Well, I have expressed my views on SRV before, so I won't go into it again.
It's in here somewhere.
I will say this, though. To those who say he wasn't innovative, that's a fair enough point. But then again, what blues guitarist is? The blues has been the same twelve chord progression for nearly a century. There are several different interpretations and flavors, but at it's roots, blues has remained unchanged for nearly one hundred years. Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Hudie Ledbetter (a.k.a.Leadbelly), Son House, Howlin' Wold, Sonny Boy Williamson, and company, those guitartist were the innovators, not anyone from after, say, 1940 or so. They took the hymns and and songs the slaves sang, and put a guitar to them. That was innovative. Everything since those greats, like I stated before, are simply variations.
Blues is a state of mind, an emotion. If the emotion doesn't reach you, then for you, it's not exciting. That doesn't mean it's not good blues music. There are people who think Clapton is the greatest blues guitarist ever. For me, he's doesn't crack the top ten. I always found him to be forced and trite. But that's because I simply don't feel Clapton's emotion. I won't be like the people who like to come into these threads with no other purpose but to say "he sucks". It serves no purpose.
SRV, on the other hand, speaks to me. I feel the notes, I get something from it. I am confident in saying I am probably the biggest SRV fan in here. I'm also fairly certain I've been a fan longer than most, seeing as how I'm twice the age of most people here. I own all his releases, and an handful of things he didn't release. 'Live Alive' has been mentioned a few times. I own a bootleg of a live show on a Riverboat down in New Orleans. Oh, man. Smokin'!!! I also own SRV live at Carnegie Hall, with a full brass section.
Now that's a rich sound. My favorite live recording I have of SRV, though, is called 'In Session'. It's Stevie, and his biggest influence, Albert King, in a studio, with a couple of guitars, a couple of mikes, a bass guitarist and a drummer. Live, no dubbing, not mixing, nothing. Just pure energy. Awesome.
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Be strong then, and enter into your own body;
there you have a solid place for your feet. ~ Kabir
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