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| THE ROCKET: When did you spend time as
a regular, Albert? |
| ALBERT: 1971-1975. It's kinda like my second
home. |
| THE ROCKET: And that's when you first
met Isaac ? |
| ALBERT: Oh yeah. He's a very fine young man.
He helped me out a lot with the shows and also the musicians. |
| ISAAC: I think we both come a long ways since
that time and made a lot of progress in the business. Albert's been
a big help to me and more than anything he's been a friend. I don't
think that will ever change. |
| THE ROCKET: Albert, would you say that
Isaac has a sound that is indicative of the Northwest blues?
|
| ALBERT: Oh yes, but he's got a lot of that
down home sound from Arkansas. |
| ISAAC: I pretty much think I've got my own
sound. That's what I've been Trying to build for quite some time.
I guess I have to put it in the Northwest Category. And Albert's
been a big influence as far as styles. I can remember listening
to Albert in '64 when 'Frosty' was out. I never figured I'd be playing
next to Albert. Here was this sound and I'd never heard no guitar
players get that sound. Now I know it was all in the capo. [They
both crack up laughing.] |
| THE ROCKET: Is that were you get your
sound, Albert? |
| ALBERT: It's mostly in the tuning that a
cousin of mine, 'Lightnin Hopkins', taught me. He played it in his
lap like you play a steel guitar and I capitalized on that and used
the capo and that's what gave me that sound. I always listened to
B.B. King and Gatemouth Brown, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Lunsford, Tommy
and Jimmy Dorsey. I started out on the piano. I wanted to be a jazz
player actually. I was between listening to jazz and blues. And
John Lee Hooker was an influence on my playing from the 'Boogie
Chillen' days. That's when I really wanted to have my own style
and I picked up the guitar. |
| THE ROCKET: You and Isaac both have be
influenced by rock, haven't you? |
| ALBERT: Quite a bit. I went to California
in 1969 and met a lot of rock musicians during the Filmore West
days. Canned heat, Grand Funk Railroad, The Stones, The Doors, The
Who. I did a lot of shows with those people so I had a little rock
influence and put it with my blues. |
| THE ROCKET: How is it that you are such
a survivor? Most of those bands are distinct and a lot of the members
are dead. |
| ALBERT: I watched them come and
go. I try to take care of myself because I like to play music. Years
ago back home, people used to laugh at me and say, 'Put you guitar
down and go get you a job' but I kept sticking with it. |
| THE ROCKET: Isaac, what about your rock
influences? |
| ISAAC: I've had a lot of rock influences.
Jimi Hendrix for one, a big influence. But basically I think Jimi
had that blues thing deep inside. If you listen to 'Voodoo Chile',
you can tell those blues roots. He was just outstanding and he worked
with Little Richard and Otis Redding. I listen to a lot of rock
even now. One band I liked for a long time was Journey. You said
a lot of those rock musicians are gone now, but I don't think blues
will ever fade away. |
| THE ROCKET: Albert, your latest album,
Live in Japan, was done in Tokyo. What was it like playing in Japan? |
| ALBERT: It was a big challenge playing my
kind of music for the Japanese. I was kinda nervous when I first
got there but they go a lot of Japanese who can play a lot of blues
and they're the greatest imitators in the world. I enjoyed all five
cities and the 12 days I was there. |
| THE ROCKET: Isaac, your LP, Big Time Bluesman,
was just released in Europe. |
| ISAAC: Yes, on 'Red Lightnin'. 'Help' is
the title cut and it's doing real good in western Europe. One real
funky tune, 'Moonbelly,' I wrote about a club owner, Jim Balarazzo.
he owns Hibble and Hydes. |
| ALBERT: We used to play Hibble and Hydes. |
| ISAAC: That's when Baptiste was running it.
We used to jam that place. |
| ALBERT: I used to come up on weekends and
play. I liked it cause we started late and quit late. A lot of musicians
used to come in that club so I got a chance to meet a lot of Seattle
musicians. |
| ISAAC: I was a blues club basically up until
a few years ago and the punk rockers took it over. They were bringing
in acts like John Lee hooker. Now it's just a disaster. |
| THE ROCKET: Is the blues sound different
today than it was 10 years ago? |
| ALBERT: It's different because the music
is different, more progressive. The bands are putting a bigger sound
with horns. Used to be there weren't too many horn players. |
| THE ROCKET: Some Northwest
players have toured with you. |
| ALBERT: Yes, Dennis Blackman who's an organ
player is from here. And Jimi Hendrix went to L.A. with me for almost
a month, and David Brewer, Robert Cray sued to back me in Oregon. |
| ISAAC: When I first met Albert he was playing
with Blues Eye, David Brewer's old band. I've been doing blues here
since '74 and I've always worked. I think the reason we are still
playing is because we keep doing blues but we keep our sound modern.
The same with Albert. I've listened to a lot of Chicago people,
son Seals, Jimmy Rogers, and they're good, but to me, Albert's got
a whole different sound. His own sound. And I think I've got my
own sound. |
| THE ROCKET: Isaac, do you think the current
popularity of blues in Seattle will pass? |
| ISAAC: No, it ain't gonna pass I just feel
bad that we gotta go out and play to a packed house and it's all
white folks. Black folks here, it just seems like they forgot about
the culture. Like Albert says, their roots. All they want to hear
is disco and Michael Jackson and they don't know nothing about their
roots. And you can't get blacks up here to play blues. Tony Thomas
(bass player with Isaac) has been with me a long time but he's not
from here. He grew up in Reno listening to cowboy music but he knows
where his roots are. |
| THE ROCKET: It seems that the only place
where blacks support the blues is in major urban centers like Chicago
on in the deep South. |
| ALBERT: Well, it's a new generation and they
came up on the Commodores and those folks. They haven't been exposed
to the blues. |
| THE ROCKET: Some black jazz musicians
say they don't want to play or listen to the blues because it's
'slave music.' |
| ISAAC: Shit. I don't want to comment on that. |
| ALBERT: I don't believe in that. You know,
a lot of people misinterpret the blues. They think when a blues
band is playing they're down and out and falling over in their beer.
Well, it's not like that. Even millionaires have the blues. They
have the blues because you can't buy love. |
| ISAAC: But hardcore blueslovers up here are
the white people. College kids, hippies, you name it. Like they
been bringing the Mighty Clouds of Joy up there the last couple
of years and there's a poor turnout. And if I wanted to get an all
black band, I'd have to import 'em. Sam Smith invited me to sit
in and Sam's great. But they're into electric funk. They couldn't
even pull off 'Knock on Wood' and that R&B. It's not even blues.
They just looked at me like I was crazy. I said, 'Y'all need to
talk to somebody. Y'all forgot about something.' But me and Albert,
we come from the old school. That makes a lot of difference. |
| ALBERT: And it all comes back to one thing
-- the radio stations. They don't play blues, you don't hear it. |
| THE ROCKET: Do you two ever think about
touring together or playing together on a regular basis? |
| ALBERT: I been talking to Isaac about that.
We usually go to Europe twice a year. I always think about him because
his name rings around in Europe because of the Red Lightin' label
out of England. |
| THE ROCKET: Would you go, Isaac? |
| ISAAC: Um hum. Sure. |
| ALBERT: I always put it this way. If he wants
to go, fine. And if he wants to go home, I'll send him home. |
| ISAAC: We'll work it out. Me and Albert got
a special relationship. We don't really tell a lot of people about
it, but it clicks for us. He understands me and I understand him. |
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