“That’s just what you expect from magic: If it affects the practitioner’s reality, and in the way desired, it works. Chaos theory is one way of explaining the mechanics involved. Another, more poetic, and perhaps wiser way of explaining it is called 'the blues.' Rarely have chaos and uncertainty been so listenable; and I’ll almost certainly be listening for the rest of my life."-Robert Palmer, renowned music critic and blues enthusiast.
From the essay “Why I Wear My Mojo Hand” published in Oxford American December 1996/ January 1997
When I think of the blues I think of a lot of things:
Yes, I think of Robert Johnson, kneeling at the crossroads (we’ll get to this later) with a cigarette between his teeth, a guitar at his feet, and the Devil at his fingertips.
Yes, I think of B.B. King and his darling “Lucille.”
But I also think of Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin.
Then, I think of every band they influenced and every band those bands influenced. When I think of the blues, I think of well-over a half-century of musical innovation and cultural synthesis. And I think of the previously cited quote.
Robert Palmer had a point when he coined the term “Blues & Chaos,” but it’s not necessarily something you understand unless you’re deeply invested in the music. There’s nothing chaotic about the blues at first glance. In fact, to the casual 21st century observer, it can seem stale. And, if you’re just looking at the blues in terms of 12-bar structure and a I-IV-V chord progression, it seems anything but chaotic.
Don’t be fooled by your first impressions.
There is something in the blues, make no mistake. It’s something the forefathers felt when they made it. It’s something a handful of young British lads recognized, internalized, and revolutionized as the roots of rock & roll. And it’s something musicians continually keep coming back to, even today.
That’s where the chaos comes in: when you take a step back and try to fathom how the under-appreciated and incomplete recordings of Delta bluesman Son House made Jack White, an icon of our time, want to play music in the first place (see video below).
When you try to see how Robert Johnson’s “Crossroad Blues” became Cream’s “Crossroads” and how the Rolling Stones first came onto the scene.
The cultural synthesis-- that’s the chaos, that’s the blues. There is something in the blues. And it’s not necessarily tangible, but it’s definitely worth discovering.
--Amanda Norris
