BLUES-L FAQ

THE BLUES-L FAQ LIST—Administrative Portion

List Owner—David Pimmel
Compiled by David Silberberg
Last modified March 12, 1995
 

Contents:

1. What is this FAQ List
2. What is Blues-L
3. How to Receive Blues-L
4. To Subscribe, Unsubscribe, and Other Listserv Commands
5. The Newsgroup Mirror

1. What is this FAQ List?
This is a list of Frequently Asked Questions to the Blues-L mailing list and newsgroup mirror. The purpose of this FAQ is to inform newcomers to our community, and to refresh the memories of long-time members, about various aspects of Blues-L, both in terms of administration (subscription information, listserv commands, guidelines, etc.) and content (controversies, definitions, etc.).
Please read this FAQ before posting any messages to the newsgroup or mail list.
2. What is Blues-L?
Blues-L is a mail list with a newsgroup mirror devoted to the discussion of the Blues in all of its forms—from predecessors of blues music to contemporary performers. Discussions have been very wide-ranging, branching into a variety of topics, but always should include a definite, direct connection to the Blues. Subscribers and contributors include professional musicians, producers, radio programmers, and authors as well as average, everyday lovers of the music.
The mail list was created by Jake Haller at Brown University. The current list owner is David Pimmel.
If you should have any technical problems with receiving or posting to the list, and you require human intervention, send a message to blues-l-request@brownvm.brown.edu. Please explain your problem clearly, including the steps you have already taken to solve the problem.
Currently, over 750 people (from countries all over the world) subscribe to the mail list, and countless others read the list through the newsgroup mirror.
3. How to receive Blues-L
Blues-L can be read, and posted to, either by subscribing to the mail list (thus receiving the messages as e-mail) or by reading the newsgroup. Either way, you will be receiving all of the messages, and have the ability to post your responses / questions / opinions. You should choose your method based on your internet connection: some people find it easier to read e-mail messages, some find it easier to read newsgroups.
This is a high-volume group: usually, 50 to 100 messages are posted each day. The choice is yours, but we strongly urge you to subscribe to the mail list: if you wish to receive the list through the newsgroup, you can set the mail list to NOMAIL (instructions are below). At some point, the owner may take the list, meaning that only subscribers (including NOMAIL subscribers) to the mail list will be able to post.
To post a message to the list through e-mail, send the message to
blues-l@brownvm.brown.edu.
This is the list address.
4. To subscribe, unsubscribe, and other listserv commands
The following commands should be sent to: listserv@brownvm.brown.edu.
Do not send them to the list address, which would cause your request to be sent to the entire list and newsgroup without causing the listserv to act on your command.
The subject line should be blank, and the message content should be as follows:
 

To Subscribe:	SUBSCRIBE BLUES-L
To Unsubscribe:	UNSUBSCRIBE BLUES-L

 
To Set Your Receiving Methods:
The default method is to receive individual e-mail messages for each message sent to the list.
The digest format sends you one e-mail message each day containing all of the messages sent to the list since the last day’s digest. This is a long document. To set the list to digest format, send the command to listserv@brownvm.brown.edu, no subject, message:
SET BLUES-L dig
The index format sends you a daily index of messages sent to the list. The index contains the poster of the message, the subject line, and the size of the message. To set the list to index, send the command to blues-l-request@brownvm.brown.edu. When you set this option, the listserv will send you detailed instructions on how to use it.
To temporarily stop mail from the list for a few days, without unsubscribing, or to subscribe to the list and read the newsgroup instead, send a message to listserv@brownvm.brown.edu, no subject, with the message:
SET BLUES-L nomail
To resume receiving mail, send the message:
SET BLUES-L mail
Please remember, any subscription request should be sent to listserv@brownvm.brown.edu. You will receive a complete list of listserv commands by sending a message to the listserv, with no subject, and the message: HELP.
5. The Newsgroup Mirror
Due to the high volume on this list, and the fact that many subscribers prefer to receive newsgroups rather than e-mail, David Pimmel led the way in initiating a Blues-L Newsgroup. This newsgroup mirrors the activities of the Blues-L mail list.
The address of the newsgroup is: bit.listserv.blues-l
If you are a newsgroup reader, you have all of the privileges and responsibilities of mail-list subscribers: you get all messages, and may post to the newsgroup. All of your messages will be read by list subscribers and newsgroup readers.
If you are posting through a newsreader, there is a chance that your message will not appear in the group. This is most likely due to an incorrect setting for the moderator in the news software. The correct address is blues-l@brownvm.brown.edu. Check with your local system administrator if this seems to be a problem. In the meantime, you can always contribute via direct e-mail to the above address.

The BLUES-L FAQ List—Content, Controversies and Other Information

List Owner—David Pimmel
Compiled by David Silberberg
Last modified March 12, 1995
 

Contents:

1. What is the Blues?
2. Lyrical Definitions
3. Internet Resources (updated 3/12/95)
a. rec.music.bluenote.blues
b. Internet Sites
c. Commercial Internet Locations
d. Other Mail Lists
4. Magazines (updated 3/12/95)
5. Controversies
6. Final Quote

1. What is the Blues?
Without going into a great deal of technical musical definitions, the Blues is a form of music that grew out of a remembered African tradition merged with European musical formats during the slavery experience of Blacks in America. Its specific antecedents are the field hollers and work songs of the slavery and subsequent Jim Crow South, particularly the Mississippi Delta region. It developed through the work songs, entertainments, social commentaries, and releases of black sharecroppers, prison inmates, levee workers, etc. throughout the South.
The Blues became a separately identifiable form in the late 19th century, spread by aural tradition. W. C. Handy appears to have been the first to “compose” blues songs (“Memphis Blue” in 1912, etc.).
Although basic 12-bar blues is the most common form, with a construction of I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-V-I-I, blues often are constructed in eight, ten, or sixteen bar formats.
2. Lyrical Definitions
Many of these definitions are by way of Blues-L contributor John Wells, who uses Juba To Jive: A Dictionary Of African-American Slang (Clarence Major) as a source.
Many blues words that cause problems for modern listeners are derived from voodoo (or hoodoo) expressions, such as the following:
MOJO:
a charm for luck, or for conjuring, particularly in gambling or love. Most commonly, the “power” is in a MOJO BAG, a cloth bag with secret contents having magical powers. “Got my mojo working, but it just won’t work on you”—Muddy Waters.
HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN:
a “doctor” who preaches voodoo, the term seems to have taken on more sexual overtones over time.
BLACK CAT BONE:
a good luck charm.
JOHN THE CONQUEROR ROOT (sometimes slurred as John the Conqueroo):
the root of a certain plant (I have seen various suggestions as to which one on Blues-L) that has magical or healing powers.
Other terms include:
KILLING FLOOR:
particularly in the Chicago Stockyards area, where many black newcomers from the South found jobs during the twenties, thirties, and forties, this was the slaughtering room, where animals were brought to be killed. Symbolically being on the “Killing Floor”, then, meant being in trouble with little way out, or being so depressed (primarily by the loss of a lover) that he (generally) feels like he is going to die.
BACK DOOR MAN:
The man who sneaks in the back door when the “man of the house” is out, sneaking back out again when he comes home: that is, the illicit lover.
C C RIDER:
a “significant other” who is doing you wrong.
POB:
specific to Blues-L, this is our internationally famous periodic list-members jam hosted by Leonard Watkins, a fellow blue-zeller from Birmingham, AL. With apologies to the “House of Blues” (code named HOB on Blues-L), POB stand for “Porch of Blues”—Leonard’s front porch. Check your local listings (Blues-L) for future dates and times.
3. Internet Resources
1. rec.music.bluenote.blues, a newsgroup “intended for all aspects of Blues music in all its forms...”
2. Internet Sites:

These are very good sites for surfing and jumping off to other blues related areas:
1. The Blues-L Shed, a repository for information pertaining to Blues-L and the Blues in general. This site may be reached by FTP at:

ftp.acenet.auburn.edu/pub/misc/entertainment/blues (login as FTP); e-mail: almanac@acenet.auburn.edu, message text: send blues catalog
2. The BluesNet WWW Site

http://dragon.acadiau.ca/~rob/blues; This site includes a link to the Blues-L Shed
3. Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, run by fellow blue-zeller Tom Komera:

http://imp.cssc.olemiss.edu/
4. Tom Morgan’s home page, developed by Mr. Morgan, fellow blue-zeller and author/radio programmer/etc. This source has links to many other music URLs for all forms of music:

http://poe.acc.virginia.edu:80/~th4q
5. The Allmusic Gopher, with biographies and discographies of almost every imaginable blues musician, along with those of other forms of music. This appears to be an unstable site, and seems to be unreachable for stretches of time:

gopher://allmusic.ferris.edu/11/pop
6. Austin City Limits WWW Page

http://www.quadralay.com/www/austinmusic
7. Jazz and Blues Sites

http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/entertainment/music/jazz_and_blues
http://flood.hy.ntu.edu.tw/ntuae/jazznblue.html
8. Meanderings: An African American Journal of Politics, Art and Culture

http://www.webcom.com/~sppg/meanderings/me.html
9. Paul Fenton (fellow blue-zeller and musician)

http://innet.com/~pwfenton
3. Commercial Internet Locations
1. CDC (Compact Disc Connection).

Telnet to: cdconnection.com (or 199.35.15.2)
2. CDNOW, the Internet Music Store

http://cdnow.com
3. CD-Europe, by modem dial-up only:

(408) 730-8138 (set modem for 8-N-1, up to 14.4 KB)
4. Individual Record Companies:

many record companies are “going on line” to the Web. The best way to see if the one you want is there is to try: http://www.company.com. For instance, MCA records is at http://www.mca.com.
4. Other Mail Lists
1. The Harp Mail List:

message to:	mxserver@wkuvx1.wku.edu
message:	subscribe harp-l “your real name”

2. The Jazz List:

message to:

listserv@templevm.bitnet

3. Eric Clapton:

message to:	slowhand-request@daacdev1.stx.com
message:	subscribe

4. There may be other lists dedicated to Hendrix, Allman Brothers, Santana, Led Zeppelin, John Hiatt, and others for which I don’t have subscription information.
4. Magazines—Still under construction, but some major blues magazines include:
Living Blues, published bi-monthly by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss (see above for WWW address).
 

Subscription information: Living Blues Hill Hall Room 301 University of Mississippi University, MS 38677

One year subscriptions: US - $18 Canada - $22 Overseas - $32

 
Blues Revue, published (now) bi-monthly.
 

Subscription information: Blues Revue Rt. 2, Box 188 West Union, WV 23456

One year subscriptions: US and Canada - $20 Overseas - $30

 
Blues Access, 8 issues per year.
 

Blues Access 1455 Chest Place Boulder, CO 80304-3153

One year subscriptions: US - $24 Canada - $26 Overseas - $28 Asia and Australia - $32

 
—Under Construction—
5. Controversies

As with any good, high-volume list or newsgroup, Blues-L has its share of unsolvable and continually recurring controversies. Unfortunately, the discussion of these topics typically leads to flame wars, name calling, personal attacks, and, in general, messages sent to Blues-L that stray far from the topic of the Blues. The most controversial topics have something to do with white / black issues.

As we would like to limit the number of messages to this high-volume list that have little or no blues content, please be careful about the following subjects:

1. Who can play the Blues?

One theory says that because the music grew out of the specific Black experience in America (primarily the South), only African-Americans are the true inheritors of the tradition, only they can truly understand the culture that spawned the Blues, and only they can be true blues-men (and women). Caucasians (and, by extension, Asians, Hispanics, etc.) can only interpret the music, master its form, but not its power.

Opposed to this is the theory that it is the music that is critical, that everyone has the blues feeling, and that the Blues transcends race and culture. Clapton, Vaughan, Winter, etc. are true blues musicians who take the music to new and more relevant places. This theory also incorporates, for some, the legitimacy of hip-hop, alternative, etc. music as the inheritor of the blues tradition.

2. Eric Clapton

This is actually a three-sided controversy, much of which relates to (A) above):

While falling short of “Clapton Is God” rhetoric, many of our contributors believe that Clapton is (the best/one of the best/and excellent) blues guitarist and performer, and that From the Cradle (Clapton’s recent blues CD) ranks with the best recorded product.

The opposite side of the argument is that Clapton would receive no credit as a bluesman if he weren’t white and already popular with white American and European audiences. Many of our contributors resent Clapton’s enormous popularity and material rewards when more deserving black artists are not recognized, have been cheated out of royalties and other moneys due them, and in general have been forced to live itinerant lives eking out a meagre living by playing their heart-felt music.

In the middle are those that say, yes, Clapton is a good blues guitarist, but are disappointed in From the Cradle: it is too derivative, merely covering arrangements originated by other black performers, and not adding anything to the genre. This opinion holds that Clapton is good, and should have done more with his breakthrough (to the blues scene) CD.

3. The British Invasion Groups (primarily Led Zeppelin)

On one side, these groups are praised as having piqued the interest of white Americans and Europeans in the blues, leading them to the real blues.

The other side says that these white groups merely ripped off the black musicians who created the music. Particularly Led Zeppelin, but not limited to them, they took credit (and royalties) for the songs, credit that should have gone to the black originators of the songs, and only belatedly (and reluctantly) recognized their influences in public.

4. A is Better than B

Fortunately, we don’t seem to get sidetracked too much on these issues. Obviously, blue-zellers have preferences, and express those preferences on the list: this is certainly an acceptable practice, particularly if reasons are given. We have some excellent amateur (and professional) reviewers amongst our contributors who lay it on the line, both good and bad, about a particular artist or performance. The best of them (which is to say, fortunately for all of us, most of them) stay away from personal attacks on the artists involved, and responses to critics of their critiques. We need reviews, counter reviews, opinions, facts, arguments—but not flame wars.

6. Final Quote - Credo of Blues-L (In My Humble Opinion)

From Vincent, one of our most interesting and informative contributors: LISTEN WITHOUT PREJUDICE

THE BLUES-L FAQ—Etiquette and Guidelines Portion

List Owner—David Pimmel
Compiled by David Silberberg
Last modified March 12, 1995

Any additions, suggestions, or corrections should be mailed to David Silberberg
 

Contents:

1. General Etiquette
2. Announcing Personal Appearances
3. Announcing National Act Appearances
4. Selling Stuff on Blues-L
5. Appropriate Blues-L Topics

Please read it before posting any message to the list / newsgroup.

Blues-L is not censored in any way. All messages will be posted to the list. But this is a list devoted to discussion of the blues, and this is a community of blues-lovers and people interested in the form. Over 750 people, from all over the world, subscribe to the mail list; countless others read the newsgroup without subscribing. We hope you will follow these simple guidelines, so that Blues-L will be a happier, friendlier place to be.

1. General Etiquette
1. Remember that people will be reading your post. Not everyone will agree with your views, but they are people with valid opinions. Base your arguments on what has been said, not on who you think the sender is. Don’t get personal—let your argument speak for itself.
2. Mr. Pimmel has structured the list so that your mail readers’ / newsgroup readers’ automatic reply feature will address your response to the individual poster of the message. This is to remind us to think whether or not we wish to respond to the entire list (certainly completely appropriate if you think you comments will interest the entire list), or to the individual poster of the message you are responding to.
3. Avoid posting “I agree” or “Great Post” or “Me Too” messages to the entire list. This is a waste of resources. If you wish to send this kind of message, please send it to the individual you are complementing.
4. Avoid posting messages without any useful contents. This includes messages containing only snide remarks to a previous poster, etc. It also includes message where you say “Sorry, no blues content.” If there is no blues content, do not send the message to the list.
5. Commercial messages should not be posted to the list. (However, see below for guidelines concerning personal appearances by musicians who are members of the Blues-L community.)
6. If a topic (or musician, etc.) has been extensively discussed recently, hold off on bringing it (him / her) up again. Let another topic get some time on the list.
7. Remember the distinction between posting to the list (where everyone sees it) and posting to an individual privately. Think about the universality of your message: if you think many (if not most) people on the list would find your message interesting and informative, please post it to the list. If your message would be of interest to only one or two people, send it to them privately.
8. Please pay attention to your “subject line”: make sure it accurately reflects the contents of your message. If you have changed the subject during your response to a previous post, please change your subject line.
9. When responding to a previous post, it is acceptable—and often necessary—to quote a few lines from that previous post, to remind readers of what you are referring to. But quote only as much as is necessary to make clear what you are responding to.
10. Above all, use common sense and consider the feelings of others. Treat others as you would wish them to treat you. We know that sounds like church—but it is good advice.
2. Announcing Personal Appearances
It is appropriate to announce your personal appearances on the list, with certain restrictions. Many people on our list are interesting in seeing other members perform.
However, frequent (weekly?) announcements that you will be playing in such and such places is going too far. Please remember, this is a global list: most people will not be able to swing by the corner pub for your Friday night set even if they want to. With that in mind:
1. Perhaps you could post a message bi-monthly, introducing yourself, the style of music you play, and the general geographic area you play in. Request private responses from people who would be interesting in receiving your “gig list”. These would most likely be people who would realistically be able to attend your performances, and would be the people you would most like to reach with your message.
2. E-mail the information only to those people.
3. If your situation changes, and you get some bookings in a new location, then please post this information to the entire list.
3. Announcing National Act Appearances
Announcing national touring acts is appropriate to the list, because it gives readers a way of seeing who is on the road and who will be appearing in their area. Of course, the list members would be interested in your attending such shows, and reviewing them on the list.
4. Selling Stuff on the List
Do not use the list to sell CDs, tapes, or other merchandise for profit. Doing so may be illegal, so do not do it.
5. Appropriate BLUES-L Topics
This is an uncensored list. All messages will be posted to the list, so please adhere to these simple guidelines:
Any topic relating to the blues—the music, performers, books, cultural aspects, history, technical music discussions, reviews, opinions, facts—if it relates to the blues, it is appropriate for Blues-L.
This is a terrific list: many members have some kind of professional relationship to the music—musicians, producers, authors, radio programmers, etc. Someone here can answer almost any question you may have—and any information you may wish to transmit will be gratefully accepted by our community.
But please—make sure your facts, opinions, and other comments relate to the blues.