf. Appendix 10.3.2). Additionally, Josh Smith requested to be sent the interview guide with the interview questions beforehand. Due to a miscommunication, Smith used the interview guide to prepare written answers before the actual interview, during which I then asked further clarification regarding particular answers. However, the quantitative data on his lyrical language use was only presented during the actual interview, as it was not included in the interview guide I sent beforehand.
Therefore, I would argue that the data gathered from the interview with Josh Smith is equally valuable as the one with Matt Schofield, regardless of the aforementioned complication.
Both interviews were held via Skype, an online telecommunications tool that allows voice and video calls to be recorded. At the start of the interviews, both artists were given a brief introduction to the overall goal of the interviews and how they could be positioned within this larger research project. Due to Josh Smith answering some of the questions on the interview guide in advance, the actual interview was rather structured, as the first few questions did not allow for much elaboration or deviation with regard to the interview guide. The interview with Matt Schofield proceeded more dynamically, with more room for elaboration and natural conversation. Both interviews were recorded using Skype’s built-in feature and were subsequently used for transcription, annotation and analysis, which will be discussed in the next sections.
De Timmerman 25
4.2.2 Data Transcription
As opposed to the corpus used in the quantitative section of this research project (cf. section 4.1), the analysis of the interviews is focused on content rather than phonological variation. Therefore, the methodological debate regarding transcriptions highlighted in section 4.1.2 (cf. Bucholtz, 2007) is irrelevant to the transcriptions of the interview. As a result, the interviews were transcribed using CA conventions as detailed by Hepburn and Bolden (2012) without paying attention to phonological variation, but paralinguistic factors such as volume, pitch and lengthening were included. When citing the artists in the results section of this paper, however, I will alter the transcriptions to become more naturalized (i.e. resembling conventional written language), because I believe their improved readability will benefit the analysis of their content (Bucholtz, 2000). The unaltered, highly denaturalized transcriptions can, of course, be found in the appendices section (cf. 10.3.1).
4.2.3 Data Annotation
The interview transcriptions were analyzed using thematic analysis, for which Dörnyei’s (2007)
Research Methods in Applied Linguistics was used as a guide. As Dörnyei (2007) puts it, though the process of coding is essential to the analysis of qualitative data, much of the coding work actually happens in a pre-coding phase, i.e. when preparing the interview guide, during the interview and when transcribing the data (p. 250). This was the case for the qualitative inquiry central to this section as well; the processes enlisted above were essential in familiarizing myself with potential codes and the data itself. Nevertheless, the data still needed to be annotated in a formal and structured manner. To do so, I used the data analysis software NVivo and coded in three separate phases.
In a first (1) phase, i.e. initial coding, the data was combed through using NVivo’s nodes feature, which allows different themes or ideas which are present in the data to be extracted and compared both within and across data samples. During this first phase, I focused on identifying descriptive nodes in the data, whilst already paying attention to a possible hierarchy in the different codes. During second-level
De Timmerman 26
coding (2) the descriptive nodes were used to develop more abstract conclusions, and the specific hierarchy between nodes was further fleshed out. Specifically, nodes that were present in both interviews were highlighted, and used to formulate a common idea or concern in abstract terms. In a third and last (3) phase, the nodes and their hierarchy were used to create memos, which laid the foundation for my presentation of the qualitative data found in section 5.2.
De Timmerman 27
5 Results
In this section, the results of both the quantitative and the qualitative inquiries will be presented separate from one another. In the next section (cf. 6), then, the results from both methodological inquiries presented here, will be analyzed and triangulated in relation to one another, to ultimately formulate answers to the research questions central to this project.
5.1 Quantitative
In this section, the results of the quantitative inquiry of this research project will be discussed in three phases. These three phases coincide with three different levels of analysis: (1) analysis based on random effects, i.e. variables which are expected to have no correlation with the dependent variable,
(2) analysis based on fixed effects, i.e. variables which are expected to correlate with the dependent variable, and (3) a mixed effects analysis, combining both random and fixed effects into one model
(Gelman & Hill, 2007, p. 245). As Gelman and Hill (2007) point out, however, “[t]he statistical literature is full of confusing and contradictory advice” regarding fixed and random effects. Because an elaborate review on the myriad of definitions of both terms is not relevant to the subject of this paper, however,
I will stick to the straightforward definitions listed above.
In more concrete terms, the three analytical phases of this quantitative enquiry are as follows. In a first
(1) phase, the data will be explored per artist, providing a general view of the lyrical language use of all artists in terms of their use of the selected variables. In a second (2) phase, the data will be looked at using the extralinguistic and social parameters which were annotated in the corpus to get a first idea of what factors are correlated with the use of AAE features. In a third and last (3) phase, the data will be looked at using a mixed effects logistic regression model, which can serve as a detailed manner to analyze the corpus.
De Timmerman 28
In Excel and R, and consequently in the tables and figures featured in the rest of this section, the selected variables were written down using the Latin alphabet, as some characters are not supported by either program. Specifically, /aɪ/ monophthongization will be displayed as ‘ai’, post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ and /-t/ deletion will be shown as ‘Cd’ and ‘Ct’ respectively (as opposed to ‘Cd#’ or ‘Ct#’, with ‘C’ signifying a preceding consonant and ‘#’ referring to word-final position), /-ɪn/ ultimas will be referred to using the ‘ing’ label, whereas post-vocalic, word-final /-r/ deletion will be displayed as ‘Vr’
(as opposed to ‘Vr#’, with ‘V’ signifying a preceding vowel and ‘#’ referring to word-final position). In the text outlining the results and analysis, however, the correct IPA symbols will be used.
5.1.1 Random Effects
In this first phase, the data will be looked at using random effects. In the case of this project, for every token, three random effects were annotated in the corpus: the name of the song that token appeared in, the length of that song expressed in lines, and the name of the artist performing the song. In this section, only the latter will be discussed. The reasons for this are threefold. First, this section can serve as an initial familiarization with the corpus, which could in turn aid further interpretation of the data.
Second, although the focus on this research project is on the lyrical language use of certain social groups, data on the lyrical language use of individual artists can help highlight certain outliers or unusual cases (cf. infra). Finally, the data will be looked at per artist and not per song because the latter would in my opinion not add useful insights nor help answer the research questions central to this project.
Additionally, a brief biography will precede the presentation of the data for every artist, the reasons for this are similar to the arguments listed above. First, it can add some contextualization to the data, and thus help as a familiarization tool. Next, some of those biographical details can be used in the interpretation of the data per artists, or highlight certain trends within some of the subgroups of the corpus. Last, since the presentation of the statistical model (cf. infra) will include a section on the
De Timmerman 29
variation in calculated predictions per artists, information from this section can be relayed when interpreting that more complex approach to the data per artist (cf. section 6).
5.1.1.1 B.B. King (AA, 60s)
Born as Riley B. King in 1925, B.B. King grew up on a cotton plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi (B.B.
King Biography, 2014). After having worked on the plantation until the age of 21, he decided to move to Memphis, Tennessee, where he started his musical career as a disc jockey (B.B. King Biography,
2014). Later, in 1949, King released his first record and quickly gained national and international success, which crowned him “King of the Blues” (B.B. King Biography, 2014). His 1964 performance at
The Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois was recorded and released as a live album and became one of
King’s most renowned records. Five songs from this album were used as data for this study. The variable use in these songs is visualized in Table 2, found below.
Table 2 B.B. King: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
B.B. King 78% (n = 73) 92% (n = 25) 56% (n = 18) 73% (n = 49) 78% (n = 18)
Use of the five selected features of AAE is not evenly distributed in B.B. King’s lyrics. Most notably,
King’s use of post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion is remarkably lower than his use of the other phonological features. Post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ deletion, on the other hand, was used more frequently (in 92 percent of cases) than any of the other three selected variables, which all had an average presence rate of approximately 96 percent. As will be explored in the presentation of the qualitative results as well, B.B. King appeared to be sensitive to overt prestige, which might help explain the rather low presence rates of all variables in B.B. King’s lyrics (cf. section 5.2.3.3).
De Timmerman 30
5.1.1.2 Albert King (AA, 60s)
Albert King, born as Albert Nelson in 1923, grew up on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi
(Albert King | Biography & History, n.d.). Although his musical career started early on, in his hometown,
King quickly moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and later Memphis, Tennessee to gain more traction (Albert
King | Biography & History, n.d.). In Memphis, his musical success grew exponentially following the release of his Born Under A Bad Sign album (Albert King | Biography & History, n.d.). In his prime, Albert
King released two live albums, Live Wire/Blues Power and Live ’69. The latter, consisting of five songs, was used in its entirety as data for this research project. Table 3 visualizes the variable use in those five songs.
Table 3 Albert King: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Albert King 94% (n = 70) 91% (n = 11) 85% (n = 13) 85% (n = 48) 58% (n = 19)
Use of the five selected variables is rather high in Albert King’s lyrics, except for post-vocalic, word-final
/-r/ deletion, which has a low presence rate at 58 percent. Both values for /aɪ/ monophthongization and post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ deletion are remarkably high, whereas the presence rate of post- consonantal, word-final /d/ deletion and /-ɪn/ ultimas lie around 85 percent. It is worth noting that the n-values are rather low for three of the five variables. This can be attributed to the highly instrumental nature of Albert King’s music; though most of the analyzed songs by Albert King were significantly longer in length than the other songs featured in the corpus, they contained very little lyrics.
5.1.1.3 Muddy Waters (AA, 60s)
McKinley Morganfield, later dubbed Muddy Waters, was born in Issaquena County, Mississippi in 1915
(Biography – Muddy Waters Official, n.d.). After having worked on cotton plantations for decades,
Muddy Waters moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1943 (Biography – Muddy Waters Official, n.d.). Soon after, he became a celebrated blues artist in the Delta region and Chicago’s music scene (Biography – Muddy
De Timmerman 31
Waters Official, n.d.). Five songs from his live recorded performance at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival were used as data for this study. Table 4 summarizes Muddy Waters’ variable use in those lyrics.
Table 4 Muddy Waters: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Muddy 99% (n = 150) 90% (n = 39) 100% (n = 11) 97% (n = 102) 97% (n = 34)
Waters
Muddy Waters’ use of the selected variables is the highest among the four AA 60s artists. Additionally, the variable use is relatively consistent across the board, with the lowest and highest values respectively at 90 percent and 100 percent. It is worth noting that, although most variables have a sufficiently high amount of cases to draw conclusions from, the n-value for post-consonantal, word- final /-d/ deletion is rather low (n = 11), which can nuance the seemingly extreme presence rate of 100 percent. Nevertheless, given the high presence rates and n-values of the other variables, Muddy
Waters’ lyrical language can be categorized as highly non-standard.
5.1.1.4 Buddy Guy (AA, 60s)
Buddy Guy was born George Guy in Lettsworth, Louisiana in 1936 (Buddy Guy | Biography & History, n.d.). Buddy Guy started playing the guitar at a very young age, and eventually moved to Chicago,
Illinois in 1957, where his professional career as a musician took shape (Buddy Guy | Biography &
History, n.d.). Although most of Buddy Guy’s success was as a side man to other musicians, he still produced a lot of own music and influenced a number of later artists (Buddy Guy | Biography & History, n.d.). In 1968, his live performance at the Philadelphia Folk Festival was recorded and released as an album, five songs of which were used as data for this thesis. Table 5 visualizes the variable use in the lyrics of those five songs.
De Timmerman 32
Table 5 Buddy Guy: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Buddy Guy 96% (n = 82) 100% (n = 19) 74% (n = 23) 94% (n = 34) 90% (n = 32)
Buddy Guy’s variable use is rather similar to Muddy Waters’, in that the presence rates range from 90 percent to 100 percent for four out of the five variables, the exception being post-consonantal, word- final /-t/ deletion, which appeared in 74 percent of the possible cases. As was the case with Muddy
Waters’, the low n-value for post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ deletion needs to be taken into account when interpreting the extreme presence rate of 100 percent. Nonetheless, Buddy Guy’s lyrical language use does seem to feature a high use of most variables, especially when compared to the variable use in B.B. King’s lyrics.
5.1.1.5 Josh Smith (non-AA, 10s)
Josh Smith was born in Middletown, Connecticut in 1979 but grew up in Florida (Josh Smith Bio, n.d.).
Josh Smith picked up the guitar at a very young age and started his musical career at the age of 12, when he performed live for the first time (Josh Smith Bio, n.d.). Smith released his first album at the age of 14, and had already completed four national tours and supported B.B. King on several shows by the turn of the century (Josh Smith Bio, n.d.). One of the live performances of Smith’s European tour in
2018 was recorded by a fan. Five songs of that performance were used as data for this project, the variable use in which can be found in Table 6.
Table 6 Josh Smith: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Josh Smith 99% (n = 98) 95% (n = 21) 100% (n = 64) 91% (n = 66) 79% (n = 47)
De Timmerman 33
As the first non-AA artist from the 2010s, Josh Smith’s use of the selected variables seems rather high.
Remarkable are the very high presence rates of /aɪ/ monophthongization and post-consonantal /-t/ deletion across a high number of cases. Those high n-values are interesting, because they are indicative of a noticeable difference between the 60s and 10s parts of the corpus: contemporary songs seem to feature more (diverse) lyrics than songs from the 60s. In addition to becoming apparent in the corpus thanks to the SongLength variable (cf. section 4.1.3), this also came up during the interviews (cf. section
5.2). These high n-values in turn help categorize Josh Smith’s lyrical language use as rather non- standard.
5.1.1.6 Matt Schofield (non-AA, 10s)
Matt Schofield was born in Manchester in 1977 but spent most of his adult life in the United States
(Matt Schofield Biography, n.d.). Schofield started playing the guitar at the age of 12 and ultimately moved to London to further develop his musical career (Matt Schofield Biography, n.d.). There, he quickly became a well-respected blues artists and gained enough traction to start a solo career (Matt
Schofield Biography, n.d.). During a recent tour in the United States, one of Schofield’s performances was recorded by a fan. Five songs of that performance were used as data for this study. Table 7 visualizes the variable use in those lyrics.
Table 7 Matt Schofield: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Matt 80% (n = 81) 79% (n = 53) 100% (n = 41) 87% (n = 55) 80% (n = 49)
Schofield
Although Matt Schofield’s variable use is noticeably lower than Josh Smith’s, Schofield does seem to use most variables rather consistently, with post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ having a presence rate of
100 percent out of 41 cases being a considerable outlier. In addition to having comparable presence rates for four out of five of the selected variables, the n-values too seem to be consistently higher than
De Timmerman 34
40, which in turn strengthens the conclusion that Matt Schofield’s lyrical language use is rather non- standard, but still less so than Josh Smith’s.
5.1.1.7 Philip Sayce (non-AA, 10s)
Born in Whales, Philip Sayce moved to Canada at the age of two (Philip Sayce | Biography & History, n.d.). In Toronto, Philip Sayce quickly made a name for himself as a talented young musician (Philip
Sayce | Biography & History, n.d.). Sayce ultimately moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music, where he became a celebrated guitar player (Philip Sayce | Biography & History, n.d.). Recently, a fan recorded one of Sayce’s performances in Los Angeles, five songs of that performance were used as data for this thesis. Table 8 below visualizes the variable use in those lyrics.
Table 8 Philip Sayce: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Philip Sayce 80% (n = 76) 100% (n = 20) 79% (n = 28) 90% (n = 50) 91% (n = 34)
Philip Sayce’s language use in the analyzed songs seems to feature a very high presence rate for three of the five selected variables, with values ranging from 90 percent to 100 percent for post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ deletion, use of the alveolar nasal /n/ in <-ing> ultimas and deletion of post-vocalic, word-final /-r/. His use of /aɪ/ monophthongization and post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion, on the other hand, are slightly lower, with presence rates of 80 percent and 79 percent respectively. In comparison, Sayce’s use of the selected AAE features thus lies in between those of Josh Smith and Matt
Schofield.
5.1.1.8 Robben Ford (AA, 10s)
Robben Ford was born in a musical family in Woodlake, California in 1951 (Robben Ford Bio, n.d.).
Though he first picked up the saxophone, Ford taught himself to play the guitar at the age of 13 and looked up to blues legends like B.B. King, Albert King, as well as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton (Robben
De Timmerman 35
Ford Bio, n.d.). Later, Robben Ford developed a profound interest for jazz, but blues influences would stay at the center of his own music (Robben Ford Bio, n.d.). During the 2016 Dallas International Guitar
Show, a fan record Ford’s performance. Five songs of that recording were used as data for this research project. Table 9 summarizes the variable use in those songs.
Table 9 Robben Ford: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Robben Ford 79% (n = 99) 90% (n = 49) 98% (n = 50) 88% (n = 64) 91% (n =34)
Robben Ford’s lyrical language use seems to be similar to Philip Sayce’s, as he too uses three of the selected variable very often, with presence rates ranging from 90 percent to 98 percent, whereas the other two variables seem to appear in 79 percent and 88 percent of the cases. Interestingly, the variables with slightly lower presence rates in the lyrics of Philip Sayce and Robben Ford are not identical: In Sayce’s case, it’s /aɪ/ monophthongization and post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion,
In Ford’s, it’s /aɪ/ monophthongization and /ɪn/ ultimas.
5.1.1.9 Kirk Fletcher (AA, 10s)
Born in California in 1975, Kirk Fletcher picked up the guitar at the age of eight and was introduced to traditional blues not long after (Biography – Kirk Fletcher, n.d.). In meeting other musicians who shared his interest for the blues, Fletcher developed his own style and built up his musical career (Biography –
Kirk Fletcher, n.d.). Though he frequently tours with other musicians, Fletcher intermittently tours with his own band to perform his solo work. One of his recent performances in Long Beach, California was recorded by a fan. Five songs of that recording were used as data for this project, the variable use in which can be seen on Table 10.
De Timmerman 36
Table 10 Kirk Fletcher: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Kirk Fletcher 80% (n = 104) 90% (n = 19) 100% (n = 21) 83% (n = 48) 100% (n = 13)
The analyzed lyrics of Kirk Fletcher are remarkable due to the presence rates of 100 percent for both post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion and post-vocalic, word-final /-r/ deletion. The reported n- values of both variables, n = 19 and n = 13 respectively, are rather low though. Similarly, post- consonantal, word-final /-d/ deletion too featured a low n-value of 19. The variable /aɪ/ monophthongization, on the other hand, has a rather high n-value of 104. Either way, his lyrical language use appears to be rather non-standard, yet featuring lower presence rates compared to other artists.
5.1.1.10 Eric Gales (AA, 10s)
Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1974, Eric Gales grew up with his older brother teaching him to play the guitar in a unique fashion: upside-down and left-handed (Eric Gales | Biography & History, n.d.). At age 11, Gales won his first blues contest, and he subsequently released his debut LP in 1991 (Eric Gales
| Biography & History, n.d.). Struggling to balance the influence of Jimi Hendrix in his own playing, Gales released multiple records searching for his own sound (Eric Gales | Biography & History, n.d.). His recent performance at the 2019 Dallas International Guitar Festival was recorded by a fan, which allowed five songs of that performance to be used as data for this study. Table 11 visualizes the variable use in those songs.
Table 11 Eric Gales: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Eric Gales 87% (n = 118) 100% (n = 18) 100% (n = 15) 81% (n = 26) 81% (n = 48)
De Timmerman 37
Eric Gales’ lyrics seem to feature high presence rates for all variables, with values ranging from 80 percent to 100 percent. Analogous to Kirk Fletcher, Eric Gales used two of the variables in 100 percent of the cases, namely post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ deletion and post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion, but both features have low n-values: 18 and 15 respectively. Again, similar to Kirk Fletcher, high n-values are found in the /aɪ/ monophthongization variable. Consequently, a similar conclusion can be drawn from Eric Gales lyrical language use, which seems to be rather non-standard, just like Kirk
Fletcher’s.
5.1.1.11 Kingfish (AA, 10s)
Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1999, Kingfish is the youngest artist featured in this research project
(Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Bio, n.d.). Kingfish picked up the guitar at age 11 and played his first live performance in that same year (Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Bio, n.d.). Sharing stages with Buddy Guy,
Eric Gales, Tedeshi Trucks Band and many others, Kingfish quickly gained fame for his unique style of playing (Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Bio, n.d.). A fan recorded his performance at the 2019 Dallas
International Guitar Festival, five songs of which were used as data for this thesis. Table 12 below shows the variable use in those lyrics.
Table 12 Kingfish: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Kingfish 83% (n = 120) 91% (n =34) 96% (n = 23) 87% (n = 47) 96% (n = 46)
Though the youngest artist featured in this research project, Kingfish’s lyrical language use seems to be very similar to the other AA artists from the 2010s. All variables have high presence rates and high n- values across the board. Most notably, Kingfish seems to delete post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ and
/-d/ and post-vocalic, word-final /-r/ quasi consistently, across many cases. Consequently, Kingfish’s lyrical language use can be characterized as fairly non-standard.
De Timmerman 38
5.1.1.12 Gary Clark Jr. (AA, 10s)
Born in Austin, Texas in 1984, Gary Clark Jr. picked up the guitar at age 12 and spent his teens making a name for himself in the Austin music scene (Gary Clark, Jr. | Biography & History, n.d.). From his performance at Eric Clapton’s 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival onwards, Gary Clark Jr. released multiple records, making fame for his personal and distinctive take on the electric blues (Gary Clark, Jr. |
Biography & History, n.d.). His 2015 performance at Rock in Rio was professionally recorded, which allowed five songs of that performance to be used as data for this research project. The variable use in those songs can be found in Table 13.
Table 13 Gary Clark Jr.: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Gary Clark Jr. 87% (n = 101) 89% (n = 28) 100% (n = 37) 96% (n = 26) 100% (n = 66)
The analyzed lyrics of Gary Clark Jr. feature a high presence rate of all selected variables, with relatively high n-values as well. The most striking result of Gary Clark Jr.’s songs is the completely consistent deletion of post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ and post-vocalic, word-final /-r/, across many cases. Gary
Clark Jr.’s lyrical language can hence be described as quite non-standard.
5.1.1.13 Tiny Legs Tim (non-AA, EFL, 10s)
Tiny Legs Tim, born Tim De Grave in 1978, is a blues artist based in Ghent, Belgium (Tiny Legs Tim Bio, n.d.). Though primarily an acoustic blues player, Tiny Legs Tim moved to an electric driven sound with a band in his album Stepping Up (Tiny Legs Tim Bio, n.d.). Most of the songs on that record were featured again on his live album Live at Sint-Jacobs, during the 2017 Gentse Feesten in Ghent, Belgium
(Tiny Legs Tim Bio, n.d.). Five songs of that live album were used as data for this project. The variable use in those lyrics can found in Table 14.
De Timmerman 39
Table 14 Tiny Legs Tim: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Tiny Legs Tim 93% (n = 128) 100% (n = 43) 100% (n = 30) 91% (n = 64) 81% (n = 42)
Tiny Legs Tim’s lyrical language use is remarkably non-standard, with relatively high presence rates and n-values for all selected variables. Most notably, post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ and /-t/ were consistently deleted in all analyzed songs, across many cases. Although Tiny Legs Tim is not a native speaker of English, his lyrical language use seems to be characterized by a high use of AAE features.
5.1.1.14 Artur Menezes (non-AA, EFL, 10s)
Artur Menezes was born in Brazil in 1997 and picked up the guitar at a young age, but ultimately moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in music (Artur Menezes - Bio, n.d.). There, he quickly made a name for himself in the blues scene, and developed his unique approach to the blues (Artur Menezes
- Bio, n.d.). Besides playing the blues, Menezes is actively involved in promoting access to the blues, and music in general, in Brazil (Artur Menezes - Bio, n.d.). One of his recent performances in Los Angeles was recorded by a fan, five songs of which were used as data for this study. The variable use in those lyrics is visualized in Table 15, found below.
Table 15 Artur Menezes: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Artur 82% (n = 79) 100% (n = 28) 85% (n = 13) 79% (n = 29) 67% (n = 21)
Menezes
Though still noticeably non-standard, the analyzed lyrics of Artur Menezes seem to feature less use of the selected variables than Tiny Legs Tim. Additionally, the n-values are relatively low for four out of
De Timmerman 40
five of the variables, which makes it difficult to formulate concrete characterizations of Menezes’ lyrical language use.
5.1.1.15 Dan Patlansky (non-AA, EFL, 10s)
Dan Patlansky was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1981 and grew up in a music-loving family
(Dan Patlansky | Biography & History, n.d.). Growing up with rock, blues jazz, etc. playing all around him, Patlansky quickly picked up the guitar, leading to his first band at the age of 16 (Dan Patlansky |
Biography & History, n.d.). When Dan Patlansky was ultimately introduced to the music of Stevie Ray
Vaughan, his career as a blues musician truly started (Dan Patlansky | Biography & History, n.d.).
Patlansky’s 2014 performance in Groesbeek, The Netherlands was recorded by a local radio station, which allowed five songs from that performance to be used as data for this project. The variable use in the lyrics of those songs were visualized in Table 16.
Table 16 Dan Patlansky: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Dan Patlansky 99% (n = 68) 100% (n =21) 91% (n = 23) 63% (n = 30) 85% (n = 26)
Dan Patlansky’s lyrics in the selected songs feature a high presence rate of most of the variables, but a strikingly low presence rate of /ɪn/ ultimas, a feature that seems to be highly prevalent in the analyzed lyrics of all other artists. Nonetheless, the overall lyrical language use of Dan Patlansky appears to be rather non-standard, specifically because of the very high presence rate of /aɪ/ monophthongization, at 99 percent out of 68 cases.
5.1.1.16 Guy King (non-AA, EFL, 10s)
Guy King was born in a small town in Israel in 1977 (Stephenson, n.d.). Picking up multiple musical instruments, including the guitar, at a young age, Guy King quickly developed a profound passion for music (Stephenson, n.d.). At the age of 16, King participated in a contest to tour the United States,
De Timmerman 41
during which he spent a lot of time in cities like Memphis and New Orleans, where he developed and performed his own blues music (Stephenson, n.d.). Upon losing both his parents, Guy King decided to further develop his career and music in the US, where he is still residing (Stephenson, n.d.). Recently, a fan recorded one of Guy King’s performances in Tarzana, California, five songs of which were used as data for this thesis. Table 17 found below summarizes the variable use in the lyrics of those songs.
Table 17 Guy King: Non-standard use of all variables, relative
ai Cd Ct ing Vr
Guy King 89% (n = 113) 91% (n = 45) 82% (n = 33) 93% (n = 87) 60% (n = 35)
Analogous to the lyrics of Dan Patlansky, Guy King’s lyrics seem to feature high presence rates of four out of five of the selected variables, the exception being the relatively low use of post-vocalic, word- final /-r/ deletion, which was only used in 60 percent of the 35 possible cases. That being said, other features, such as /aɪ/ monophthongization and post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ deletion, are highly present in King’s lyrics, leading to the conclusion that Guy King’s lyrical language use is relatively non- standard as well.
De Timmerman 42
5.1.2 Fixed Effects
In the last section (cf. 5.1.1) the data was presented per artist, a method that can serve as a general introduction to the data but does not leave much room for further and more complex analysis. In this section, on the other hand, the data will be presented in a more specific manner, namely by considering some of the extralinguistic and social parameters, i.e. fixed effects, that were annotated in the corpus
(cf. section 4.1.2). This will in turn allow me to answer the specific research questions (cf. section 3) in the separate analysis section of this project (cf. section 6).
5.1.2.1 Distribution of Phonological Variables in Entire Corpus
In the previous section (cf. 5.1.1), the presence rate of all variables and their n-values were explored for every artist. If the n-values where considerably lower for one given artists, this was mostly explained by means of the more instrumental nature of their music. That being said, in a lot of cases the variation in n-values within one artist’s lyrics differed as well. This can be attributed to the unequal distribution of the phonological variables in the entire corpus, which is visualized in Table 18, found below.
Table 18 Distribution of phonological variables in entire corpus
non-standard standard total
ai 1375 185 1560
Cd 437 36 473
Ct 478 84 562
ing 410 33 443
Vr 725 100 825
As can be seen on Table 18, the phonological variables are unequally distributed throughout the corpus.
Post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ and /-t/ deletion and [ɪn] ultimas could have appeared in roughly the same amount of cases (n = 473, n = 562, n = 443 respectively). Post-vocalic, word-final /-r/ deletion, on
De Timmerman 43
the other hand, could have appeared in more cases, with n = 825. Most strikingly, /aɪ/ monophthongization could have appeared in 1560 cases, making it by far the highest occurring variable in the entire corpus. Consequently, some of the differences in n-values within the lyrics of one artist
(cf. section 5.1.1) can be attributed to the overall unequal distribution of the variables in the entire corpus. These results will be useful when interpreting parts of mixed effects model (cf. infra).
5.1.2.2 Correlation of Time Period and Variant Use
One possible dimension to explore the data of this project is to look at diachronic differences in the corpus. The overall corpus is skewed, however, since there are three times as many artists from the
2010s featured in the corpus than there are artists from the 1960s (cf. section 4.1.1). This in turn makes diachronic analysis of the entire corpus biased when comparing absolute values, but the relative presence rates of non-standard variables can be compared. All tables in this section will therefore include both absolute and relative data. Table 19 below indicates the diachronic differences in the entire corpus.
Table 19 Variant use by all artists by time period
non-standard standard Presence rate of non-
standard variant
60s 781 89 90% (n = 870)
2010s 2644 349 88% (n = 2993)
As can be seen on Table 19, the relative presence rates of the non-standard variant seem to be near- identical across both time periods, though their absolute values are incomparable due to the nature of the corpus. To allow for a more reliable comparison in terms of absolute data, the corpus can be segmented for diachronic analysis, specifically by only considering data from AA artists. In doing so, potential differences in the use of AAE features by AA artists from the 1960s and AA artists from the
De Timmerman 44
2010s can be explored, with equally large samples for both groups. This diachronic data with the social group held consistent to filter for AA artists is visualized in Table 20, found below.
Table 20 Variant use by AA artists by time period
non-standard standard Presence rate of non-
standard variant
60s 781 89 90% (n = 870)
2010s 848 108 89% (n = 956)
As becomes apparent from Table 20, the variant use of the selected variables by AA artists from the
1960s and ones from the 2010s is very similar, with the overall presence rates of the non-standard variants being near-identical. The only noticeable difference when comparing the data from both time periods, is the slightly lower n-value for the 1960s, which was already mentioned previously (cf. section
5.1.1). In summary, the lyrical language use from AA artists from the 1960s and the 2010s can be characterized by their high use of the AE features used as variables in this study, with remarkably high presence rates for both time periods.
5.1.2.3 Correlation of Social Group and Variant Use
Another possible dimension to explore the data is to look at differences across social groups. To do so, the time period was held constant to filter for contemporary artists, which again resulted in a comparison between two subgroups with equally large samples. Table 21, found below, details the variant use by contemporary native English-speaking artists by social group.
De Timmerman 45
Table 21 Variant use by contemporary native-speaking artists by social group
non-standard standard Presence rate of non-
standard variant
African American 1629 197 89% (n = 1826)
Non-African American 1796 241 88% (n = 2037)
As can be seen on Table 21, the variant uses by contemporary AA artists and contemporary non-AA ones are remarkably similar, with presence rates of 89 percent and 88 percent respectively. There is a slight difference in the n-values for both social groups, though, with non-AA artists having slightly higher ones. Nonetheless, the differences in variant use of both social groups seem negligible.
5.1.2.4 Correlation of Mother Tongue and Variant Use
When I selected artists whose lyrics to use for this research project, I consciously decided to include artists whose mother tongue is not English, as I expected their lyrical language use to differ from that of the other selected artists (cf. section 4.1.1).
Table 22 Variant use by contemporary non-AA artists by mother tongue
non-standard standard Presence rate of non-
standard variant
native 950 129 88% (n= 1079)
non-native 846 112 88% (n = 958)
As can be seen on Table 22, the variant uses by contemporary native and non-native artists are strikingly identical, which is in opposition to my initial expectations. Because of their identical presence rates of non-standard variants, these two subgroups were merged as one non-AA, 2010s group for the calculation of the statistical model (cf. section 5.1.3).
De Timmerman 46
5.1.2.5 Summary
In this section, the results were presented using different variables, which in every case lead to strikingly similar results. Table 23 serves as a summary, comparing the presence rates of non-standard variants across all four corpus subgroups.
Table 23 Presence rates of non-standard variant across corpus subgroups
Corpus subgroup Presence rate of non-standard variant
African American, 1960s 90% (n = 870)
African American, 2010s 89% (n = 956)
Non-African American, native, 2010s 88% (n= 1079)
Non-African American, non-native, 2010s 88% (n = 958)
De Timmerman 47
5.1.3 Mixed Effects Logistic Regression Model
As became apparent in the previous section (cf. 5.1.2.4 specifically), there seem to be very little differences in the general presence rates of non-standard variants across the four corpus subgroups.
Though this is an interesting observation which will be discussed at length in the analysis section (cf.
6), it would be problematic to conclude that the lyrical language use of all artists of the four subgroups is near-identical, without considering the internal distribution of the specific variables per group. The statistical model that will be presented in this section will attempt to clarify exactly that problem.
As was mentioned previously, two of the four corpus subgroups, namely native non-AA artists from the
2010s and non-native non-AA ones from the 2010s, were merged in the model (cf. supra). This is because their presence rates of the non-standard variants were identical, effectively making the distinction between these two subgroups irrelevant. Additionally, intercept calculations of the fixed effects annotated in the corpus (cf. infra) suggested that the mother tongue variable was highly ineffective in predicting the variant of the phonological variables (p = 0.92109). As a result, three social groups were integrated in the statistical analysis: AA_10s, AA_60s and nonAA_10s.
A statistical model was calculated using mixed effects logistic regression, a type of Generalized Linear
Model (GLM), which can be used to model a binary, dependent variable (in casu: standard or non- standard realization of the phonological variables) in terms of other binary or continuous, independent variables (in casu: social group of the artist, name of the artist, name of the song, etc.). Upon finding an accurate fitting line (p = 1.75e-12), the estimated probability values of the phonological variables to be realized in a standard variant were plotted into Figure 2, which can be found below.
De Timmerman 48
Figure 2 Estimated probability of standard use of phonological variables per social group
The x-axis of Figure 2 indicates the five variables used in this study, clustered by the three social groups used in the model. The y-axis, then, indicates the probability (a value between 0 and 1) of a given phonological variable to be realized in a standard variant. Dots on the horizontal blue line indicate the predicted probability of a variable to be realized in a standard variety by a certain social group. The vertical pink brackets surrounding those dots signify the standard error of that prediction: a short pink line indicates an accurate prediction, whereas a longer pink line signifies a higher standard error of the prediction.
When analyzing Figure 2, three variables seem to have relatively identical predictions for all three social groups, namely /aɪ/ monophthongization, post-consonantal, word-final /-d/ and post-vocalic, word- final /-r/ deletion. Interestingly, two of these variables are also the ones with the highest n-values (cf. section 5.1.2.1). One could thus argue the variation in predictions for the other variables can merely be attributed to lower n-values, but this matter will be discussed extensively in section 6. For now, I want to point to the rather high variation in predictions for post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion and
De Timmerman 49
/ɪn/ ultimas, with more standard-like predictions for AA_60s and nonAA_10s, and for AA_60s respectively.
As alluded to previously, random effects are expected to have no correlation with the independent variable (Gelman & Hill, 2007, p. 245). In the case of this project, that would mean there is no statistically significant correlation between the realization of a token (i.e. standard or non-standard) and the name of the artists who performed the song containing the token. The mixed effects logistic regression model can be used to check for this hypothesis. Figure 3 found below contains a caterpillar plot which can be used to check the random effect ‘Artist’.
Figure 3 Use of all AAE features per artist
De Timmerman 50
Figure 3’s y-axis lists the 16 artists who were featured in this project. The x-axis signifies the predicted variant use (i.e. standard vs non-standard) of the entire dataset: the 0-value with the corresponding horizontal line, is the value at which there is no correlation between the artist and their predicted variant use; a negative value for an artist, then, indicates their lyrical language is less standard-like, whereas a positive value suggests a more standard-like lyrical language use. Finally, the blue values and their corresponding brackets signify the predicted variant use (i.e. standard vs non-standard) of an artist and their corresponding 95 percent confidence intervals (i.e. the interval that has a 95 percent probability to include the value for that artist). If the confidence interval of a given artist intercepts the horizontal line at the 0-value of the x-axis, there is no statistically significant correlation between the artist and their variant use; if the artist’s confidence interval does not, however, intercept the 0 value on the x-axis, there is a statistically significant correlation between the artist and their variant use.
As can be seen on Figure 2, there is only one artist whose confidence interval does not intercept the horizontal line corresponding with the 0-value on the x-axis, namely B.B. King. Interestingly, B.B. King’s unique lyrical language use was mentioned by both participants that were interviewed as part of this study (cf. section 5.2). B.B. King’s exceptional case will hence be discussed separately in the analysis section (cf. 6.2.3).
De Timmerman 51
5.2 Qualitative
In this section, the results from the qualitative inquiry of this research project will be presented. As was mentioned in section 4, during the second-level coding phase, the hierarchy of the created nodes was structured in NVivo. Consequently, I will use the three parent-level nodes that were construed during this second-level coding to structure the discussion of the interview data. Additionally, the node hierarchy was visualized using sunburst diagrams made in Excel to further aid the presentation of the data in this section. Interpretation of these diagrams will be explained using Figure 4, found below.
Figure 4 Complete node hierarchy
De Timmerman 52
As can be seen on Figure 4, the hierarchy of the nodes is expressed using the concentric circles: the closer a section is to the center, the higher it is in hierarchy. The surface areas of the different sections, on the other hand, signify the amount of times the label of that section (i.e. a specific node) was coded in the interview transcriptions. Hence, each of the figures can be used to analyze what different topics came up during the interview, how they relate to one another, and how often they were mentioned.
In the following sections, three separate sunburst diagrams will be used to present the data, one for each of the three main topics, i.e. defining the blues, writing the blues, and performing the blues.
5.2.1 Defining the Blues
Figure 5 Defining the blues
De Timmerman 53
As can be seen on Figure 5, when discussing what defines the blues, three main ideas came up during the interviews. First, a great deal of attention was paid to the historical context of the blues. A small section of this topic covered cultural appropriation as a relevant topic of debate within the blues scene, and Western societies in general. Strikingly, both artists remarked that they had never received any criticism from AA blues artists for playing the blues as a non-African American. In relation to this topic,
Matt Schofield described having met B.B. King:
But we got a knock and I’m like oh shit and so I go in and I knock on his door and he’s like come on in
son, you know, and he invited me into him and we spoke about the music and the blues and h- you
know there was no sense of him- he was only pleased [..] to know that I loved it so much, d’you know
so, but there was no sense of cultural appropriation going on there as they call it these days
Likewise, Josh Smith seemed to emphasize intent more than anything else: “I love the blues and I play it to the best of my ability with the amount of respect and reverence I think it deserves, does it measure up? I don’t know”. What came up during the interviews more frequently, was the needed knowledge of the historical context of the blues to understand the genre, which in turn enables a musician to be authentic. This emphasis on authenticity will be further explored when discussing the section on performing the blues (cf. 5.2.3).
Second, large parts of the conversation discussed the blues as a feeling. Josh Smith in particular emphasized this aspect of the blues:
“But the beauty and essence of the blues is the feeling that it imparts and that’s generated by the
performance, normally- it’s not always so much about the form of the song or even the lyrics
necessarily (.) although sometimes it is because they can be very literal or make you feel a certain way
but it’s the way that these people perform these songs and perform their improvisations that- that
you feel (.) you just feel it“
As is apparent from the quote above, much of the feeling that Josh Smith mentions to be central to the blues is characteristic of live performances, where the feeling is imparted to both the artist and the audience (cf. Rudinow’s (1994) remarks on performer-audience dialogue). Matt Schofield too,
De Timmerman 54
mentions the blues to be a feeling: “You know, so ((nods)) that’s what the blues is (.) so really the blues is a feeling, and that’s a cliché but it’s true ((smiles)) you know”.
Interestingly, while Schofield confirms the cliché that the blues is a feeling, he actively combats another cliché, namely that the blues is nothing more than “my baby just left me” because “the really great stuff [..] is much more thoughtful than that and much more layered, much cleverer”. Josh Smith provides similar remarks by saying that “the blues is not just three chords and twelve bars”. Schofield describes this cliché as being a result of the simplicity of early blues, because in his words:
“they [early blues artists] were inventing, they weren’t doing a version of something that had come
before so uhm (.) so when people were singing baby please don’t go or I woke up this morning, now
it’s a cliché [..] but it wasn’t when they invented it, that was like the latest shit”
In other words, both Josh Smith and Matt Schofield seem to express that knowledge of both the historical and musical context of the genre is necessary to be an authentic blues artist.
Last, near the end of both interviews, when asked to give concluding remarks, both artists described the blues as a language. Most notably, Matt Schofield commented: “But uhm, so blues, more than any other kind of music is a language that is spoken like a colloquial language I think”. This sparked up a conversation describing what different elements go into the blues: vocabulary, knowledge, feeling, pronunciation, etc. When asked how those different parts relate to one another to form the blues as a language and a genre, Schofield said: “[T]hey’re all sort of part of one thing [..] which is inside you and you have to hear the thing inside you and then put it out, you know”, which again emphasizes the importance of imparting a feeling throughout a performance.
De Timmerman 55
5.2.2 Writing the Blues
Figure 6 Writing the blues
When discussing what goes into writing blues music, both artists spent a lot of time outlining certain elements of their creative process, as seen on Figure 6. In regard to finding one’s own voice and developing one’s own music, both Josh Smith and Matt Schofield mentioned a combination of referencing your influences and adding your own unique elements as being key. Interestingly, when the artists were presented with questions about their creative process, much of what they discussed initially only concerned their guitar playing. When asked to give remarks about their lyrics, then, both artists mentioned having struggled extensively with the lyrical aspect of their music. Josh Smith
De Timmerman 56
explained: “I used to struggle with- I always felt my lyrics were too literal you know I- I didn’t have a poetic sense about me ((smiles))”, and Matt Schofield expressed similar ideas: “But yea it was like trying to come up with those lyrical (.) hooky uh:: (.) just something a little more clever than my baby just left me d’ya know what I mean”. Both artists went on to describe trial and error as the most important vehicle to improve in this area, with Josh Smith particularly emphasizing drawing inspirations from other lyrics, books, films, etc. helped in this regard.
Analogous to the section on defining the blues, knowledge and respect for the genre’s context was mentioned with regard to the creative process of both artists as well. This understanding of the blues was described using two dimensions, namely a historical one and a musical one. Regarding the historical context, Josh Smith mentioned:
I mean it would just be ridiculous for me to go on stage and play Muddy Waters songs and dress like
Muddy Waters and plan like- pretend like I am Muddy Waters, I’m not Muddy Waters, I never lived
through any of the things that these people had to deal with
Strikingly, Matt Schofield expressed near-identical feelings: “that’s not to suggest that uh I could ever express it in the same way- you know I can’t be Muddy Waters, I can’t- so that’s why it’s important to not try and be”. Much of this concerns the concept of authenticity, which will be discussed at length in the section on performing the blues (cf. 5.2.3).
Knowledge of the musical context is different, as it mostly pertains to an understanding of the simplicity of early blues. As mentioned in the previous section, this simplicity has led to certain clichés regarding the genre, clichés that both interviewees seem to actively combat. Josh Smith expressed the following:
[S]o for those guys who say you know I could play the blues it’s just three chords, yes of course it’s
three chords and yes you know the pentatonic scale and of course you can technically play (.) blues
you know, but you ain’t saying nothing.
That structural simplicity of the blues thus ties in with its emphasis on feeling: “it’s not just a twelve- bar progression, blues is a feeling”.
De Timmerman 57
Additionally, Matt Schofield commented on the relative quality of early blues music:
So like when- especially like when white blues bands all get shitty guitars and play out of tune to sound
((air quotes)) authentic [..] that’s not authentic, because those guys weren’t playing like that because
they wanted to, they were playing like that because that was the option.
Hence, understanding that structural simplicity and simplicity in terms of musical instruments and equipment as a limitation of the time, and not an inherent quality of the blues, was highlighted to be imported in respecting and understanding the blues. This too ties in with the strong emphasis on authenticity (cf. infra). That being sad, simplicity can be both a limitation as well as a quality: “even in their simplicity as I always say, simple is hard, to like- Born Under A Bad Sign [..] it’s really simple but it’s hard to write a song that simple and that clever you know with that much imagery”.
Finally, both artists listed two influential factors in the eventual outcome of their musical career, namely their early contact with the blues and their joining a band early on in their teens. This early contact can in turn lead to the development of influences, as Josh Smith puts it: “songs you listen to your whole life and you remember the lyrics, there’s no way those things don’t stay with you”. Near the end of the interview, Smith added: “but if you’re writing something, a lot of times it’s based off the feeling you’re trying to impart to the words that you’ve written so that may influence more the way that you phrase certain things”, which again emphasized the importance of imparting a feeling, which is especially essential when performing live, a dimension of the blues that will be discussed in the next section.
De Timmerman 58
5.2.3 Performing the Blues
Figure 7 Performing the blues
When I presented the two interviewees with some of the quantitative data I had gathered for my bachelor paper (cf. section 3.2.1), two main topics came up, namely the pronunciation characteristic of blues lyrics and the needed authenticity to play the blues properly. Although these two topics were bundled as elements concerned with performing the blues during the second-level coding, they will be discussed separately in the following sections because of the amount of data that is associated with them. Additionally, a separate section will discuss the unique case of B.B. King that has been alluded to in previous sections (cf. supra).
De Timmerman 59
5.2.3.1 Pronunciation
When presented with the quantitative data from my bachelor paper, both artists gave similar remarks and interpreted the results in a similar manner. Josh Smith immediately stated: “There’s definitely a, you know, a common thread through blues lyrics and the way people sing”. Matt Schofield expressed a similar correlation between the genre and the lyrical language use associated with it: “[A]t some point, the features of the music, that impart the feeling that you’re trying to impart, rely on a certain uh, a certain thing, I guess it would be with the singing, the vocals, almost like, colloquialisms, really”.
This last statement specifically seems to refer to the definition of the blues as a language (cf. section
5.2.3.1).
When asked to interpret the results further, both artists seemed to propose a number of clarifications for the similar lyrical language of the artists presented in the data. Josh Smith highlighted three relevant factors when comparing the results, two of which were described as follows:
well some of it is blues language based of off, for me it’s listening to stuff, just influenced by listening
to it my whole life, there’s also some of this though that’s not- not genre specific, it’s singing related
[..] Well it depends on what word comes next in the sentence and you’re singing so it just happens,
that could happen in a pop setting or in a country setting in the same way, you know
A first (1) factor Smith lists, is his avid listening to other blues artists and being influenced by their lyrical language use. This is a highly promising statement when considering the research questions central to this project (cf. section 3), which will be discussed in detail in the next section (cf. 6). A second (2) component Josh Smith mentions, is the phonological context of a given token that inadvertently influences one’s pronunciation: “[I]t’s not that I’m trying to not go walking ((laughs)) bai m-, it’s just more natural to say walkin ba: ma:self”, where the <-ing> ultima is presumably realized as [ɪn] because of the close proximity of [b] and [n] in the mouth. This is a factor I did not account for in the quantitative inquiry of this study, and will hence be discussed in the limitations sections (cf. 7). A third (3) argument
Smith gives, ties in with the emphasis on feeling (cf. supra): “Some of it is inspired by other artists, but
De Timmerman 60
a lot of times that is more like- you do- I guess you take some of their diction but normally it’s trynna- you’re trying to get the feel of the way that they do things”. A particular feeling then, might correspond more with a certain pronunciation than with another.
Matt Schofield, on the other hand, emphasized one factor in particular, namely the idea of tone (cf. guitar) or timbre (cf. voice) applied to pronunciation: “it is sort of instinctive, uh (.) it would (.) it would sound wrong, it would be like playing with the wrong tone”. Finding this correct tone, however, is not done through simple imitation:
[S]o: some of it is (.) ins- I think instinctive uhm (.) tonal adjustment you know to have the right tone
but at the same time I’m- I’m not putting on an accent you know when I- in fact, I know people who
do and I often talk about this with other singers, you know, for better or for worse, I sing with my own
voice
This idea of pure imitation consequently ties in with authenticity:
[T]here are people that do that as well you know [and like] [..] ((imitating Howlin’ Woolf)) I’m sounding
like Howlin’ Woolf ((normally)) you know something- which- and I can do those caricatures as well [..]
[b]ut that’s not sincere to me
This emphasis on authenticity will be discussed in detail in the following section.
5.2.3.2 Authenticity
Throughout the previous sections, it has become apparent that the idea of authenticity permeates the discourse surrounding the blues as a genre. This high demand for authenticity is reflected in much of what both artists expressed throughout the interviews. For starters, much of the needed authenticity to play the blues seems to stem from a knowledge of the genre’s historical context. As Josh Smith puts it:
I can at least respect that they had to deal with it and understand how it informed their music, now,
that doesn’t mean that I- but I- just cause I didn’t go through what they went through- all anybody can
De Timmerman 61
go through is what they go through, in their life, everybody has a personal experience, you know, as
long as you respect everybody else’s
From this quote, it seems that intent is a crucial factor in acquiring authenticity, an idea that seems to come back in Matt Schofield’s take on the issue:
[I]t it- that’s why you you’re- you are doing it disservice of you’re playing that stuff but playing it
without intent or understanding you know, that’s what annoys me about so many kind of (.) less
original white uhm (1) let’s say more amateur blues bands that are happy to just destroy the- this
music without really understanding what they’re talking about
Intent is in other words essential to claim authenticity. I believe this emphasis on knowledge and intent has clear ties with some of the problems regarding cultural appropriation I outlined in section 2.4, but
I will discuss this more elaborately in the analysis section (cf. 6.2.1).
Interestingly, though both artists described themselves as guitarist first and foremost (cf. section 5.2.2), they both emphasized the crucial role lyrics play in authentic blues performances. Matt Schofield mentioned how one cannot “just come out and go ((mimics guitar lick)) for an hour”. Josh Smith expresses a similar idea in a more severe manner:
I feel that when blues isn’t treated that way, I know the difference, when I see some guy get up on
stage and just wank over blues, you know, I just know okay whatever, it’s not that he’s a bad musician
and maybe he even knows more about music than I do, but he does not respect the blues doesn’t feel
the blues, doesn’t understand the blues, he has no idea what he’s doing
I believe this quote can be related to Rudinow’s (1994) remark on the blues as a performer-audience dialogue, as Smith seems to imply that authenticity is a feeling that is imparted by and to both parties.
Additionally, the content of the lyrics is essential as well. The following quote form Matt Schofield describes the need for an artist to sing lyrics that seem applicable to their situation, a requirement which can be applied to amateur blues bands covering certain songs (cf. supra), or a novice artist on the cusp of writing their own music:
De Timmerman 62
I was like nineteen or twenty and I’m singing that at a jam and Lee started like you should write your
own one that- or find something that’s more [..] relatable he goes cause you know, ((smiles)) you’re
not chucking steel like a slave th- so some of that is important to consider [..] there’s some stuff that
seems alright to sing you know [..] and some stuff that kinda sounds silly now
In summary, the discourse regarding the blues as a genre, and the ideas of the two artists interviewed for this research project specifically, seem to focus heavily on a needed amount of authenticity to perform the blues. This emphasis on authenticity can in turn be related to ideas regarding cultural appropriation, used to clarify the lyrical language use of contemporary blues artists, and ultimately to formulate answers to the research questions central to this project, which will be done in the analysis section (cf. 6).
5.2.3.3 B.B. King
Throughout this entire results section, B.B. King’s unique lyrical language use has been alluded to multiple times. In this subsection, I want to highlight the ideas Josh Smith and Matt Schofield expressed regarding King’s pronunciation, as they both immediately pointed to his unparalleled lyrical language use upon being presented with the data from my bachelor paper, without any guidance from me.
One factor that Matt Schofield brought up regarding B.B. King’s lyrical language use, was his musical aspirations: “B.B. wanted to be a crooner like Frank Sinatra”. Additionally, Schofield emphasized: “B.B. didn’t wanna be a down home blues man [..] [h]e wanted to be an internationally recognized artist with uh (1) class and- you know and actually the idea of the down home blues man is a lot of like white people’s kind of like (.) historical view on things”. Analogous to fighting this idea of the down home blues man, Schofield describes King as “part of the uhm (1) peaceful kind of civil rights movement as well you know like quietly [..] making choices about how uh the black community is represented in
American media [..] and so did Martin Luther King you know wh- and Martin Luther King was well spoken”.
De Timmerman 63
In other words, Matt Schofield seems to suggest that B.B. King wanted to uphold a higher standard of
English to maintain a certain musical standard and engage with social problems of the time:
B.B. would, in so many interviews he would say uh you know well I don’t always speak too well, [..] he
was quite deliberately trying to enunciate better than he might ordinarily have in order to uh come
across with that sort of sophistication and- but also dignity
Josh Smith, on the other hand, mainly emphasized B.B. King’s perceived sensitivity to overt social prestige:
You know (.) B.B. has this very sense of, he sounds like a guy who came from the Deep South who
probably didn’t have a large vocabulary and then learned a large vocabulary [..] [a]nd wanted to fit in
and seem like high society, you know, uptown
This sensitivity to overt prestige is something Schofield mentioned throughout the interview as well, as
King “played the most expensive model- Lucille was the most expensive Gibson you could buy” and his band “was in a suit and everybody if you watch videos of them (.) they’re proud ((sits upright)) and they play with like a self-assuredness”.
De Timmerman 64
6 Analysis
Whereas the results of both the quantitative and qualitative inquiries of this research project were presented separately in the previous section, in this section, the overall analysis will be formulated using both methodologies simultaneously and whilst paying specific attention to the research questions central to this research project. Consequently, this section is divided in three subsections: a first (1) subsection will deal with the use of AAE features by multiple blues artists with different socio-cultural backgrounds, a second (2) one will attempt to summarize what potential social concerns might inform the lyrical language use of those blues artists, whilst the third and final (3) subsection will discuss in what way the insights from this project can inform the potential correlation between language variation and music.
6.1 Use of AAE Features by Blues Artists with Different Socio-cultural Backgrounds
As became apparent from the results presented in section 5.1, the use of AAE features by all 16 artists included in this research project is remarkably comparable. When the artists were clustered by social group, the results were even more similar, as the presence rates of non-standard variants of all four groups ranged from 88 percent to 90 percent. These results are in line with the results from my bachelor paper, which had a comparable, yet much simpler quantitative methodology, and served as a preliminary project leading up to this larger one. Consequently, I can conclude that contemporary non-
AA blues artists appear to make extensive use of AAE features in their live performed lyrics, with highly comparable presence rates to contemporary AA ones and 60s AA ones.
More specifically, when presenting the estimated probabilities of the three different social groups realizing the standard variant of the phonological variables (cf. section 5.1.3), it became apparent that the values for all five of the variables were low across all three social groups. In other words, in a lyrical context, all three social groups have a high probability of realizing each of the variables in a non- standard variant. More specifically, the values for /aɪ/ monophthongization, post-consonantal, word-
De Timmerman 65
final /-d/ and post-vocalic, word-final /-r/ deletion had near-identical probability values, which indicates their use is quasi consistent across all social groups. Post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion and /ɪn/ ultimas, on the other hand, showed more variation across the three groups.
In the case of /ɪn/ ultimas, values for contemporary AA and non-AA artists are near-identical and strikingly low, whereas the value for AA artists from the sixties is the highest (i.e. the most standard- like) among all 15 values. This is a remarkable result, but I believe it can be mostly attributed to B.B.
King’s position as an outlier within his social group, as his use of the variable is the lowest among the group (cf. section 5.1.1.1). King’s unique lyrical language will therefore be discussed elaborately in section 6.2.3. As for post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion, the variation in probability values is less straight-forward to analyze, as sixties AA artists and contemporary non-AA ones shared relatively similar values that are noticeably higher than the one for contemporary AA artists. Rather, I believe another factor that was not annotated in the dataset but appeared in the qualitative section of this project (cf. section 5.2.3), might be at play here, namely the phonological context of the token. This limitation to my research will be discussed in section 7.
Given these insights, I do not believe the variation in the predicted probabilities can be attributed to lower n-values for two of the variables. Rather, I would suggest that the lyrical language uses of all three social groups can be considered to be near-identical when it comes to their prevalence of AAE features, regardless of the slight variation in two of the five variables. To explain why that might be the case, I first want to briefly refer to some of the qualitative insights I gathered from the interviews conducted as part of this research project.
As was mentioned previously, both participants of the interviews were asked to interpret the results of my bachelor paper (i.e. the comparable prevalence rates of AAE features in their lyrics compared to the lyrics of 60s AA artists). When doing so, both Josh Smith and Matt Schofield admitted that, although
De Timmerman 66
use of those features in covers of traditional blues songs can be attributed to that particular performer emulating the lyrical language use of the original artist, those features are still prevalent in the lyrics of original blues songs by a myriad of contemporary artists.
Consequently, there must be other factors which govern the lyrical language use of those contemporary artists. Both artists suggested one such a factor, namely that some AAE features are simply characteristic of the blues as a genre, and that using those features is mostly elicited by motivations regarding tone and timbre. This intrinsic correlation between AAE and the blues is promising when considering a potential correlation between language variation and music (cf. section
6.3). Nonetheless, other factors, namely social concerns, seem to be at play as well, and will therefore be discussed in the next subsection.
6.2 Social Concerns of Contemporary Blues Artists
Although the consideration of certain phonological features as simply being characteristic of the blues is a promising way to clarify the use of AAE features by contemporary white artists, the qualitative dimension of this project suggests a number of social factors go into the development of lyrical language uses of contemporary blues artists as well. A common theme in the replies of both artists throughout the interviews conducted for this project, was the emphasis on authenticity as a key concept in relation to the blues as a genre.
6.2.1 Authenticity and Cultural Appropriation
Not only does the concept of authenticity seem instrumental in defining the blues as a genre and presenting oneself as a blues artist, both artists seemingly use the concept to evaluate other artists who claim to play the blues, but do so in a less sincere manner (cf. Rudinow’s (1994) performer- audience dialogue). This authenticity seems to mainly stem from a knowledge of the historical context of the genre, which manifests itself in respecting the societal problems early blues artists dealt with. I
De Timmerman 67
believe this emphasis on contextual knowledge can be related to some of the problematic characteristics of cultural exploitation Ziff and Rao (1997) identified:
1 Cultural degradation: loss of integrity due to erroneous depiction of heritage
2 Cultural preservation: cultural objects are best understood in their native contexts
3 Cultural deprivation: wrongful exploitation for financial gain of cultural objects
4 Failure to recognize sovereign claims: preventing traditional cultures to block inappropriate
adaptations or uses of their cultural heritage (Rogers, 2006, p. 487)
When relating the concerns expressed by Matt Schofield and Josh Smith to the characteristics of cultural exploitation listed above, cultural degradation and preservation seem to emerge as the most prominent themes.
Therefore, I would argue that the intensity with which both artists seem to value knowledge of the aforementioned historical context when performing their music, can be seen as a means to prevent loss of integrity of the heritage of the blues, as well as to make sure that their music is correctly understood within the genre’s societal context. What the artists described as being authentic, then, might contain an underlying endeavor to prevent cultural exploitation of the very genre they engage with daily. Moreover, I would argue that this endeavor is mainly manifested in the lyrics of contemporary blues, both in terms of their content and their phonological realization, of which the latter is key to the focus of this research project. As a result, I believe this porject suggests that although cultural appropriation is easily defined in a narrow sense, its actual processes are highly complex and can involve both deliberate and instinctive maneuvers by social actors (cf. section 6.2.2). Moreover, I believe these insights can be extrapolated to other potential cases of cultural appropriation, both within and outside the arts, to ultimately add nuance to the discourse of this “undertheorized” phenomenon (Young, 2010, p. 474).
De Timmerman 68
6.2.2 Authenticity, Performance and Performativity
This reflection of authenticity in the lyrics of contemporary blues artists can in turn be related to the concepts of performance and performativity. As Rudinow (1994) argues, and as was largely confirmed by the artists during the interviews, claiming authenticity is necessary in order to perform the blues. To do so, contemporary artists might use features of AAE as a strategy; a conscious social performance that enables their musical performance. Additionally, one could argue by that very practice (i.e. using features of AAE), contemporary blues artists invoke the very definition of a blues artist and are thus limited in their own lyrical language use, as that performativity shapes what it means to be a blues artist.
As I alluded to in section 2.3, these views on agency are not inherently mutually exclusive, especially in a language variation context. In fact, when considering the interpretations of Josh Smith and Matt
Schofield regarding their use of AAE features, the artists seemed to imply that use of the features was both partially deliberate and partially instinctive. When considering the former, the artists might consciously use those features as part of their social performance because they are indexical for the needed authenticity to perform the blues. When interpreting the latter, it would seem that their very use of those features actively defines what it means to be a blues artist, which creates a defining characteristic of the genre as a whole.
In relation to this, I want to refer to one of Matt Schofield’s replies regarding the characterization of the blues as a language:
[A]nd so the blues, more than any other kind of music that I’ve experienced, Jazz a little bit but with
Jazz there’s a technical requirement that’s different [..] [b]ut uhm, so blues, more than any other kind
of music is a language that is spoken like a colloquial language
My interpretation of the quote cited above is as follows: with blues, as with any musical genre, there are certain requirements that serve as a way to delineate the music associated with it. As I alluded to
De Timmerman 69
in section 4.1.1, the blues is hard to define because of its lack of technical, structural, and music- theoretical requirements. Rather, the blues is centered around feeling and authenticity (cf. section 5.2).
Consequently, blues artists are rarely defined by their technical abilities, but more so by their rapport with, respect for and attitude towards the genre. As a result, contemporary blues artists might use AAE features consciously, as a lyrical strategy to claim indexical authenticity required to perform the blues, and/or do so instinctively, because some phonological features are, in lieu of music-theoretical or other qualities, defining of the genre.
6.2.3 B.B. King as a Proxy for First and Third Wave Variationist Research
Before moving to the next subsection concerned with the overarching research question of this paper,
I want to briefly discuss the unique lyrical language use of B.B. King. The analysis regarding the social concerns of blues artists presented in this particular section was of course tailored to contemporary artists. Nonetheless, I believe the unique lyrical language use of B.B. King, as revealed by both the quantitative and qualitative enquiries central to this research project, can in fact be related to the social concerns of contemporary blues artists I have described above.
As I discussed in section 5.1.3, B.B. King’s case is the only one that displays a statistically significant correlation between variant use and the artist producing the token. Moreover, this is a correlation in favor of the standard variant of a given token, which makes King’s lyrical language use uniquely different from the rest of the sample. Strikingly, both Matt Schofield and Josh Smith immediately noticed this unique case when I presented them the data from my bachelor paper (which too suggested
King’s lyrical language use to be the most standard-like). Where Josh Smith emphasized B.B. King’s perceived sensitivity to overt social prestige, Matt Schofield proposed an arguably more nuanced interpretation, as he believed B.B. King wanted to uphold high musical standards and engage in political problems of the time.
De Timmerman 70
On the one hand, one could therefore argue that, in line with ideas from the first wave of variation studies (cf. section 2.2), B.B. King’s preference for standard variants was merely motivated by his sensitivity to overt prestige. I, on the other hand, would argue that B.B. King’s case could in fact be interpreted much like the case of the contemporary blues artists central to this project, in the sense that alterations to King’s lyrical language use might have been both deliberate and instinctive, and could be attributed to some of the social concerns he was confronted with daily. The latter is of course highly conjectural and demands further research into B.B. King’s case specifically.
6.3 Language Variation and Music
So far, this section has attempted to answer the questions to what extent, why, and how contemporary blues artists with various socio-cultural backgrounds use features of AAE in their lyrical language use.
As I mentioned in section 3, there is one larger research question at play here as well, namely how music relates to language variation and how that potential correlation can be conceptualized. In this particular subsection, I will attempt to answer that question using the insights gathered in this research project.
As was illustrated in section 2.2, in the last decade, the term identity has been linked to language variation on multiple occasions (Holmes & Wilson, 2017, p. 131), which enables the consideration of music as a factor governing our language use, as it has recently been related to our identities (Halliday,
2019; Marshall & Naumann, 2018; Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003; Vella & Mills, 2016). Additionally, I pointed to research of Dubois and Horvath (1999) and Drummond (2018) that indicated the use of certain phonological variables to be linked to engagement with particular genres of music in specific social contexts.
Where Dubois and Horvath (1999) researched amateur musicians in a rural setting, and Drummond
(2018) examined urban fans of a musical genre, this project dealt with professional artists that actively
De Timmerman 71
engage(d) with the musical genre both before and during their musical career. Therefore, I believe this project can serve as a synthesis of the two points of view Dubois and Horvath (1999) and Drummond
(2018) provided. Additionally, I believe insights from the interviews featured in this project suggest that the analyzed features of AAE can to some extent simply be attributed to the blues as a musical genre, which can in turn support the hypothesis that engagement with music in and of itself can in fact govern one’s language use.
I am by no means suggesting that social factors are completely irrelevant when considering the correlation between music and language variation; on the contrary, I have attempted to contextualize the lyrical language use of the artists featured in this project extensively. Rather, I believe the present research project has indicated that a combination of conscious decisions tied to authenticity (cf. performance), and instinctive adaptations due to active involvement with the blues genre (cf. performativity) can be used to conceptualize the lyrical language use of contemporary blues artists.
The question remains, however, to what extent the researched phenomenon regarding lyrical language use can be related to language variation as a whole. Although data from the present project suggests that some AAE features are simply characteristic of the blues, I would argue that the genre cannot be reduced to these features, let alone the variety of English they belong to. In other words, use of those features in blues lyrics is not directly proportional to the quality of the music, nor the extent to which it can be characterized as belonging to the genre (cf. B.B. King’s case). Rather, I believe the present project provides support for the consideration of musical lyrics as a resource and asset in language variation studies. Further research on lyrical language use as a modality, might then reveal more of its relation to language use proper.
De Timmerman 72
7 Discussion
Throughout multiple sections of this dissertation, a number limitations to my research have been alluded to; in this section those limitations will be listed, elaborated upon and ultimately used to make suggestions for further research.
7.1 Limitations
A first (1) limitation is the lack of phonological pre- and post-contexts annotation for every token in the corpus. As Josh Smith alluded to during the interview, ease of pronunciation due to the phonological context can motivate a singer to drop certain phonemes. Additionally, I suggested that the unusual distribution of post-consonantal, word-final /-t/ deletion across the social groups might be attributed to the phonological contexts of the tokens. Therefore, having included phonological pre- and post- contexts in the dataset might have proven useful in further analyzing the use of certain features of AAE by contemporary blues artists.
A second (2) limitation to my research is the arguably problematic characterization of the phonological variables as features of AAE. Although the variables used to analyze the corpus were carefully selected based on the relevant literature, some features that can be labeled as being characteristic of AAE might be attributed to other varieties as well. Additionally, since four of the 16 artists featured in this project are non-native speakers of English, use of certain features that can be considered as features of AAE might also be attributed to features of their native tongues.
A third (3) limitation pertains to the qualitative dimension of this project, namely the interviews.
Initially, I had planned on conducting more interviews with other artists after having gathered quantitative data on their lyrical language use as well. In doing so, I had hoped to gather extensive data on how different artists might interpret results regarding their lyrical language use, as well as on how they define and perform blues music. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I was only able to
De Timmerman 73
interview three artists whose data I had gathered for my bachelor paper, of which two ultimately agreed to participate.
7.2 Further Research
When considering possible future research on this topic, I would first and foremost (1) want to suggest the limitations listed above be dealt with accordingly. Next (2), I believe the qualitative inquiry presented in this thesis has proven to be useful in conceptualizing the lyrical language use of contemporary blues artists. Therefore, I would suggest further research to consider additional qualitative data gathering, e.g. by examining the attitudes of blues fans towards artists with varying socio-cultural backgrounds and, if at all possible, noticeably different lyrical language uses.
Third (3), I believe a quantitative methodology similar to the one used in this study could benefit from analyses using lexico-grammatical variables in combination with phonological ones, as artists use of the former may or may not differ from their use of the latter. Last (4), I believe a similar quantitative methodology could be supported by examining the salience of the selected features of AAE. Such an analysis might in turn prove to be useful when comparing the prevalence rate of one feature compared to another.
De Timmerman 74
8 Conclusion
This master’s dissertation was the account of a mixed method research project on the lyrical language use of sixties and contemporary blues artists with various socio-cultural backgrounds. When listening to my personal music library, I noticed strong similarities between the phonological production of lyrics by both contemporary, non-AA blues artists and their traditional, AA counterparts. By relating recent developments in language variation studies to sociological and psychological research on identity and music, a theoretical basis was found to consider music as a variable governing language variation.
Additionally, theoretical outlines on the concepts of performance, performativity, and cultural appropriation, provided an additional window to approach the lyrical language use of contemporary blues artists as being tied to their social concerns. As a result, a theoretical basis was found for this study examining to what extent, how and why contemporary, non-AA blues artists might use features of AAE.
A language empirical corpus analysis was at the center of this project. First, 16 artists, attributed to four equally distributed social groups (i.e. 1960s AA, 2010s AA, 2010s non-AA, and 2010s non-AA and EFL) were selected. For each artist, five live performed songs were transcribed, resulting in a corpus of 80 songs. Upon selecting five phonological variables, a dataset was made to document the variant use of the variables in all songs. Additionally, extralinguistic variables such as name of the artist, social group of the artist, length of the song, etc. were annotated for all 3863 tokens. Additional interviews with two non-AA artists were held to contextualize the social concerns of blues artists in general, and to strengthen the overall understanding of the research problem at hand.
The quantitative analysis by means of a mixed effects logistic regression model revealed that non- standard use of all five variables was highly prevalent in the lyrics of all social groups. More specifically, all artists seemed to use the selected features of AAE very consistently, regardless of time period, socio- cultural background or native tongue. The interviews revealed the participating blues artists’ striking
De Timmerman 75
emphasis on authenticity as a key concept associated with the genre. Additionally, these interviews suggested that use of AAE features by contemporary, non-AA artists is both partially deliberate and partially instinctive. Two underlying principles emerged from the data: some features of AAE were suggested to simply be characteristic of the blues as a genre, whereas social factors in the form of knowledge of and respect for the genre’s historical context, were suggested to influence artists’ lyrical language use. These insights consequently allow me to formulate answers to the three research questions central to this project (cf. section 3).
First, based on the data from my bachelor thesis and the quantitative inquiry central to this project, I can conclude that contemporary blues artists make extensive use of the analyzed features of African
American English in their live performed lyrics, regardless of their own socio-cultural background or native tongue. Next, the qualitative analysis of this project suggests that use of those AAE features by contemporary artists can be understood as both acts of performance and performativity. Specifically, it would seem that these artists deliberately infuse some features of AAE in their lyrical language use because they appear to be indexical of the needed authenticity to perform the blues, which can be related to the genre’s historical context and concerns regarding cultural appropriation. At the same time, however, their use of those very features can also be understood to be instinctive, as some phonological features, as opposed to musical-theoretical qualities, seem to be defining of the blues as a genre.
These insights can in turn be used to approach the overarching research question of this project, namely whether or not music can be considered as a factor governing language variation, and how that potential correlation could be conceptualized. I believe the aforementioned analyses provide tentative support for the inclusion of music in language variation research. That is to say, the observed similarity in lyrical language use of the analyzed artists is inexplicable by means of traditional variables associated with first and second wave variationist research. Additionally, the stylistic view, as conceptualized by
De Timmerman 76
third wave scholars, allows for a meaningful interpretation of the phenomenon as the indexical use of
AAE features by contemporary artists vis-à-vis their social concerns, but fails to account for the suggested characterization of some of those features as simply being fundamental to the blues as a genre. Therefore, I would argue that dismissal of music as potentially influencing one’s language use in and of itself is problematic.
That being said, the present research project has indicated that, if anything, social factors seem to be essential when examining the lyrical language use of contemporary blues artists. Specifically, their active awareness of potential cultural appropriation, which is seemingly mediated by their emphasis on knowledge of and respect for the historical and social context of the blues, appears to inform their use of features of AAE as a lyrical strategy in their music. To some extent, however, use of those features might be attributed to their inherent association with the blues as a genre, which I believe provides support for the consideration of musical lyrics as an asset in language variation studies.
Further research on linguistic variation in music might then improve our understanding of lyrical language use as a specific modality on the one hand, and its potential relation to language use proper on the other.
De Timmerman 77
9 Reference List
Albert King | Biography & History. (n.d.). AllMusic. Retrieved July 27, 2020, from
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/albert-king-mn0000617844/biography
Anderson, B. L. (2002). Dialect leveling and /ai/ monophthongization among African American
Detroiters. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 6(1), 86–98. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00178
Artur Menezes—Bio. (n.d.). Artur Menezes. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from
https://www.arturmenezes.com/2020/
Aspinall, P. J. (2008). The categorization of African descent populations in Europe and the USA: Should
lexicons of recommended terminology be evidence-based? Public Health, 122(1), 61–69.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2007.02.018
Bailey, G., & Bassett, M. (1986). Invariant be in the Lower South. Language Variety in the South:
Perspectives in Black and White, 158–79. https://doi.org/10.2307/454416
B.B. King Biography. (2014). Biography. https://www.biography.com/musician/bb-king
Biography – Kirk Fletcher. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2020, from http://kirkfletcherband.com/bio/
Biography – Muddy Waters Official. (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2020, from
https://muddywatersofficial.com/pages/bio
Brickell, C. (2003). Performativity or performance? Clarifications in the sociology of gender. New
Zealand Sociology, 18(2), 158–178. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1097184X03257515
Bridle, M. (2018). Male blues lyrics 1920 to 1965: A corpus based analysis. Language and Literature:
International Journal of Stylistics, 27(1), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947017751757
Bucholtz, M. (2000). The politics of transcription. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(10), 1439–1465.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00094-6
Bucholtz, M. (2007). Variation in transcription. Discourse Studies, 9(6), 784–808.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445607082580
Bucholtz, M. (2010). White Kids: Language, Race, and Styles of Youth Identity. Cambridge University
Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511975776
De Timmerman 78
Bucholtz, M., & Hall. (2005). Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse
Studies, 7(4–5), 585–614. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445605054407
Buddy Guy | Biography & History. (n.d.). AllMusic. Retrieved July 27, 2020, from
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/buddy-guy-mn0000942529/biography
Butler, J. (1999). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203824979
Chambers, J. K., & Trudgill, P. (1998). Dialectology. Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511805103
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2007). Personality and music: Can traits explain how people
use music in everyday life? British Journal of Psychology, 98(2), 175–185.
https://doi.org/10.1348/000712606x111177
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Bio. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2020, from
https://christonekingfishingram.com/bio
Chun, E. W. (2001). The Construction of White, Black, and Korean American Identities through African
American Vernacular English. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 11(1), 52–64.
https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.2001.11.1.52
Cutler, C. (1999). Yorkville Crossing: White teens, hip hop and African American English. Journal of
Sociolinguistics, 3(4), 428–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00089
Cutler, C. (2015). White Hip-hoppers. Language and Linguistics Compass, 9(6), 229–242.
https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12139
Dan Patlansky | Biography & History. (n.d.). AllMusic. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dan-patlansky-mn0001726418/biography
Dillard, J. L. (1972). Black English: Its history and usage in the United States. Random House.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500004656
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amq023
De Timmerman 79
Dromey, C., Holmes, S. O., Hopkin, J. A., & Tanner, K. (2015). The Effects of Emotional Expression on
Vibrato. Journal of Voice, 29(2), 170–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2014.06.007
Drummond, R. (2018). Maybe it’s a grime [t]ing: TH -stopping among urban British youth. Language in
Society, 47(2), 171–196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404517000999
Dubois, S., & Horvath, B. (1999). When the music changes, you change too: Gender and language
change in Cajun English. Language Variation and Change, 11(3), 287–313.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394599113036
Eckert, P. (2008). Variation and the indexical field. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 12(4), 453–476.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2008.00374.x
Eckert, P. (2012). Three Waves of Variation Study: The Emergence of Meaning in the Study of
Sociolinguistic Variation. Annual Review of Anthropology, 41(1), 87–100.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092611-145828
Edwards, W. F. (2014). The variable persistence of Southern vernacular sounds in the speech of inner-
city Black Detroiters. In C. Bernstein, T. Nunnaly, R. Sabino, S. Ash, G. H. Bailey, & R. Bayley
(Eds.), Language variety in the South revisited (pp. 76–86). The University of Alabama Press.
Eligon, J. (2020, June 26). A Debate Over Identity and Race Asks, Are African-Americans ‘Black’ or
‘black’? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/black-african-
american-style-debate.html
Eric Gales | Biography & History. (n.d.). AllMusic. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/eric-gales-mn0000626332/biography
Fasold, R. W. (1981). The Relation between Black and White Speech in the South. American Speech,
56(3), 163. https://doi.org/10.2307/454432
Fix, S. (2014). AAE as a bounded ethnolinguistic resource for white women with African American ties.
Language & Communication, 35, 55–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2013.11.004
De Timmerman 80
Fridland, V. (2003). “Tie, tied and tight”: The expansion of /ai/ monophthongization in African-American
and European-American speech in Memphis, Tennessee. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(3), 279–
298. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00225
Gary Clark, Jr. | Biography & History. (n.d.). AllMusic. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gary-clark-jr-mn0000989208/biography
Gelman, A., & Hill, J. (2007). Data Analysis using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models.
Cambridge University Press. https://nyuscholars.nyu.edu/en/publications/data-analysis-using-
regression-and-multilevelhierarchical-models
Goffman, E. (1956). The presentation of self in everyday life. Harmondsworth London.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-13213-2_44
Halliday, A. J. (2019). Bridging music and organizational psychology: Everyday music uses and
preferences and the prediction of organizational behaviour. Personality and Individual
Differences, 139, 263–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.10.042
Hepburn, A., & Bolden, G. B. (2012). The Conversation Analytic Approach to Transcription. In J. Sidnell
& T. Stivers (Eds.), The Handbook of Conversation Analysis (pp. 57–76). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118325001.ch4
Holmes, J., & Wilson, N. (2017). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Routledge.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315728438
Irvine, J. T. (2002). “Style” as distinctiveness: The culture and ideology of linguistic differentiation. Style
and Sociolinguistic Variation, 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511613258.002
Josh Smith Bio. (n.d.). Josh Smith. Retrieved July 27, 2020, from http://www.joshsmithguitar.com/bio
Kuhn, E. D. (1999). ‘I just want to make love to you’—Seductive strategies in blues lyrics. Journal of
Pragmatics, 31(4), 525–534. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-2166(98)00078-2
Labov, W. (1966). The Social Stratification of English in New York City. University of California.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511618208.018
De Timmerman 81
Labov, W. (1968). A Study of the Non-standard English of Negro and Puerto Rican Speakers in New York
City: The use of language in the speech community. Columbia University.
Labov, W. (1972). Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. University of
Pennsylvania Press.
Lanehart, S. (2001). Sociocultural and Historical Contexts of African American English. John Benjamins
Publishing Company. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g27
Macaulay, R. K. S., & Trevelyan, G. D. (1977). Language, social class, and education: A Glasgow study.
Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226700013311
Marshall, S. R., & Naumann, L. P. (2018). What’s your favorite music? Music preferences cue racial
identity. Journal of Research in Personality, 76, 74–91.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2018.07.008
Matt Schofield Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2020, from http://www.mattschofield.com/bio/
Middleton, R. (2006). O brother, let’s go down home: Loss, nostalgia and the blues. Popular Music,
26(1), 47–64. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261143007001122
Milroy, L. (1980). Language and social networks. Blackwell.
Oliver, P. (1983). Blues Research: Problems and Possibilities. The Jounral of Musicology, 2(4), 377–390.
https://doi.org/10.2307/763686
Patrick, P. L. (2006). English, African-American Vernacular. Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics,
159–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/05092-6
Philip Sayce | Biography & History. (n.d.). AllMusic. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/philip-sayce-mn0000633628/biography
Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2003). The do re mi’s of everyday life: The structure and personality
correlates of music preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(6), 1236–
1256. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.6.1236
Reyes, A. (2005). Appropriation of African American slang by Asian American youth1. Journal of
Sociolinguistics, 9(4), 509–532. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-6441.2005.00304.x
De Timmerman 82
Rickford, J. R. (2012). African American, Creole, and Other Vernacular Englishes in Education. Routledge.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203831687
Ripani, R. J. (2006). The New Blue Music: Changes in Rhythm & Blues, 1950–1999. University Press of
Mississippi. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F002743210709300508
Robben Ford Bio. (n.d.). ROBBEN FORD. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from
https://www.robbenford.com/bio
Rogers, R. A. (2006). From Cultural Exchange to Transculturation: A Review and Reconceptualization of
Cultural Appropriation. Communication Theory, 16(4), 474–503.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00277.x
Rudinow, J. (1994). Race, Ethnicity, Expressive Authenticity: Can White People Sing the Blues? The
Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 52(1), 127. https://doi.org/10.2307/431591
Sigelman, L., Tuch, S. A., & Martin, J. K. (2005). What’s in a Name? Preference for “Black” versus
“African-American” among Americans of African Descent. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 69(3),
429–438. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfi026
Silverstein, M. (2003). Indexical order and the dialectics of sociolinguistic life. Language &
Communication, 23(3–4), 193–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(03)00013-2
Stephenson, M. (n.d.). Featured Interview – Guy King. Retrieved July 28, 2020, from
http://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/featured-interview-guy-king-2/
Thomas, E. R. (2007). Phonological and Phonetic Characteristics of African American Vernacular English.
Language and Linguistics Compass, 1(5), 450–475. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-
818X.2007.00029.x
Tiny Legs Tim Bio. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2020, from http://www.tinylegstim.com/about
Torode, B., & Hebdige, D. (1981). Subculture: The Meaning of Style. Contemporary Sociology, 10(6),
856. https://doi.org/10.2307/2067284
Trudgill, P. (1972). Sex, covert prestige and linguistic change in the urban British English of Norwich.
Languager in Society, 1(2), 179–195. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500000488
De Timmerman 83
Trudgill, P. J. (1974). Social differentiation of English in Norwich. Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25582-5_15
Vella, E. J., & Mills, G. (2016). Personality, uses of music, and music preference: The influence of
openness to experience and extraversion. Psychology of Music, 45(3), 338–354.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735616658957
Weldon, T. L. (1999). African-American English: Structure, history, and use. Edited by Salikoko
Mufwene, John R. Rickford, Guy Bailey, John Baugh. Diachronica, 16(2), 372–380.
https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.16.2.11wel
Wolfram, W. (1969). A Sociolinguistic Description of Detroit Negro Speech. University of Michigan
Center for Applied Linguistics.
Wolfram, W., & Mallinson, C. (2002). The Development of African American English. Wiley.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470690178
Young, J. O. (2010). Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. John Wiley & Sons.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470694190
YouTube copyright and fair use policies—How YouTube Works. (n.d.). YouTube Copyright and Fair Use
Policies - How YouTube Works. Retrieved August 2, 2020, from
https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/policies/copyright/
Ziff, B. H., & Rao, P. V. (1997). Borrowed Power: Essays on Cultural Appropriation. Rutgers University
Press.
De Timmerman 84
10 Appendices
10.1 Additional Tables
Table 24 B.B. King: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 57 16
Cd 23 2
Ct 10 8
ing 36 13
Vr 14 4
Table 25 Albert King: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 66 4
Cd 10 1
Ct 11 2
ing 41 7
Vr 11 8
Table 26 Muddy Waters: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 148 2
Cd 35 4
Ct 11 0
De Timmerman 85
ing 99 3
Vr 33 1
Table 27 Buddy Guy: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 79 3
Cd 19 0
Ct 17 6
ing 32 2
Vr 29 3
Table 28 Josh Smith: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 97 1
Cd 20 1
Ct 64 0
ing 60 6
Vr 37 10
Table 29 Matt Schofield: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 65 16
Cd 42 11
De Timmerman 86
Ct 41 0
ing 48 7
Vr 39 10
Table 30 Philip Sayce: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 61 15
Cd 20 0
Ct 22 6
ing 45 5
Vr 31 3
Table X Robben Ford: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 78 21
Cd 44 5
Ct 49 1
ing 56 8
Vr 31 3
Table 31 Kirk Fletcher: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 83 21
Cd 17 2
De Timmerman 87
Ct 21 0
ing 40 8
Vr 13 0
Table 32 Eric Gales: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 102 16
Cd 18 0
Ct 15 0
ing 21 5
Vr 39 7
Table 33 Kingfish: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 100 20
Cd 31 3
Ct 22 1
ing 41 6
Vr 44 2
Table 34 Gary Clark Jr.: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 88 13
De Timmerman 88
Cd 25 3
Ct 37 0
ing 25 1
Vr 66 0
Table 35 Tiny Legs Tim: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 119 9
Cd 43 0
Ct 30 0
ing 58 6
Vr 34 8
Table 36 Artur Menezes: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 65 14
Cd 28 0
Ct 11 2
ing 23 6
Vr 14 7
Table 37 Dan Patlansky: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
De Timmerman 89
ai 67 1
Cd 21 0
Ct 22 1
ing 19 11
Vr 22 4
Table 38 Guy King: Use of all variables, absolute
non-standard standard
ai 100 13
Cd 41 4
Ct 27 6
ing 81 6
Vr 21 14
10.2 Corpus
Key x raise in volume
↑ raise in pitch x: lengthened x; lengthened, with vibrato
(x) uncertain, possible hearing
((x)) paraphrase
De Timmerman 90
Variables x in vs x ing x r deletion vs x r realization x d deletion vs x d realization x t deletion vs x t realization x a: vs x ai
10.1.1 B.B. King – Live at The Regal (1965)
Every Day I Have the Blues
1 ((announcer introduces BB King))
2 every da:y
3 every day ah have the blue:s
4 every da;;y
5 e:very day I have the blues
6 when ya see me: worrin woman
7 an it’s you ah ha: to lose
8 nobody love me:
9 nobody seem de ca;;
10 ye:s nobody love me
11 nobody seem de ca;
12 pickin up worriz an trouble darlin
13 ya know ah’ve had my shae
15 every day
16 every day
De Timmerman 91
17 every day
18 every day
19 e:very da;;y
20 every day ah have the blue::s
21 when ya see me worrin woman
22 an i’s ↑you ah hate to lose
23 ↑↑o::: every da;;;y
24 every day yea ah have the blues
25 e:very day
26 every day ah have the blue::s
27 when ya see me worrin woman
28 a:n it’s you ah hate to lose
29 ((BB King thanks the audience and introduces the next song))
Sweet Little Angel
1 ah’ve got a sweet lil ange;;l
2 I lo;ve the wa;;y she spread he wing
3 ↑yo:s got a sweet lil ange;;l
4 I lo;ve the wa;;y she spread he wings
5 ↑ye:s when she spread he wing aroun me
6 ah get ↑(so:::) hot an everythi;;n
7 ya know ah ask ma baby for a nickel
8 an she gave me a twenny dolla bill
9 oh ↑ye::s ah ask ma baby for a n↑ickel
10 an she ga:ve me a twenny dolla bill
De Timmerman 92
11 ↑well ya know ah ask he fo a lil drink of liquo
12 an she ↑ga:ve me:: a whiskey sti:ll
13 ↑ah ↑yea::: if ma ba::beh quit me
14 yea:: ah do belie;;ve ah would die a
15 ↑ah ↑yea:: if ma ba::beh quit me
16 well ah do belie;;ve ah would die;
17 ↑cuz if you don love me lil angel
18 ↑↑please tell me the reason why;;
19 ((BB King tells the audience a story))
It’s My Own Fault
1 ((BB King introduces the next song))
2 It’s ma o;wn faul ba;;b
3 treat me the way:: you wanna do
4 it’s ma o;wn fault babeh
5 treat me the way you wanna do
6 ↑yea (it’s) when you weh loving me baby
7 ↑o:::h at that time liddle girl ah didn’ love you
8 dis the part ah like
9 she use to make he o:wn paychecks
10 an bring em all home to me
11 ah would go out on the hillside ya know and make
12 every woman drunk ah see and that’s ma own faul babeh
13 treat me the wa;;y you wanna do;
14 ↑oh ↑ye::s when you were loving me woman
De Timmerman 93
15 ↑↑o:::h at that time little girl ah didn love you
16 I have one mo:e I wanna tell you
17 she said she was gonna lea:ve me
18 she been runnin aroun with the boys
19 she said she was gonna ↑lea::ve me
20 ↑↑go::na be over ‘n Illinois
21 an it’s ma own faul babeh
22 treat me the way you wanna do
23 ↑o:::h when you we: loving me woman
24 ↑o::h at that time lil girl ah didn love you
25 whatya say
26 ((BB King thanks the audience))
How Blue Can You Get
1 ((BB King asks the audience to pay attention to the lyrics))
2 I like to play a lil bit
3 ah’ve been down hea:rted ba;beh
4 e:::ver since the day we met
5 ah sai ah been down hearted babeh
6 e:::ver since the day we met
7 ou:e lo:ve is nothin but the blue;;s woman
8 ba;;by how blue can you ge:t
9 you evil when ah’m with ya
10 an you ah jealous when we’re apa;;r
11 yes ah sai you: evil
De Timmerman 94
12 ya so: evil when ah’m with you ba:by
13 an you ah jealous when we’re apa;r
14 how blue can you get ba:beh
15 the answe’s righ here in my hea:::
16 ah gave you a bran new Fo:
17 you said ah wan a cadillac
18 ah bought you a ten dolla dinne
19 you said thanks fo the snack
20 ah let you live in ma penthouse
21 you sai:d it was just a shack
22 ah ga::ve you seven chi;ldren
23 an now you wanna give em back
24 girl I’ve been down hearted ba:beh
25 e::ver since the day we me;;t
26 ah sai ouwe love is nothin but the blue:s
27 ba::by how blue can you
28 ge;;;t
Please Love Me
1 ah was in love with you ba:beh
2 honey befo ah learn to call yo name
3 ah was in love with you ba:beh
4 honey befo ah learn to call yo na:me
5 the way you treat me ba:beh
6 gonna drive ol me insane
De Timmerman 95
7 y’know I love you babeh
8 do anythin you tell me to
9 know I love you ba:beh
10 do anythin you tell me to
11 nothin in this world ba::beh
12 honey that I wouln’ do for you
13 so if you love me ba:be
14 honey do everything ah say
15 yes if you love me ba::beh
16 honey do everything ah said
17 if you don’ do whad ah tell you baby
18 well ah’ll fall on your knees an pray
19 so if you love me ba:be
20 honey do everything ah say
21 yes if you love me ba::beh
22 honey do everything ah sa:y
23 if you don’ do whad ah tell you ba:beh
24 well ah’ll fall on yo knees and pray
25 he::y be ma girlfrien everybody
26 an ah’m gonna be yo boy
27 want you to be ma girlfriend ba:beh
28 baby ah’m gonna be yo boy
29 gonna buy a cadillac ca: babeh
30 drive me whereve you a;;;;;
10.1.2 Albert King - Live ’69 (1969)
De Timmerman 96
Why Are You So Mean To Me
1 ah wonde why;
2 you so mean de me;
3 yea: ah wonde why;
4 you so mean de me
5 well ah’ll be good to you ah’ll be
6 kahn as a ma:n can be;;
7 ah’m gonna give you ma picture woman
8 hang it up in yo frame
9 when ah’m dead ‘n gone
10 you sh’ remember me just the sa;;; ye
11 we:ll you tol’ me thatchu love me
12 always would be mine
13 now you don’ rememb me
14 ah’m alone this time
15 yea yea yes why
16 you so mean de me;
17 well ah’m be good to you ah’ll be
18 kahn as a man can be
19 ah wonde why::
20 you so mean do me
21 yea: ah wonde why
22 you so mean de me;
23 you know ah’m be good to you ah’ll be
24 kahn as a ma;n can be:
As The Years Go Passing By
De Timmerman 97
1 ((Albert King introduces the song))
2 there is nothin ah can do;;;
3 if you lea:ve me he:h de cry;;
4 there is nothin ah can do;;;
5 if you lea;ve me he: de cry;;
6 ma lo;;;ve’ll follow you
7 as the yea;;rs go pa:ssin by;;
8 ah give you all ah o;;;wn
9 da’s one thang you can’t deny;;
10 yea ah give you all ah o;;;wn
11 you know tha’s one thang can’t deny;;;
12 yea ma lo;;ve will follow you;;
13 as the yea;;rs go passin by;;
14 ah’m gonna leave it up to you;;
15 so lo;ng so long goodbye;
16 ah’m gonna leave it up to you:;
17 so lo:ng so long goodbye;
18 ma lo;;ve will follow you;
19 as the yea;;rs go passin by;;
20 ((Albert King humms the main vocal line))
21 yea ma ↑lo;;ve will follow you::
22 as the year;;rs go passin by;;
23 a:ha
Please Come Back To Me
1 baby plea::se
2 baby plea:se come back to me
De Timmerman 98
3 baby plea;;se
4 baby plea:se come back to me
5 because I am a prisone;
6 an ah need yo love to set me free;;
7 ah woke up earleh one mo:nin
8 befo:e the nigh- was go::ne
9 ah looked in the bed besahde me guess what
10 ah was a:::ll alo;;ne
11 baby plea:se
12 baby plea:se come back to me
13 because ah am a prisone;
14 an ah need yo lo:ve to set me free;;
15 ah know a;ll ma tears are wasted
16 oh how ah climb (n vai:n)
17 ah know ah los ma baybeh
18 bud ou lo;;ve was just the same
19 baby plea::se
20 baby plea:se come back to me
21 because ah am a prisone;
22 an ah need your love to set me free
Crosscut Saw
1 ah’m a crosscut sa;;w
2 jus drag me across yo log
3 ah’m a crosscut sa;;w
4 jus drag me across yo lo;;
5 ah cut yo wood so easy fe:::
De Timmerman 99
6 (you can’ help but say ah’m go:ne)
7 some call me wood choppin sam
8 some call me wood cuttin be:n
9 las girl ah cut the wood fo
10 want me back agai:n
11 ah’m a crosscut saw
12 jus drag me cross yo log
13 ah cut yo wood so easy fe:::
14 (you can’ help but say ah’m go:ne)
15 ah have a double bladed axe
16 really cuts goo:d
17 ahm a crosscut saw, bury me in the wood
18 ah’m a crosscut saw
19 jus drag me cross yo lo::g
20 ah cut yo wood so easy fe:::
21 (you can’ help but say ah’m go:ne)
Personal Manager
1 wanna be yo personal managah babe::h
2 ah wanna do everythang ah can fe you;;
3 ah wanna be ye personal managah babe::h
4 ah wanna do everythang ah can fe you;;
5 yea ah wanna be righ theh beside you lil girl
6 when all of ye so call- friends are throu;gh
7 if you sign ma contract babe:h
8 all yer worries is ove fe you;;
9 if you sign ma contract babe:h
De Timmerman 100
10 all ye worries is ove fe you;;
11 yea ah wanna be yo milk man every mornin
12 ye- ice cream man when the dayr is throu;gh
13 I take cah of all of (the) business
14 so you can stay at ho:me
15 you can res assu lil gi;rl
16 ah won’ let nothin go down wro:
17 ah wanna be personal manageh babeh
10.1.3 Muddy Waters - Live at Newport Jazz (1960)
I Got My Brand On You
1 ((Muddy Waters introduces the song))
2 ah got ma bra;;n on you;
3 ah got ma bra;;n on you
4 ah got ma bra;;n on you;
5 ah got ma bra;;n on you
6 Theh ain’ nothin you can do
7 ah got ma bra;;n on you:
8 Well you may go:: ‘way ‘n lea me
9 bud ah (declare) you can’ stay
10 you gonna come runnin home babeh
11 home to me someda;y
12 ah got ma bra;;n on you;
13 ah got ma bra;;n on you
14 Theh ai:n’ nothin you can do
15 ah got ma bra;;n on you
De Timmerman 101
16 ah do;n’ put ma bran you know babeh
17 ah (own) no certain pa;r
18 but when ah kiss you darlin’
19 ah stab it in yo hea;;r
20 ah got ma bra;;n on you;
21 ah got ma bra;;n on you
22 theh ain’ nothin you can do
23 ah got ma bra;;n on you
24 well you know you call on your docteh babeh
25 theh ain’ nothin he can say
26 but check his head baby you know
27 an slowly walk awa;;y
28 ah got ma bra;;n on you;
29 ah got ma bra;;n on you
30 theh ain’ nothin you can do
31 ah got ma bra;;n on you
31 we;;l you know ah gotchu baby you know
32 like a fish out oon a line
33 ah can reel you in darli;n
34 mo:s- anyti;;me
35 ah got ma bra;;n on you;
36 ah got ma br;;an on you
37 theh ain; nothin you can do
38 ah got ma bra;;n on you;
I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man
1 the gypsy woman tol ma mothe
De Timmerman 102
2 befo a:h was born
3 you got a boy chil’s comin
4 gon’ be a son ova gun
5 he gonna make pretty womens
7 jump an shou:t
8 then the wo:rld wanna know
9 wha:t this all abou:
10 but ya know ah’m hi;;m
11 e::verybo:dy knows ah’m hi;m
12 we:ll you know ah’m the hoochie coochie man
13 e::verybo:dy knows ah’m him
14 ah got a black cat bo:ne
15 ah god a mojo too:
16 ah got the Johndy Conqueroo
17 ah’m gonna mess witchu:
18 ah’m gonna make you gi;rls
19 lead me by ma ha:n
20 then the world’ll know
21 ah’m the hoochie coochie man
22 butcha know ah’m hi;m
23 e::verybo:dy knows ah’m him
24 we:ll you know ah’m the hoochie coochie may:n
25 e::verybo:dy knows ah’m him
26 on de seven (hou;r)
27 on de sevent da;y
28 on de seven mont
De Timmerman 103
29 de seven doctors sa;;y
30 you we;e born fo good luck
31 an that you see:
32 ah got seven hunna dolla
33 don’tchu mess wid me:
34 ya know ah’m hi;m
35 e::verybo:dy knows ah’m him
36 we;’ll ya know we ah the hoochie coochie bo;y
37 de whole (unites states know me yea)
Baby, Please Don’t Go
1 ba:beh please don’ go
2 ba:beh please don’ go
3 ba:beh please don’ go: down de new orleans
4 ya know ah lo:ve you so
5 befo ah be yo dog
6 befo ah be: yo dog
7 befo ah be: yo dog ah catch you wai:d out he;e
8 now let you walk (alone)
9 tarn the lamp down lo:w
10 tarn the lamp down lo:w
11 tarn the lamp down lo:w ah beg you all nagh- long
12 ba:beh please don’ go
13 befo ah be yo dog
14 befo ah be: yo dog
15 befo ah be: yo dog ah catch you waid oud he;e
16 now let you walk alone
De Timmerman 104
17 what did ah say
18 ya know ya mayn done gone
19 ya know ya mayn done gone
20 ya know ya mayn done gone down de county form
21 with all the shackles (on)
22 ya caugh me way down he:
23 ya caugh me way down he:
24 ya caugh me way down he: by the rollin (fork)
25 you treat me like (a dog)
26 ya know a mayn done gone
27 ya know a mayn done gone
28 ya know a mayn done gone down de county form
29 with all the shackles (on)
30 ba:beh please don’ go
31 ba:beh please don’ go
32 ba:beh please don’ go down de new orleans
33 ya know ah love you so
34 ((Muddy Waters thanks the audience))
Soon Forgotten
1 gi:ve me a pencil an pape
2 ah jus wants to figu;e yo time
3 gi:ve me a penci::l an pape
4 ah jus wants to figue yo ti;me
5 ah’m gon’ put it do::wn in black an white
6 you:: kno:w ah ain’ lyin
7 an o:n the twelft day o’ A:p(ril)
De Timmerman 105
8 inna yeah nineteen an fiftyone
9 o;;n the twelft day o’ A:p(ril)
10 inna yeah nineteen an fiftyone
11 ah walk into a:: bee tavern
12 you n yo mayn was havin fun
13 you know ragh then ah quit you:
14 but you be:gged me to take you back
15 you know ragh then ah quit you:
16 but you be:gged me to take you back
17 ah was a may::n of ma word
18 this is the wa;;y you ah
19 ah’m sawreh ah said that ah’m through
20 ba::by ah mea::n ah’m through
21 ah’m sawreh ah said that ah’m through
22 ba::by ah mea::n ah’m through
23 theh been so many peoples forgotten
24 one day ah (soon) forgetchu
Tiger In Your Tank
1 ah’m put a tageh in yo tank
2 ah’m ‘on put a tageh in yo tank
3 ah’m put a tageh in yo tank
4 ah’m ‘on put a tageh in yo tank
5 ah’mma put a tageh in yo tank
6 ah’mma put a tageh in yo tank
7 ah know you love me baby
8 you told me las-
De Timmerman 106
9 you make me feel like ah’m dissattisfied
10 ah’m put a tageh in yo tank
11 ah’m ‘on put a tageh in yo tank
12 ah’m put a tageh in yo tank
13 ah’m put a tageh in yo tank
14 ah lo:ve the way you look
15 love y’ lil car
16 but you darn so slow
17 you don’ go very fa:
18 ah;; don’ ca:e what you people think
19 ah’m ‘on put a tageh in yo tank
20 ah ca:n rai:se yo hood ah can
21 clean yo coil
22 check your (transistors) a:n
23 give you d’oil
24 ah don’ ca:e what the people think
25 ah got to put a tageh o:h in yo tank
26 yo moto:’s (poppin pappin an’ a)
27 listen to
28 ain’ but one thi:ng lef fo:
29 you to do
30 you gi:ve it a push a:n
31 the ca: do:n’ crank
32 a:n you know you need a ti:ge:
33 in yo tank
34 ah put a tageh in yo tank
De Timmerman 107
35 ah put a tageh in yo tank
36 ah put a tageh in yo tank
37 ah put a tageh in yo tank
38 ah don’ ca:e what you sa;;y
39 ah put a tageh in yo tank
40 ah put a tageh in yo tank
41 ah put a tageh in yo tank
42 ah put a tageh in yo tank
43 ah don’ ca:e what the people sa;y
44 ah put a tageh in yo tank
10.1.4 Buddy Guy - Live at Philadelphia Folk Festival (1968)
Crazy About You Baby
1 she fi::::ne
2 ah ;tchell de wo::l ma lil gurl i- fa::hne
3 lod kno
4 ah tchell de wo::r ma lil gu::rl is fa;;hne
5 you know ahm so crazy bout ma babeh a;;h
6 don wanna lose (da gurl) o mine
7 we:::l she twenny-fou in da wais
8 (bud in da) thang ah eve seen
9 she dip lahke a brink ship ya:d
10 should be in playbo:y magazi:ne
11 ah woo:: babeh
12 ah tell da wo::d ma lil gu:rl is fahne
De Timmerman 108
13 ya know ahm so crazy bou ma babe::h a;h
14 don wanna losa dis gurl o mine
15 she fa:::hne
16 ah tchell de wo::rl ma lil gu:rl i fahne
17 ouh we:
18 ah tchell de wo::rl ma lil gu:rl i fi;ne
19 ya know ahm so crazy bou ma ba:beh a;;h
20 don wanna losa lil gurl o mine
21 lo::d she puts he wig own
22 dress fit her so ti:gh
23 she walk down da streets
24 whadda sigh
25 ah whoo ba:beh
26 woo::wie lo:d know
27 you know ahm so crazeh bou ma: babeh a::h
28 ah love dat woman jus lahke a dog
Sweet Sixteen
1 when ah firs metchu ba:beh
2 ba::beh y’weh ju:s sweet sixteenah
3 ↑(yea) when ah firs metchu babeh
4 ↑a::h should know you weh ju;s sweet sixteenah
5 ↑ya know you just lef yo home ba:b
6 ↑ai::n ya cutest thi:ng ah eve seen
7 ya know you wouldn’ do nothin ba:beh
8 (love tcha) ya kno you wouldn do anythi;ng ah atchu to
9 ↑wow tcha know you wouldn’ do nothin ba:beh
De Timmerman 109
10 ↑a::h no you wouldn’ do anything ah ad you to
11 ↑a:h you know you ran away from yo home
12 an now you tryna run awa;;;y from ol buddeh too
13 you know ah love you
14 ah love you befo ah could ca:z yo name
15 oh ah ↑tchou know ah love you babeh
16 babeh ah love you ↑↑a::h
17 ah love you befo ah could call yo name
18 huh
19 saint black everything ah do now babe
20 ah fee::l
21 everything ah do (inaudible)
22 you can treat me mea:n babeh
23 an ah’ll keep on lo:vin you jus-se same
24 ↑yaw treat me mean babeh
25 ↑well ah’ll keep lovin you
26 ah keep lovin you juste same
27 ah’ll do anythin ba;;be
28 you gonna give a lotta money
29 do hea: someo;ne
30 call ma name
31 a::::h
32 sweet sixteen
33 sweet sixteen
34 sweet sixtee:n
35 oh ah
De Timmerman 110
36 de sweetes ting
37 de sweetes ting
38 de sweetes ting
39 de sweetes ting ah eve: seen
40 ahm havin so much trouble now babeh
41 babeh ah wonde
42 yes ah wonde
43 babeh ah wonde
44 yes ah wonde
45 o::::ha:::::::h
46 good gul
47 ah wonde wa-inda waz gonna happen to me;;;
48 aw
Stormy Monday
1 dey call a sto:my Monday
2 bu:d
3 Tuesday’s jus as ba:d
4 dey ca;;l i- sto:my Monday ah womanah
5 buda Chews jus as ba;;d ye:::
6 an Wednesday’s was walone
7 woah u:::h an Thu:sdays all so sad shia
8 ah wanna thank ya ladies an gentlemen
9 ah gotta lil gurl oud-ere des
10 two two lil gurls came a long ways to see me
11 an ah wan to let he: know dat ah will dedicate dis to ya
12 dis one goes out to (name) along wid (name)
De Timmerman 111
13 a lil thing goes someting lahke dis
14 oo:h
15 woa woa woa
16 ha ha
17 ooh ooh
18 good gow have merceh heyee
19 someone a bette: come he:e now
20 Lo:d ha: merceh
21 Lord ha: merceh on me
22 Lo;;;; Lo;;;d have merceh
23 sohombodeh sombodeh
24 Lo:d have merceh on me
25 ah’m try
26 ah’m trynna fin ma ba:beh yea
27 won’ somebodeh
28 won’ somebodeh senne home de meh
29 alragh
30 Lo:d have merceh babeh yea
31 somebodeh bette
32 Lo:d (have merc)
33 woa Lo:::::::d
34 somebodeh
34 somebodeh bette Lo:d have merceh on meh
35 fo you know ahm tryin
36 ahm tryin fin ma babe;;h
37 woa he he he he
De Timmerman 112
38 (vocalizes with voice and guitar)
Mary Had A Little Lamb
1 (Mary) had a lil lamb
2 fleece a whid as snow yea
3 everywheh ah know
4 was su:e do go yea
5 he follow he to school
6 (hug ma room)
7 an whadda time yea
8 oh
9 dey had ad school
10 tasket
11 tak
12 ma pretty yellah baske-
13 wri- ma babeh yea;;
14 on ma way
15 on ma way ou- back
16 feelin
17 feelin babeh
18 feelin babeh
19 ah feel alrigh
20 (Buddy Guy addresses the PA)
21 (Buddy Guy addresses the audience)
Rock Me Baby
1 ah wantcha de rock me
De Timmerman 113
2 rock me all nigh long
3 ah wandya de rock me
4 gonna rock me a::l nigh long
5 ah wantcha de hu::g an kiss me babeh
6 till a::h wont no mo:
7 throw y’a:ms aroun me
8 like ah c’try go arou::n de sea
9 good God
10 throw y’a:ms aroun me::
11 like ah c’try go arou:n de sea
12 ah wantcha de hu::g me ba:beh nah nah
13 till a;;h can hardleh see
14 ah yea
15 a::h
16 see me comin
17 go getcha rockin chai:
18 a:h
19 see me comi:::n
20 go getcha:: rockin chai-
21 a:h
22 you know ah ain no strange
23 ah jus feel lahke ah workin (ha;;)
10.1.5 Josh Smith - Live at The Voodoo Rooms (2018)
Payin’ The Cost To Be The Boss
1 ah saidchu act lahke you won’ miss em
De Timmerman 114
2 when ah’m talkinna you
3 you said you gonna do (ba::beh)
4 everythin you wanna do no;w
5 you mus be crazeh babeh
6 you’ve gotta be outta yo ma:n
7 you know as long as ah’m frontin the bill now babeh
8 ah’m payin’ the cos- to be the boss
9 ah sai ah’ll take when ah want to
10 (inaudible)
11 ah don’ wanna hea: nuthin
12 long as ah’m takin cae o you
13 long as (ah rei:gn)
14 payin all yo bills
15 ah don’ wan no mouth from you ba;beh
16 as the mess (indaudible)
17 you mus be crazeh babeh
18 you gotta be outta yo ma:n
19 you know as long as ah’m (frontin) the bill now babeh
20 ah’m payin the cos to be the boss
21 play some blues fo me c’mon
22 ah sai:: now thatcha got me
23 act lahke yo sha:me
24 you (don’ act like) ma woman
25 you jus usin ma: name
26 ah handle all the moneh
27 an ah don’ wan no back-talk
De Timmerman 115
28 you don’ lahke the way ah’m runnin this ba;beh
29 you can pack yo things an walk
30 you must be crazeh babeh
31 you gotta be outta yo mind
32 you know as long as ah’m frontin the bill now babeh
33 ah’m payin the cost to be the boss
34 lez ge’ on outta he;e, c’mon
35 ((Josh Smith thanks the audience))
Angel
1 he:e we go
2 one
3 two
4 three
5 angel came down
6 from heaven yesterda:y
7 stay with me jus long enough
8 to rescue me;;
9 an she tol me
10 a story yesterday
11 about the sweet (lileh) between the moon
12 an de deep blue sea;;
13 an then she spread heh wi;ngs
14 high o::ve me;;
15 then she lef me:h
16 she dump me::h
17 tomorrow
De Timmerman 116
18 an ah said
19 fly o::n ma::
20 sweedange;;l
21 fly:
22 o:n
23 throu:gh
24 the sky;;
25 fly:
26 o:n
27 ma::
28 sweedange::l
29 tomorrow
30 ah’m gonna be
31 by yo
32 sa::hde
33 le’ say that one mo tahme
34 da’s righ-
35 showin off
36 this mornin she came onto me:
37 silve wing
38 silhoutte agains de golden sunri;;se
39 an ma ange::l
40 she said (undeh) me:
41 today is the day
42 fool you ‘rou;;n
43 take ma hand
De Timmerman 117
44 you gonna be ma man
45 you (know) ra;hgh
46 den she took meh
47 hi::gh
48 ove- yonde::
49 and ah said
50 fly o::n ma::
51 sweedange;;l
52 fly:
53 o:n
54 throu:gh
55 the sky;;
56 fly:
57 on:
58 ma::
59 sweedange;;l
60 foreve
61 ah’m gonna be
62 by yo: sa;;hde
63 dat’s righ
64 ((Josh Smith thanks the audience))
Letting You Go
1 befo the nahghd is o;;ve
2 ah (will sen you strai;;gh)
3 goin le::t
4 all ma talk show babeh
De Timmerman 118
5 yes ah’m standin on the ve::rge eh
6 lettin you go;;
7 lettin you go;;
8 when ah firs- metchu;;
9 ma wo;rld was (ra;;hgh)
10 said ah was
11 hooked on yo lovin babeh
12 at long (way with ye differen na;;hgh)
13 as tahme went ba;;h
14 id ai::n
15 okay to be crashin do;;wn
16 ah reach out fo yo hai;
17 (puttin i- the:e)
18 ah get lost and wanna be fou:n
19 oh whe whe whe::
20 where’ll y’go when the naghd is o:ve
21 ah been sett’n you straigh
22 go’n le:t
23 all ma (con) show babeh
24 yes ah’m sta:ndin on the ve;rge of
25 lettn you go;
26 lettn you go;
27 le’s take i- to the bridge now
28 oh whe whe whe;;
29 where’ll you go;;
30 befo the naghd is ove
De Timmerman 119
31 ah’ll be
32 sett’n you straigh
33 goin let
34 all ma (con) show babeh
35 yes ah’m standin on the verge of lettin you go:
36 befo the naghd is on
37 ah’ll be:
38 settin you straigh
39 goin le;;t
40 all ma (con) show babeh
41 yes ah’m standin on the verge of
42 lett’n you go:
43 lett’n you go:
44 ah gotta letcha go now ba;beh
45 ah gotta let you go
46 your lovi:n babe::h
47 ah gotta let i- go;;
48 said yo;;
49 lovin babeh
50 ah gotta let i- go
51 ah’m gonna let i- go ragh now
The Way You Do
1 watchin you ba::beh
2 make a fool outta me;;
3 e;;veryda;;y
4 watchin you ba::be::h
De Timmerman 120
5 make a fool outta me;;
6 everyday
7 but ah stan an take i- babeh
8 ah donno;;
9 no othe wa;;y
10 ah jus can’ quitcha ba::beh
11 even though ma friends all tell me so:
12 ↑↑a::::::h
13 jus can’ quitcha bebeh
14 even though ma friends all tell me so:
15 ah packed ma bags a thousan times
16 can’ seem to make maself go
17 das ragh
18 once ah knew ya love me ba:beh
19 but i- couldn’ a been fo lo;;ng
20 ah come home late from work no:w
21 ya drow yo lovin on me real stro;;ng
22 but times a: shot cha::ngin o’ her
23 an -ow was ah so blin de see ah das ragh
24 babeh ah did
25 with ma money
26 you ah makin a
27 a ↑foo;;l outta me::
28 that ain’ ragh babeh
29 wa:tchi:n you ba;;beh
30 ah guess somewa;;y
De Timmerman 121
31 ah alwa;;ys knew
32 watchin you ba;;;beh
33 somewa;;y
34 ah alwa;;ys knew
35 you go::nna
36 fin yoself a new fool ba:be
37 ah’m done bein ’channid
38 the way you do no;;w
39 ((Josh Smith thanks the audience))
Pusher
1 alway;;s lookin ba:beh
2 watcha::lready got
3 all the othe bones babeh
4 can’ bring you what ah brough
5 should be easy fo you;
6 with ya tha;ngs (showin off)
7 said ya loo:k so;
8 sweet
9 even wa ya breakin
10 ma hear ba:beh
11 what kinda woma::n
12 go:n tell ya from the sta:
13 ah saida
14 close ah ge:t
15 the moh you push us apa;
16 you’re a pushin ba::beh
De Timmerman 122
17 pushin ou love ‘way
18 you’ justa pushin ba::beh
19 pushin ou lo::ve ‘way
20 stop pushin babeh
21 ((Josh Smith introduces his bass player))
22 bette smile ba:be;;h
23 said ya’d take away ou: chance
24 yes ou: lo;;ve
25 sah ou lo;;ve
26 was just a flashin o pain
27 insteada
28 pushin uphill
29 you shou be pushin do;;wn
30 you’ a pushin ba::be;h
31 pushin ou love away
32 you’re justa pushin ba::beh
33 pushin ou lo::ve o:n
34 stop pushin babeh
35 ((Josh Smith introduces bass player and drummer))
10.1.6 Matt Schofield - Live at Brescia, Italy (2019)
What I Wanna Hear
1 could you wan me;;
2 do you ca;;e
3 is it ma maginatio;;n
4 or is the feelin really the;;
De Timmerman 123
5 could ya need me::
6 is it true;;;
7 ah know it’s love ah’m fee:lin
8 ah don’ know boutchu
9 all the words that you say
10 do they mean a thang
11 or is it ju::st
12 what ah wanna hea;
13 what ah wanna hea yea;yea;
14 should ah as you;
15 or let it go;
16 is keepin me on the e;dge
17 ah’m waitin just to kno;w
18 ah’ve gone crazy yea;
19 ah need a cae fo this feeli:n
20 to stop mah head from maki:n
21 all the words that you say
22 do they mean a thang
23 or is it ju::st
24 what ah wanna hea;
25 what ah wanna hea yea;yea;
26 maybe ah’m missin
27 those hidden sa;gns
28 so ah look into your eye;s
29 tryna readcho mi;;n
30 if ah told you yea;
De Timmerman 124
31 would you belie;;ve
32 take away ma misery
33 make mah dreams reality yea
34 all the words that you say
35 all the words that you say
36 all the words that you say
37 do they mean a thang
38 or is it ju::st
39 what ah wanna hea;
40 what ah wanna hea yea;yea;
41 ((Matt Schofield thanks the audience))
Siftin’ Thru Ashes
1 how many ta;mes
2 how many ways
3 did ah ask fo you to stay
4 (all we been) throu;gh
5 all that we (a;;d)
6 but you left he anyway
7 so ma lo;;ve
8 burnin to the groun
9 now ah’m siftin through these ashes babeh
10 of whatcha lef behin
11 one thing ah know
12 think ah’m su;
13 words just weren enough
14 all that ya said now babeh
De Timmerman 125
15 all that ya di;d
16 neve meant so mu:ch
17 oh baby
18 you took mah lo;ve
19 an you burn it to the grou;n
20 now ah’m siftin through the ashes babeh
21 of whatche lef behin
22 of whatche lef behin
23 took all ya needed
24 i- was all that ah ha;d
25 en ya push me to the si;de
26 no mo excuses yea;
27 don wanna hea the;m
28 ti:ed of the lies
29 yes ah a::m
30 how did a flame so brigh no;;w
31 burn us to the grou;n
32 stop siftin through these ashes ba:beh
33 whatcha lef behi::n
34 of whatcha lef behi;;n
35 of whatcha lef behi::n
36 of whatcha lef behi;;n
37 ((Matt Schofield introduces his band))
38 ((Matt Schofield thanks the audience))
Don’t Know What I’d Do
1 ((Matt Schofield introduces the song))
De Timmerman 126
2 don’ know what ah’d do;
3 if i- wen’ lovin you
4 don’ know what ah’d do;
5 if it wen’ lovin you
6 search the whole world ove babeh
7 to fin a love so true
8 don’ know whe ah been
9 without you lovin me
10 ah don’ know whe:e ah bee;n
11 without you lovin me:;
12 search the whole world ove
13 ah wan de whole wide worl to see
14 ((Matt Schofield introduces his organ player))
15 livin lovin mornin
26 ah wanna love everythang
27 ah wanna love ya very secon, ah wanna hol ya
28 ‘n squeeze ya tigh
29 cuz ah don’ know whe ah’ be;;
30 without you lovin me
31 search the whole world ove
32 ah wan de whole wide worl de see
33 don’ know what I’d do;
34 ah don’ know what I’d do babeh
35 don’ know what I’d do;
36 if it wen’ lovin you;
37 search the who;;le wo;;rl ove
De Timmerman 127
38 t’fin a love so true;
39 yea
40 ((Matt Schofield thanks the audience))
Where Do I Have To Stand
1 ((Matt Schofield introduces the song))
2 all ah can hea;
3 is a backgroun noi;se
4 a world is changin
5 raght befo my: eyes
6 dey say it’s wridden
7 wridden in de stars yea
8 jus par a grand desi;;gn
9 the more ah lea;;rn
10 oh the less I understa;n
11 what’s makin id all go roun
12 seems that ah coul- fi;n
13 a million differen wa;ys yea
14 to eternal life n lo:ve
15 fow a small prahce to pa;y
16 sign yo na;;me
17 righd on the la;n
18 an you be on your wa;;y
19 when ah brought the connection
20 to everyone an everytha;;n
21 but it’s all the same de me;
22 de mo ah learn
De Timmerman 128
23 oh de less I understan
24 what’s makin it all go roun
25 so tell me no;w
26 wheh do I have to be;
27 wheh do I have to stan to see
28 what’s comin down on me;;
29 so tell me no:w
30 where do ah have to be
31 wheh do I have to stan to see
32 what’s comin down
33 well ah brought the connection
34 to everyone an everytha;;n
35 but it’s all the same to me;
36 the mo ah learn
37 oh the less I understan
38 what’s makin it all go rou;;n
39 so tell me no;w
40 wheh do I have to be;
41 wheh do I have to stan de see
42 what’s goin down on me;;
43 tell me no;w
44 where do ah have to be
45 wheh do I have to stan de see
46 what’s comin down ye
Hindsight
1 shou’known betteh you weh messin roun wi’me
De Timmerman 129
2 shoulda kep ma words bout me ba:be steada lettin these things be;
3 gettin no rede:mption
4 and hell announces now
5 (hand says) twenny twenny as far as ah can see:
6 when i- come to you: can’t see what’s in fron o’ me
7 (got mo:e roun) than reason
8 fo whatcha do to me;
9 didn’ look aroun me
10 ah was livin in a dream
11 oh what ah’m thinkin babeh
12 (somming good out theh is bad)
13 (hand says) twenny twenny as fa as ah can see:
14 when it come to you can’ see what’s in fron o’ me
15 neve saw it comin ba:beh
16 shoulda known bette;;
17 should’known bette you weh messin roun wi’me
18 shoulda kep mah words bout me bay steada lettin these things be;
19 gettin no rede:mption
20 an hell announces now
21 (hand says) twenny twenny as fa as ah can see;; yea;;
22 (han says) twenny twenny as fa as ah can see:
23 when it come to you ah can’ see what’s in fron o’ me yo:
24 ah neve saw it comin ba:beh
25 shoulda known bette;;;
26 ((Matt Schofield tells the audience they should dance))
27 ((Matt Schofield introduces his band and offers them solos))
De Timmerman 130
28 ((Matt Schofield thanks the audience))
10.1.7 Philip Sayce - Live at Tarzana, California (2018)
Who Knows
1 ba:beh they don’ know know kno;w
2 they don’ know what ah kno;w wha
3 so do you know mah babe::h yea;
4 said ah don’ know why
5 ah just made i: alragh
6 ah ju:s ma:de i:
7 yes ah did
8 (circlin) on mah ba:beh
9 she let me down
10 have you seen mah woman down ah
11 have you seen mah ladeh
12 ah don’ know why:: oh no
13 ah don’ know why alri:
14 be:: spreadin yo: magi;;c yea;
15 way down in mah be::d
16 she got them ta::mes
17 ta:mes into mah head
18 have you seen mah babe;;h
19 have you seen mah woman
20 ah’m talkin to you ba::beh
If 6 Was 9
1 oh baby if the su::n
De Timmerman 131
2 shou refuse te shi;ne yea
3 babeh ah don’ min
4 ah said ah don’ min
5 oh babeh mah (pants)
6 fell into the sea; yea
7 ooh baby let it be;
8 ah said the: ain’ (inaudible)
9 an if all them hippay::z ah
10 gonna a:: de hell
11 ooh babeh ah don’ ca:
12 ah said ah realleh don ca:
13 a:n if that six
14 shou tu:n out to be;; nahne
15 babeh ah don min
16 ooh ah really don’ mi::n
Bitter Monday
1 well you a;;
2 dis tangle thang call li;fe
3 be as dark yea ah don’
4 as one long endless ni:gh
5 you get all oh no:
6 de keys to paradi:se
7 oh but you’ born babeh
8 jus watch it pa:ssin by yea;
9 why does desi:e
10 lahke the devil lead us on
De Timmerman 132
11 ain’ no secon chances
12 but they’re a:lready gone
13 bitteh monday when you
14 wake up in the bed you made
15 when everything you wan is
16 everythin you threw awa;;y yea
17 yes if ah don’ kno;w
18 the blue eye velvet drea;m
19 so we’re ou:t in wa;ys
20 ways you will neve neve neve see
21 oh why does desi:e
22 lahke the devil lead us on
23 ain’ no secon chances
24 but they’ a:lready gone yea yea
25 bitte monday when you
26 wake up in the bed you ma::de
27 everything you wan is
28 everythin you threw awa;;y yea
29 threw away alragh
30 everyday yea:
31 cmon now
32 ay
33 why does desi:e
34 like the devil leads on
35 ain’ no secon chances
36 cuz they’ a:lready gone
De Timmerman 133
37 cuz they’ gone gone gone gone go;;ne
38 o::::h yea
39 so bitte monday when you wake up
40 in the bed you ma;;;de
41 everythang you wan is everythang you
42 threw ↑awa;y
43 bitte monday when you
44 wake up in the bed you ma:de
45 everything you wan is
46 everythin you
47 threw awa;;y yea
48 bitte monday when you
49 wake up in the bed you made
50 when everything you wan is
51 everythin you
52 threw awa;;y yea
Blues Ain't Nothin But A Good Woman On Your Mind
1 well the blues ain’ nothin but
2 a good woman on yo mi;n
3 yea the blues ain’ nothin but
4 good woman on yo mi:n
5 withou::t he
6 you wanna (do do do it) every ta::me
7 well ah’m a good babeh
8 bette than a to mase::lf
9 yea ah’m a good babeh
De Timmerman 134
10 bette than a to mase::lf
11 when ya die so fas
12 ah don’ wan nobody else
13 ya got me workin in the day
14 makin (juke) by na:gh
15 when ah a:ks you fo some lo:vin
16 ya wanna fuss an figh
17 ya put salt in ma coffee:
18 black pepper in mah (breh)
19 ah ka:nda love i- woman yea
20 su:e messin up mah head
21 ya got me workin in the day
22 bringin (cute) ba ni::gh
23 when ah a:sk you fo some lo:vin
24 you wanna fuss an figh
25 put salt in ma coffee:
26 black pepper in ma (breh) yea
27 tha- ka:nda lovin woman yea
28 su:e messin up ma head
29 but the blues ain’ nothin but
30 a good woman on yo mi;n
31 but the blues ain’ nothin but
32 a good woman on yo mi;n
33 withou::t he
34 you wanna (do do do it) every ta::me
35 ↑woo
De Timmerman 135
Beautiful
1 ↑oo;h yea
2 la:ke the way ya mo:vi:n
3 ah la:ke the way you u:se i;t
4 la:ke the way you do it
5 ligh me up
6 babeh set me loose
7 show me whatcha got girl
8 gonna need a lot though o:h
9 ooh what am ah suppose to do;;
10 yo beautifu;;l
11 ↑so beautifu::l
12 yo beautifu::l
13 oh yea yea;;;
14 yo beautifu;;l
15 ↑so beautifu::l
16 yo beautifu::l
17 oh yea yea yea;;;
18 la:ke the way ya sha:ke i;t ooh
19 ah la:ke the way ya take i;t aha
20 so come on in baby and shut the doo;
21 show me how you work i;;
22 tell me how you groove i;; ah
23 yea;;
24 what am ah suppose to do;;
25 yo beautifu;;l
De Timmerman 136
26 ↑so beautifu;;l
27 yo beautifu::l
28 oh babeh yea yea;
29 yo beautifu;;l
30 ↑so beautifu::l
31 yo beautifu::l
31 oh yea yea yea;;;
33 one two three (cmon)
34 yo beautifu::l
35 ↑so beautifu;;l
36 yo beautifu::l
37 yea yea;
38 yo beautifu;;l
39 ↑so beautifu;;l
40 yo beautifu::l
41 oh yea yea yea;;;
42 cmon
43 here wo go
44 ooh yea;;
45 ((Philip Sayce thanks the audience))
10.1.8 Robben Ford - Live at Dallas International Guitar Festival (2016)
Lovin’ Cup
1 earleh in de mornin when de sun come up
2 (yea ya) sittin the:h drinkeh from that lovi: cup
De Timmerman 137
3 wontchu tell me somebodeh what can ah do;
4 honey ah wanna drink from that luvin’ cup too
5 honey ah wanna drink from that lovin’ cup too
6 ya don’ wash ya hai: ya don’ wash ya clothes
7 and whad else ya don’ do baby nobodeh knows
8 ya tell me somebody whatcha gonna do;
9 honey ah wanna drink from that lovin’ cup too
10 honey ah wanna drink from that luvin’ cup too
11 you cou- be downtown workin makin lo:tsa mo:ne::h
12 insteada walkin dese streets ba:beh acting funny
13 yea tell meh somebodeh wha can ah do;
14 (honeh) ah wanna drink from that luvin’ cup too
15 baby ah wanna drink from that lovin’ cup too
16 yea ea ea ea
17 wontcha tell meh honey ah can have a tas-
18 cuz you’ lettin that good thang go de wa:s
19 yea tell me somebodeh what can ah do
20 honey ah wanna drink from that luvin cup too
21 ah wanna drink from that luvin cup
22 honey ah wanna drang
23 yea ah wanna dring
24 honey ah wanna dring
25 yea;;;;
26 honey ah wanna drink from that luvin cup too
27 yea;;;;
Same Train
De Timmerman 138
1 (inaudible) ((mic was not activated))
2 you can neveh let nobody
3 take you fo: a ride
4 an ah heardchu bout to blow that trai:n
5 ah’m gettin ti:ed of chasin yo runaways
6 ye ma legs feel the pain
7 an oh can you hea: what ah’m sa:yin
8 down the: on the railroad tracks
9 das no place for you do be playin
10 an oh can ya hea meh no::w
11 you gonna look ove ye shoulde
12 jus fo:get all about it somehow
13 n tell me whe:e ya gonna go::
14 (is theh reallanother) place he:e
15 does anybody kno::w
16 jus sen us up a postca:d
17 tell us how it goe::s
18 ah think ah’ll see you on the same train
19 you weh-on befo::
20 some people are afraid of the bla:me
21 keep runnin from themselves
22 as they built up so much shame
23 an you don’ have to do that na:::w
24 get down on yoself an spin that mess all arou:n
25 you said ah’ll come aroun aftah whi↑↑le
26 ya know the people on the street they just wanna see you sma:le
De Timmerman 139
27 tell meh whe:e you wanna go:
28 is the really othah place he;
29 does anybody kno:w
30 sen us all a po:sca:d
31 tell us how i- goes
32 ah think ah’ll see you one the same train
33 you wehon befo::
34 (ride ba: babeh)
35 ((Robben Ford thanks the audience))
Howlin’ at the Moon
1 ah god an earleh mo:nin
2 ah go- ragge news
3 she’s ma fo one time
4 an got muddeh shoes
5 took the crap out right
6 yea it too soon
7 an ah feel less hungreh
8 naw howlin at the moo:n
9 conflict of interes
10 someone cried
11 played ou- machi:ne
12 feels so empty insa:de
13 she rais the stakes
14 an left the room
15 jus wouldn’ (miss he:)
16 out the: howlin at the moon
De Timmerman 140
17 howlin cuz ah just get ba::
18 howlin fo the memories
19 do yo goo- ta:me
20 howlin fo the me:mries (wai:)
21 (gonna leave you at the moon doda::y)
22 ah god an earleh wa:nin
23 ah god real bad news
24 she’s made fo one time
25 an got muddeh shoes
26 took the crap ou: ri::gh
27 ay enne:ed too soon
28 an ah feel less hungreh
29 when she’s howlin at the moon
30 howlin at the moon
31 ((Robben Ford thanks the audience))
Birds Nest Bound
1 ah’m gonna build me a bird nes-
2 righd in the hea:d of yo town
3 ah’m gonna buil me a bird ne:s-
4 raghd in the hea:d of yo town
5 ah won’ worry bout no men try de
6 tea: ma bir- nes down
7 ah’m gonna buil ma bir- nes- boys
8 won’ be on the groun
9 ah’m gonna buil ma bi:d nes- boys
De Timmerman 141
10 won’ be o:n the groun
11 ah’m gonna buil- it so solid
12 jus can’ tear i- down
13 if ah was a jay bir-
14 I’d be sippin from yo well
15 if ah was a jay bi-
16 sippin from yo well
17 I’d be raghd at the hea:d of yo town I’m gonna
18 give these hagh brows hell
19 if ah was a jay bir-
20 ah’d be sippin from yo well
21 if ah was a jay bi:
22 sippin from yo well
23 ah’d be raghd at the hea:d of yo town ah’m gonna
24 give the hagh brows hell
25 ((Robben Ford thanks the audience))
Fool’s Paradise
1 ma mothe tol’ me
2 ma father said i- too
3 he sai- so::n
4 fate’s gonna catch raghd up with you
5 if you keep on
6 dra::nkin an gamblin
7 stayin oud all ni:gh
8 you’ jus living in a fool’s parada:se
De Timmerman 142
9 ma mothe tol me
10 ma fathe said i- right
11 he said son
12 you’re gonna drop ra:ght oud of sight
13 you keep on
14 drinkin an gamblin
15 stayin oud all nigh
16 you’ jus livin in a fool’s paradise
17 ah have learned ma lesson
18 unlike some fools ah’ve met
19 an de things ah’ve seen in this ol’ worl
20 I’m not likeleh
21 to forget
22 ma mothe tol me
23 she sat ra:ght down an cried she said son
24 ye jus committin suica:de if you keep on
25 drinkin an gamblin
26 stayin oud all nigh
27 you’ jus livin in a fool’s parada:se
28 an I have learn mah lesson
29 unlike some fools ah’ve met
30 de thangs ah have seen in this ol’ worl
31 ah’m not likeleh to forge
32 ma mothe tol me
33 sat right down an crie she said son
34 you’ jus committin suicide
De Timmerman 143
35 you keep on
36 drankin a::n gamblin
37 stayin ou- all night
38 you’ jus living in a fool’s paradise
39 you’ jus living in a fool’s paradise
40 you’ jus livi::ng
41 in a fool’s paradise
10.1.9 Kirk Fletcher - Live at Long Beach, California (2019)
Gotta Right
1 ah gotta righ
2 ah gotta righto sing eh blues
3 oh ah gotta righ
4 ah gotta righto sing eh blues
5 well Lo:d have merceh on ma sou;;;l
6 seems la:ke ah was born to do;;
7 sometimes ah stumble
8 someti:mes ah fall
9 sometimus up
10 someti::mes ah’m down
11 iz so ha;;;;d to keep ma fee::: on ah groun
12 oh ah gotta righ
13 ah gotta righto sing eh blue:
14 well Lo:d have merceh on ma sou;;;l
15 seems like ah was born to loo;;s
16 born do
De Timmerman 144
17 (inaudible)
18 feelin la:ke a fai::l-
19 ure am ah wrong
20 trus someone will lemme know
21 an ma angeh
22 will jus grow an gow
23 oh ah gotta righ
24 ah gotta righto sing the blue;;;
25 well Lo:d have merceh on ma sou;;l
26 seems la:ke ah was bo:n to loose
27 alrigh
29 ((Kirk Fletcher addresses the audience))
You Need Me
1 ((Kirk Fletcher introduces the song))
2 you ma:gh thing
3 dad it’s oveh
4 how can you finish befo:e you sta:
5 an you ma:gh thing
6 tha we live toge:theh
7 wontchu try:: befo: you give u::p
8 you ma:gh think
9 you can ma:ke i-
10 ah grow o::l
11 butcha nee me
12 ah kno::w ah need you
13 an togethe we can press
De Timmerman 145
14 we can press o:::n
15 make me feel gew:d
16 ge:w gewd
17 make me feel goo::d
18 gew gew
19 woa:: jus smile
20 on ya fac:e
21 ange leave withouda trace
22 make meh feel goo:d
23 gew gew
24 we:::l you migh thing
25 (you) can make i::t
26 on your o:wn
27 butchu need me
28 ah know ah need you
29 an togethe: we can press
30 we can press on through
Sad Sad Day
1 it’s a sad sad sad
2 a sad lone day
3 it’s a sad sad sad
4 a sad lahne day
5 seems lahke the harder ah tra: lil girl
6 de furthe: you run awa::y
7 well ah can’ sleep tnigh
De Timmerman 146
8 ah jus can’ nahp through the da:y
9 ahm jus sittin roun waitin
10 oh youda drih ma blues away
11 it’s a sad sad sad
12 a sada lahne day
13 seems la:ke da harder ah tra: liddl girl
14 de futhe you run awa::y
15 well de mo: ah try de holtcha
16 de less you wanna be he::
17 ycan stop naw wohman
18 givin me so much he::l
19 it’s a sad sad sad
20 a sada lone day
21 seems la:ke de harde: ah tra: liddl girl
22 de furthe you run awa::y
23 ah god news for ya babeh
24 bette straighten up righ
25 ah don’ thinka ma lo::ve
26 cou: res anotheh nigh
27 issa sa: sa: sad
28 a sada lone day
29 seems la:ke de harde ah tra: liddl girl
30 de furthe you run awa::y
Two Steps Forward
1 two steps fo::wa:d n two step back
De Timmerman 147
2 ah’m feelin lahke, ma soul is under attack
3 new men talkin
4 talkin dei trash
5 two steps fo;;;wad ten step back yea
6 two steps fo:wa:d (two) step (back)
7 ah’m feelin li:ke ma sou::l under attack
8 de new men talkin
9 talkin dei: trash
10 two steps fo;;;wad ten step back yea
11 people dyi::n
12 everyda:::y
13 body’s guilteh
14 nobodeh has de pay
15 how can dis go o::n
16 when we won’ look fo: love
17 even when i- co::mes
18 knockin at yo doo:
19 two steps fo:wa:d ten step back
20 ahm feelin laike, ma souls unde attack
21 de news men talkin
22 talkin dei trash
23 two steps fo;;;wa:d ten steps ba:ck
24 two steps fo;;;wa:d ten steps back
25 o::h yea
The Answer
De Timmerman 148
1 ah wish ah had an answe;
2 to turn ma lahfe arou::n
3 ah don’ blame you fo’ leavin
4 no love to be fou:n
5 well ah wish ah knew eh question
6 ah need to ask of you
7 an ah’m so tah::ed of bein
8 a played for a foo;l
9 well ah wish ah had a mothe:
10 an ah wish ah had a wi:fe
11 an ah work so ha:d work so ha:d
12 to make it through dis life
13 what can i- be;;;
14 what can i- be::
15 gimme de a;;nswe
16 whad ah been searchin
17 this ol’ wo::rl
18 for ah someone
19 to sha:e this: life
20 an ah been waitin
21 so vereh lo:ng
22 b-de moment’s neve righ
23 well ah wish ah had n answe:
24 an ah wish ah knew de wa::y
25 to turn back de ti::me
26 an to make you:: stay
De Timmerman 149
27 wha can i- be;;;
28 wha can i- be::
29 gamme de a::nswe
30 wha can i- be;;;
31 wha can i- be::
32 gimme de a::nswe
33 ah’m gonna swallow ma pra:de
34 ah’m gonna fa:nd a wa::y
35 ah gotta make i- through
36 jus ano:::the day
37 (gon’) keep on pushin
38 fo a brighte da::y
39 der ain’ nuthin
40 gonna ge:d in ma way
41 alrigh
10.1.10 Eric Gales - Live at Dallas International Guitar Festival (2019)
Layin’ Down The Blues
1 you can read all aboudi- gawl
2 if you haven hea:d de ne:ws
3 ah think ya ca- read all aboudi-
4 yea yea
5 if you haven hea:d de news
6 a:w
7 because righ now ah’mn down in Texas
8 an ah’m layin down de blue:s
De Timmerman 150
9 tu:n ove- de pa:ty invitations
10 yaw
11 now ah’m oud an ah pay ma dues
12 sen ou da pa:ty invitations
13 yaw aw
14 ah’m oud an ah pay ma dues
15 ah don know if y’all hear me ah said ahm down is Texas
16 an ah’m playin down de blues
17 ya
How Do I Get You
1 nowah lay me down ah
2 to slee::p
3 de sto:m insahde ma hear won’ le- me be::
4 shouldah stay o: shouldah go;;;
5 ah see you kingfish
6 how ah live dis way ah jus do:n know
7 sometimes ah feel ma ta:me ain’ lo;;ng
8 every move ah make is oh so wro;ng
9 he: he:
10 can you tell meh wh’to do;;
11 can you please tell meh
12 ah yea Dallas Texas
13 how do ah ge- you
14 how does one ge- you
15 mah love is jus a ga::me
De Timmerman 151
16 you: play
17 an yo hea;;d is always one beadaway
18 wave o’ passion covers me;;;;
19 an onleh gyou can call ma stormy (see)
20 ah’ll be a fool fo jus to smi::le
21 an fo yo love ah’ll walk a million mi;;le
22 yea he
23 can ya tell me what to do;;
24 can you please help meh
25 ah yea Dallas Texas come’on
26 how do ah ge- you
27 how do ah ged you;;
28 how do ah ge you
29 how do ah ged you
30 ah can’ li ma life dis wa;;y
31 ah got ta have you woman
32 evereh single day
33 come on now
34 how do ah ge- you
35 how do ah ged you::
36 how do ah ge- you;
37 how do ah ged you
38 babeh babeh babeh babeh ah wont you
39 hey yes ah do
40 how do ah ged you:;
41 how do ah ge- you ah
De Timmerman 152
Been So Long
1 is been so lo;;ng
2 since ah coul- say
3 dad ah won wa::s- anotheh da;;y
4 ah said ah’m done standin in my way
5 oh Lo:d letya light shine (distrac me::)
6 it’s been so long
7 we::ll is been so lo;ng
8 since ah could say
9 that ah won waste anothe: da;;y
10 ah said ah’m done standin in my own wa;;;y
11 oh Lo:d letya light shine (despite me::)
12 a;h wi::ll express my;;se:lf
13 in ways da (pawns) de ni;;gh
14 ay no ah won rejec ma:hself
15 fo what
16 from now on ah’ll recli;ne to me::
17 it’s been so:: lo:ng
18 Dallas Texas id won’ be so lo::ng
19 so that y’all understan whadahm doin when ah sing
20 i- won be so long
21 you scream back at me ah said id won’ be so long
22 ye know wha
23 nod all of you
24 bud is a few o you
De Timmerman 153
25 I see oudere an it seems to be a tough crow
26 bud ah plan on winnin y’all ove too
27 don worry
28 ah said i- won be so lo::ng
29 de reason ahm sayin i- won’ be so long
30 because ma intentions is to call ma bookin agen up
31 an make sure dey book me back agayn real fas
32 back he in Dallas Texas
33 jest in case you didn hea- me ah said
34 ahma call ma bookin agen up
35 an tell em de book me agai again real quick ra:gh he:e in Dallas
Texas
36 i- won’ be so
37 lo::::::ng
Southpaw Serenade
1 hey
2 when ah foundou- ah was differen
3 it scared me (evereh de::ts)
4 so badleh mistrea-e ga::wl
5 dad ah almos- took ma la:s brea::th
6 ah felt so unkno::wn
7 oll bah mahse:lf
8 jus- lahke ah was in prison
9 locked up (in de sa;;n-)
10 Dallas dis is ma southpaw serenade y’a::ll
De Timmerman 154
11 behcause to me ah’m bette- dan the (Lo:d now) e;;;h
12 whot seems easeh
13 was always misunderstoo:d
14 with thei- hands on de devild ya::w ya ha merceh
15 how de hell could ah be dis good
16 jus let me be yea;
17 itsoon ah think you should kno:
18 dadih jus wanna make musi;;c
19 when playin dis lil ol block o woo;;d
20 Dallas ah said dis is ma southpaw serenade y’a::ll
21 because de me ah’m bette dan de (Lo:d la you;;;;)
22 shh
23 waw waw waw waw waw
24 we made ou- way in dis wo::l
25 someway someho;;w
26 wha began as a curse oh ya::w
27 is so much bette no::w
28 jus le- meh be yea;;
29 an soon you will see ya;;h
30 as ah ripped into ma finges yea;;
31 Dallas ah said dis is mah southpaw serenade y’a::w
32 Dallas ah said dis is mah southpaw serena::de
33 hey y’all dis is ma southpaw serena::de
34 behcause to me ah’m bette- dan de (law law) yea;;
35 hey hey
De Timmerman 155
It Just Beez That Way
1 ask ma mama whadey do whadey do:
2 ask whadya think you doin alrigh dey pud a spell on you::
3 what makes a womanah
4 changin me dis way
5 dat little gurl makes me bone up
6 three fou: ta:mes a day
7 she sai- so::n ah don know whah dadis
8 it just beez dat way an ahm tellin you das ok
9 hey
10 he he he he:y
11 check idou-
12 ask ma daddeh y’awl
13 a whole long tahme ago
14 why could dat lo-ong legged woman hurt me so
15 how could she smell so good an be:; so bad
16 whah is she the best love: tha- ah eve- ha::d
17 he said sun ah don know whah dadis
18 i- jus beez dat way an ahm tellin you das de biz
19 Dallas hey
20 he he he he:y
21 ah see you dancin back the-
22 hey
23 ((vocalizing))
24 ((vocalizing))
25 check dis ou- now checkidou ha
De Timmerman 156
26 hey
27 ((vocalizing))
28 ((vocalizing))
29 he he he;;;y
30 ((vocalizing))
31 checkidou checkidou checkidou
32 hey
33 check dis out now checkidou
34 ((eric gales gets behind the drum kit and starts drumming))
35 one two three aw
36 hey y’all it beez dad way
37 it jus beez dad way
10.1.11 Kingfish - Dallas International Guitar Festival (2019)
Before I’m Old
1 a;h was born adde turn of de centure:h
2 ah luckeh to be born ad a::ll
3 ah grew way down in Mississippeh
4 ah when ah hear Rober- Johnsen ca::ll
5 well ah seen a lo::d an ah done a lod
6 too young de lay do:::wn i::n da ho::le
7 ah’m jus tra:nna fla: hi;;;;gh
8 befo ahm o;;l-
9 breaking de rocks on a chain gang
10 up until de sun wen do::wn
11 too many souls ah buried
De Timmerman 157
12 in de dirt poor delta grou::n
13 well ah seen a lod an ah done a lod
14 too young de lay down in da ho::le
15 well ah’m jus tra:nna fla: hi;;;;gh
16 befo: ahm o:::l
17 ah pu-a lightnin back in bo:ttles
18 ah poke rattlesnakes jus fo: fun
19 people say ah go- an ol soul
20 an ah ain’ even twanny o::ne
21 bud ah seen a lod an ah done a lo:d
22 jus too young de lay do::wn in dad ho:le
23 ah’m jus tra:nna fla: hi;;;;gh
24 ah’m jus tra:nna fla: hi;;gh
25 ah’m jus tra:nna fla: hi;;;gh
26 ah’m jus tra:nna fla: hi;;;;gh
27 befo ah’m o:l
28 befo: ah’m o::l
Fresh Out
1 ((Kingfish introduces the song))
2 no coffee fo ma breakfas
3 no butte on meh rooll
4 ah ain’ gotta drop o’ milk
5 fo: the cornflakes in ma bo;;wl
6 well ah’m all fresh ou-
7 said ah’m a;;;ll fresh ou-
De Timmerman 158
8 I had no lovin since de da;y
9 since de day you wen awa;;;y
10 said ah’m all fresh ou-
11 no jelleh in de ja:
12 no flou: in de sack
13 ah ain’ got nuthin cookin ba::be
14 please won’t ya co:me ba::ck
15 well ah’m all fresh ou-
16 said ah’m a;;;;l fresh ou-
17 ah had no lovin since de da::y
18 since de day you wen awa:::y
19 said ah’m all fresh ou-
20 ah dra::nkte ma la:s bottle
21 oh Johnnie Walke Re:;d
22 nobody in dis house
23 but me an ma empteh hea:::
24 well ah’m all fresh ou-
25 said ah’m a;;;;ll fresh out
26 ah had no lovin since de da::y
27 since de day you wen awa;;;y
28 said ah’m all fresh ou-
29 had no lovin since de da::y
30 since de day you wen awa;;y
31 ah said ah’m fresh ou-
32 ((Kingfish thanks the audience))
De Timmerman 159
Empty Promises
1 beho:d ah founda whi- woman
2 te ea:::se ma trouble mi::n trouble mi;;nd
3 ya saidchu would be de: fo: me babe::h
4 antil de ende ta::me
5 thoughd ah had cha::;n
6 to stardall ove;;
7 ah knew you:: weh neve: de:
8 all ah eve ge::d
9 all ah eve ge:d
10 is (empteh promises ba::be)
11 empteh promises ba::be;h
12 as tahm wen o::n we stay togethe:
13 ah knew you: would neve cha:n neve cha;;;nge
14 you saidchu wouldn break ma hear ((vocalizing))
15 an we would make i- someda;;y
16 thoughdah had a cha::nce
17 to stardall ove::
18 you said you would be de;;
19 evereh step o’de wa::y
20 all ah eve gi::d
21 all ah eve gid
22 is empteh promises ba::be
23 empteh promises ba::beh
24 empteh promises ba:::be
25 empteh promises ba::be:;h
De Timmerman 160
26 you know ah luv you
27 you know ah need you
28 you know ah wantchu ba::beh
29 ((vocalizing))
30 all ye gimme is empteh promises ba:beh
31 empteh promises ba::;;be
32 ((kingfish thanks the audience))
Outside Of This Town
1 ((Kingfish introduces the song))
2 ah’m leavin
3 dis to:wn
4 tomo;rrow
5 ah go- many places te see
6 an many places te go::
7 ah’m so ti;ed
8 of doin de shame ol’ thang
9 shootin fo de highes star
10 won people to remembe- ma na:me
11 if you don’ unde:sta::n
12 le- me break itdown
13 ah know that the:e’s life
14 outside a dis town
15 outside a this town
16 ah’ve got friends an family
17 dad ah see everyda;;y
De Timmerman 161
18 dom’ plan on movin fo:wa:d
19 stuck in de same o:l pla:ce
20 buda’s not the roa:
21 ah that ah wanna go down
22 I gotta do wha’s bes fo me:
23 ain’ no hangin aroun
24 ah could stay he: fo: eve::
25 budah jus can’ stick arou:n
26 ah know da: de:r life
27 outsida dis town
28 outsida dis town
29 when de rooste crows ah’m leavin
30 an ah ain’ lookin back
31 all you gonna see: is taillight
32 ah crossina dose railroad tracks
33 if ah don’ leave ah’ll die;
34 an dey pu- me six fee- do;wn
35 ah know da der’s life
36 outsida dis town
37 ((Kingfish gets off stage and plays a guitar solo in the crowd))
Love Ain’t My Favorite Word
1 ((Kingfish gets on stage while playing))
2 lahve jus ain’ ma favorite wo;;d
3 so many people::
4 use id in vai;n
De Timmerman 162
5 love jus ain’ ma favorite wo:d
6 so many people
7 use id in vai;n
8 ah thought dat love was gonna heal ma hea;;
9 bud all i- di::d
10 all i- di::d was add to de pai;;n
11 ah had me a girl
12 who ah realleh ca:e fo::
13 she ain’ feel de same way abou me ya:::
14 yo drove ma hear-
15 an she walked out da doo:
16 love jus ain’ ma favorite wo:d
17 so many people use id in vain
18 ah though dad love was gonna heal ma hea::
19 bud all i- di:;d
20 all i- di:;d was add to de pai;;n
21 she tol me da- she lo::ve me
22 an she said i- to ma fa::ce
23 ah woke up one mo:nin a:::h
24 an she move three
25 she move three states awa::y
26 love just ain ma favorite wo:d
27 ((vocalizing))
28 so many people
29 so many people use id in vai:n
30 ah though dad love was gonna heal ma hea;;
De Timmerman 163
10.1.12 Gary Clark Jr. - Rock in Rio (2015)
Next Door Neighbor Blues
1 god a call from ma neighbo dis mo:nin
2 tol- me ma babeh was go::ne
3 god a call from ma neighbo dis mo:;nin
4 tol- me ma babeh was go:ne
5 took de keys e- ma ca:dillac
6 lef- ma clothes oud on da lawn
7 came home las- ni::gh to a
8 pistol pointed ad ma hea::d
9 come home last ni::gh to a
10 pistol pointed ad ma head ya
11 say you bette fess up boy oh
12 o- ah swea- a:mm-own shootchu dea:
13 ah didn’ know someting was wrong
14 someting wrong been goin on ye
15 ah shoulda kno:::wn
16 someting wron been goin on ye
17 when ma neighbo calle-
18 ah soon afte ah find oud
19 dad lil girl moved in nex- doo:
Ain’t Messin ‘Round
1 ((Gary Clark Jr. introduces the song))
De Timmerman 164
2 ah don’ believe in competi:tio:n yea
3 ain’ nobody else la:ke me aroun
4 ah don’ need dad inquisition
5 id ain’ dad ha:d to figure id ou-
6 give id up yea
7 play i- ↑coo:;l
8 give id up now
9 play i- ↑coo:;;l
10 all de rules dad you use an abusin
11 no one knew she coul take dis confusion
12 give id up yea
13 don’ le- me down babeh
14 don’ thank too much abou- ma dispositio::n
15 you alreadeh know wha’s go::in down yeh
16 don’ wanna be dad exhibition
17 dey been talkin bou- babeh
18 ah don’ wan nobodeh hangin arou:n
19 give id up yea
20 play i- ↑coo:;:l
21 give id up now
22 play i- ↑coo::;l
23 all the rules datchu use an abusin
24 no one knew she could take dis confusion
25 give id up yea
26 don’ le- me down babeh
27 give id up yea
De Timmerman 165
28 play i- ↑coo:;l
29 give id up now
30 play i- ↑coo::;l
31 all the rules datchu use an abusin
32 no one knew she could take dis confusion
33 give id up yea
34 don’ le- me down ba:be:h
35 pla i- coo:::l
36 ((vocalizing))
37 ((Gary Clark Jr. addresses the audience))
Travis County
1 ((Gary Clark Jr. introduces the song))
2 ((vocalizing))
3 travis county took ma pictu:;e bud
4 no ah didn’ sma:le
5 d’ tol’ me ah was gonna be de:
7 fo a pretty lo:ng wha:le
8 one day ah was walkin down de street when ah
9 shoulda been walkin down de ha:ll an
10 heard a voice callin ou- sai:
11 ooh whe:e you goin y’a:ll
12 ragh befo: ah could gathe: mah thoughts ah
13 ah turn aroun an ah saw a cops
14 oh boy did ma hear sure drop when
15 he to:l- me I; bette stop
De Timmerman 166
16 dey pu- ma hands in cuff
17 befo: dey even lo:ck me up
18 (n though) it was all i- we:e
19 till they sta:ted takin all ma stuff
20 now ah’m sittin roun in ma ce:ll
21 jussa lookin at the walleh
22 ah didn’ even gete ma:ke
23 ma one pho:ne call
24 man afte: ah was sittin rou:n
25 you know ah sta:ted gettin down
26 yea afte when dey le- me ou-
27 all ah could do is scream an shou-
28 ((vocalizing))
Numb
1 woo:
2 well ah’m nu;mb
3 yea woman I:; can’ feel a thang
4 well ah’m numb
5 yea woman I:: can’ feel a thang
6 she gimme ha:- ta:me in de day
7 ha:d ta:me a- ni:gh
8 she can be so swee:; till she wanna
9 fuss an figh
10 till ah’m nu:mb
11 yea woman a::h can’ feel a thang
De Timmerman 167
12 well ah’m numb
13 yea woman a:h can’ feel a thang
14 ain’ passin from de ri::gh cuz I:::’m
15 passin to de le::fta
16 burn dis whole thing down a::h
17 ba maself
18 till ah’m nu:mb
19 yea woman a:h can’ feel a thang
20 well ah’m numb
21 yea woman a:h can’ feel a tha;ng
22 well ah’m nu;mb
23 yea woman a::h can’ feel a thang
24 well ah’m nu:mb
25 yea woman a;h ca:n’ feel a thang
26 yea
27 ((Gary Clark Jr. thanks the audience))
Don't Owe You A Thang
1 ((Gary Clark Jr. thanks the audience))
2 woo::
3 ain’ go- no: moneh
4 no fanceh ca:
5 ain’ go- no excuses babeh hangin ba: the ba:
6 ah don’ owe you a thang
7 ah don’ owe you a tha:ng
8 ah don’ owe you a tha::ng babeh
De Timmerman 168
9 ah don’ owe you a tha;ng
10 well we ain’ gettin married now
11 ah ain’ buyin you da:mon ring
12 ain’ go- no: credi-
13 no fanceh clothes
14 ain’ go- no excuses babeh
15 oh goodness no
16 ah don’ owe you a thang
17 ah don’ owe you a tha:ng
18 ah don’ owe you a tha::ng babeh
19 ah don’ owe you a tha;ng
20 well we ain’ gettin married now
21 ah ain’ buyin you no da:mon ring
22 da’s alrigh-
23 (inaudible)
24 dat’s all you ge- now babeh
25 da’s all you;; ge-
26 da’s all you ge no mo:
27 ‘mon da’s all you ge-
28 da’s all you get now ba:beh
29 da’s all you ge-
30 jus- me an dis guita- babeh
31 da’s all you ge-
32 won’ be no ‘polagies
33 this ain’ no fairy tale
34 ain’ got no excuses babeh
De Timmerman 169
35 ah’m goin ridi:n
36 ah don’ owe you a thang
37 ah don’ owe you a tha:ng
38 ah don’ owe you a tha::ng babeh
39 ah don’ owe you a tha;ng
40 well we ain’ gettin married now
41 ah ain’ buyin you no da:mon ring
42 da’s alrigh
43 ain’ got no money
44 no fanceh ca:
45 ain’ got no ‘xcuses babeh
46 hangin by de bar
47 ah don’ owe you a tha::ng
48 ah don’ owe you a tha::ng
49 ah don’ owe you a tha::ng
50 ah don’ owwe you a tha::ng
51 well we ain’ gettin married now
52 ah ain’ buyin you no da:mon ring
53 da’s alrigh-
54 well we ain’ gettin married now
55 ah ain’ buyin you no da:mon ring
56 well we ain’ gettin married now
57 ah ain’ buyin you no da:mon ring
58 ((Gary Clark Jr. thanks the audience))
10.1.13 Tiny Legs Tim - Live at Sint-Jacobs, Ghent (2017)
Stepping Up
De Timmerman 170
1 yez ah’m steppin up
2 a stee::p a:n’ lo::nesome hill
3 ↑oo;;h steppin up
4 a ↑steep an lo::nesome hill
5 wedou me to be he;-
6 su:e you ne:ve- will
7 you’ll say you kno:
8 all abou::d i:-
9 da don’ mean a tha;ng
10 when deh day is ove
11 still ain’ go dat swing
12 well i- takes mo:
13 than a sma::t look
14 a guitar an a so;ng
15 you can
16 fa:n de answe
17 deep down in yo soul
18 yez ah’m steppin up
19 a stee:p an lo;neso:me hill
20 ↑oo:h steppin up
21 a ↑steep an lo::nesome hill
22 widou- me to be he:
23 su:e you ne::ve will
24 well de iz many-ny ha:d laboreh
25 works from na:ne to fa;ve
26 when dey lay deih heads down
De Timmerman 171
27 neve god satisfie-
28 don wanna sign
29 fo: da destiny
30 ah’m a: resless sou;l yea;
31 someday ah’ll settle
32 somewheh down dis roa-
33 yez ah’m steppin up
34 we- stee:p a:n’ lo::nesome hill
35 oo:h steppin up
36 a ↑steep an lo::nesome hill
37 wedou me to be he;-
38 su:e you ne:ve- will
39 but fo: no;;w
40 ah surre::ndeh
41 devil runs ba:h mah sa;de
42 when mah health is fadin ou-
43 have to seize mah ra;e
44 yez ah’m steppin up
45 de stee:p a:n’ lo::nesome hill
46 oo:h steppin up
47 a ↑steep an lo::nesome hill
48 whidou- me to be he;e
49 su:e you neve will
50 whidou- me to be he;e
51 su:e you neve; will
52 ((Tiny legs Tim addresses the audience))
De Timmerman 172
When I Fall
1 oh babe:::h
2 babe:h you mus really lo:ve me ba:be
3 bette dan ye love yoself
4 bette dan ye love yoself
5 well y’catch me::
6 catch me every tahme ah fall (away)
7 any tahme ah fall mhm mhm
8 evereh tahme ah fall
9 well miss me::
10 miss me when ahm go:ne away
11 I’ll be back someda;;;;y
12 ah’ll be back in time
13 well y’need me:::
14 need me bah de river babe
15 waitin on de ode si;;;de
16 waitin on de ode side
17 an do you:::
18 do you know ah love you babe
19 bette dan ah love mahself
20 bette dan ah love mahself woho;;
21 oh yea
22 ((Tiny Legs Tim thanks the audience))
Get It Back
De Timmerman 173
1 well it’s half pas midna:ghd as ah woke up from mah dream
2 de shadow ad ma window stole ma mojo ‘way from me well
3 half pas midna:gh
4 an ah woke up from ma dream
5 de shadow ad ma window
6 stole ma mojo ‘way from me
7 ah god a good lovin woman an ah love to tread e kin
8 she fa:n he:self anothe- man
9 bud ah don get back what’s mahne
10 ah god a good lovin woman
11 an ah lo:ve to: treade kin
12 an she la:kes i- y’do know
13 bud sh’ fa:n ‘lsef anothe man
14 when ah don get back what’s mahne
15 well ah know ah got to ramble
16 ah’m booked ah gotta go
17 ah’m leavin befo sunra:se
18 won’ be back till fall
19 ah got to ramble
20 ah’m booked ah gotta go:
21 leavin befo sunra:se
22 won be ba:ck till fall
23 no ah won be back now
24 (an one mo:e tahme now)
25 well ah take the doc an trace his trail hes not that far ahead
26 de boundy hunters on de way de:’s a big pra::ze on his head
De Timmerman 174
27 we gonna hun down dad shadow
28 takin back what’s ma:ne
29 befo:e de bounty shouts his boundy
30 leaves him de;; to die
31 ah god a good lovin woman an ah love to tread he ka:n
32 she fa:n heself anothe man when ah don ge- back wha’s mahne
33 ah god a good lovin woman
34 an ah love to tread he ka::n
35 she fa:n he:self anothe man
36 when ah don get back what’s mahne
37 ah need to gedi- back
Heart Of The City
1 well ah live in de hea:d of a city babe
2 bud I used to be a countreh man
3 su:e it’s a differen way of livin
4 ah can’ decide whadah love bes
5 bu- when ahm with you babeh
6 don- care abou- de re:s
7 when ah fi:rs- came to town de sun was a shinin
8 I used to have a lotta frien-
9 on dark winters now when de weade was ha:d
10 not a single one was lef-
11 bu den ah med a true frien
12 she’s ma lover as well
13 now one hundre days since you kisse- ma lip
De Timmerman 175
14 any secon you be back
15 you: neve know how ha:d id is to (sugar)
16 ah been livin on water an brea-
17 yes ah lost a lil weight
18 gurl ah couldn- ca:e less
19 couln- ca:e less
20 ah was always braggin boud a woman
21 jus take a look ad mine
22 she’s a goo::d rockin mama
23 swee la:ke an angel
24 an she keeps me satisfie-
25 a lotta pretty women
26 bud is you ah god on ma
27 you ah god on ma
28 you ah god on ma mi:n
29 bud it’s you ah god on ma
30 you ah god on ma
31 you ah god on ma min
32 an ah chose de city
33 ove de countrehside
Can’t Win Them All
1 when you m’born you ain’ see nothin
2 ah know ah ain got nothin to worry abou-
3 when you m’born you ain’t see nothin
4 an you ain’ got nothin to worry abou-
De Timmerman 176
5 ah saw de downsa:de o my lahfe
6 g’fortune le- me down
7 ah grew up to be a winne;;
8 nothin in de worl- can keep me down
9 no no no
10 ah grew up to be a winne gu:l
11 nothin in de worl can keep me down
12 not after all dese infliction
13 mah ma:n is stronge:; dan befo:
14 yea de’s some beauty in de bad things
15 an de’s some truth in rumour too
16 ah sai de’s some beauty in de bad things
16 an de’s some truth in rumour too
17 dey say you can’ win em a;;ll
18 bud ah su:e have won a few
19 alra:gh le’s win a few mo: now
20 ((Tiny Legs Tim asks the audience to give the harmonica player a
hand))
21 ah taste de blood an i- tas- la:ke iron
22 ye daz de taste of de wall you see
23 ah taste de blood an i- tas- la:ke iron
24 ye daz de taste of de wall you kno
25 well de’ burnin all de bodies
26 you can smell i::d all aroun-
27 ye da- remins me dad ashe:;;s
28 ashe is de bes soi::l too
De Timmerman 177
29 ye da- remins me dad ashe:s
30 ashe is de bes soi:l too
31 dey say de new la:fe is startin
32 when de fores- is burn- down
10.1.14 Artur Menezes - Live at Los Angeles, California (2019)
Now’s The Time
1 bu- now’s the ta:;me
2 ta:me to cha:nge
3 walked in de pa::s-
4 oud of reach
5 enough o- tryin
6 an ta:me to do:
7 feels lahke somebodeh
8 is ka:nda new
9 to fin de tru:th
10 you a:e alone
11 can’tchu see
12 everywh;;e
13 in you an me
14 watchin you:
15 keepin you on tra;;
16 take contro;;l
17 yo bodeh an soul
18 jus le- he (rogue)
19 don- letcho mi:::n
De Timmerman 178
20 tell me lie;;s
21 listen to yo hea:r-
22 now’s de ta;;me
23 (Artur Menezes addresses the audience))
Give My Money Back
1 gi:::rl girl girl
2 look ad me when ah talk to you
3 gi::rl girl gi:rl
4 look ad me when ah talk to you;
5 give ma money ba;;ck
6 you bette- pay yo dues
7 you bette- pa:::y lil girl
8 for all de love ah ga:::ve to you
9 you bette- pay me little girl
10 for all the love ah ga::ve to you
11 you god everytha;;;n
12 all ah go:::d was de blues
13 you ask me for a purse an a bran new pair o shoe;s
14 ah pay de rant de gas an de groceries too
15 when ah a;;;sk for a lil love an affection
16 you said no:
17 an went to de oder directio;;n
18 baby
19 what’s wi- dose bad intentions
20 ((Artur Menezes announces his sax player’s solo))
De Timmerman 179
21 ah sol- everythin to buy da diamon ri:ng
22 ah can- belie::ve
23 ah’m such a foo::l
24 you go- everytha;;n
25 an all ah god was de blues
Should Have Never Left
1 ma baby;;;
2 took everything ah go-
3 ma baby;; ya;;
4 took everything ah go;;;-
5 she lef- me all alo;;ne
6 ma babeh she’s go:ne
7 one of dese da;;;ys
8 she’ll be back in to;;;wn
9 she will look fo- me:
10 ah won- be arou;;n-
11 it’s too la: too la;;
12 she’s on shakeh groun-
13 ((Artur Menezes laughs and shouts after finishing his solo))
14 earleh dis morni;;n
15 she call me on de pho;;ne
16 she said baby ah miss you
17 ah wanna come back ho;;me
18 said she fee;;l so ba;;d
19 she should have neve- le:::f
De Timmerman 180
20 it’s too la: too la;;
21 ah go- anothe woman in ma be;;
22 righ now she’s actually in israel but she’s gonna be back in 1 week
23 he:e we go righ
24 ((Artur Menezes addresses the audience))
Love’n’roll
1 hey baby hey baby ge- readeh tona:gh’s de ni::gh
2 hey baby hey baby get readeh tona:gh’s de ni::gh
3 you gonna have a goo tahme cuz ah kno whow to make dis righ
4 tell yo mama an papa you’ll be safe wi- me
5 tell yo mama an papa you’ll be safe wi- me:
6 ahm gonna bring you home oh when ah can’ guarantee
7 hey baby hey baby ge- readeh tona:gh’s de ni::gh
8 hey baby hey baby ge- readeh tona:gh’s de ni::gh
9 you gonna have a goo ta:me cuz ah kno whow do make dis righ
10 ((Artur Menezes introduces his sax player’s solo)
11 hey baby::: tona:gh’s de nigh
12 hey baby hey baby get readeh tona:gh’s de ni:gh
13 you gonna have a goo- tahme cuz ah know how do make dis righ
14 le’s make love n ro;ll
15 le’s make love n ro:ll
16 le’s make love n ro;ll
17 le’s make love n ro::ll
18 (ah’m gonna kiss ya) babeh ah love you so
19 le’s make love n ro;ll
De Timmerman 181
20 le’s make love n ro:ll
21 let’s make love n ro;ll
22 let’s make love n ro::ll
23 (ah’m gonna kiss ya) babeh ah love you so:
24 ((Artur Menezes thanks the audience))
Any Day, Any Time
1 ((Artur Menezes counts in the song))
2 if you eve think of me;;
3 jus say ma na;;me
4 ah run as fas- as ah ca;n
5 cuz you know ah feel de sa:me
6 ca:::ll me on ma cellpho;;ne
7 an ah’ll be the;e
8 any da;;y
9 any ta:me
10 when ah hear da- so;ng
11 de song you use to sing to me:
12 you know it hur so bad
13 thinkin can’t you see;
14 dad a:::h still love you
15 any da;;y
16 any tah;;me
17 ah bee waitin so lo;ng
18 to hea yo voice agai;;
19 checkin ou ma pho:ne
De Timmerman 182
20 wheneve ah ca:e
21 why can’t you jus call me:
22 an en dis misery::
23 babeh ah wantcha
24 ah need ↑you;;
25 so why can’t ya ju:s- le me ↑↑be;;;
26 yo- love- babeh
27 any day
28 any fuckin tah;me
29 cmon man
30 ((Artur Menezes introduces his sax player to the crowd))
31 baby ah still love you:
32 any da;;;y
33 any tah;me
34 any tahme
10.1.15 Dan Patlansky - Live at Groesbeek, The Netherlands (2014)
Madison Lane
1 she ho::ls up
2 both of her shoulde:s
3 she ro::lls up
4 sheets on be;-
5 she loo:ks u::p
6 to both of her bro::the:s
7 pictures
8 of them on-e wall
De Timmerman 183
9 honestly she fall
10 honestly she did her bes- to live
11 neve::r kne:w lo:ve
12 earn ma keep in be;;-
13 wa:lls too: ha;gh
14 she stoo:d u:p
15 oud in a rainsto:m
16 she folded
17 a note in er ha::n-
18 la:ke de rain fa:lls
19 silence an gracefu-
20 she fell ou-
21 wha:le tellin de la::w
22 honestly ah tried
23 honestly ah did ma bes to live
24 never:: knew love
25 rear::n ma keep in be::-
26 never:: kne:w lo;ve
27 rearn ma keep in be;-
28 walls too ha:gh
29 madison lane
30 woo:: madison la:ne
31 never:: kne:w love
32 rearn ma keep in be;-
33 never:: kne:w lo:ve
34 rearn ma keep in be;;-
De Timmerman 184
35 wa::lls too: ha;gh
36 madison lane
37 woo:: madison lane;
38 she came an she wen-
39 hangin pictures
40 of the::m
41 on de wa:::ll
42 ((Dan Patlansky thanks the audience))
Only An Ocean
1 ra:ghd abou- now
2 ma babeh’s wee:pin
4 ra:ghd abou- now
5 babeh’s go:::ne
6 ah’m not su:e wha-
7 ah’m achievin
8 when ah’m long long distance from home
9 she wan two weddin ring ah wan a Fende:
10 she wants weddin in Spai::;n
11 when you go-
12 someone da loves you
13 ma::n dat’s de name of de ga::me
14 babe babe please belie:- meh
15 when ah say
16 won’ beh lo;ng yea
17 a:h jus cross a rive::
De Timmerman 185
18 onleh oceans dri- ‘way
19 hurreh now tahme
20 don’ have a patien-
21 to watch eh tahme
22 ease on do:::wn
23 cach me ye tahm
24 everlastin
25 babeh’s love ain’ keepin me aroun
26 babe babe please belie- meh
27 when ah say won’ beh long
28 ah ju:s cross a ri:ve:
29 onleh oceans dri:e away
30 babe babe please belie- meh
31 when ah say won’ be long
32 a:h jus cross a rive:
33 onleh ocean dri- away
34 ((Dan Patlansky thanks the audience))
Big Things Goin’ Down
1 ((Dan Patlansky introduces the song))
2 ah le- ma ho:me
3 town ba:be::h
4 the- be big thang
5 goin down
6 ye:::
7 ah le- ma ho:me
De Timmerman 186
8 town ba:beh
9 the- be bi::g thang
10 goin down
11 ye:
12 whada see ain’t so pretteh
13 shall i- drag me on down
14 ah hit de citeh babe::h
15 streets be pa:::ve wi- gol-
16 ah hit de citeh babe:h
17 streets be pa::::ve wi- gol-
18 whada see ain’t so pretteh
19 shall i- tu:rn me on (stone)
20 ah le- ma ho:me town babe::h
21 deh be big thangs
22 goin down
23 ye
24 ah le- ma home town babe:h
25 the- be big thang
26 goin down
27 whada:
28 see ain’t so pretteh
29 shall i- crack me on down
30 ((Dan Patlansky thanks the crowd))
Bring The World To Its Knees
1 is feela la:ke ta::hme is a ru:nnin
2 runnin too la:- to make a sta:n-
De Timmerman 187
3 many years ah spen- now
4 runnin dis worl maste: plan
5 mineh changes fill ma hea- wi- green ye
6 la:ke weh survivin has made ma soul so lea- ye
7 readeh de race off poin- me to ma key
8 won’tcha hel- me now
9 bring de worl to its knees ah
10 maneh souls ahv (been) wid
11 maneh men falli:n down
12 almos taste- de victory ye
13 how many yea-
14 wear da: crown
15 mino- changes fill ma head wi- gree ye
16 la:ke weh survi:vin has made ma soul so lean ye::
17 readeh to race a::h poin me to ma key
18 won’tcha hel- meh now
19 bring de worl to its knee
20 so wher ah stan fo- de takin
21 so many pathways cove:ed in grease
22 standin maself on de pastures
23 passing me ba: to grit ma teeth
24 mineh changes fill ma hea- wi- gree- ye
25 la:ke weh survivin has made ma sou:l so lea- ye::
26 readeh de race off poin- me to ma ke:y
27 won’tcha hel- me now
28 won ya hel- me now
De Timmerman 188
29 mineh changes fill ma hea- wi- gree- ye
30 la:ke weh survivin has
31 made
32 ma
33 sou:l so lea- ye::
34 readeh de race off poin- me to ma ke:y
35 won’tcha hel- me now
36 bring de worl- to its knee;;;:
37 ((Dan Patlansky thanks the audience))
Now Look At Me
1 an now look a- me
2 babe:::h
3 whad have you done to me
4 ye;
5 an now look a- me
6 babe::h
7 wha- have you done to me
8 ye;
9 ye ah was was bla::n-
10 bu no::w ah can see
11 ye::: chil-
12 an now look a- me
13 babe:::h
14 whad have you done to me
15 ye;
De Timmerman 189
16 an now look a- me
17 babe::h
18 whad have you done to me
19 ye;
20 ye ah was was bla:n-
21 but now ah can see
10.1.16 Guy King – Tarzana, California (2019)
Go Out And Get It
1 ((Guy King counts in the song))
2 go oud an ged i-
3 go ou;;d an ged i-
4 because if you do:n’
6 someone else su:e will
7 thinkin is a good thing
8 bud ah think it’s overrate-
9 an if the:e’s somethin you wo;;n
10 you bette go oud an gedi-
11 people tell you to wait
12 buil fo: domorrow
13 if you don’ live today
14 you will be full sorrow
15 go ou:-
16 you bette go oud an gedi;
17 you an a::h
18 set the (mood)
De Timmerman 190
19 no-one else
20 don’ let them dictate chu
21 think fo: yoself
22 you bette go ou;;
23 you bette go ou- an gedi
24 deep insi:de ya kno:
25 what’s righ what’s wrong
26 ↑nothin li:ke
27 (ad you) carry you home
28 if the:e somethin you wont
29 you ↑really really won
30 you bette you bette ye bette:
31 go oud an gedi
32 go oud an gedi:: now
33 you bette go;
34 you bette go oud an gedi
35 just de othe day
36 ah was walkin down de street
37 saw this fi:ne little woman ah would su:e lahke to meet
38 bud ah waite- too long ya know
39 an othe- man got da- woman
40 ah’m gonna geti- togethe
41 ah’ve got to be strong
42 it’s not enough jus- to carry o:n
43 if the:’s somethi:ng you wo;n
44 ah’m gonna go oud an gedi-
De Timmerman 191
45 geti- babeh
46 ‘scuse me
47 jus- de othe da:y
48 ah was walkin down de street
49 saw this fi:ne little woman ah would su:e lahke to meet
50 bud ah waite- too long ya know
51 an anothe man got ma woman
52 ah’m gonna gedi- togethe
53 ah’ve got to be strong
54 i’s not enough jus to carry on
55 an if the’s something ah won
56 ah’m gonna go oud an gedi’
57 deep inside ya kno:
58 wha’s righ wha’s wrong
59 ↑nothin la:hke
60 (ad you) carry you home
61 if the’s somethin you wont
62 you realleh realleh wont
63 you bette you bette you bette
64 go oud an gedi
65 go ou- an gedi
66 you bette go:
67 go oud an gedi;;
68 you bette go;;
69 go oud an gedi
70 ah said you bette go
De Timmerman 192
71 you bette go oud an gedi no;w
72 evereh day of yo la;;hfe
73 go oud an gedi;
74 you bette go:
75 ↑a:::h
76 ((Guy King thanks the audience))
Come Back Baby
1 now listen
2 ((vocalizing))
3 ((vocalizing))
4 ((Guy King counts in the song))
5 well come back ba::be;h
6 mama please don’ go;;
7 cuz the way ah love you cha;l
8 well you neve: know mo:e a;;h
9 come back babe:h
10 le’s talk it ove;;
11 one mo: ta:;;hme
12 whoa no;w
13 well ah ‘dmit babe;h
14 dad a:h was wrong
15 an dontchu know babeh
16 cha::ld you been goin too lo;;ng
17 so come back ↑babe;h
18 le’s talk id ove;; o;h
De Timmerman 193
19 one mo:: ta;;;hme
20 whoa no;;w
21 if ah can (hal) up
22 la:ke a mountain chi;;l
23 ↑ye::;;;
24 dontchu kow ah call ma babeh ba;ck
25 come back ↑babe;;h
26 le’s talk id ove;;;
27 one mo:: tahme;;; oh no;w
28 well ah’dmi- babe:;h
29 dad a::h was wrong
30 an dontchu know ba:beh
31 cha:ld you been goin too lo;;ng
32 come back ba:;beh
33 les talk id ove
34 one mo:: tah;;;me
35 o:h no::::w
Sunny
1 ((vocalizing))
2 ((Guy King introduces the song))
3 sunne::h
4 yes ↑a;h live ma la;;hfe
5 to feel de rain
6 sunne;;h
7 you ↑smile ad me every::; day
De Timmerman 194
8 ma la;hfe troubles
9 lahke a window insa:de (know wh’am sayin)
10 an a rock was fo:me- when we:: hel’ hands oh
11 sunne:h
12 look so true
13 ah love you;
14 sunneh
15 yeste:day ma lahfe (weh filled wi- rain)
16 sunne;h
17 ye sma:le ad me an realleh ease de pain
18 de dark days a:e done an eve- brightly ah hea:
19 mah sunneh mornin shinin so: since:e
20 sunneh wont so true
21 ah love you
22 sunneh
23 ↑thank you fo: the love you let me see
24 sunne;h
25 ↑thank you fo the bes you make me see
26 mah lahfe (ou- control)
27 lahke a win blo:win san
28 an a hear- was formin
29 an we:: held hands
30 sunneh wont so true
31 ah love you
32 sunne:h
33 thank you thank you fo the smile upon yo face
De Timmerman 195
34 sunne;h
35 ↑tha::nk you fo the (inaudible)
36 yo’r ma spark lovin natu:e fine
37 yo’r ma sweet comple:te desi:e
38 someone so true
39 ah love you
40 ((vocalizing))
Truth
1 ((Guy King introduces the song))
2 everyone thinks dad ahm crazy
3 people say im (aya) ma hea;
4 bu- listen to me when ah tell you
5 i- ain’ necessarily bad
6 havin arouse of a la:fetahme
7 feels lahke ahm a thousan years o:l-
8 well excuse me if ah seem to be preachin
9 when we are only to live bah de ru:le
10 everybodeh listnin
11 ah can- hea you a:e ya listnin
12 dad woma:n’s beauty confuse me
13 answe’d evereh one of ma praye:s
14 thought she was someone she wasn’
15 was tellin me think ah wanneh to tea;
16 turn ou- ah’d onleh amuse he:
17 cuz deep down she jus didn’ ca;e
De Timmerman 196
18 i ↑took me a wha:le to discove (yeseday)
19 de truth (de live evereh wa;;y)
20 ((vocalizing))
21 ((Guy King announces his bass player’s solo)
22 ((Guy King introduces his bass player))
23 how many mess a:e you worrehd
24 whe:e we:e you holdin yo hea;-
25 girl can you answe de question
26 we:e you truthful from de sta;-
27 now that chu look in de mirro:
28 a:e you please- with the woman you see
29 can you forget all the deception
30 can you realleh eve- be free
31 do whatchu say
32 say whatchu mean
33 da’s de truth da will neve ge- ol
34 say whatchu mean eh
35 do whatchu say
36 da’s de truth you feel down in yo soul
37 do whatchu say
38 say whatchu mean
39 da’s de truth da will neve ge- ol
40 say whatchu mean eh
41 do whatchu say
42 da’s de truth you feel down
43 i;;;;n yo sou;;;l
De Timmerman 197
44 ((Guy King thanks the audience))
My Happiness
1 ((Guy King counts in the song))
2 the: was a tahme
3 when ah was stepping alone
4 nod a ca:e
5 nod a clown in ma soul
6 ah was cool
7 oh so cool
8 no coole: guy than ah
9 oh bud ah knew
10 was just a solo fla:gh-
11 so ti:ed
12 thougd ah was
13 oudda sa:gh until you
14 wondeful you
15 came an made i- twice as righ-
16 listen
17 dontchu know
18 the average bo:y
19 stuck upon himself
20 until the certain n righteous girl
21 makes him forget
22 everything else
23 so you can see
De Timmerman 198
24 jus whadahm talkin abou
25 you’re de o;ne
26 thadahm singin abou
27 well it’s true
28 oh so true
29 you know ma happiness is due to you
30 de: was a ta:me
31 when ah was stepping along
32 nod a ca:e
33 nod a cloud in ma song
34 ah was cool
35 oh so cool
36 no coole: guy than ah
37 oll ah knew
38 was just a solo fla;gh-
39 so ti:ed
40 thoughd ah was outta sigh-
41 till you wonde:ful you
42 came an made i- twice as righ-
43 dontchu know
44 the average bo::y
45 is stuck
46 on himself
47 until the ce:tain n righteous girl
48 makes him fo:get
49 everything else
De Timmerman 199
50 so you can see
51 jus whadahm talkin abou
52 you’re de o;ne
53 thadahm singin abou
54 it’s true
55 oh so t:ue
56 you know ma happiness is due de you
57 said ma happiness is due to you
58 a:::y issa due to you
59 know ma happiness is due to you;
60 in a midnigh hou:
61 still due to you
62 when ah wake up in de mo:nin issa due to you
63 ((vocalizing)) due to you
64 ((vocalizing)) you know ma happiness
65 ah happiness is due
66 ah happiness is due to you
67 ((Guy King thanks the audience))
De Timmerman 200
10.3 Interviews
10.3.1 Transcriptions
Key
x raise in volume
°x° lower volume
↑ raise in pitch
x: lengthened
(x) uncertain, possible hearing
((x)) paraphrase
(.) short pause
(0) pause in seconds
= no pause
[x] simultaneous
I Interviewee
R Researcher
10.3.1.1 Matt Schofield
1 R Okay (.) uhm (.) maybe before we start I can give you a general introduction ↑again? [Uhm] 2 I [Sure] 3 R Because that first email was quite a while ago (.) I think. 4 I [Yea, no problem] 5 R [So:] basically what I’m doing i- (.) well (.) last year I already did similar research 6 in that I=I looked at (.) the blues or blues music uhm (.) from a linguistic point of view ↑right. 7 I wanted to look at the way blues artists pronounce stuff and how they use their language in 8 their music (1) 9 I Sure=
De Timmerman 201
10 R =And this year I’m trying to do the same (.) expand upon it but uhm (.) now take the 11 opportunity I guess to uhm (.) hear from you guys ((chuckles))= 12 I ((smiles)) 13 R =to talk to the artists themselves and and hear what they have to say. 14 I [Yea] 15 R [Does] that make sense?= 16 I =Yea absolutely, it’s great= 17 R =Okay great, are you ready to get started then? 18 I Le- Go for it man (.) yea (.) hit me 19 R Okay uhm (1) so my first question is an easy one uhm (.) at what age did you first come into 20 contact with the blues? 21 I Uhm for me very very young, even before I ever considered playing music or (1) [uhm] 22 R [okay] 23 I even being aware of what music was that uhm (.) you know 24 my dad is a big blues fan and so all the music that I uh heard around the house that he was 25 choosing was ((nods)) blues or very blues related= 26 R =Okay= 27 I =some folk music as well you know (.) 28 R Uhu 29 I And then even (1) even the compromise when my parents were still together= 30 R =Uhu= 31 I =the compromise was like (.) in the car was like Eric Clapton or something you know which (.) 32 R ((smiles)) Okay= 33 I =which was a lot more mainstream than what my dad was listen to: 34 R ((nods)) Yea= 35 I =But u:h so yea so every- that was just what music sounded like really °ya know so uh° 36 R Okay 37 I So I woul- my dad was into ((looks away and thinks)) ya know the early electric blues guys and 38 then back before that stuff that I really haven’t investigated that much like uhm (1) 39 R ((smiles)) 40 I ya know the real uhm (.) great Delta players= 41 R =Yea ((nods))= 42 I =and uh acoustic sorta (.) that that period where (1) uh American folk music and blues isn’t 43 that different ya know uh 44 R [Mhm]
De Timmerman 202
45 I [Mississippi] Fred McDowell (.) Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James and Scrapper Blackwell 46 and all kinds of people that I still don’t even know that much about because I was more drawn 47 to the electric side ya know= 48 R =Yea yea= 49 I =So he went all the way through that and Muddy Waters and then B.B., Albert (1) uh Freddie 50 King and Albert Collins and so that’s- yea even before I thought about it that’s what the music 51 I was exposed to was 52 R Okay and so (.) when did the transition go from being exposed to that kinda music to playing 53 the music yourself? 54 I U::h probably just when I was (.) yea about about twelve years [old] 55 R [okay] 56 I I started messing 57 around with it because I was (2) you know by that point you’re a:: a little bit more aware of 58 the- of uh what you might wanna be interested in pursuing d’ya=ya know what I mean (.) so I 59 had a guitar around= 60 R =Uhu= 61 I =a little earlier than that probably eight or nine but (.) I didn’t really know what to do with it 62 and then (.) ya know (.) as I star- as this music stops becoming stuff that’s just somebody else’s 63 listening to ((smiles)) 64 R ((smiles)) 65 I and I start investigating stuff for myself I’m like (.) this is what I wanna do=and then (.) I’m of 66 a generation that u::h so I started taping my dad’s vinyls (1) 67 R [Okay] 68 I [On cassette] ya know ((smiles)) I’m a cassette generation 69 R [Uhu] ((drinks)) 70 I [When] we’re talking late eighties= 71 R =Mhm= 72 I =(sorta) 1990 and also VHS videos so (1) 73 R Yea= 74 I =My dad moved to the US in 1988 and he left me a VHS video that he’d taped off the television= 75 R =Mhm= 76 I =of B.B. King uh uh (2) playing a bit ya know three tracks from Newcastle City Hall in the U.K. 77 that had been shown on British television=and so I just started watching that video every 78 morning before school and ((smiles)) every night when I got in just these three tracks going I 79 wanna do this I wanna do this so uh-
De Timmerman 203
80 R Right 81 I Yea so that was around 89 something like that I started watching it °ya know° ((nods)) (1) 82 R Okay (1) 83 I So I was getting the vi-=the video influences as well stuff ya know like visual stuff not just 84 records ya know 85 R Yea and=and also live pers-=performances, do I get that correctly? 86 I ((nodding)) Yea yea most of my favorite stuff is live stuff that maybe still not even been 87 released ya know so [then I] 88 R [Yea] 89 I started taping stuff myself an=and uh uh back then ya know (.) in the early 90s there was still 90 like (2) ya know MTV still showed music and u:h VH1 was more adult contemporary music so 91 you’d get like blues shows and they had this show on called uh Night Music which was actually 92 recorded in the late 80s (.) they’re all on YouTube now ya know 93 R [Okay] 94 I [But] that was a great show where the house band- the presenter was Jules Holland and the 95 houseband was David Sanborn and his (.) touring band so (.) uh ya know they either had like 96 Hiram Bullock on guitar or Robben Ford on guitar and ya know Marcus Miller on bass so really 97 great musicians= 98 R =Yea yea= 99 I =They would back up a diff- like three different guests of really varied styles each week so I 100 was watching this stuff every week as well which was exposing me to like different kind of stuff 101 than just my dad’s records as well ya know= 102 R =Okay= 103 I =So you might have one week you might be like Sunny Rollins, Robert Cray and you know uh 104 uhm Joan Jett or something=you know like just a big mix of artists= 105 R =Yea Yea 106 I [But] 107 R [They were like different periods] 108 I (inaudible) with the band and stuff (.) yea you still had that 109 back then on TV 110 R Ok cool, and so, when you started performing or maybe first playing yourself how did the 111 transition to live performing go? Like did you immediately start playing with a band or with a 112 couple of mates or? 113 I Yea my entire experience of playing music from the beginning was playing with other people 114 R [Okay]
De Timmerman 204
115 I [And uh] so when I- so in 1990 I’d just- actually then I’d just discovered like Stevie Ray Vaughan, 116 probably about like 3 or 4 months before he died. 117 R Yea 118 I And then I was in the US with my dad who moved out there ya know, and Stevie died and again 119 another video of him playing with B.B. King and Albert Collins 120 R Yea 121 I Which you can see now on YouTube 122 R ((smiled)) yea 123 I New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival and so I’d seen that one and was like man this is it, this 124 is what I wanna do the way the three of them playing together and (.) all communicating with 125 the instruments, each with their own sounds=I was like I wanna be one of those guys so I went 126 back to school in that September (.) not really knowing much more than like the rudimentary 127 couple chords and the minor pentatonic and I said my friends at school I’m starting a band 128 R ((smiles)) 129 I and so I’m playing guitar and one of my friends went alright well I’ll play drums another went 130 I’ll play base (.) so we all learned together like that you know like right from the start the 131 experience going into it we were lucky enough to have a music room at school and the music 132 teacher who was a classical guy he didn’t really (1) know about the music that we were playing 133 but he uhm knew that we were passionate and excited about it and so he would let us stay 134 after school and use the music room and the school drum kit 135 R Right 136 I and he would let us go in on the weekends come and get the key from him to the music 137 department and go to school (.) so basically, every hour outside of school from the age 13 was 138 spent jamming with the band so yea 139 R [Okay] 140 I [And] then playing at home it was always about making music with other people 141 R Yes 142 I And even to this day, 30 years later, i don’t really get excited about or feel (1) uhm (1) that I’m 143 really able to communicate like as a solo performer when I have to go on like an interview thing 144 like you know these days on YouTube and you do That Pedal Show [or] 145 R [Yea] 146 I that kinda stuff, I’m like well you know I can play some guitar right now but really what I do is 147 improvise with other musicians to create ((waves hands)) music as a whole you know 148 R yea 149 I So I’m an ensemble player in that regard you know ((nods))
De Timmerman 205
150 R Okay, that’s really interesting, uh, especially because the last That Pedal Show interview you 151 did, you did play with a couple of other people ((smiles)) which [is nice to see that-] 152 I [Yea part of that-] yea the 153 conversations I’ve had with with Mick Taylor over there, cause he’s the same you know he’s 154 like well you’re only getting like a small amount of what (1) uh someone like me does if I just 155 sit there noodling you know 156 R Yea ((nods)) 157 I it’s like, or that’s what it feels like to is I can only b- it’d be like having yea saxophone player 158 coming in and they can blow you some saxophone but 159 R ((laughs)) yea 160 I you know, uhm, and uh, so yea even to have just those guys to just- and that was just a total 161 jam you now 162 R yea yea 163 I that step further towards my own band and my own music, you know, which hopefully next 164 time I’ll be able to get my own band in and 165 R ((laughs)) 166 I then we’ll really see what, what happens, you know 167 R I’ll hope so as well, yea, great (.) uhm, now I’m interested in knowing how you then went from, 168 you know, playing with those friends of you, uhm (1) of yours, rather, and then starting to 169 perform yourself= 170 I =Yea= 171 R =How did that happen? 172 I Uh well, you know we just uh started getting gigs so I just gigged within like 6 months of starting 173 that band uh 174 R Ok 175 I And uh we just, uh::, we sounded pretty good uhm:, it’s not like I had a lot of vocabulary, 176 R Mhm 177 I But (.) and this really relates to what I think you’re looking into in your study and in I, my stuff 178 when I do you know clinics or my Truefire courses now, this is a thing I’m trying to explain is, 179 you know I didn’t have a lot of vocabulary 180 R [Yea] 181 I [But] I could say something with the vocabulary that I had, you know, and I wasn’t like taking 182 prelearned guitar licks uh and then like sort of painting by numbers and putting them in what 183 I had was a small vocabulary and I was using that to improvise, if you see what I mean, so it 184 really, you think about like Albert King’s playing
De Timmerman 206
185 R Uhu 186 I He doesn’t have a big vocabulary 187 R [No] 188 I It’s the same few little lines but yet he’s expressing so much with that, 189 R yea 190 I With the phrasing and the timing and the tone and the feel and everything, so, yea so I w- we 191 were gigging within six months and uh sounded alright you know I mean not great but the basic 192 things were there 193 R Yea sure 194 I we weren’t like learning things note by note, we were doing versions of stuff, you know 195 R Yea that makes sense, and whe- 196 I And after that just playing locally, you know, just pubs and stuff and yea 197 R Uhu, and at that point, were it only covers, or were you trying like your own stuff as well? 198 I U::h, couple of things but we were mainly playing like blue:s covers and uh, you know some 199 Hendrix stuff and some cream stuff, because the other guys in the band weren’t quite as 200 hardcore about uh like the the more traditional blues that I’d grown up on= 201 R =Yea= 202 I =but they were in to like Cream and, you know, 203 R Yea more rock ((gestures to the side)) 204 I Yea so we were able to do that a bit better= 205 R =Ok= 206 I And so I did that until I was 18 and going to London [when] 207 R [Ok] 208 I I was old enough to be able to 209 travel from London from where I lived 210 R Uhu 211 I and started going to you know jam- blues jam sessions in London where I met like the real 212 professional blues players on the UK scene, you know, so 213 R Yea 214 I And the::n within a couple of times of going to the jam I got asked to join a band in London= 215 R =Uhu= 216 I =I was like 18, maybe I-, and a guy asked me to join the band before I moved there even, 217 R Okay= 218 I =and so I thought well shit I better move to London you know 219 R ((laughs)) Yea
De Timmerman 207
220 I Uh so then my first gig in London, I think I was, I’d maybe turned 19 or something, but was 221 uhm (1) at the 100 club in London, which is a very famous venue so I’m like 18 or 19 years old 222 and I’m like (.) hey I’m do- I’m doing it= 223 R =Yea= 224 I =I’m playing guitar and you know basically it’s just carried on since then, the 20, 22 years since 225 then °you know so° 226 R Okay, yea, but when you say you joined a band, does that mean you were also singing, or just 227 playing the guitar? 228 I No I was just playing guitar, yea 229 R Yea, ok, and s- 230 I That sorta backseat, I was happy to just be, ha- having professional gigs, d’you know what I 231 mean 232 R ((smiles)) yea I can imagine that 233 I I-, it wasn’t really about being driven to do my own thing, and in fact I’ve al-, I was always 234 reluctant to go down that path I was just happy to be playing music with good musicians and 235 music that I liked you know so 236 R Yea= 237 I =Yea that was the incentive rather than seeking to uh- to uh (.) start my own band or anything 238 like that, that that sort of evolved on the side 239 R [Right] 240 I [of working] 241 R and how did that 242 evolution go? 243 I ((leans back)) Uh, just because I started doing gigs at some places, uhm, and then you know 244 the owner would be like hey man you got a band you know (yourself) so we start- I started 245 doing uh:: (1) well yea I started working with a singer that was my girlfriend at the time a:nd 246 so I was kinda lead in the band and that had uh Jonny Henderson and Evan Jenkins in that band 247 and Jonny Henderson I went to school with so uh he grew up in the same- so I had known him 248 since those days in school with bands you know, so those guys they yea were in that band and 249 then you know I split up with the girl and so the band went with it and so we kept playing as a 250 trio and and uh= 251 R =Uhu= 252 I =So yea started playing at the Blues Bar in London, the Ain’t Nothing But The Blues Bar 253 R Yea= 254 I =so this is about 2002=
De Timmerman 208
255 R =Okay= 256 I =a::nd started digging us playing just as a trio and then we got fired from ((smiles)) uhm the 257 Blues Bar for being too loud 258 R ((laughs)) 259 I we weren’t loud but they just had like uh just a decibel meter that as soon as the dynamics 260 went up and the band, they would shut the PA down 261 R That sounds like fun 262 I Yea:::: so uh we got (.) we got uh (1) sort of half fired, half quit, you know it [was] 263 R [Yea] 264 I one of 265 those kind of things and this is bullshit and so I thought this band is really good and we’re 266 getting a following in London so I’m (.) I called another couple of places where I’d played with 267 (.) uh:: with the band with the girl singing you know 268 R Yea= 269 I =and uh said hey we’re kinda carrying on as a trio and so I got a gig (.) one of those was a:: uhm 270 uh uh at the place run by uh th- the promotor was this guy Richard Pavitt so we did a gig and 271 we recorded it to try and get some more gigs and Richard said you should release we should 272 release this as an album and uhm you know put it out there and try and get some more gigs so 273 yea uh so he set up Eugene Records and that was my first solo album was actually just a 274 recording of a gig that we had no idea 275 R [yea the live one] 276 I [(inaudible)] the trio live and 277 people still really like that but we didn’t even- I was just looking at Jonny going alright shuffle 278 in C you know and= 279 R =Yea yea yea= 280 I =no rehearsal no setlist no nothing and we picked 8 tracks that sounded alright and the next 281 thing you know I’ve got a solo career ((laughs)) 282 R [Yea] 283 I [so that’s a yea] 284 R that’s really cool, absolutely 285 awesome yea uhm= 286 I =like no planning or anything °you know so° 287 R Yea, very organic ((smiles)) if you will 288 I Yea ((nods))
De Timmerman 209
289 R Uhm so how did you then- I mean, what did your creative process look like, cause, you were 290 playing for other people for a long time [and then] 291 I [yea] 292 R suddenly you know, you were the front 293 man of your trio, how did you start creating your own stuff? 294 I Uhm, with great difficulty really, because uhm= 295 R =Yea 296 I (.) that first record as all just covers or jams or kind of a mix of like one old blues tune over and 297 over or whatever= 298 R =Yea 299 I it wasn’t- and once that got some traction and people started, we started getting offers for like 300 festivals and y- and stuff I’m like well shit 301 R ((laughs)) 302 I I guess I need some songs 303 R Yea 304 I and then we have to make a real record and go in the studio (.) so I just went away and uhm 305 (.) yea tried to write some stuff and that was really the first time I ever had to really get that 306 deep into that and that’s not, that’s not, playing guitar for me like I say I just started doing gigs 307 within six months of picking the thing up and it was easy really I don’t mean that in an arrogant 308 way I just, I’d never thought about it I just played guitar and it sounded okay you know it was 309 natural= 310 R =Mhm ((drinks))= 311 I =But then the other stuff then you’re like man I gotta figure out how to (.) come up with 312 something original so:: ye aI don’t really know, you know, you reference records you like and 313 okay let’s try and do something that’s a bit like that kind of thing you kno:w, or I want 314 something with this kind of groove or (.) this kind of idea a::nd yea just (.) trying to figure out 315 how stuff is written like that and then I also didn’t just wanna go and do a bunch of twelve bars 316 and like shuffles= 317 R =Okay= 318 I =and straight- so it was always then important to me to put like a twist in and of course I- at 319 the same time I- by then I had discovered people like Robben Ford and Robert Cray and [u:hm] 320 R [Uhu] 321 I who would put in a more, during the nineties surely, they were writing like 322 contemporary blues tunes and= 323 R =Yea
De Timmerman 210
324 I (.) always with a twist you know so no like- most of what Robben Ford and The Blue Line stuff, 325 which is what I was into= 326 R =Mhm= 327 I =And the Robert Cray Land in the nineties they are blues songs but they’ve got an extra chord 328 or a ((gestures)) different groove or uh 329 R Yea 330 I And so I thought well that’s the place for me I’m not gonna be like a traditional uh ((mimics 331 common blues groove)) 332 R ((laughs)) 333 I I wanna you know have those other influences in there=cause by that point I’m also listening 334 to jazz and funk and New Orleans music and all those kind of things as well 335 R [Yea] 336 I [so I was] like let’s 337 put it all together and we were already an organ trio which is (.) not that traditional even 338 though B.B. King and Albert King did it so 339 R Yea yea yea 340 I so we like the funky stuff as well you know 341 R Uhu 342 I ((nods)) yea [just] 343 R [Okay] 344 I trying to put it all together and find something that speaks for yourself you 345 know ((nods)) 346 R Yea sure, that totally makes sense, now said like I listened to some records that I liked and I 347 tried to figure out how they worked what records were they, apart from Cray and Ford, uh, 348 were there others? 349 I Uh yea, everything- the stuff that like B.B. King did with the uh uh- some of his seventies stuff, 350 sometimes those records were better than others for B.B. but often times they put him with a 351 juicer or an existing band like uh::m some of the seventies stuff he did with The Crusaders= 352 R =Mhm ((nods))= 353 I =which is Joe Sample and those guys where- so that was sort of putting a song around it you 354 know u::h, and uhm uhm (1) also like Albert Collins’ later stuff was a big influence as well, he- 355 stuff he was writing it with his wife and uhm (2) you know they’re blue, but they’ve got like 356 hooks and like cool ideas, lyrically as well, you know uh wearing the shoe on the other foot or 357 you know uh I could see your lights on nobody’s home, which I covered some of that stuff 358 anyway so they- you now they just got- they’re just like nicely written ideas you know,
De Timmerman 211
359 especially like the Iceman record by Albert Collins and uh (.) yea just everything that was going 360 on really at that point with um, stuff getting- expanding the blues a little bit you know- Stevie 361 Ray as well, like his In Step record and uhm, which was sort of the first time that he’d made a 362 record that was still Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble but the songs are a bit more song, 363 you know= 364 R =yea= 365 I =than to say just like Pride and Joy which is still a blues with a great hook 366 R yea 367 I whereas when you think of stuff like Crossfire or Tightrope or something on a later Stevie 368 record, it’s a bit more of a song, you know 369 R Yea I get what you mean= 370 I So I was trying to l- take it from that uhm (.) area you know and kinda carry on from there °you 371 know so° (1) in the best possible way and then you’re like ok well so there’s still using the same 372 three chords in the blues a lot of times but you might extend the progression, or you might 373 double up the thing, or you might make it into a chorus instead of uh::: (1) you know so- or 374 actually- well you know the first people to really do that was the that Booker T and the MGs 375 with Albert King in the sixties because that wasn’t, tha- they were songs as well, even though 376 they were blues you know= 377 R =Yea 378 I So that was I think one of the first examples that Born Under A Bad Sign album 379 R Yea 380 I Or a lot of those, they’re actually (.) uhm, yea, songs, they’re not just a twelve bar with three 381 verses, ya know 382 R Yea ((nods)) okay, alright [tha-] 383 I [just trynna keep] that in mind you know 384 R Yea, now, when you say that they’re doing all this new stuff, the stuff you’ve mentioned right 385 now is ninety percent music, right, looking at the chords and the structure of the song, but you 386 briefly mentioned lyrical things, like lyrical elements and I believe you used some phrases but 387 were there other lyrical elements too? 388 I Yea and I should- that’s part- yea I mean um, when I started my solo career I was with another 389 now ex-girlfriend, the one after the one I mentioned before ((smiles)) 390 R ((laughs)) 391 I at the beginning of that and she was into kinda like writing ideas and stuff so that really, I have 392 to give her credit for coming up with the phrases, I turned them into a song you know 393 R Yea=
De Timmerman 212
394 I =But yea it was like trying to come up with those lyrical (.) hookey uh:: (.) just something a little 395 more clever than my baby just left me d’ya know what I mean 396 R ((smiles)) yea 397 I Uhm, yea so, she was really a big part of uh- of that for many, for about a decade, right up until 398 the last studio record I made which is five years ago now but uhm 399 R Yea 400 I Uhm, so uh (.) yea she was a big part of that for those ideas, little, little lyrical hooks that’s the 401 hardest bit of all for me because I don’t- I don’t really think in in in those terms I think that’s 402 an art to itself, y’know I’m a guitarist who sings, but I’m definitely a guitarist ((gestures, 403 enunciates)) who sings you know and uhm 404 R Okay 405 I Whereas real, somebody like my friend Ian Segal whom you may be familiar with 406 R Mhm 407 I Uh:: he’s a he he can jam on a song (.) with lyrics if you know what I mean he can- you can get 408 him up with a band and he’ll just come out and sing and it’ll string together verses from the 409 entire history of blues lyrics ((smiles)) you know so that’s that’s how his mind puts it together 410 you know 411 R Yea I can’t fathom that either so I get what you mean 412 I Yea 413 R Did you have to consciously work on that stuff then? Because you said with the guitar you 414 went- like you didn’t have to think, but what about ly- 415 I Oh yea totally, that’s like the, that’s the hardest stuff, yea 416 R Yea 417 I I- even making a record like (.) doing the guitar solos is like the last bit of my concern you know 418 R ((smiles)) yea 419 I and now thank god for that we’ve got a track and now it sounds alright and now I’ll just play 420 guitar on it tha- yea so= 421 R =Okay 422 I And that certainly becomes more important as time goes on as well you know you wanna have 423 some substance and I always thought well I need a vehicle for the guitar otherwise it’s just 424 guitar playing you know, but you need a context for it to be in that makes it listenable for a 425 variety of people you know 426 R Yea
De Timmerman 213
427 I And I of course still largely play to guitar players but uh you know I like to think I have managed 428 to fashion some kind of vehicle for the guitar to ride on you like ((gestures)) to give it something 429 to stick to you know 430 R Yea yea 431 I If you just come out and go ((mimics guitar lick)) for an hour, and I know people that do you 432 know but 433 R Yea no we can’t listen to Tin Pan Alley for ten hours straight I guess ((laughs)) 434 I ((smiles)) Exactly yea, as much as I love some of that you know ((drinks)) 435 R Yea, no I get what you mean, now did you have like a practice routine then for this (.) you know 436 ((air quotes)) more difficult part of the music? 437 I No, completely trial and error 438 R Okay 439 I If I had a routine it might be easier, but I just have to pick up the guitar and see what comes 440 out or: sometimes just walking down the street and then what I realized is (.) as an improviser 441 R Uhu= 442 I =Cause all my playing, when it comes to solos I’m improvising based out of the vocabulary that 443 I have 444 R Yea 445 I that that in some ways you’re writing every time you take a- or I’m writing something new 446 every time I take a solo you know 447 R Yea 448 I But it’s- I’m not treating it as that, I’m treating it as an improvisational moment=and then it’s 449 gone you know 450 R Mhm 451 I Uh (1) so really then part of the trick is to you know do that same thing with the right space to 452 capture some of it and go, oh maybe that little thing I just played could be the melody or the 453 line of a new song you know= 454 R =Yea 455 I Rather than just letting it go off into th- the ether 456 R Yea 457 I You sorta nail it down and build upon it so uh (.) sometimes just walking down the street you 458 know you can come up with that and then uh (.) and then what was the other kinda thing I 459 figured out was like if I can (1) uhm (1) if the groove is traditional on a song so say it’s like a 460 shuffle 461 R Yea=
De Timmerman 214
462 I =or like a traditional blues groove, then I’ll try and put like a little twist in it so maybe a different 463 change or a little hook that’s original you know 464 R Yea 465 I Uh or:: eh the other option is to do like a traditional blues pattern like a twelve bar with a 466 groove that you might not use on a tr- you know so always one thing is just a bit considered 467 R Yea= 468 I =Rather than just like throwaway you know ((nods)) ((drinks)) 469 R Okay, yea that makes sense (.) uhm (.) okay a little like, a couple of minutes ago you quoted 470 my baby just left me right, when you said I wanted to do more than that, is that what the blues 471 is to you? [Maybe-] 472 I [No, no] that’s what it is to other people 473 R Right 474 I Uh:m (.) and uh if you actually listen to the really great blues songs, they’re not that at all 475 R Yea 476 I So to clarify that that’s what it’s become with the like i- almost like a caricature of it you know= 477 R =Yea 478 I but no so wanting to avoid that kind of cliché and that caricature because the really great stuff 479 you know 480 R [Uhu] 481 I [is much more] or (.) is much more thoughtful than that and much more 482 layered, much cleverer, you know so= 483 R =Okay 484 I (.) y- the uhm (1) and when it- what those clichés stem from is the very early stuff where, there 485 was no such thing as (.) as songs before that anyway, so they started simple because they were 486 inventing 487 R [Yea] 488 I [You know] you have to look at the history of stuff so when Muddy Waters 489 was singing baby please don’t go baby please don’t go, that was a pop song because there was 490 like 491 R Mhm 492 I you had Western classical music and sort of Western u::h I suppose your Gershwins and that 493 kind of composers of the time, and then you had big bands a little bit but you know, other than 494 that, pop music was Muddy Waters, and then Chuck Berry and Little Richard 495 R Yea yea
De Timmerman 215
496 I so they were inventing, they weren’t doing a version of something that had come before so 497 uhm (.) so when people were singing baby please don’t go or I woke up this morning, now it’s 498 a cliché 499 R Yea= 500 I =but it wasn’t when they invented it that was like the latest shit [that was like the new stuff] 501 R [yea totally] 502 I but much simpler because complexity arises uh (.) over the years you know so uh (.) so yea by 503 that I don’t mean I wanna be tethered to now singing somebody else’s cliché you know 504 R ((smiles)) yea 505 I (.) and I think that- and those guys all, you know, again even in their simplicity as I always say, 506 simple is hard, to like- Born Under A Bad Sign, Albert King’s song written by Booker T and 507 William Bell, uh, it’s really simple but it’s hard to write a song that simple and that clever you 508 know with that much imagery 509 R [Yea] 510 I [that’s] like the perfect song really, you know, it’s got the hook, 511 it’s got the riff 512 R Yea ((nods)) 513 I uhm, it’s really hard to write something that simple and that good you know 514 R No I- 515 I Any of those kinda tunes 516 R Yea 517 I Or uhm, Mannish Boy [by] 518 R [Uhu] 519 I it’s taken me thirty years to really understand what he’s talking 520 about in that, and a lot of it is understanding, having lived in the US for five years now= 521 R =Uhu= 522 I =And seeing how much institutionalized racism is prevalent here [and] 523 R [yea] 524 I in the US still, and 525 then thinking about how it was when Muddy Waters grew up where slavery was only a distant, 526 not a distant memory I should say 527 R Yea no= 528 I =a very recent memory and people like Muddy and B.B. born onto cotton plantations and 529 called boy by the white slave owners so to sing I’m a man I spell it m you know a n no b you 530 know, you listen to those lyrics and he’s talking to basically white America you know=
De Timmerman 216
531 R =Yea 532 I and saying don’t call me boy a:nd you know you- you’re gonna dig this music and your women 533 are gonna dig this music, and he’s- I can make love to you in 5 minutes t- it’s standing up for 534 themselves, you [know] 535 R [yea] 536 I and the message is, it’s not overt but when you really listen to 537 it and then you put into the context of the time and the place I’m like man this is some heavy 538 heavy shit you know and uh= 539 R =Yea 540 I (.) and hidden amongst ((singing main riff from Mannish Boy)) so you think it’s kind of a simple 541 I’m a man but the- that was the way for these people to uhm be heard [you know] 542 R [yea] 543 I it’s a protest of sorts you know 544 R Yea (1) I’m really glad that you brought up this historical context and we’ll get into it in a little 545 bit if we have the time 546 I [sure] ((drinks)) 547 R [what] I wanna get to is (.) do you have like a definition for the blues, 548 would you be able to describe it in like one sentence, is it maybe that what you just described 549 what Muddy Waters and B.B. did, or is it something else? 550 I Uh, well overall, it’s uh, the blues is life, really, it’s it’s li- it’s the experiences of life in musical 551 form more than any other form of music to me you know so [it’s] 552 R [okay] 553 I somebody’s story you 554 know it’s somebody’s voice 555 R Yea 556 I (.) it’s somebody’s uh window to expression you know about where they’ve come from and 557 that u:hm, that’s valid for everyone, uh, really, and obviously, having grown up in a not wealthy 558 but you know largely middle class family in the UK, I really can’t in any way relate to uh what 559 it’s like to have been born as B.B. King picking cotton and living in a shack with [the] 560 R [yea] 561 I squeaking tin roof and your mum has left you with your grandmother you know and like and 562 then deciding that you’re gonna hitchhike from Mississippi to Memphis and carry on that 563 journey uh (1) to be The King Of The Blues known all over the world, ((smiles)) that’s so massive 564 [you know] 565 R [yea]
De Timmerman 217
566 I it’s- that’s such an escape [from an environment] 567 R [no, yea] 568 I so I can’t really even 569 begin to relate to that, I just had to get a ride to London ninety minutes away and I was in a 570 band, you know [it’s uh] 571 R [yea] 572 I but, the flip side is and (1) ou know you listen to Albert King at the 573 Fillmore and he says everybody understands the blues [you know] 574 R [yea] 575 I The little baby laying in the 576 cradle can’t get that milk bottle fast enough [((laughs))] 577 R [((laughs)) right] 578 I so you know, and he makes a 579 good point there it’s like suffering is relative as well you know 580 R Yea= 581 I =And uh, so everybody can relate to that, uhm, it’s uhm, so yea it’s really, it’s the musical 582 version of life which is, so the misconception is that it’s sad or that it’s down but it’s quite the 583 opposite of that= 584 R =Yea 585 I It’s its expressing a- the uh (.) human condition, good or bad or= 586 R =Yea 587 I You know, so ((nods)) that’s what the blues is (.) so really the blues is a feeling, and that’s a 588 cliché but it’s true ((smiles)) you know [you know] 589 R [yea] 590 I it’s a feeling 591 R Okay, great, now, to get back to the historical uh aspect of the blues, I mean, I think you’ll 592 agree with me that some people are very skeptical towards maybe artists as yourself, or maybe 593 people in general, that use, or or apply the blues to their own life even though, our lives are 594 very distant from the lives of the people that started it 595 I Yea yea 596 R Do you encounter this issue? 597 I Uh, no, uh, not from, well I can say, from uh, many black artists, [that] 598 R [mhm]
De Timmerman 218
599 I that I would consider 600 reaching back to the very tradition I’ve had nothing but uh (.) encouragement, you know, they 601 (.) they’re not viewing uh, things as divisive, you know= 602 R =Yea 603 I Uh, they’re actually, yes tell (.) tell the world about this music, you know and we- and they- so 604 when you, you know, there’s a there’s a video you know (.) you can watch it these days, of uh 605 the Rolling Stones it’s like 1979 or 1980 and they’re like super fucking wasted in a club in 606 Chicago at a Muddy Waters gig, they turned up to Muddy’s gig and they sit in, you know 607 ((nods)) 608 R ((nods)) Mhm 609 I and uh, and Muddy’s having a ball, he’s laughing at them cause they’re all fucked up and you 610 know, but he’s- he- like you know, he-, these people, they named their band after one of my 611 songs, right 612 R ((smiles)) yea 613 I They’re probably some of the first white people he ever met that didn’t that th- treated him 614 like their hero ((gestures one way)) and not like a fucking piece of shit ((gestures the other 615 way)) as was happening in America, that, you know, he grew up through all of that, so he loves 616 it and proud that his m- his message will be carried on in whatever fashion, I’ve never 617 encountered anything, anything, uh, negative from anybody, you know 618 R Mhm 619 I And I remember the first time I played with Buddy Guy, you know= 620 R =Mhm 621 I (1) I’m like just (.) uhm, well that’s the mo- I don’t really get nervous you know when I play on 622 stage, cause I’ve always just wanted to do it more than I’ve been concerned about doing it you 623 know, so uh 624 R ((nods)) mhm= 625 I =the passion has outweighed any nerves about it= 626 R =Yea 627 I But I really stood there with Buddy Guy and I thought (1) man, wha- what am I gonna sound 628 like you know I mean 629 R ((smiles)) yea 630 I he is tha- he was part of inventing the music that the rest of us are just having a go at 631 R Yea, uhu 632 I Uhm (.) and it was fine you know and I played the best I could and he liked it and uhm he was 633 warm and excited to see that I was excited about it [you know]
De Timmerman 219
634 R [yea] 635 I and uh, when I met B.B. King I never got to play with B.B. but I met him and I- he in- you know 636 we were both playing the North Sea Jazz Festival and I’d already played and then he turned up 637 a:nd I was in my dressing room and I’d seen him go in in a wheelchair to his dressing room 638 because he was about eighty five at this point 639 R Yea= 640 I =and then somebody from his camp comes and knocks at the door and says uhm (.) you know 641 mister King would like to meet you 642 R Oh my God ((smiles)) 643 I and I think my manager maybe at the time I’m not sure had let him know that he was m- my 644 hero my big- you know 645 R Yea 646 I But we got a knock and I’m like oh shit and so I go in and I knock on his door and he’s like come 647 on in son, you know, and he invited me into him and we spoke about the music and the blues 648 and h- you know there was no sense of him- he was only pleased= 649 R =Yea 650 I (.) to know that I loved it so much, d’you know so, but there was no sense of cultural 651 appropriation going on there as they call it these days 652 R Yea exactly 653 I it- we- we’re all celebrating the same thing you know so yea (.) so I never had that but that’s 654 not to suggest that uh I could ever express it in the same way- you know I can’t be Muddy 655 Waters, I can’t- so that’s why it’s important to not try and be (.) [you know what I mean] 656 R [Mhm] 657 I it it- that’s why you you’re- you are doing it disservice of you’re playing that stuff but playing 658 it without intent or understanding you know, that’s what annoys me about so many kind of (.) 659 less original white uhm (1) let’s say more amateur blues bands that are happy to just destroy 660 the- this music without really understanding what they’re talking about here so= 661 R =Yea 662 I uh (.) and I remember- the guy who’s band I first joined, Lee Sankey, in London, harmonica 663 player, that first band I got in (.) you know I think I was like- if I was singing something at a jam 664 I might sing like have you ever loved a woman and you know this- it’s like I worked five years 665 in a steel mill chucking steel just like a slave you know it’s the lyric, and I was like nineteen or 666 twenty and I’m singing that at a jam and Lee started like you should write you own one that- 667 or find something that’s more= 668 R =Mhm
De Timmerman 220
669 I relatable he goes cause you know, ((smiles)) you’re not chucking steel like a slave th- so some 670 of that is important to consider if you’re covering a song I would make- there’s some stuff that 671 seems alright to sing you know, [that] 672 R [Yea] 673 I you can relate to, and some stuff that kinda sounds 674 silly now you know= 675 R =Right 676 I cause I certainly haven’t had to chuck steel like a slave ((smiles)) 677 R ((smiles)) Yea, no, no of course, okay that’s really interesting (.) uhm (.) yea the reason I brought 678 up the cultural appropriation stuff is because it’s a- a very hot topic in research right now and 679 the blues is one of the, you know, examples people give, but yea this was really insightful 680 I Yea, I see it a lot over here as well from- and I’m a liberal traditional, classical liberal= 681 R =Yea 682 I But people are getting nutty about stuff over here (.) 683 R ((laughs)) 684 I and it’s- it’s usually the white people who are telling other white people what they can do with 685 other people’s cultures and then if you ask the people whose culture it is and (as I was saying) 686 my case I’ve been up against nothing but people being happy that [I’m celebrating[] 687 R [Yea] 688 I their culture and and and spreading it and you know trying to do my best with it and it was the 689 same- there was a big thing here with the uhm on Halloween and the Mexican tradition= 690 R =Yea= 691 I =And stuff like that and people saying oh don’t dress as the sugar skulls or the the, or that stuff 692 is cultural appropriation and then the you know (.) so many of the Mexican community went 693 what are you talking about we love people celebrating our you know, culture is to be shared, 694 that’s what, you know, makes a strong- in fact that’s what gets rid of the racism you know 695 R Yea= 696 I =when everybody’s doing the same thing so I think some of the- you know Muddy Waters 697 would be upset to think that people are being told that they’re not allowed to celebrate his 698 music you know= 699 R =Yea, uhu 700 I Anyway that would- that’s my opinion and who am I to say I’m another white person who- 701 ((laughs))
De Timmerman 221
702 R Well I happen to be a white person who ((laughs)) feels the same way so yea I get what you 703 mean (1) uhm, alright, finally, I wanna get to, you know, the stuff that really pertains to my 704 research which is of course the language stuff, right 705 I Yea= 706 R =And to do so I’d like to send you a couple of files [uhm] 707 I [Mhm] 708 R They’re just PDFs= 709 I =Yea 710 R I wanna use this one first, or actually I’ll just send them both [uhm] 711 I [okay] 712 R the- (2) they’re like 713 extracts from my research from last year right and I wanted to briefly go over them with you 714 uhm (.) and ask you, I don’t know, if you were aware of this kinda stuff or what your thoughts 715 are, did you get them? 716 I Uhm, well I’ve got you on Skype on my phone right now [uhm] 717 R [yea] 718 I so I don’t know if-, are you 719 sending them on email or Skype? 720 R No I sent them in the Skype chat, so they should be right there 721 I Ah, let me- I’ve got you on- ((looks for sent documents on phone)) I don’t know how I get back 722 out of the 723 R ((smiles)) I think you did it, because I can’t see you anymore=I mean I printed them out but I 724 don’t think it’s gonna be very easy to look at them if I just hover them in front of the camera 725 I Uhm if you- if you email them to me right now 726 R Uhu= 727 I =Then I can pull it up on my computer screens 728 R Oh yea that might be easier 729 I That’s probably easiest cause I can’t (.) find (.) where (.) oh okay I’ve found them but send them 730 on email if you can 731 R Yea yea I’m uh (.) importing [them now] 732 I [cause I can] see you on the other screen you know 733 R Yea no that sounds easier (.) uh (.) alright, they should be in your mailbox right now 734 I °Lemme see° (1) the wonders of technology 735 R ((laughs)) yea, it’s insane
De Timmerman 222
736 I Not quite here yet but this is also- I have to go from my website to my gmail (.) so many 737 methods of communication these days= 738 R =Yea 739 I It’s- it’s [(inaudible)] 740 R [(inaudible)] 741 I still waiting 742 R Okay 743 I Maybe I can go into Skype on the browser (1) °and uh° 744 R That might work 745 I [(inaudible)] 746 R [(inaudible)] 747 I I had to do that earlier to find out what my password was for Skype ((laughs)) 748 R ((laughs)) ((nods)) I’m glad you found it 749 I (5) Ah here we go and as I do that (.) the email comes through 750 R Right 751 I Gotcha, so:: 752 R Yea (.) so if you could open the data for interviews pdf 753 I Yea 754 R Okay (.) there’s like two graphs and a table, do you see them? 755 I Yea, okay 756 R Okay, so, to contextualize what I did in this particular instance is I uhm- I looked at live 757 recordings of B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters, and then (.) yourself, Josh Smith and Philip 758 Sayce and what I did is I transcribed them 759 I Right= 760 R =a::nd I (.) looked for features that are uhm (.) linguistically considered to be African American- 761 or features of African American English, right 762 I And th- so, while we’re singing this is, yea? 763 R Yea yea, this is uh a live recoprding from Sugar Mill, I think, yours was (.) [no, live at Stran 764 Palato] 765 I [(inaudible) just one 766 second] sorry mate 767 R Yea no no no 768 I ((answering door)) (34) alright (.) sorry about that, amplifier being returned 769 R ((laughs)) no worries no worries 770 I ((laughs)) okay
De Timmerman 223
771 R Uhm (1) right where were we, yea, so what I did is I looked at a couple of features right= 772 I =Yea 773 R that are considered to be African American English and I looked for them in your lyrics and in 774 all the other lyrics and the graphs is the frequency by which they occurred in all those lyrics 775 I Right right, okay 776 R Uhm, so, the hypothesis was- or I guess you could call it that, is that uhm even though a lot of 777 contemporary blues artists aren’t you know from the Mississippi Delta, don’t have the 778 historical background like we’ve talked about earlier, nor having the social ties and stuff like 779 that= 780 I =Yea 781 R Uhm, but nevertheless they would use these features right 782 I Yea= 783 R =And so what you will see is (.) uhm (.) that- I mean there’s three variables right so (.) we don’t 784 have to get into the features themselves but what you can see is that the prevalence is pretty 785 high across the board, is this something you’re aware of, or is this new to you? 786 I U::h, well I’ve never really thought about it other than instinctively, just the same as with the 787 guitar tone= 788 R =Mhm 789 I When you- when you sing the blues it would sound pretty funny to me if I was like ((singing in 790 a very enunciated manner)) oh I’ve got the blues [(it’s boring)] 791 R [((laughs))] 792 I I’m sing- ((normally)) you 793 know being English originally, you know and uh= 794 R =Yea 795 I I have a mixed accent anyway at this point cause I haven’t lived in the UK full-time since, yea 796 I’ve come to America since 88 you know [but uhm, I’m] 797 R [yea, quite a while ago] 798 I what you might call mid- 799 Atlantic at this point 800 R ((laughs)) 801 I But you know certainly ((in enunciated, British accent)) to sing the Blues with a British accent 802 ((normally)) or even where my family are from, that’d be Manchester and ((in Manchester 803 accent)) I’m singing the blues like this ((normally)) I would sound like Oasis 804 R ((laughs))
De Timmerman 224
805 I The band Oasis from where I’m from originally you know ((imitating Oasis)) and after a::ll 806 ((normally)) that kinda sounds- 807 R ((laughs)) 808 I It would be strange you know [so] 809 R [okay] 810 I so: some of it is (.) ins- I think instinctive uhm (.) tonal 811 adjustment you know to have the right tone but at the same time I’m- I’m not putting on an 812 accent you know when I I- in fact, I know people who do and I often talk about this with other 813 singers, you know, for better or for worse I sing with my own voice [you know] 814 R [Yea] 815 I u::h (.) 816 and uh you now it would be quite easy to be like ((in AAE accent)) I’m singing the blues putting 817 a voice on ((normally) because there are people that do that as well you know [and like] 818 R [Yea] 819 I ((imitating Howlin’ Woolf)) I’m sounding like Howlin’ Woolf ((normally)) you know 820 something- which- and I can do those caricatures as well= 821 R =Yea 822 I But that’s not sincere to me you know [so uhm] 823 R [Yea] 824 I so- so uh ((looking at graphs)) yea it’s very 825 interesting you know, especially interesting that B.B. is- I don’t know what the things mean but 826 he’s the exact opposite of everybody else 827 R Well yea, I mean he’s not the exact opposite but he- it is remarkable that the prevalence is 828 less- so what the three variables are is uhm, you know, verbs ending in
De Timmerman 225
840 R Uhm 841 I I mean I think there’s- there’s probably a- I don’t know about this but it’s very interesting so 842 I’m curious you know, obviously there’s a huge generational gap= 843 R =Yea= 844 I =Between the people as well here, regardless of race or [birthplace] 845 R [Yea] 846 I so: me and Philip and 847 Josh are all about the same age you know 848 R Yea, yea 849 I Uh and people speak differently now than they did back when- th- the other guys were born 850 for sure you know [like] 851 R [Yea] 852 I everybody speaks differently, uh so, would B.B.- so I don’t know you 853 can tell me here- would the chart suggest that B.B. is is more enunciated in certain ways than 854 the rest of us 855 R Well it’s really interesting that you bring this up because this was something that puzzled me 856 as well and I discussed with my professor and something we came up with is and kind of agree 857 upon as being a possible explanation but I haven’t looked into it so I can’t say if this is true or 858 not, right, which is true for a lot of research, but it might be because like you said they were- 859 they were one of the first right 860 I Yea 861 R And the blues wasn’t really established as a genre which in turn maybe led to (.) uhm B.B. to 862 feel like he needed to watch out for his pronunciation or something like that 863 I I can tell you for a fact that you’re kind of in the right uh area there, you know, B.B. uh, and 864 this goes back to the cultural thing, if you look at the entire thing with B.B. in particular, Muddy 865 not so much, Muddy is before B.B. and Muddy just made that direct leap from uh, from 866 Mississippi to Chicago and just started carrying on what he was doing in Chi- in Mississippi but 867 with a band, an electric band you know 868 R Yea 869 I Which- But B.B. was very inspired by contemporary uh white performers as well, B.B. wanted 870 to be a crooner like Frank Sinatra 871 R Right 872 I You know, like he really inspired uh, the di- uh B.B. wanted to represent a dignified uh classy 873 uh you know and you think about his appearance always dressed [in a] 874 R [Yea]
De Timmerman 226
875 I very nice suit, he 876 played the most expensive model- Lucille was the most expensive Gibson you could buy it was 877 a 355 [that was the most] 878 R [Yea yea yea] 879 I uh gold hardware, the most intricate inlays 880 R Yea 881 I Uh, he wanted to be- and if you watch documentaries with B.B. and I don’t know if he gets 882 enough credit for this, you know, but he was really part of the uhm (1) peaceful kind of civil 883 rights movement as well you know like quietly 884 R Yea 885 I making choices about how uh the black community is represented in American media [you 886 know] 887 R [Yea] 888 I and so did Martin Luther King you know wh- and Martin Luther King was well spoken= 889 R =Yea 890 I With his Southern accent if you see what I mean and B.B. would, in so many interviews he 891 would say uh you know well I don’t always speak too well, he would say something like that 892 he would be self- uh 893 R conscious, yea 894 I Yea, self-conscious about his= 895 R =Yea 896 I pronunciation of things and and, he loved those big bands and that sophisticated sound so I’m 897 sure you’re in- you’re right there, he was quite deliberately trying to enunciate better than he 898 might ordinarily have in order to uh come across with that sort of sophistication and- but also 899 dignity [you know and] 900 R [Yea yea] 901 I everybody was in a suit and everybody if you watch videos of 902 them (.) they’re proud ((sits upright)) and they play with like a self-assuredness but not an 903 aggression, [do you know what I mean] 904 R [Yea (.) yea yea yea] 905 I Carrying yourself in a certain way, you know ((nods)) 906 R Yea buit in the right way yea 907 I Absolutely the right way you know, and standing up and being recognized as a great artist you 908 know regardless of where you from 909 R Yea
De Timmerman 227
910 I That’s why I noticed that ((pointing at graphs)) and yea- and so whereas Albert, on the other 911 hand, is definitely more like, down home, direct, deliberal, Albert King you know ((nods)) 912 R Yea 913 I He was uh (.) had a different approach, Albert was like, you will know my name, you know, 914 that’s how Albert played and sounded to me (.) you will- you will know who I am by the time 915 I’m done with this performance [you know] ((nods)) 916 R [Yea, completely different attitude] 917 I Yea 918 R Okay, I mean, this is amazing information, because what you said about B.B. I mean, it it 919 immediately sounds like it ties in with sociological and linguistic research from the sixties which 920 is all about you know (.) people’s uh (.) sensitivity to social status and class and and 921 I Yea= 922 R =stuff like that so yea 923 I Yea B.B. didn’t wanna be a down home blues man= 924 R =Yea 925 I He wanted to be an internationally recognized artist with uh (1) class and- you know and 926 actually the idea of the down home blues man is a lot of like white people’s kind of like (.) 927 historical view on things 928 R Right ((nods)) 929 I So like when- especially like when white blues bands all get shitty guitars and play out of tune 930 to sound ((airquotes)) authentic 931 R ((laughs)) 932 I ((smiles)) that’s not authentic, because those guys weren’t playing like that because they 933 wanted to, they were playing like that because that was the option- they couldn’t- they didn’t 934 have a better guitar you know= 935 R =Yea 936 I They didn’t you know, they didn’t have the opportunities to have a custom built guitar and a 937 Two Rock amplifier you know 938 R ((laughs)) 939 I ((smiles)) you can bet your ass that they would’ve- and also, these guys were the best guitarist 940 that- you know, there wasn’t like somebody before them that they would just copy and they 941 invented the whole vocabulary so this uh- to then be a white person and dumb yourself down 942 to a level that you think is somehow uhm, uh, authentic, tha- in a way, I think that’s racist, you 943 know= 944 R =Yea
De Timmerman 228
945 I Rather than taking what your inspiration as in those guys and then being the best that you can 946 be for yourself, which is exactly what they would do, they would be the very best that they 947 can, but uh- and B.B.’s influences you know were uhm, sure, some of the Mississippi, Booka 948 White, his cousin, and uh, and Blind Lemon Jefferson but he also liked Dally Christian and 949 Django Reinhart, you know, one of his main influences is Django Reinhart, you can hear that in 950 some of the ways he approaches uh, changes with some diminished stuff and also his phrasing 951 and his picking sometimes and it’s like, that’s a, that’s a French gypsy, you know and so, but 952 B.B. wasn’t concerned with that, you know= 953 R =Yea 954 I He was like, this is great music and it’s- so- okay yea, very interesting, I’m a- I’m enjoying this 955 thanks ((smiles)) 956 R ((smiles)) I mean, yea I’m enjoying this as well, this is really invaluable information, but, let’s 957 quickly maybe go back to well, regarding your lyrics and your music, uhm, you said before that, 958 for you it’s maybe an instinctive, more tonal approach, right, does that mean it comes about, 959 like, completely naturally, or is it sometimes maybe, uhm, I don’t know, deliberate? 960 I Uhm, I’m struggling to think of a case where I’m deliberately pronouncing something to sound 961 R Right 962 I More bluesy, it just (.) would sound wrong (.) [to me] 963 R [Yea] 964 I so it is sort of instinctive, uh (.) it would (.) 965 it would sound wrong, it would be like playing with the wrong tone [you know] 966 R [Yea] but am I then 967 correct in saying that these particular, you know, linguistic features for you are part of the 968 blues or the blues sound, if you will? 969 I Yea, yea they are yea 970 R Yea ok 971 I And again I’ve not thought about it that much but uhm (.) but in the same way as- (.) I don’t 972 really see it any different- like when somebody is- I don’t wanna name any names you know, 973 but there’s great guitar players that can’t play the blues at all= 974 R =Mhm 975 I To my ear, cause they don’t swing and [so they] 976 R [Right] 977 I don’t have any triplet feel in their playing, 978 you know so u::h, so they can play everything else and then you just put em on a shuffle, and 979 their phrasing is like ((mimicks playing on beat)) da duh da duh, ((claps)) all on the beat
De Timmerman 229
980 R ((smiles)) yea 981 I And there’s no ((mimicks playing in triplets) da, da, duh duh duh da, da, duh duh duh da, da, 982 they’ve got none of that, it’s all ((mimicks metronome)) uh uh uh uh 983 R Yea 984 I Like uhm, uh I- and so in a way that’s the same, it’s the same as that to me, like, at some point, 985 the features of the music, that impart the feeling that you’re trying to impart, rely on a certain 986 uh, a certain thing, I guess it would be with the singing, the vocals, almost like, colloquialisms, 987 really= 988 R =Yea 989 I like, you know, and so it’s uhm (.) it’s the same when I go back to Manchester, even though I 990 don’t have much of a Manchester accent, when I speak to my family up there, it comes out 991 more, you know 992 R Yea yea 993 I and I don’t think about it, it just- ((gestures towards the camera)) the rapport between people 994 in the environment gets going and I sort of lean more that way or when I’m here in a part of 995 the US that I end up sounding more like that, I’m not really taking on the accent, ((makes fine- 996 grained gesture with fingers)) it’s a rapport thing, you know what I mean, there’s a- a- so that 997 it all, everything flows I guess 998 R Right, no, I get what you mean= 999 I =So yea it would be like musical rapport, to sing it correctly 1000 R ((nods)) That’s really interesting (.) Matt, I’m pretty much through all my questions, and all [the 1001 stuff] 1002 I [Alright] 1003 R I wanted to address, uhm, thank you so so much, this is really like incredibly useful 1004 and interesting to me [uhm] 1005 I [Great] 1006 R thanks again for taking the time out of your schedule 1007 ((laughs)) to talk with me and to run me through your ideas and stuff 1008 I My pleasure 1009 R Is there anything else you wanted to add or to maybe emphasize or something like that? 1010 I No uhm, no it’s all very interesting, I would say that overall, you know, blues and jazz, really, 1011 as an artform, lyrically and musically, uh (.) in its entirety, is a language on its own really, you 1012 know= 1013 R =Okay ((nods))
De Timmerman 230
1014 I It’s- and the great blues guitarists, and I would include my own attempt to do this, would uhm, 1015 they play guitar using the same kind of uh mental mechanisms as a language as well, do you 1016 know what I mean? ((nods)) 1017 R ((nods)) Yea 1018 I Like, I try to explain this to people in clinics and this goes to vocals as- but you see I- when I 1019 sing I have more self-consciousness and I’m more aware of like trying to be in tune and in time, 1020 when I play guitar, I’m completely on (.) uh 1021 R Yea 1022 I On auto-pilot to some- you know it’s pure like expression, but singing I’ve not got to that, 1023 maybe in another ten years or twenty I’ll sing like that too 1024 R Yea= 1025 I =But it’s coming from the same place where, so really playing great blues guitar isn’t like an 1026 outside thing that you can learn and then you superimpose a bunch of like patterns onto a 1027 fretboard 1028 R ((laughs)) 1029 I it’s inside you 1030 R Yea 1031 I And that would, so you know, how do I explain it, if you were- it’s like when you learn another 1032 language, I don’t speak any other languages other than blues guitar but uhm 1033 R Yea 1034 I You could have the phrase book and uh ((gestures like reading from a book)), you know, and 1035 go to France or, and 1036 R ((laughs)) 1037 I just order a coffee 1038 R Yea= 1039 I =or whatever, you know, but that’s not really speaking the language is it? 1040 R No, no no no 1041 I And and so the blues, more than any other kind of music that I’ve experienced, Jazz a little bit 1042 but with Jazz there’s a technical requirement that’s different you know 1043 R Mhm 1044 I But uhm, so blues, more than any other kind of music is a language that is spoken like a 1045 colloquial language I think 1046 R Yea, would I be correct in saying that either way of you trying to express something, and the 1047 lyrics, and the music, the guitar and stuff, they’re different vehicles of doing so? 1048 I They are, but they’re all sort of part of [one thing]
De Timmerman 231
1049 R [of one language] 1050 I which is inside and you have to hear 1051 the thing inside you and then put it out, you know= 1052 R =Yea 1053 I You can’t put blues licks onto a guitar from outside yourself otherwise it sounds like that you 1054 know so 1055 R Yea 1056 I you hear something in your head and you then have the knowledge- just so- when I’m talking 1057 to you and I don’t know exactly what I’m gonna say in 30 seconds time 1058 R ((laughs)) 1059 I But we’ll keep talking and I’ll be able to get there and eventually, I’ll get to something that I 1060 don’t know now, but hopefully it will have made sense to you by the time I get there 1061 R Yea yea yea= 1062 I =We’re doing that without second thought, right, it’s just some kind of neural or- process in 1063 the brain that allows me to keep rambling on about blues 1064 R ((laughs)) Yea= 1065 I =to you and mostly making sense, if you stop and think about it, you’re gonna fall over and and 1066 trip yourself up you know so= 1067 R =Yea= 1068 I =That’s how real blues is played 1069 R Okay 1070 I And sung and it really is just stream of consciousness in that regard so ((nods)) 1071 R Okay 1072 I that’s uh- that’s really the tie in of it all I think you know so, for me 1073 R Yea= 1074 I =It’s a language, for sure, it’s a language 1075 R No I get what you mean and I think that’s a great way to [((gestures))] 1076 I [((gestures))] 1077 R summarize and to end 1078 it off, I guess 1079 I Fantastic mate, yea 1080 R Uhm, once again Matt, thank you so much for taking the time, this was really enjoyable, 1081 really interesting, really valuable as well
De Timmerman 232
10.3.1.2 Josh Smith
1 R Okay, great (1) uhm (.) right first of all thank you so much for taking the time to (.) you know, 2 sit down with me and talk yo0u through the couple of questions you already answered and 3 maybe the ones you didn’t get to answer last time 4 I Yea 5 R So before we get started, uhm, I’d like to maybe run through a couple of the answers you gave 6 before, via email, if that’s ok with you? 7 I Sure 8 R Okay great, let me turn up the volume real quick. Uhm, so (.) as an answer to one of the 9 questions you said that finding your own voice as an artist and as a blues artist in particular, 10 it’s all about acknowledging your influences, and then coming up with something of your own, 11 uh, something that makes you an individual artist uhm, and you said that that takes a lot of 12 time and effort, is there something, like a particular type of exercise or is it just trial and error 13 or how do you go about you know developing that skill, if I can call it that? 14 I I mean, well, you know, there’s two different things you can talk about [phrasing] 15 R [Mhm] 16 I and 17 vocabulary= 18 R =Okay 19 I is more like, you know, the hard work that you have to put in is vocabulary, of things you know 20 and then you learn how to kinda tell a story in a way that gets across the things you’re trying 21 to say 22 R Yea 23 I ((phone rings)) (1) sorry about that 24 R No problem 25 I (inaudible, whispering) anyways, uh, what I was saying was, if you, sorry ((laughs)) 26 R That’s okay 27 I So you’ve got your vocabulary that you spend your life building this vocabulary, right? 28 R Right 29 I And then you also start to learn, you know, what it takes to build a solo, also what it takes to 30 get an audience’s attention, when you’re working live, but finding your unique voice (.) is kind 31 of a side to (.) you know, all the material that you’ve learned 32 R Yea=
De Timmerman 233
33 I =Because then you have to kind of say it in a way that’s unique to you, so everybody grow up 34 and learns by having heroes and influences, things that they love and that’s really important, 35 obviously, because those are the things that get you excited about music you love music you 36 wanna learn ((connection drops)) then they’re comes a point where you kinda have to 37 disregard your you know intense love of all this stuff 38 R Mhm= 39 I =And start finding your thing= 40 R =Yes 41 I That doesn’t mean you can’t be informed by all the things that you love (.) but you kinda have 42 to make a conscious decisi- decision and for me it was obvious, I was obsessed with Stevie Ray 43 Vaughan when I was a kid [and] 44 R [Okay] 45 I you know (.) but then I started to see all the se 46 other people, also obsessed with Stevie Ray Vaughan 47 R Right ((nods))= 48 I =And they never moved on and I started to see (.) wait a minute what’s distinguishing me from 49 all these other people who love Stevie Ray Vaughan and were playing Stevie Ray Vaughan all 50 the time in everything they’d do (.) a::nd so it was like okay I need to move away from this, 51 now I can still bring the things that he did that I- that influenced me in my personal you know 52 puzzle just like, the intensity with which he played 53 R Yea ((nods)) 54 I Some of the approaches of playing over certain things, his tone, things like that, but that 55 doesn’t mean I should be holding to everything he did, you know, so , I started to realize if I 56 took all these things and more kind of distilled what it was that I loved about my influences 57 and just brought those things in then I started to find my thing cause it’s like, you can love 58 Albert King, and impart that intensity in your playing without just playing Albert King licks the 59 whole time, you know 60 R ((nods)) Yea (1) okay, that makes sense, and so, finding, or distilling those particular parts, 61 that’s just a product of doing it for a long time is what I’m maybe hearing, is that correct? 62 I Yes, but I used to actively kind of (.) investigate [as I got older] 63 R [Okay] 64 I What is it about this that really 65 is flipping my switch what is it about this that just makes me love it so much= 66 R =Yea, okay
De Timmerman 234
67 I You know, no necessarily focusing on what notes he played or what scale he’s using over this 68 chord or what idea= 69 R =Mhm 70 I More (.) get to the heart of the matter like I love this because of the way he’s swinging, you 71 know what I mean (.) [Or I love] 72 R [Yea] 73 I this because of the aggressiveness with which he plays this 74 pas- this section (.) or I love this because of his dynamics and how light he went and then how 75 he built it up things like that, because those are tools that you can then work on and bring in 76 to find your voice 77 R Yea okay and it’s finding those particular elements the ones that made- or shape the music you 78 like and then maybe using a couple of them in your own music but definitely not all of them? 79 Something like that? 80 I Yea, you know it’s more like, again, if you hear a jazz guitar player playing an idea 81 R Uhu 82 I And you go whoo you know cause we all do it, somebody plays something and we’ll go woo, 83 that was bad, that was killer you know well instead of just learning that lick verbatim and then 84 playing that lick, figure out why you love that lick, it may be, he hit a lot of flattened fifths or it 85 was based on the melodic minor scale or something, figure out the reason that you reacted, 86 maybe it was because he doubled up the time and played it in sixteenth notes real quick or 87 played a bunch of triplets and it was against the beat maybe he played 5 over 4, figure out the 88 reason it got your reaction instead of just learning that lick and adding it to your stock of licks 89 R ((nods)) Right, that makes sense, okay thank you for that clarification. Uhm, now of course, 90 what you’ve told me right now a lot of it pertained to the musical, or in this part the guitar 91 aspect of the music, can similar things uh be applied to the lyrics? 92 I Uhm, yes, you know, lyrics is such a personal thing as is song writing in general= 93 R =Right 94 I Uhm, You know because we’re all either writing with a goal in mind or writing about something 95 specific you know, something that’s happened or some sort of idea uhm, I used to struggle 96 with- I always felt my lyrics were too literal you know I- I didn’t have a poetic sense about me 97 ((smiles)) 98 R ((smiles)) 99 I I was just writing what I, you know, the way you would talk or in a conversational way so: that’s 100 something I tried to work on is, you know, uh ((chuckles)) illuminating my lyrics in a 101 R ((laughs)) Yea
De Timmerman 235
102 I more literary way instead of being so direct 103 R Okay 104 I But yea you could take influences from people you know sometimes people turn a phrase just 105 in a special way you would’ve never thought of you know 106 R ((nods)) Yea 107 I Uh, so I’d take influence sometimes from movies and from books you know 108 R Okay 109 I just the turn of a phrase that’s you know saying something, same way you would say something 110 in your solo in a way you’ve never thought of, somebody else says it in a way you didn’t think 111 of same thing if you read a book and you see somebody say something that you say a lot but 112 in a different way ((smiles)) you know so you that- it helps but you know it’s such a personal 113 thing, writing, wiring lyrics it all comes down to what are you- what are you trying to get across, 114 what’s the point 115 R Right, okay, makes sense, uhm, you just mentioned movies and stuff but did you also take 116 inspiration from the lyrics of your guitar heroes you know, did you listen from the lyrics of 117 Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King, or was that really the guitar driven part? 118 I Sure ((nods)), yea I listened to the lyrics and I can see the difference in, even in Stevie like his 119 lyrics improved as he got older 120 R Yea= 121 I =And as he worked more with other writers 122 R Mhm 123 I He started to change things up, so, you know, yea, you can see that and I’m certainly- I know, 124 songs you listen to your whole life and you remember the lyrics, there’s no way those things 125 don’t stay with you 126 R Yea, I agree with that, okay, very cool, um, this particular question kinda ties in with my next 127 one uhm in that, you know, in your description of the blues uhm (.) you said uhm (.) the blues 128 is really a feeling right, and it’s the feeling that’s imparted when improvising uhn and then a 129 little bit later on through your instrument, uhm, does that then mean that the blues to you is 130 essentially uhm, more driven by musical instruments, rather than your voice? Of course you 131 could say your voice and the lyrics that are produced by it are also part of a musical instrument, 132 what are your views on that? 133 I No the voice is definitely an instrument, I just mean that uhm (.) the blues is not just three 134 chords and twelve bars 135 R Right 136 I Yes blues is a style of music and a form
De Timmerman 236
137 R Mhm= 138 I =But the beauty and essence of the blues is the feeling that it imparts and that’s generated by 139 the performance, normally it’s not always so much about the form of the song or even the 140 lyrics necessarily although sometimes it is because they can be very literal or make you feel a 141 certain way but it’s the way that these people perform these songs and perform their 142 improvisations that- that you feel, you just feel it 143 R Yea= 144 I =From the way that they play and the way that they improvise and so that to me is the core of 145 blues is that feeling that you get when listening to people play that way you know, not just- to 146 me blues isn’t just some- it’s not just a twelve bar progression blues is a feeling 147 R Okay, yea that makes sense and it- it relates to, I mean Matt Schofield pretty much said very 148 similar things about how it’s- he really emphasized the live performance part but also how it’s 149 not just, you know, three chords and twelve bars so I really- I mean that’s really interesting 150 uhm (.) okay, great, uhm, also about your- your- I guess definition of the blues, you said as long 151 as an artist has respect love and knowledge uhm, of the blues then they should be able to play 152 it and they should be able to bring the feeling that they wanna get across uhm, in anything 153 they play, right, uhm, how do you define this knowledge of the blues, can I ask that? 154 I Well so blues, okay, there’s a lot, this is gonna sound bad but there’s a lot of like studied, 155 incredibly talented musicians who have a hard time actually playing blues and there’s also a 156 lot of them who have a, kind of, mild neglect or disrespect for the blues it’s a simple, music, 157 anybody can play the blues, that’s bullshit, you know 158 R Yea= 159 I You have to respect this form of music if you’re gonna play it, just like with any kind of music, 160 you gotta have a healthy respect, so for those guys who say you know I could play the blues 161 it’s just three chords, yes of course it’s three chords and yes you know the pentatonic scale 162 and of course you can technically play (.) blues you know, but you ain’t saying nothing, you’re 163 saying nothing you know what I mean so, I feel like it’s most important that you’ve listened, 164 and had- developed an amount of uh appreciation and respect for a style of music if you’re 165 gonna try to apply that to what you do or play it in any way and blues is no exception, you 166 wouldn’t go to a jazz gig and walk up there and just start playing random bullshit, you know, 167 people put in lifetimes into learning this music= 168 R =Yea 169 I And developing a vocabulary you know, and you gotta treat all music the same way and I feel 170 that when blues isn’t treated that way, I know the difference, when I see some guy get up on 171 stage and just wank over blues, you know, I just know okay whatever, it’s not that he’s a bad
De Timmerman 237
172 musician and maybe he even knows more about music than I do, but he does not respect the 173 blues doesn’t feel the blues, doesn’t understand the blues, he has no idea what he’s doing 174 R So he’s essentially doing something different than what you’re trying to do on stage, is that 175 correct? 176 I Yea, I’m trying to- (.) the blues, again, like I said it’s about communicating what I’m feeling in 177 that moment 178 R ((nods)) Yea 179 I So I’m balancing it, I’m trying to balance how I’m feeling with all the information that I’m 180 hearing in my head, which is- and then all the things that I- that I can technically do, so it’s like 181 I’m balancing oh I can play this, you kno:w, I know all this shit, but I’m not feeling that right 182 now or I’m not hearing that right now 183 R Yea= 184 I =And I’m self-editing myself on the fly to be the most honest I can, just letting it come out, you 185 know in this- this honest way, because people know the difference, when you play that way 186 R Okay, that makes sense, now I found this word knowledge particularly interesting because in 187 my- in my particular academic field, a lot of attention is uh being paid to you now the concept 188 of cultural appropriation and the knowledge of a culture and applying that culture to your own 189 lifestyle or whatever you wanna call it, uhm (.) so I was wondering if you like maybe knowledge 190 of the historical setting of the blues is essential to being a- ((using air quotes)) a good blues 191 player, or an authentic blues player? 192 I You don’t have to be a historian, you don’t have to know everybody who played on every 193 record in the history of the blues, although if you want to it’s great, I- you know I am- I love 194 blues, so I’ve done my homework 195 R Right 196 I What you need, again, i:s (.) a- a respect for it, you need to appreciate that, you know, this is 197 something that’s gone on for a long time a::nd you need to at least, you know, give it its due 198 respect, you don’t need to know everything about every recording, every nuance of 199 everything, to- to get the feeling and understand it, to have been touched by it, you know what 200 I mean? 201 R Yea no, of course, but what I really mean is historically, like, the blues was created as way to 202 protest against racial inequality and stuff like that and that’s of course represented in a lot of, 203 you know, the idols, or the players people idolize, is knowledge of that particular context 204 essential to being a good- good, uh, blues players? 205 I (2) Uhm, it’s essential to helping you fully respect what those people went through 206 R Right ((nods))
De Timmerman 238
207 I Which is part of respecting the culture of this music 208 R Right ((nods)) 209 I You know, you cannot ever go on stage (.) you now, a::nd (.) I mean it would just be ridiculous 210 for me to go on stage and play Muddy Waters songs and dress like Muddy Waters and plan 211 like- pretend like I am Muddy Waters, I’m not Muddy Waters, I never lived through any of the 212 things that these people had to deal with 213 R Right= 214 I =But I can at least respect that they had to deal with it and understand how it informed their 215 music, now, that doesn’t mean that I- but I- just cause I didn’t go through what they went 216 through- all anybody can go through is what they go through, in their life, everybody has a 217 personal experience, you know, as long as you respect everybody else’s= 218 R =Mhm= 219 I =Then yes, you can still arrive at the same place like them 220 R Yea, okay, I agree with that and I think it- that’s a great way to put it, now, what I;m wondering 221 is, have you ever felt a sort of resistance of people to your blues or or the feelings that you 222 wanna get across because you don’t have, you know, or you haven’t gone through the things, 223 for example Muddy Waters has gone through? Have you felt resistance or criticism? 224 I Yea I mean I remember, so I’ve been playing since I was such a young kid= 225 R =Yea 226 I I’ve been playing since I was twelve or thirteen years old and there was, there used to be a, 227 you know, a very, when somebody would write about me in a paper or magazine it would 228 always be how can this kid know anything about the blues, he’s never even, you know, had a 229 girlfriend, or he doesn’t know anything about the blues at all, he’s never been through anything 230 but high school, you know 231 R Yea 232 I Uh (.) you know, whether there’s something to that or not, I don’t have a 100% answer for you, 233 but, because again, everybody’s personal, everybody lives and experience things in their own 234 way 235 R Yea= 236 I =Uhm, but, you know, the whole ((sighs)) if you have to have lived through the blues to play 237 the blues thing, I- you know, again, I don’t know that that’s necessarily true all I know is (.) 238 what I’ve been thr- what I’ve done a:nd I love the blues and I play it to the best of my ability 239 with the amount of respect and reverence I think it deserves, does it measure up? I don’t know, 240 but it doesn’t matter 241 R Yea=
De Timmerman 239
242 I =whether it measures up to other people, it only matters- does it make me feel right playing it 243 and yes, it’s always felt right to me 244 R Yea, okay, no that makes perfect sense, thank you, uhm, alright, that’s all I really had to ask, 245 you know, about the questions you already answered, is there anything you wanna add to that 246 or maybe you have a question for me or something like that? 247 I No nothing in particular 248 R Okay, uhm: then I’d like to get on to, you know, the linguistics part of the interview but as you 249 will have seen, uhm, I want to present you some data, some of the research I’ve already done, 250 so to do so I’d like to quickly send you a file 251 I Sure= 252 R =Uh, and I’d do this through Skype if that’s okay? 253 I Yea 254 R Okay, great (1) uhm, alright, I just sent it (3) and, if you open it, you should see a couple of 255 graphs, two figures and one table, 256 I Yep 257 R Okay, uhm, so brief contextuali- contextualization sorry, uhm, what I did last year is uh- I had 258 a particular question, something I noticed when listening to your music, Matt Schofield’s 259 music, and Philip Sayce and all these other contemporary blues artists is I noticed that I can 260 still you know, when a record starts playing, I can still immediately say okay, this to me is the 261 blues, but of course I think you’ll agree that your music obviously differs in a lot of ways from 262 music produced by B.B. King or Albert King or Muddy Waters et cetera, so I was wondering ok 263 what is it that makes me think this is the blues, right, and to do so I looked at it linguistically 264 and I- I wanted to figure out okay is there some kind of explanation for my mind saying okay 265 this is blues and this isn’t a::nd (.) what I ended up doing is comparing of live performances by 266 yourself, and the names I just listed right, Matt Schofield, Philip Sayce, and then comparing 267 them to recording of B.B. King, Albert King and Muddy Waters, and I specifically looked at 268 particular features that are, you know, in the linguistic field considered to be features of 269 African American English, right [because] 270 I [Sure] 271 R I was thinking maybe that’s 272 something that has to do with it, and, as you can see on two graphs, uhm, I- I researched three 273 particular features and I found a very high presence rate in all of the lyrics 274 I Yea=
De Timmerman 240
275 R =Uhm, and then when I averaged those out, as you can see on the second graph, uhm, I mean 276 the numbers pretty much match up across the board, is this something that’s weird to you, or 277 something that you think is natural or what do you think? 278 I I- it’s interesting to me uh (1) you know what’s interesting is seeing like slight differences 279 between me, Matt and Philip, and noticing that neither Matt or Philip are American and I am 280 R Right, yea 281 I I wonder how much of that has to do with some of those differences, 282 R Mhm 283 I Yea, very interesting 284 R Yea, so, the idea behind is uhm, that, I mean, this is just six artists, right, I didn’t have a lot of 285 time to research this and this year I’m hoping to do so more elaborately and more extensively, 286 but the idea is that uhm, you could, you know, analyze a bunch of blues artists from a lot of 287 different countries, cultural backgrounds, social backgrounds, et cetera et cetera, and even 288 though they have these different you know backgrounds and identities and stuff like that, the 289 music they produce, would still, linguistically right, lyrically, be- or able to be categorized as 290 blues, right, that’s the idea, so- 291 I There’s definitely a, you know, a common thread through blues lyrics and the way people sing, 292 it’s interesting to see B.B., cause he probably was the most well-spoken of his generation, 293 without question 294 R Mhm 295 I Interesting 296 R Yea 297 I Even though B.B., Albert and Muddy Waters are all from the Deep South 298 R Yea, exactly 299 I It’s pretty interesting 300 R Yea yea, and even though, you know, there’s quite some variation, there’s still, I mean uhm, 301 76 percent to 96 percent, that’s still rather high in linguistic terms when we’re talking about 302 you know features, uhm, so these three particular features are uh you know (.) when a verb 303 with an
De Timmerman 241
309 I No, u::hm, it’s definitely, well some of it is blues language based of off, for me it’s listening to 310 stuff, just influenced by listening to it my whole life, there’s also some of this though that not- 311 not genre specific, it’s singing related 312 R Okay= 313 I =Because sometimes it makes sense when you’re singing or like walking, you may not be trying 314 to drop the
De Timmerman 242
344 R Uhu= 345 I =In a- in a talking sense or maybe in another style of music, so maybe you slur things together 346 more 347 R Okay= 348 I =And then the timbre is much more different, blues has its own style, so: you know, you’re 349 gonna add a certain amount of rasp o:r grit to some things, you’re gonna roll off the edges and 350 you’re gonna like I said yea, there’s a lot of factors 351 R Right, and do these things- are they influenced by the feeling you might wanna get across in 352 your lyrics, in your singing? 353 I ((nods)) 100%, and also you gotta think in a live setting this is still improvisation, you know 354 what I mean, so it’s influenced by what you look out on, you might be looking out at an 355 audience and something gets your attention and instead of singing this line, like, [softer, more 356 enunciated] hey baby, you might go [harsher] hey babeh, you know what I mean 357 R Yea= 358 I =It’s all split-second spur of the moment decisions 359 R Right, okay, that’s really cool, uhm (.) would you say that some of these tendencies, right, or 360 the stuff you do in a live setting, would you say that some of them might be inspired by other 361 artists? Or is that another thing that just goes about naturally? 362 I ((nods slowly)) Some of it is inspired by other artists, but a lot of times that is more like- you 363 do- I guess you take some of their diction but normally it’s trynna- you’re trying to get the feel 364 of the way that they do things 365 R Mhm 366 I And it means, so if you listen to Aretha Franklin, and she’ll sing a song like Dr. Feelgood, like 367 slow blues, there’s phrases where she’ll go, uhm, [singing the melody without lyrics], I’m 368 trynna think of the lyrics of that section ((looks away)) [uhm] 369 R [Uhu] 370 I But you know she’ll be way 371 behind the beat or way ahead of the beat 372 R Right ((nods)) 373 I And she’ll sound tired on purpose so when she’s tired on purpose she’ll sing [relaxed, slowly] 374 o:::h babeh, you know, it’s like that imparts a different thing where you sound hazy, you get- 375 so yeah, the ends of words get cut off, you know what I mean 376 R Yea yea okay, that makes sense, okay, now maybe, let’s go back a little bit, you said it’s really 377 interesting that there’s some differences between you and Matt and Philip, but they’re not all 378 that high, right, do you think there’s a possible explanation for that?
De Timmerman 243
379 I Well to me maybe, like I was saying, maybe it’s because they’re not American, so Matt speaks 380 a little differently than I speak so maybe that influences the way he writes and sings, you know, 381 [same with] 382 R [Right] 383 I Philip, Philip is from French Canadian, French Canada, you know so 384 maybe English is his second language, Matt’s English is his first language, but it’s a different 385 English, you know what I mean, so it’s like I’m sure there’s partially- that might be partially 386 responsible for some of the differences 387 R Okay, okay, interesting, alright, uhm, (2) to you do these particular features, you know 388 dropping the
De Timmerman 244
414 I =And wanted to fit in and seem like high society, you know, uptown, [so] 415 R [Yeah] 416 I he sounds that 417 way 418 R Yeah, okay, alright, okay, uhm that’s really interesting and it’s pretty much all the questions 419 that I have to ask about that, is there anything else you wanna add to that or something that, 420 you know, you noticed or something like that? 421 I No, I mean, you know the biggest thing with- with this stuff is (.) I guess linguistically, yes, 422 obviously you’re influenced by everything you love and like and listen to, but then also I mean 423 when you’re writing something, you know, the point more becomes trying to get across what 424 you’re thinking, so maybe if you’re singing somebody else’s song or you know you’re just 425 singing a cover of some sort and you didn’t write the song, then you don’t think- then yeah, 426 you’re just truly reactionary, but if you’re writing something, a lot of time sit’s based off the 427 feeling you’re trying to impart to the words that you’ve written so that may influence more 428 the way that you phrase certain things 429 R Right, okay, and so if I can extend that uh reasoning, then maybe when you cover somebody 430 else’s song, uhm, you might use different ((air quotes)) linguistic features than when you’re 431 singing your own songs? 432 I Sure, absolutely [I think so] 433 R [Or is that a bridge too far?] 434 I Yeah 435 R Okay= 436 I =I think to some degree yes, if you’re covering somebody else’s song you’re- you’ll naturally 437 be influenced by the way that they performed it, there’s no way around it, you know what I 438 mean 439 R ((nods)) Righ, yeah, okay, that makes perfect sense, alright, thank you very much, Josh, uh, I 440 mean I don’t really have any more questions so unless you have something that you wanna get 441 off your chest or ((chuckles)) or add to our conversation then we’re pretty much done 442 I ((shakes head)) No man, I appreciate you asking, I’m happy to talk 443 R Okay, great, uhm, alright then I’ll let you off the hook 444 I ((smiles)) 445 R But I do have to ask you one more time if you could sign the consent form and send it to me 446 ((chuckles)) [that way] 447 I [Sure] 448 R I can actually use this data
De Timmerman 245
449 I It’s in the email right? 450 R Yea, it’s in the email, I can send it again if that’s easier 451 I Sure, send it again when I get out to the studio where the scanner is I’ll print it out and sign it 452 R Okay, great, perfect, alright, once again thank you very much for taking the time, uhm, this is 453 really useful and interesting stuff for my research so yea, I’m truly grateful ((chuckles)) 454 I You’re welcome man, nice to talk to you 455 R Alright, keep playing, I’ll keep listening ((laughs)) 456 I ((laughs)) 457 R Talk to you later 458 I Alright, have a good one
De Timmerman 246
10.3.2 Consent Forms
10.3.2.1 Matt Schofield
De Timmerman 247
10.3.2.2 Josh Smith
De Timmerman 248
10.3.3 Questions
Introduction
1 At what age did you first come into contact with the blues genre?
2 When did you start performing blues music?
3 What was the balance between covers and originals in your early performances? What about
now?
Creative process
1 When did you first start creating original blues tracks?
2 What was your process in creating these original materials?
3 Did you listen to some of your idols to find your own voice?
4 What did you notice when listening to these artists? What did you pay attention to? Why these
things and not others?
Blues identification
1 What can or cannot be labeled as “blues” has been a controversial topic, especially from an
ethnic and socio-economic point of view (Rudinow, 1994), what are your views regarding the
issue?
2 According to you, what is in essence “the blues”?
Language use
1 When analyzing your lyrics in my previous research, I found these results. Would you care to
comment?
2 Are these features (strongly) correlated with your definition of “the blues”?
De Timmerman 249
3 In your opinion, can these features be characterized as African American? What do you
consider to be African American language use?
4 Is your adoption of these elements a conscious decision?
De Timmerman 250
10.3.4 Presented Data
De Timmerman 251