Ray Charles-my one pet peeve

[Steve Edmonson]

Steve,

Good to see you on the L.  I hadn't noticed the omission, but now that
you mention it, I think that the movie (which I really dug) sort of
ignored any of the work that the young Ray did in New Orleans.  As far
as Guitar Slim goes, I don't think he has ever really gotten his due as
far as his influence on other musicians of all genres.  His stage show
has been copied by everybody, and his musical influence is heard in just
about everybody.  Just last night we were listening to 50's Johnny
Guitar Watson on the way home from the gig and we were all talking about
how much Guitar Slim we heard in there.  It's not just a guitar thing
either, if you listen to Etta James, you can hear some of the same stuff
(vocal delivery wise anyway) that you heard both in Johnny Guitar Watson
and Guitar Slim.   It's cool the way things disseminate over time.

Then there is the 50-100 ft cord thing.  I used to think Albert Collins
started that.  When Jackie talks about the old says in Houston, he says
that all of the guitar players in the area still talked about Guitar
Slim as the one cat they never liked to go up against on stage.  Seems
he just loved head cuttin'.

Steve Edmonson
edmoblues@comcast.net
The Jackie Payne Steve Edmonson Band
www.payne-edmonson.com


Steve Freund wrote:

>I very much enjoyed the film, and the book as well.  One thing that bothers me is the complete
>absence of Guitar Slim in the film, and the one line description of him in the book.  One would
>think recording with such a heavyweight, as Slim was in his time, would be worth a few moments
>in the film.  I have spoken to many southern folks through the years, and anyone who was alive
>during the 50's says that Guitar Slim was the biggest thing goin' on, along the lines of Elvis and
>Jerry Lee Lewis.  Basically, he was a rock star on the chitlin' circuit.  I wonder if Ray and he had a
>falling out of some sort.  I bet there is a story behind the scenes.  Anybody know something about
>it?
>
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