Three Ways to Hear the Blues: The Hughes Taylor Band
The blues tell three simple stories:
Type 1: “Bad things happen. Yes, bad things happen. Yes, indeed, BAD THINGS REALLY DO HAPPEN, and that’s just the hand you’re dealt.” For example: the thrill is gone, and…well, it’s just gone, and it’s really sad, and I just want to share my feelings, because you probably know just what I mean.
Type 2: “Bad things happen. Yes, bad things happen. Yes, indeed, BAD THINGS REALLY DO HAPPEN, but everything works out okay in the end.” Monday might be stormy, but the eagle flies on Friday. Maybe she won’t do it, but her sister will.
Type 3: And finally, we have the sunny side of the blues: “Things are great, yes, things are great, YES, THINGS ARE REALLY GREAT, and I am just so happy about that.”” She’s my sweet little baby; she’s my pride and joy. Where'd you get that sugar, Sugar Mama?
The blues are Sunday morning and they’re Saturday night - sometimes both at the same time. They are prayers of surrender and prayers of thanksgiving. They have gospel roots, yes, but they also fill in its higher and lower branches.
Nobody escapes the basic blues of life, but every generation can build on what went before by adding a unique texture, color, shape, and rhythm to the interpretation of what it all means. Twenty-five-year-old Hughes Taylor does this with his music.
I have seen Hughes play on five occasions. Four of those were just him and a backing track. The addition of a live bass guitar and drums sprinkled salt on an already enjoyable musical experience to provide a deeper, richer, more nuanced flavor. But whether seeing just Hughes or Hughes plus his band, anyone I have ever brought with me to his shows becomes a convert. The new-to-Hughes people at the table next to me all had that intensely focused look of the recently initiated - and not just during the one-handed and guitar-behind-his-head showmanship moments or his prodding everyman Hendrix mix called Voodoo Joe. I don’t know what all they were thinking, but here’s what was going through my mind:
1. Hughes’ originals build on the past work of the greats: I hear Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton (from Cream days, in particular), Muddy Waters, Jimmy Page, Etta James, and Stevie Ray. I’m sure there are far more blues and blues-derivative influences, but those are the ones where I’ve caught a phrase or technique or rhythm somewhere in the catalog.
2. His originals reach the high branches and the low branches that I referred to earlier:
a. Promise (Type 3 blues), which he wrote with his sweet wife, is a meditation on the best that life has to offer:
Now I know what love is,
And I’ll never, ever let it slip away
b. Trouble (Type 1 blues) has a pesky bassline, like something on your mind that just won’t let up:
Been mistreated far too long,
My only peace is singing my song,
So pray for me, Lord hear my plea
This trouble of mine, it won’t let me be.
Incidentally, I have played Trouble for a few people and noticed that they keep humming that catchy base line and singing little bits for hours afterward, as do I. Is that the sign of a potential hit song? I don’t know, but it sure seems to me like it would be. (Incidentally, when I first heard Trouble. I thought, “hmmm, here’s an SRV or Jimi song I’ve never heard of,” and spent a frustrating 15 minutes surfing the Internet trying to find it).
3. The guitar can be an amazing communicator in the right hands. Hughes’ guitar fills and solos communicate a subtext that enriches the message in the words. It’s similar to the call-and-response you might here in some churches: Pastor: “Here’s what I’m saying.” Congregation: “Yes, we hear that, umm hmm, we sure do hear you.” Do note that the following is not an example of something you would hear at church, and I hope my readers will not be off-put, but if they are, well…it’s the BLUES, people…come on, now!” The lyrics are in italics, and the subtext I hear in the music is in parentheses.
Hold You Tight (Type 2 blues)
guitar intro
(oh it’s so sad, but sometimes so sweet, and now I’m gonna tell you just how it is, so get ready, Honey….)
Well I can feeeeeel you close by the way you hold me so tight
(dig on that for a second, darlin’)
I just got to make love to you,. It’s a feeeeeeeeling I can’t fight.
(in fact I’m feeling it quite a bit right now, but,,,.back to the song)
Well, have you ever felt such a love
(this kind of love is what I’m talking about, baby)
so sweet and so true
(well, have you?)
guitar solo
(I’m asking you again– have you??? Cause I have and here’s what I’m gonna do about it…so wait, because…)
I just got to hold you tight and make sweet love to you
guitar solo
(That’s right and we’ll be taking our time, oh, yes, we’ll be taking our time, darlin’, umm hmmm, and just when you think I’m done loving you, I’ll just keep going)
Well, that’s how I hear it personally, but admittedly I have a colorful imagination. In fact, it spans the entire rainbow, plus some. But anyway….
Hughes music reminds us that nobody escapes the three-way blues on the keyboard of life: Sometimes things suck, and that’s the way it is, but it feels better when we share our burdens with each other. Sometimes things don’t turn out the way we had wished, but there are silver linings and maybe even better things are in store for us. Sometimes we just need to remember to celebrate the joy of God’s many gifts.
And on that (blue) note, I will end by saying that Hughes’ musical performances genuinely bless me with faith, hope, and love. I have faith in his future as an artist and communicator of the core messages of the blues to new audiences. I have hope that, like Hughes, the next generation will add their own stamp to the good that has gone before as they enrich our understanding of what it means to be human. And I have love - not just for the blues and all that they mean but also for gifted musicians like Hughes
Hughes Taylor, lead guitar and vocals; Greg Sassaman, drums; Ben Alford, bass guitar
https://hughestaylormusic.com
