Exclusive Interview With Jim Bruce
Very few people have mastered fingerstyle blues guitar like Jim Bruce. His timing and phrasing are impeccable. Born in Sheffield, England. Jim Bruce has traveled the world, living and working in Paris, the USA, Germany, and Denmark. Jim is one of the few master guitarists who is also a talented teacher.
Jim was kind enough to grant DHBG an exclusive interview.
What made you start playing guitar?
When I was 14 I heard Dylan singing Times they are a-changin’ on the radio. I bought the LP and heard Don’t Think Twice fingerpicked. I was hooked – that was what I wanted to do. Don’t Think Twice was the first song I ever learned. I never strummed at all, and I’m not very good at it!
Fingerstyle blues is not everyone’s cup of tea. What attracted you to
the style?
After playing folk until about 1973, I heard a guy in a club in the North of England play Kat’s Rag. It was simple compared to some of the stuff I was playing, but there was this superb syncopation about it. Shortly after moving down to London, I found some old Biograph Blake albums and locked myself away for 5 hours a day, for about a year, until I could play it! I suppose it’s always been the challenge that attracts me.
What’s the worst gig you ever played?
That’s a tough one – there’s so many! I can remember playing on the London Underground for hours making nothing. I still play on the street, because I like the feel of it, but back then I wanted to be noticed, not ignored. It was also nice to eat, now and again!
Bad gigs were normally in noisy bars, when no-one listens at all. Thankfully, I don’t have to do this anymore – I can choose where I play.
Funnily, when I was a kid, the worst gig was also the best. I played one song and the club owner didn’t like it – he wanted Country. It was the tradition in UK at that time to pay artists if your rejected them, so I got paid and had a nice night somewhere else!
Your style is straight ahead with a Blind Lemon feel. Who else influenced you?
I played only complicated ragtime for several years – Blake stuff and Scott Joplin rags. I never bothered with blues in E or A, as I thought they were too simple.
Of course, later on I realised my error. I saw a film with Lightnin’ Hopkins who didn’t play anything very complicated, but the technique and the power was completely awesome. Maybe we need time to mature. As a youngster, I just wanted to show how good I was.
No matter how well we play, none of us will ever match up to the old guys. However, we can incorporate their techniques into our music and pay homage. Thanks to Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mance Liscomb, Floyd Council, Scrapper Blackwell, Reverend Gary Davis and many, many more …
DHBG: What made you start playing guitar?
Jim Bruce: When I was 14 I heard Dylan singing TimesThey Are a-Changin‘ on the radio. I bought the LP and heard Don’t Think Twice fingerpicked. I was hooked – that was what I wanted to do. Don’t Think Twice was the first song I ever learned. I never strummed at all, and I’m not very good at it!
DHBG: Fingerstyle blues is not everyone’s cup of tea. What attracted you to the style?
Jim Bruce: After playing folk until about 1973, I heard a guy in a club in the North of England play Kat’s Rag. It was simple compared to some of the stuff I was playing, but there was this superb syncopation about it. Shortly after moving down to London, I found some old Biograph Blake albums and locked myself away for 5 hours a day, for about a year, until I could play it! I suppose it’s always been the challenge that attracts me.
DHGB: What’s the worst gig you ever played?
Jim Bruce: That’s a tough one – there’s so many! I can remember playing on the London Underground for hours making nothing. I still play on the street, because I like the feel of it, but back then I wanted to be noticed, not ignored. It was also nice to eat, now and again!
Bad gigs were normally in noisy bars, when no-one listens at all. Thankfully, I don’t have to do this anymore – I can choose where I play.
Funnily, when I was a kid, the worst gig was also the best. I played one song and the club owner didn’t like it – he wanted Country. It was the tradition in UK at that time to pay artists if your rejected them, so I got paid and had a nice night somewhere else!
DHGB: Your style is straight ahead with a Blind Lemon feel. Who else influenced you?
Jim Bruce: I played only complicated ragtime for several years – Blake stuff and Scott Joplin rags. I never bothered with blues in E or A, as I thought they were too simple.
Of course, later on I realised my error. I saw a film with Lightnin’ Hopkins who didn’t play anything very complicated, but the technique and the power was completely awesome. Maybe we need time to mature. As a youngster, I just wanted to show how good I was.
No matter how well we play, none of us will ever match up to the old guys. However, we can incorporate their techniques into our music and pay homage. Thanks to Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mance Liscomb, Floyd Council, Scrapper Blackwell, Reverend Gary Davis and many, many more .
DHBG: How many guitars do you own? What are they?
Jim Bruce: They come and go. I play hard, and don’t really think that an incredibly expensive guitar will make you play better. Often, when I play somewhere, people say ‘Great sound – what’s that guitar?’ It doesn’t really matter – a good guitar just makes it a little easier for you, that’s all. At the moment I have a Vintage VE300, with Shadow electronics and tuner (for the street), an Aria, which I’ve had for 35 years, and a Martin 000×1
DHBG: Do you have any tips for beginning players?
Jim Bruce: Obviously, take it slow. Look at the basics, such as the alternating thumb patterns and practice them until you can play them in your sleep! Build on the strong basics and gradually increase the complexity of the songs you tackle.
Guitar players progress in levels, sometimes sticking at a level of expertise for some time before breaking through to the next. Practice an hour in the morning, no matter what, and then in the evening. Don’t fit it in, but fit everything else around it. If you have to get up earlier, or go to bed later, then do it.
DHBG: Thank you, Jim
Jim Bruce: A pleasure.
Categories: Artists Tags:
Robert Johnson Beats the Devil?
Here’s some brief footage of someone who looks just like Robert Johnson. The footage was filmed in 1942. Johnson died in 1938.
The film was brought to light by a gentleman known as Tater Red, who had a kickin’ radio show in Memphis for a while. He owns a shop where he sells voodoo stuff to tourists on Beale Street.
I’d say it was jut silliness except for one thing — look at those hands when he plays that guitar.
Nah, that can’t be Robert Johnson.
Just couldn’t be.
Could it?
Categories: Artists Tags: Robert Johnson
Mississippi John Hurt: the Gentleman of the Blues
On a straight back chair, with his felt hat on,
He tickled our fancy with his “Avalon.”
And everyone passing down on MacDougle Street,
Cocked their heads and listen to the tappin’ feet.
Tom Paxon
On a straight back chair, with his felt hat on,
He tickled our fancy with his “Avalon.”
And everyone passing down on MacDougle Street,
Cocked their heads and listen to the tappin’ feet.
Tom Paxon
With his shy smile and impeccable style, Mississippi John Hurt endeared himself to generations of blues artists and fans. Mr. Hurt’s recordings for Okeh Records were commercial failures in the late 20′s and early 30′s. He worked as a sharecropper until the 60′s when a musicologist named John Hoskins heard Hurt’s records and “discovered” him in his home town of Avalon, Mississippi.
He killed them at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964 and went on to receive his just due playing coffee houses, festivals, and concerts until his death in 1966.
His music seems simple until you try to play it. There are elements of whimsy and humor in all he does. He is a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.
It’s nice to think that somewhere, Mississippi John is sitting on a porch picking the blues and soaking up the sun.
Rest easy, Mr. Hurt.
Make Me a Pallet on the Floor Tab
Categories: Artists Tags:
Blind Lemon Jefferson: The Harbinger of Rock and Roll
There’s nothing subtle about Blind Lemon Jefferson’s music. He just brings it and lets the chips fall; nothing but straight ahead hard-driving gutbucket blues.
He came from Wortham, Texas, where he is buried. Jefferson played on street corners for change and managed to use that foundation to build a successful recording career. No less a personage than T-Bone Walker claims to have led Blind Lemon on the streets. Both Lightnin’ Hopkins and Muddy Waters claim to have been taught by him.
He recorded for Paramount, where he felt he was cheated out of money and probably was. Contemporaries say he was weak for women and wine. The only extant picture of him may not even be him.
He died in Chicago in 1929. Some say he was poisoned by a jealous husband. Some say he froze to death. No one knows.
His music is echoed by Doc Watson, B. B. King, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Carl Perkins, the Beatles, and every kid who ever picked up a guitar and dreamed of playing the blues.
His grave was unmarked until 1967, until someone thought to put a Texas historical marker where his grave might have been. Today, he has a granite stone and a committee to see that his grave is kept clean in what is now named Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery.
His contribution to American music is immeasurable.
There’s nothing subtle about Blind Lemon Jefferson’s music. He just brings it and lets the chips fall; nothing but straight ahead hard-driving gutbucket blues.
He came from Wortham, Texas, where he is buried. Jefferson played on street corners for change and managed to use that foundation to build a successful recording career. No less a personage than T-Bone Walker claims to have led Blind Lemon on the streets. Both Lightnin’ Hopkins and Muddy Waters claim to have been taught by him.
He recorded for Paramount, where he felt he was cheated out of money and probably was. Contemporaries say he was weak for women and wine. The only extant picture of him may not even be him.
He died in Chicago in 1929. Some say he was poisoned by a jealous husband. Some say he froze to death. No one knows.
His music is echoed by Doc Watson, B. B. King, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Carl Perkins, the Beatles, and every kid who ever picked up a guitar and dreamed of playing the blues.
His grave was unmarked until 1967, until someone thought to put a Texas historical marker where his grave might have been. Today, he has a granite stone and a committee to see that his grave is kept clean in what is now named Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery.
His contribution to American music is immeasurable.
Download tab to Matchbox Blues.
Categories: Artists, Guitar Tabs Tags:
Attention Performing Blues Artists
If you are interested in being a part of the 25th Annual Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival in 2010, please send your information along with a CD to the following address:
ABHF Music Committee
P.O. Box 118
Helena, AR 72342
Categories: Artists Tags:
