I lost count the first week I heard this. I hadn't listened to this in months but I moved to Portland OR and my neighbor was listening to RL. Kinda ironic because both of us were hardcore punk rockers back in the day.
This is one of the most genuine recordings in just how real it is. He's playing a junky old electric, on a junky old amp. He's sitting on a 5 gallon bucket. You can hear kids crying in the background. This man is a musician not for the fame but because he wanted to bring joy and liveliness to the tough life of the people around him. This is what music is really about.
When I see the guitar and amp called junky, I can't help but be reminded of this scene: Jake Blues: "Two thousand for this chunk of shit? Come on, Ray." Murph: "I mean, really, Ray. It's used. There's no action left in this keyboard." Ray Charles: "Excuse me. I don't think there's anything wrong with the action on this piano." *Brilliance ensues*
That's amazing you picked up on that. I just made a comment above how we saw RL's grandson, Cedric, last night, and he would have a been a baby when this was made, AND lived in his grandfather's house! Too cool L)
alan lomax! he spent most of his life documenting folk music from all over the world, check out all the stuff he recorded over the years, it's pretty much all amazing:~) www.discogs.com/artist/468451-Alan-Lomax
I am soo proud to say he was a friend...I was about 2 feet from him when this series was being filmed...I was soo intranced that I didn't really notice the filming...an insanely reat soul and talented man
Wow! Amazing! I grew up in Mississippi. Spent my childhood in the Delta, in Greenwood and a little town called Webb. Spent some time in Holly Springs. When I hear this music it brings me right back home, even though I don't actually recall hearing anyone play the blues when I was a kid. The music was just kind of around. Strange how music and place can be tied up so keenly. But you were literally right there. Good for you! I hope some people are still playing the blues down there.
There's an old recording of this tune on Dave Stewart's "Deep Blues" soundtrack. Were you there for that? I've always wanted to speak with someone who was...
Men like this are one in a million. It's sad but also poetic that 90% of these men will live their life in obscurity only blessing those who come across them by chance
Chess records was named after the folks that started it. They were Polish immigrants. Some mighty fine recordings. Little Walter, Muddy Waters era. There is a documentary on RL that talks about his experience in Chicago at the time. It is a sad story. The man had chops.
thats what makes the blue tha blues baby. all these kids buying these ten thousand dollar "vintage axes,. the masters played what ever they could get their hands on. its all really company hype and commercial ism. pay attention to detail these old masters won't lead you astray
I don,t like blues but I do not care how you call it I love the style ,ritme, playing and singing and text’s of This great player of music .R.L.Burnside. I love you mr Burnside.
That’s how you get it. Now days pop stars have to come up with fake back stories about how they were poor, when in reality they all come from very rich families
for real that's all i thought - knew if i scrolled down i'd find it. barbed wire butterfly collar working hands grey hair sockless boots two finger pickin no solos. what a voice
+Carlos A. Redondo I find it transcendent. I just go to a different place beyond intellect when he plays. I hear it, but can't remember what the notes sounded like.
I love the way that many of the rural and country blues legends play multiple parts (sometimes complex off key/off rhythm parts too) at the same time Manner Lipscomb - completely different style but multitasking effortlessly on a beat to crap acoustic
I think that's the African roots of the blues. Percussive repetitive catchy patterns that put you in a trance-like state if you dance long enough to it.
I'm convinced that you can't play and sing blues sincerely unless you accumulate certain age and baggage on your soul. This man's face, look and voice, are pure blues.
Pure genius, this is the best recording of the song too, stripped back just him outdoors back to basics and it pays off. Dude should have become way more famous than he did but guess he's that hidden gem those who know get t love
Man died in 05, Back when he recorded this video it was something to do,,,, He may have forgotten all about it, But he lives on,,,, I hope his grandkids enjoy
I'm curious what tempo he's keeping in his head. When it shows his foot tapping, is the audio out of sync? Looks right when he's singing. Or does the riff not come in on the "1"?
It's astonishing how few blues pieces use this rhythm. Loved burnside for years, it's interesting how often this rhythm is used by African artists like Ali Farka Tur. They said when they first heard American blues they were shocked to hear rhythms of Africa, but so few blues pieces are arranged in THIS style.
@@danielperry7132 1. This is not African music, whether brought with them, or picked up in the meantime. Blues was created by the melding between African and Western music. 2. The point I was making is that the concept of "cultural appropriation" would not only have made blues music impossible to create, but it would also have restricted it to the black community. Either way you look at it, if these people we're woke enough to consider cultural appropriation a bad thing, as some do today, we would not have had blues and probably no one would have heard about R.L. Burnside. And that is my point.
@@danielperry7132 That is what they like to tell people about cultural appropriation. But in practice that is not the case. The privileged class is always white people, so it is a racial distinction. It doesn't matter if you're on the Forbes 500 or living in a trailer park, if you're white they think you're privileged. And it has nothing to do with "taking an already formed melding and profiting from it as their own while completely divorcing it from its original context/meaning". I think there was someone that took the idea of tacos and adapted it to local cuisine. So all they had in common with actual tacos was that they had fillings inside a tortilla. They weren't being sold as authentic Mexican tacos. That didn't stop the cultural appropriation gang to launch a campaign. Either way, my problem with how cultural appropriation is defined and handled in real life is the cancel culture. People have a right to not like them, to consider them crass, or ignorant. That's all fine. But the problem is that they immediately start screaming racism, and try, in some cases, to completely destroy that person's livelihood. And that is wrong, in my opinion. Even if some examples of cultural appropriation are born out of ignorance to a culture, at the end of the day it still shows some appreciation. Like some people that are obsessed with anime, and they use Japanese phrases even though they don't speak Japanese. They're cringey. They are ignorant by definition. But they do appreciate Japanese culture. It is better to encourage them to fix their ignorance than to label them as racists and demolish them socially. So I am all for cultural appropriation, of all kinds. I want people to learn from my culture, and I want to learn from theirs, so that we can all be better people for it.
Saw him play 1997, opening for Spencer blues explosion. Crushed it with an intensity that men half his age can't muster, I mean he stole the show. He said as he took a sip of whiskey, "I only drink whiskey when I'm not sleeping" and proceeded to lay waste to the room. People were crowd surfing and he just started laughing, he thought it was hilarious.
This is why I love the blues, there was just so much of it waiting to be discovered, and such a modest genre, all of the artists just looked like ur average guy until they whipped out the guitar and blew the hats off everyone
i love hearing and seeing this i am 82 from missssippi itawamba county share croppers daughter white that old blue farmers jumper i can see it blowing in the wind what i really like about this is he is happy and so proud of his song makes you feel good
It’s a shame people make millions playing garbage and this guy probably made next to nothing. Playing that and keeping it on time and going isn’t easy by the way
Listen to junior Kimbrough as well. The Appalachian blues....their rhythm was very different than the delta blues. More catchy and rhythmic. Yea,RL never got the appreciation he deserved in his living life. If it wasn't for Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics making this film,it would be another legend undiscovered!
I read an interview once where the interviewer asked him if it was true that R.L. once killed a man and R.L. replied that he had shot him but whether he died or not was up to God. Damn good answer. He did a great live album I have.
I just read James H. Cone’s book ‘The Cross and the Lynching Tree’. He suggests there is a very real correlation between the two and quotes some old bluesmen. I feel that the title of this is in the same vein, See My Jumper Hanging on the Line. He’s not talking about his clothes, is he? Peace x
@@gooders7366 Yes he is talking about an item of clothing in my opinion. No offense intended, but the book you mention smells of the lamp and sounds retarded. Have you read "At the Hands of Persons Unknown?" If you haven't then you should. Peace to you as well.
@@awarewolves1712 th-cam.com/video/-fPo8kX-CFM/w-d-xo.html Mr Cone features prominently in this enjoyable, informative documentary on Malcolm X. He doesn’t come across as overly laboured, even less, retarded. The book you mention looks excellent. In the vein of exposing the horror of the black American experience. These blues men found courage to speak of horrific things in poetic language. That way you have spoken the injustice without being explicit - under the radar, so to speak. To speak of a jumper rather than a corpse, this gets under the radar. For black people under Jim Crow, it was all about being under the radar. Cone writes for the ‘Christian’ audience primarily. He is a black theologian. He points out that both people groups claimed to be Christian but that the one of them had a major plank in their eye, and were actually hypocrites. They used St Paul to justify slavery and keep black people oppressed. This is not good, certainly not ‘Christian’. Those who composed the negro spirituals and even blues songs like this here, are, really, ‘Christian’ in contrast to the majority group who claimed to be but were complicit in horrible atrocities against fellow humans. Cone equates the horrible atrocities perpetrated in those days as parallel to the cross of Christ, which cross is so profound as to provide reconciliation, in the end, for these two people groups. Thus, the cross of Christ is a ‘double cure’ - healing both the sinner and the sinned against, so that the one can face his trespass and be wrecked, and the other can face his fears and be wrecked and on the other side of fear he can compose a song of lament like this one. xxx Peace from the UK ✌🏻
Yeah it was raw that's how they learned cause the blues is from the heart. They play what they felt. To much emphasis is placed on the instrument not on the sound that it came out of which was slavery the pain the guitar it's just an accompany to the pain. You can't take it no more than you can fake gospel or bluegrass.
To fellow gee-tar players listening to this, R.L.'s tuning is unique in that I'm sure he just tuned by ear. It's an open E tuning but raised up a half step plus a nudge. So if you have a tuner you'll want to tune each note +50 cent over the 0'd note. Starting from the low 6th string you'll have F2 (+50), C3 (+50), F3 (+50), A3 (+50), C4 (+50), F4 (+50). I know it's odd to be so exact with a loose blues tuning but if you want to play to the track that's the tuning. Now add a crap load of feel and looseness with vague phrasing and you'll be on you way :)
*You have **_exquisite tastes_** Mary Browns. This video is a true **_masterpiece,_** and that is an understatement, I think. So glad that you **_felt the man,_** too. He was a genius.*
Being born and raised smack dab in between birthplace of jazz and delta blues country if you don’t feel this when you hear it your soul is broken. One of my favorite raw recordings with all the unintentional sounds recorded just adds to it. Mississippi hill country life at the time :) while rl was from (what we called Mississippi hill country) he didn’t limit his influences to blues. Many influenced his style. Spent a lot of time right at the state line of La/Ms off hwy 61. There was a Li’l juke joint there, black as things were still pretty segragated there at the time. Juke joint was one place that didn’t really matter on Friday Saturday night. We were too young but we’d go sit close enough to hear the music play :)
which tree is he plugged into? Edit: thanks for the reply to straighten things out mr Bishop, if yall like this video go over to his channel and check some of his work.
Seen him 3x's in my lifetime, luckiest days of my life...Got to hang with him and chat and thank him for all the years before he left us here on earth. RIP you you awesome wise man. Florida loved you brother from the heart...
@@restlessyouthproductions I have to agree with you, over practiced, too slick, probably a "classically trained" guitar player, over done, repetitious blues scales, no soul in his playing, nothing original.
@@BDMERCHANT B.Merch I'm sorry to tell you, black Americans brought the blues from the Sahel-the Bambara, Mandinka and Tuareg who were taken from there. We didn't create it. It's the same blues played by Tinariwen.
@@mizzobjectiveone3819 False and false....American's of African origin developed this sound here in america...Uniquely American...phuck all the Identitarian bull shi'ite!!
@@mikekaatman3194 Mr Fblagent,,,,,welcome to the blues, son,,,,nothing badder than this exists!!!!!,,,,metal is awesome,,,but this is THE ORIGINAL DEVILS' MUSIC!!!!!!😎
IV Ltd This isn’t black folk music, or white folk music. This is the blues, and everyone has the blues. It’s just that some people, like Mr. Burnside, a real good at showing it.
bug man I don't know why that would make me feel differently about his smile. Very little is known about that murder anyway. But we do know that in 1 year, his father, 2 brothers and 2 uncles were all murdered. And he could still smile like this... Strong
See my jumper, lord hangin' out on the line See my jumper, lord hangin' out on the line know by that , something on my mind Would not have been here, baby lord, if it had not been for you Would not have been here, baby lord, if it had not been for you Way down here, way you wanna do Fix my supper, baby, let me go to bed fix my supper, baby, let me go to bed guess white lightnin' done gone to my head :)
Maybe they could, but they wouldn't. They'd be too busy sound correcting, cutting and overdubbing, laying on studio tricks and mixing. By the time they're done, more is less.
The "shot by Alan Lomax" in the description gives that away. Look up Alan and his dad, John - they started travelling and recording folk, blues, and "ethnic" musicians in the 1930s, and are responsible for a LOT of amazing music making it to print.
Mr Burnside was a friend and neighbor (next county over) who liked to go over to Fred and Annie Mae McDowell's house and play with Fred and talk farming..
Holy shit I saw this when I was like 11 on a bootleg VHS my grandpa had and I am 95% sure it's like the first blues song I'd ever heard and what got me into the genre.
Be honest, it's not the first time you're coming here to watch this.
Not by any stretch
guilty as charged
Yep. Unforgettable performance.
i'm not sure
I lost count the first week I heard this. I hadn't listened to this in months but I moved to Portland OR and my neighbor was listening to RL. Kinda ironic because both of us were hardcore punk rockers back in the day.
And to this day no grass grows where he was a stompin that heel
I am
This might be the greatest comment of all TH-cam. Kudos, fellow music aficionado!
🏆best comment award
lookin at the 1st fret
@@TimTheHermit
Sometimes the blues finds you
Brother your danm right..
WELL BOY IT JUST FOUND ME!
The first time I met the blues, I was walking down through the woods.
Found me today
Finds me every day.
It's bluesy. It's country. It's funky. It's got soul and Rock & Roll.
It’s Hill St Blues!!! All that you said come from blues!
It's just really awesome playing.......I love that Bluesy Funk, it's so Raw❤❤❤❤🎉
@@rvz53 The TV show?
Hahaha !
Hill county blues, North Mississippi not far from Tennessee.
This is one of the most genuine recordings in just how real it is. He's playing a junky old electric, on a junky old amp. He's sitting on a 5 gallon bucket. You can hear kids crying in the background. This man is a musician not for the fame but because he wanted to bring joy and liveliness to the tough life of the people around him. This is what music is really about.
And with a barbwire fence behind him.
Absolutely … no gimmicks, no pretentiousness involved. Just raw soulful music that gives you the cold sweats and makes your hair stand on end
nothing junky about either of those things
And crickets
When I see the guitar and amp called junky, I can't help but be reminded of this scene:
Jake Blues: "Two thousand for this chunk of shit? Come on, Ray."
Murph: "I mean, really, Ray. It's used. There's no action left in this keyboard."
Ray Charles: "Excuse me. I don't think there's anything wrong with the action on this piano."
*Brilliance ensues*
This has to be the best recommendation youtube ever got me.
Agreed.
👍
Same here
@@jacktheripper8463 you're what's wrong with the world today lmao
✅
That baby wailing in the background is about 42 years old now
Cheese Steak Jimmy's it’s amazing how time passes.
Or its dead
@@Elohim423
No dude!
I'm fresh like hell!!!
Probably his grandson Cedric, who's also a musician lol
damn
Sitting in my yard probably less than 20 miles from where this was filmed. It’s truly an unmatched aesthetic.
One camera, One microphone, One electric guitar, One Man. Pure Gold.
issou
@@skateurs25 Elite ! Elite everywhere ! :'-)
The real way. Real live. No effects
@@jeffjoad9784 One man one guitar the real essence of the blues!
And two fingers
The baby was crying in key.
😂
baby prolly got perfect pitch
That's amazing you picked up on that. I just made a comment above how we saw RL's grandson, Cedric, last night, and he would have a been a baby when this was made, AND lived in his grandfather's house! Too cool L)
hthats what happenes when you hear it from the womb
True!
to who ever recorded this, thank you for focusing on his hands
alan lomax! he spent most of his life documenting folk music from all over the world, check out all the stuff he recorded over the years, it's pretty much all amazing:~) www.discogs.com/artist/468451-Alan-Lomax
Um hm m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3244748435569330&id=100001026151518
Open G tuning?
Alan Lomax. Remember his name when you listen to music like this.
I still cant tell what hes doing. Cuz hes got two melodies going on a the same time, but strums so casually
I am soo proud to say he was a friend...I was about 2 feet from him when this series was being filmed...I was soo intranced that I didn't really notice the filming...an insanely reat soul and talented man
Wow! Amazing! I grew up in Mississippi. Spent my childhood in the Delta, in Greenwood and a little town called Webb. Spent some time in Holly Springs. When I hear this music it brings me right back home, even though I don't actually recall hearing anyone play the blues when I was a kid. The music was just kind of around. Strange how music and place can be tied up so keenly. But you were literally right there. Good for you! I hope some people are still playing the blues down there.
very cool
There's an old recording of this tune on Dave Stewart's "Deep Blues" soundtrack. Were you there for that? I've always wanted to speak with someone who was...
That's awesome. Are you a player as well
Men like this are one in a million. It's sad but also poetic that 90% of these men will live their life in obscurity only blessing those who come across them by chance
My dad has been playing R.L Burnside for ages. Funny enough, he's a Polish immigrant and we live in Northern Canada. Music touches every soul
Chess records was named after the folks that started it. They were Polish immigrants. Some mighty fine recordings. Little Walter, Muddy Waters era. There is a documentary on RL that talks about his experience in Chicago at the time. It is a sad story. The man had chops.
?......
So greets from Poland. Pozdrawiamy ;)
My ex was Polish, a lot of cultured people from there - that's why. You're the exception not the norm.
I get tired of equating music taste to geographic location or race. Either you love this or you're a shit.
The wailing baby adds to it’s authenticity feeling that soul.
That's not a baby but a peacock. They make great watchdogs.
@@kortgreen7725 that’s a baby
Right on key too
@@maryannehickey2741 dat babe Kno'd it's daddy's rhythms well
@@kortgreen7725 that’s a baby. RL had like 10 kids.
That baby crying at 3:06 sounds like some just picked up exactly the right blues harp at exactly the right time. This is a magical piece of film.
Peter de Frankrijker it go to my heh
Perfect timing..
Music is in the blood down south ..
Baby was crying in key!
its 666 dislikes now
@@kazoolordhd6591 668 now. ;¬)
Once in a while the algorithm spits out a gem like this.
With no more than$ 137 worth of gear he sounds like a million bucks. What a legend.
That's why they say guitar playing is in the fingers not the instrument
@@omairsh8 Yes and no. If u gave a good guitar player a shit guitar it would sound okay. But if you gave him a great guitar he'll sound better.
That's a Fender duo sonic not a cheap Squire
@@tPsychedelic you do know there are more than 2 guitar brands, right? this definitely isnt a fender, looks like a teisco or a guyatone
thats what makes the blue tha blues baby. all these kids buying these ten thousand dollar "vintage axes,. the masters played what ever they could get their hands on. its all really company hype and commercial ism.
pay attention to detail these old masters won't lead you astray
When you ain’t got nothing, you still got the blues
Fuck yeah
You speak the truth brother.
Who said he's got nothing? It's a matter of perspective.
@@anashfd4211 Sometimes. Ain't that the blues.
Not only is he a phenomenal player, but “R.L. Burnside” is a spectacularly awesome name for a bluesman.
his real name is oliver Wendell
Word
Or a moonshiner cooking up some of that likkey.
Yeh, like "Are real sideburns?" For sure.
I don,t like blues but I do not care how you call it I love the style ,ritme, playing and singing and text’s of This great player of music .R.L.Burnside. I love you mr Burnside.
It's interesting that the poorest people from the poorest state can produce the most influential music.
Mississippi?
@@pauljordan4452 yep,.it made it's way up to Chicago and the rest is legendary ❤
I know about that.
That’s how you get it. Now days pop stars have to come up with fake back stories about how they were poor, when in reality they all come from very rich families
Hey man, money has absolutely nothing to do with being a musician in the reality of the moment. It’s called do you have a sole or not?
That's some real shit right there.
for real that's all i thought - knew if i scrolled down i'd find it. barbed wire butterfly collar working hands grey hair sockless boots two finger pickin no solos. what a voice
i thought it was really good , what dont you like about ir ?
@@brain8484 haha :) are you serious?
Brain Sample - I do believe "That's some real shit right there" MEANS it's really good!
Damn straight.
Lost in the hidden valleys of youtube R.L Burnside the most underrated Blues musician.
+benjaminduncan Appearance has nothing to do with talent. What's your point?.
+Carlos A. Redondo I find it transcendent. I just go to a different place beyond intellect when he plays. I hear it, but can't remember what the notes sounded like.
+zi paris yes
Belton Sutherland
*You couldn't have said it any better then that!*
Brilliant. He is technically playing 3 parts at the same time while singing a completely unrelated melody line and doing lead fills.
I love the way that many of the rural and country blues legends play multiple parts (sometimes complex off key/off rhythm parts too) at the same time
Manner Lipscomb - completely different style but multitasking effortlessly on a beat to crap acoustic
3 parts with 2 fingers
Technically he's just feeling it.
which makes you a genius
he's playing the blues, a***ole.
the great RL Burnside. You can't teach this timing. He drove a cab in obscurity for decades. Such a gift to humanity.
He's one of my favs . That tiesco didn't stand a chance
That groove is absolutely hypnotic, one of my favorite pieces of blues music ever
also listen to Robert Wolfman Belfour HILL COUNTRY BLUES
Jeffrey Johnson isn't it amazing,always something we haven't heard yet one f the best
I think that's the African roots of the blues. Percussive repetitive catchy patterns that put you in a trance-like state if you dance long enough to it.
yes repetitive hypnotic roots in zimbabwe africa
still someone here in 2024?
Found it by God’s grace friend!! 🙌🏻
@@davidsolomon5852 :-)
The blues is alive and well in 24
I never listened to my generations music.
No blues
No rock n roll
This will never die
Music fans owe Lomax and his team an enormous debt of gratitude for capturing and preserving the music of so many of these artists.
NOw pay them instead of exploiting them because of color....
Completely agree.
@@alimantado373 Pay who and what? Who's exploiting who and where?
@@alimantado373 SIMPLETON
Many of the early recordings are available to listen too through the Library of Congress.
This is quite possibly my favorite blues video ever now.
yes amazing, less is more more or or less
Can you imagine his reaction to being told this video has been viewed 4.3 million times on one platform alone
Yehaa well over 5 and a half now and growing
Folks be easy pleased
Especially if you told him that in 1978
@@Porkchop_Delight23 Explaining the Internet to guys from the 70s in the 70s would be a trip in itself…
@@Kowasi Honestly, small towns in the south ,they are hip AF when it comes to techie stuff. they just play dumb.
900 dislikes are the people who mad as shit they weren’t blessed to have rhythm like his man
Octoberzzz z : 960 Bozos
I totally Agree 100% with you on that one Octoberzzz
900 people that need their thumbs snapped off!
I can't imagine why anyone cares about thumbs down.
Or maybe they just didn't like this and besides who are you to say what someone should or shouldn't like?
I'm convinced that you can't play and sing blues sincerely unless you accumulate certain age and baggage on your soul. This man's face, look and voice, are pure blues.
You got to mean it, isn't that right.
That's kind of sad.
This is what art should be. Not pursuance of Fame or Fortune. Just expression of what's in the heart
💯💯💯💯💯💯
Pure genius, this is the best recording of the song too, stripped back just him outdoors back to basics and it pays off. Dude should have become way more famous than he did but guess he's that hidden gem those who know get t love
I get the impression he was pretty happy.
Man died in 05, Back when he recorded this video it was something to do,,,, He may have forgotten all about it, But he lives on,,,, I hope his grandkids enjoy
Sad he couldn't enjoy it on the internet. Damn, remember the 90s? No idea how I survived without the internet
Look up Cedric Burnside
Blues History will prove...
I also hope his grandkids reaped some financial benefit for the use of his music by others.
Some of his grandkids are pretty well-known blues musicians, so they'd probably be very familiar with R.L.'s work
The crickets and kids in the background add to the vibe so well.
One of the coolest picking rythmns I've ever heard
its almost like he treats it as percussion
@@LiveYourLife229 EXACTLY !!
More like fingerstyle rhythms.
I'm curious what tempo he's keeping in his head. When it shows his foot tapping, is the audio out of sync? Looks right when he's singing. Or does the riff not come in on the "1"?
@@aaronbennack714 I doubt he's keeping any tempo. Once you play solo guitar for awhile you stop caring about tempo.
I have terrible arthritis and my body is like a statue but listening to the blues makes me want to dance. 😊
You should eat some poke berries❤
Try cbd
I've been watching this same video repeatedly for almost a decade now
Really
I got to get started on my decade watching it too
Me too
Jr. Kimbrough R.L. Burnside T-model Ford
You See Me Laughin'
Nice
Me too...I like his grandson's mixes too...which surprises an old man like me.
You can hear it when a man truly has the blues
He saw some shit
It's astonishing how few blues pieces use this rhythm. Loved burnside for years, it's interesting how often this rhythm is used by African artists like Ali Farka Tur. They said when they first heard American blues they were shocked to hear rhythms of Africa, but so few blues pieces are arranged in THIS style.
what you said! the rhythmic style has this modal 'time-capsule feel' to it that makes this one of my favorite records of American music
The Mississippi hill country blues is the place to find it although you need to go back to the ones that came before him to hear more.
And this is why anyone complaining about "cultural appropriation" can get stuffed. We all have a lot to learn from eachother.
@@danielperry7132
1. This is not African music, whether brought with them, or picked up in the meantime. Blues was created by the melding between African and Western music.
2. The point I was making is that the concept of "cultural appropriation" would not only have made blues music impossible to create, but it would also have restricted it to the black community.
Either way you look at it, if these people we're woke enough to consider cultural appropriation a bad thing, as some do today, we would not have had blues and probably no one would have heard about R.L. Burnside. And that is my point.
@@danielperry7132 That is what they like to tell people about cultural appropriation. But in practice that is not the case. The privileged class is always white people, so it is a racial distinction. It doesn't matter if you're on the Forbes 500 or living in a trailer park, if you're white they think you're privileged. And it has nothing to do with "taking an already formed melding and profiting from it as their own while completely divorcing it from its original context/meaning". I think there was someone that took the idea of tacos and adapted it to local cuisine. So all they had in common with actual tacos was that they had fillings inside a tortilla. They weren't being sold as authentic Mexican tacos. That didn't stop the cultural appropriation gang to launch a campaign.
Either way, my problem with how cultural appropriation is defined and handled in real life is the cancel culture. People have a right to not like them, to consider them crass, or ignorant. That's all fine. But the problem is that they immediately start screaming racism, and try, in some cases, to completely destroy that person's livelihood. And that is wrong, in my opinion. Even if some examples of cultural appropriation are born out of ignorance to a culture, at the end of the day it still shows some appreciation. Like some people that are obsessed with anime, and they use Japanese phrases even though they don't speak Japanese. They're cringey. They are ignorant by definition. But they do appreciate Japanese culture. It is better to encourage them to fix their ignorance than to label them as racists and demolish them socially.
So I am all for cultural appropriation, of all kinds. I want people to learn from my culture, and I want to learn from theirs, so that we can all be better people for it.
Saw him play 1997, opening for Spencer blues explosion. Crushed it with an intensity that men half his age can't muster, I mean he stole the show. He said as he took a sip of whiskey, "I only drink whiskey when I'm not sleeping" and proceeded to lay waste to the room. People were crowd surfing and he just started laughing, he thought it was hilarious.
I first learned about him in 97 because of that tour, never got to see a show though!
Proof that money has nothing to do with dying a rich man...
But it has everything to do with dying a poor man. Funny how that works.
That'$ why I Sing the blues!!!
xzysyndrome Some people are so poor all they have is money.
@@joreygarbani6980 stop licking those boots kid.
Wow Dan, your comment was endearing and respectful but so many took it the wrong way and spun it for their own purposes. I feel for America
That riff is one of those I could listen to for days
That baby wailing gave the song an extra dimension.
Yeah it's my favorite part.
Thank God...finally someone who knows how to film a guitar performance.
This is why I love the blues, there was just so much of it waiting to be discovered, and such a modest genre, all of the artists just looked like ur average guy until they whipped out the guitar and blew the hats off everyone
one of the best descriptions of blues ive seen lol
The blues is REAL......sad that many young people will never know real music....
@@bizzarroworld1518 but great that the medium we're all watching this on gives people the opportunity to discover it.
R.L was born in my hometown and his grave is still here. Legend
Where is he buried? I would like to visit one day
Are you sure they didn't move it yet?
Seriously: "still here" like it's being rented or the lease is almost up.
@@GiProHD Harmontown, MS
@@KrakenShivers9292 thanks man
i love hearing and seeing this i am 82 from missssippi itawamba county share croppers daughter white that old blue farmers jumper i can see it blowing in the wind what i really like about this is he is happy and so proud of his song makes you feel good
One of the best youtube comments ever. Cheers to you.
Dorothy, you are 82 my dear?
SO beautiful!!!😊❣️
Yes ma'am.
God bless YOU Dorothy!
It’s a shame people make millions playing garbage and this guy probably made next to nothing. Playing that and keeping it on time and going isn’t easy by the way
Everything is as it should be. Just stop listening to mainstream. Period.
Old RL is probably one of the most rhythmic blues performers I've ever heard..
You're totally right very difficult to stay in time like he does alone.
Listen to junior Kimbrough as well.
The Appalachian blues....their rhythm was very different than the delta blues.
More catchy and rhythmic.
Yea,RL never got the appreciation he deserved in his living life.
If it wasn't for Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics making this film,it would be another legend undiscovered!
@@edbollett9083it's a 4/4 pattern.
Not a 12 bar rhythm
I read an interview once where the interviewer asked him if it was true that R.L. once killed a man and R.L. replied that he had shot him but whether he died or not was up to God. Damn good answer. He did a great live album I have.
What’s the record?
I just read James H. Cone’s book ‘The Cross and the Lynching Tree’. He suggests there is a very real correlation between the two and quotes some old bluesmen. I feel that the title of this is in the same vein, See My Jumper Hanging on the Line. He’s not talking about his clothes, is he? Peace x
@@gooders7366 Yes he is talking about an item of clothing in my opinion. No offense intended, but the book you mention smells of the lamp and sounds retarded. Have you read "At the Hands of Persons Unknown?" If you haven't then you should. Peace to you as well.
@@awarewolves1712 th-cam.com/video/-fPo8kX-CFM/w-d-xo.html Mr Cone features prominently in this enjoyable, informative documentary on Malcolm X. He doesn’t come across as overly laboured, even less, retarded. The book you mention looks excellent. In the vein of exposing the horror of the black American experience. These blues men found courage to speak of horrific things in poetic language. That way you have spoken the injustice without being explicit - under the radar, so to speak. To speak of a jumper rather than a corpse, this gets under the radar. For black people under Jim Crow, it was all about being under the radar.
Cone writes for the ‘Christian’ audience primarily. He is a black theologian. He points out that both people groups claimed to be Christian but that the one of them had a major plank in their eye, and were actually hypocrites. They used St Paul to justify slavery and keep black people oppressed. This is not good, certainly not ‘Christian’. Those who composed the negro spirituals and even blues songs like this here, are, really, ‘Christian’ in contrast to the majority group who claimed to be but were complicit in horrible atrocities against fellow humans. Cone equates the horrible atrocities perpetrated in those days as parallel to the cross of Christ, which cross is so profound as to provide reconciliation, in the end, for these two people groups. Thus, the cross of Christ is a ‘double cure’ - healing both the sinner and the sinned against, so that the one can face his trespass and be wrecked, and the other can face his fears and be wrecked and on the other side of fear he can compose a song of lament like this one. xxx
Peace from the UK ✌🏻
In another interview he said “rl did you shoot him in self defence? I said no I shot him in the leg and he jumped the fence”
Whilst listening to this my guitar just walked out my house and slammed the door.
LOL. Good one! He didn't even need a band with the way he could play guitar.
And she ain't never coming back 😆 put your dog on a leash and maybe the wife too just in case 😆
Lu Cypher: Best Comment . Too funny LoL. 😂😂
@@aqua6613 that was nasty
😂😂🤣🤣 You guitar left you for R.L. Burnside. Too bad he's dead though. #Legend #Blues 🎸🔥🔥🔥🔥🐐🙌🏿🙏🏿👌🏿💯
If I had that rhythm I think I'd be unbearably arrogant.
Don't worry your white...it'll never happen
fank God...ur unbearable arrogant az Iz.....
@@nolayaheardme402 Most stupid comment in the entire history of the internet.
Ever...
warpnin3 somehow it got six likes. It’s baffling
J Dawg trolls
I save it and watch it. I been watching it for 7-8 years.
I liked so you can come back again just jn case you forgot but I'm sure you'll never forget
I’d buy that cameramen a beer or two
I like the way that guitar sounds
Its a combination of things that create the sound you hear. First his playing style, seccond the instrument then the amplifier.
اذا حمم جاب سيف
those old school gold foil pick ups too
Open tuning also helps.
Joseph Reinhart what tuning?
this song tastes like fried catfish on a hot summer night
With corn on the cob and Grandma's cole slaw.
And fried okra and collard greens.
I just ate lunch and yet I'm hungry now...
Wouldn't be complete without the moonpie
Only if a ol hound dog would count off a few times
Yeh boogie that hits the soul!! Ah..don't forget the jivin & dancing with those lovely girls under the hot evening sun...!
This is the heaviest riff you're going to hear today by a mile 👍
Or tomorrow.
I bet he taught himself how to play his timing is completely original
He taught himself how to play by using John Lee Hooker's Boogie chillen. R.L. is a god among men, but he didn't invent the boogie.
From what I understand, he studied with Muddy Waters as a child.
@@carpart122 Could you imagine leaving a child with Muddy Waters?
@@danhedonia What do you mean? Was he a weirdo or something?
Yeah it was raw that's how they learned cause the blues is from the heart. They play what they felt. To much emphasis is placed on the instrument not on the sound that it came out of which was slavery the pain the guitar it's just an accompany to the pain. You can't take it no more than you can fake gospel or bluegrass.
To fellow gee-tar players listening to this, R.L.'s tuning is unique in that I'm sure he just tuned by ear. It's an open E tuning but raised up a half step plus a nudge. So if you have a tuner you'll want to tune each note +50 cent over the 0'd note. Starting from the low 6th string you'll have F2 (+50), C3 (+50), F3 (+50), A3 (+50), C4 (+50), F4 (+50). I know it's odd to be so exact with a loose blues tuning but if you want to play to the track that's the tuning. Now add a crap load of feel and looseness with vague phrasing and you'll be on you way :)
you, sir, are wrong. tuning is STANDARD, but way sharp (as you put it, as semitone and a half higher than EADGBE)
sounds like you both have listened to colter wall
Colter who?
I hear the fluid "fretless" aspect to the playing. No musicianship for me, I hear too well to play.
wtf mate its just music
Fuck, this guys guitar riffs are beyond blues. I can 100% say he is now my top motivations for music and this is the first time I’m listening to him!
*You have **_exquisite tastes_** Mary Browns. This video is a true **_masterpiece,_** and that is an understatement, I think. So glad that you **_felt the man,_** too. He was a genius.*
Being born and raised smack dab in between birthplace of jazz and delta blues country if you don’t feel this when you hear it your soul is broken. One of my favorite raw recordings with all the unintentional sounds recorded just adds to it. Mississippi hill country life at the time :) while rl was from (what we called Mississippi hill country) he didn’t limit his influences to blues. Many influenced his style. Spent a lot of time right at the state line of La/Ms off hwy 61. There was a Li’l juke joint there, black as things were still pretty segragated there at the time. Juke joint was one place that didn’t really matter on Friday Saturday night. We were too young but we’d go sit close enough to hear the music play :)
Yes.
the baby cryin at 305 makes the song perfect.
This proves that it’s not about the gear
It’s about the skill
Well said
Juho Juutilainen yep so true,it's in the soul and the hands
That’s the way it is in Mississippi. You see the no name guys playing a Squire and just tearing it up.
And the soul
Tone is in your fingers
which tree is he plugged into?
Edit: thanks for the reply to straighten things out mr Bishop, if yall like this video go over to his channel and check some of his work.
Youre the best for this comment
It's blues, so he's plugged into the earth.
he is plugged into the electric fence
He's plugged into my soul at this point and time
@ Calamity James
Nice, very nice! 👏 ✌😎
Seen him 3x's in my lifetime, luckiest days of my life...Got to hang with him and chat and thank him for all the years before he left us here on earth. RIP you you awesome wise man. Florida loved you brother from the heart...
This actually IS my first watching this😂. Glorious
This is awesome. Even his shirt is awesome man.
Couber 3$s
The 70's got some things right.
This man could play world class music on a rubber band if he wanted to
Its gold nuggets like this I'd like to show anyone who thinks Joe Bonamassa is a legendary "blues guitarist"
@Danny Mathis yeah dammit, I should have put the quotes around 'legendary', my bad
Joe who?
Finally ... for for the life of me I can't see why everyone says. He's so good . Now this fella , I believe what he's saying .
Wayno Walden Joe is technical and very knowledgeable, but he’s not very authentic. He’s studies and performs blues.... he don’t live it.
@@restlessyouthproductions I have to agree with you, over practiced, too slick, probably a "classically trained" guitar player, over done, repetitious blues scales, no soul in his playing, nothing original.
His smile...
"That white lightnin done gone to my head"
His rhythm is incredible!
ya mun,,,,id b all bout de riddim,,,widout riddim der be no music,,,yacan excaape,,,we all be 'slaves to da riddum'
2 instruments playing as one- poetry in motion...
The baby crying was some Floyd shit.
Next level
...thought it might be a flying pig...
You can see the player's reaction knowing that it was loud/near enough to get picked up on the recording. Amusement!
@@myfrequencies1912 and his amusement at it, he has such a handsome face. His music is hypnotic.
@@ssy12335 Deep in the music. Communing with the infinite all.
Lmao i said the same
"Pink Floyd shit right here"
The kid cries perfectly in tune ( 3:05 ) Great song, great rhythm!
well spotted brother
hes got blues in his blood!
Good call.......lol
yesssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!
Boris B Thats the bloodline of a musician...taught to cry in key from an early age.
Took me an hour to find this jem again. I was going off memory
That baby in the background sounded like it was mouthing a harmonica!
Just watched your video thank!you
that or a kazoo
They synced up pretty well at 3:05
Yeah, the baby is in tune.
Yes the baby wailing in tune
Excellent shirt
Even better BOOTS
Batik shirt
TheJofrica Versace
TheJofrica 70s style just the greatest huh?
That's actually part of the reason I clicked on the video
I love the fact the babies cries are for a few seconds in harmony
It adds to the beauty of the song somehow
@@vikramad36 oh hell yeah , great comment
So so good
Just one of the great blues men of all time, sittin’ on a bucket
has a strong African Guitar / Tinariwen Sound. Fascinating Blues :)
No tinariwen has a blues sound...delta blues..
@@BDMERCHANT either way, the rhythms are related : )
@@BDMERCHANT B.Merch I'm sorry to tell you, black Americans brought the blues from the Sahel-the Bambara, Mandinka and Tuareg who were taken from there. We didn't create it. It's the same blues played by Tinariwen.
@@mizzobjectiveone3819 False and false....American's of African origin developed this sound here in america...Uniquely American...phuck all the Identitarian bull shi'ite!!
@@mizzobjectiveone3819 can you name any blues musicians dating back 60 or 70 years ago that Americans copied? I'd like to listen.
I’ve been listening to metal all my life and this hit me harder than any metal riff has
This is the very root....of metal.
@@mikekaatman3194 Mr Fblagent,,,,,welcome to the blues, son,,,,nothing badder than this exists!!!!!,,,,metal is awesome,,,but this is THE ORIGINAL DEVILS' MUSIC!!!!!!😎
Welcome to the blues
This is absolutely timeless, the baby wailing in the background said it all.
Pay attention kids this is real folk music!
Everything is real music silly
This isn't folk music.
@IV Ltd no. This is just "the blues." Plain and simple.
@spr95que LOOL, this is the blues kid
IV Ltd This isn’t black folk music, or white folk music. This is the blues, and everyone has the blues. It’s just that some people, like Mr. Burnside, a real good at showing it.
These blues musicians demonstrate the purest form of musical expression
Look at that smile - the guy's talent just carries his spirit along.
Old Brushy One String needs to check out this cat!!! 🎸🔥
We saw this guy's amazing grandson, Cedric Burnside, in Brisbane, Australia last night - he was amazing!!!
Tee Bro perhaps that very babe that cries 3 mins in!
Yup, it is.
I'm have to check out his grand son's music.
a blues legend whose blood should have been bottled for safe keepin god bless
god bless
@@nwalkernc God bless your blessing of the blessings
Amen brother!
@@shangrilawson at least RL LEFT US HIS GIFT OF MUSIC sadly missed ..make that a BIG AMEN ....HIS SMILE is a country mile wide ....
Uważam, że blues nie potrzebuje opisów ,jego porostu trzeba słuchać!
I love this guy's smile.
Apollo Alves it's so contagious
You do know that Burnside served time in prison for killing a man, right?
At the Parchman farm....R.L. sure got the real blues.
Same here 😁
bug man I don't know why that would make me feel differently about his smile. Very little is known about that murder anyway. But we do know that in 1 year, his father, 2 brothers and 2 uncles were all murdered. And he could still smile like this... Strong
Fix my supper, baby, Lord, let me go to bed
This white lightning done gone to my head...
this may be the coolest video ever made, the shirt, the guitar, the backdrop, the song, the man, k'in amazing.
holy molie
Truth.
Its from a movie.
See my jumper, lord
hangin' out on the line
See my jumper, lord
hangin' out on the line
know by that
, something on my mind
Would not have been here, baby
lord, if it had not been for you
Would not have been here, baby
lord, if it had not been for you
Way down here, way you wanna do
Fix my supper, baby, let me go to bed
fix my supper, baby, let me go to bed
guess white lightnin'
done gone to my head
:)
Bless you!
+
thanks
Very well, thank's...
My mans don’t even need a pick, just a skinny ole blues finger and a power source. Love this guy forever
Luv that old getar🎉
A high tech studio couldn't get that sound.
I agree. Them bastards think they can only mix properly through vintage marshalls, p basses & les pauls.
:)
I don't think it's anything about studio or whatever but obviously the player.
Maybe they could, but they wouldn't. They'd be too busy sound correcting, cutting and overdubbing, laying on studio tricks and mixing. By the time they're done, more is less.
The "shot by Alan Lomax" in the description gives that away.
Look up Alan and his dad, John - they started travelling and recording folk, blues, and "ethnic" musicians in the 1930s, and are responsible for a LOT of amazing music making it to print.
Mr Burnside was a friend and neighbor (next county over) who liked to go over to Fred and Annie Mae McDowell's house and play with Fred and talk farming..
fuck you talkin
What a blessing
this man plays exactly what he wants. Each note so deliberate...a true blues master
Damn, how am I just seeing this
Holy shit I saw this when I was like 11 on a bootleg VHS my grandpa had and I am 95% sure it's like the first blues song I'd ever heard and what got me into the genre.
That's friggin cool, they weren't found in many stores. Maxwell street, Chicago is where I found some back in the day
I strongly believe the world would be a better place if we all were this musically gifted
muece then music this would just become mediocre and that’s tragic
Put the blunt down man. Go outside
muece Well, “if everyone is a superhero, no one will be”
@Degree7 Well, except from Hitler, Franco, Khomeinei and others, of course
It would be a better place if everyone just appreciated good music
Those fields Burnside was playing in 1978 are now a suburban housing development.
Sad, really...
Developers 🙄. They won't be happy till every single blade of grass and every tree is gone.
@@bluesageful there are more trees in the US now than in the 1500's.
@@harrysachs2274 X
@@harrysachs2274 doubtful
even the babies cry in tune. that's the blues - thanks for the portal RL Burnside