Gary Clark, Jr.

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Your Worst Nightmare
It's funny that Gary Clark, Jr. came up in the John Mayer thread because I had just ordered his older album "Blak and Blu" in a bundle with his new live album. We used to see him regularly when I was living in Austin 2001-06, and I've seen him a few times since when he's been on national tours. But I never thought to get any of his records until last week.

"Blak and Blu" has some outstanding tunes. They captured the intensity of his live show. But there's also some weird turns the album takes, like the title track which sounds like something you'd hear on a contemporary R&B album. It's not a bad song, but it doesn't seem to fit with the rest.

This tune was a big hit for him on the "Blak and Blu" album.


But there's also this great tune.
 
Like quite a bit of his stuff. We do a cover of Bright Lights with Papa Mule, fun tune to play - plenty of space there for doing your own thing with it. :)
 
He’s a good player and a good songwriter. I think Warner Records PR team probably damaged his career when they launched him as the next SRV/Hendrix and of course he didn’t live up to that hype.
 
He’s a good player and a good songwriter. I think Warner Records PR team probably damaged his career when they launched him as the next SRV/Hendrix and of course he didn’t live up to that hype.

Well, he certainly doesn't.
 
He’s a good player and a good songwriter. I think Warner Records PR team probably damaged his career when they launched him as the next SRV/Hendrix and of course he didn’t live up to that hype.

Really? Did they say that?
 
I started digging his stuff when I caught him on Clapton's Crossroads Festival DVD. In the last month or so I was reading an on line article where they were comparing him to SRV and Hendrix. I commented that while he's great at what he does he simply doesn't have the chops of an SRV or Hendrix. Clark never came across to me as a player who was trying to go that direction anyway. I got his first full length CD when it came out and am going to pick up his live album too. I'm sincerely a fan of his, but he's no gun slinger.
 
I started digging his stuff when I caught him on Clapton's Crossroads Festival DVD. In the last month or so I was reading an on line article where they were comparing him to SRV and Hendrix. I commented that while he's great at what he does he simply doesn't have the chops of an SRV or Hendrix. Clark never came across to me as a player who was trying to go that direction anyway. I got his first full length CD when it came out and am going to pick up his live album too. I'm sincerely a fan of his, but he's no gun slinger.

I can agree with that. He definitely has some similarities with SRV and Hendrix. I haven't read any articles about him, so I don't know exactly what has been said. People get their feathers ruffled when someone gets compared to their heroes, but it's not like anyone is saying Clark is a clone, replacement or a perfect substitute for SRV or Hendrix.
 
I'm giving the new live album a first listen at the moment and it is worthy. He really shines here. :thu:
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EDIT: The fuzzy tone gets to be a bit much on a few songs.
 
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I heard one of his tunes on Spotify radio at the Gym MOnday and really dug it...Now I've gotta check the rest of the album out.
 
I'm giving the new live album a first listen at the moment and it is worthy. He really shines here. :thu:
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EDIT: The fuzzy tone gets to be a bit much on a few songs.
I got it the other day, but I haven't had a chance to listen yet.
It's so much harder to get fuzz right live than on the album. For example, I love Jack White's tones on his albums, but live it just sounds like a tin can full of bees.
 
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Oscar Jordan much like Nostradamus, predicted these kind of responses by pro category types.

http://therockrag.com/gary-clark-jr-live-on-warner-bros-records/

I'm not a pro category type. I just like albums and enjoy when one has cohesiveness. A few tracks of blues rock leading into contemporary R&B for one track then back to blues rock for some tracks then to almost hip hop for a track just seems like they were scrambling to complete the album. I get that he's my age, so he'd naturally be in to a lot of different genres, but it just seems to be lacking forethought.

But your take that it was just "100% blackness" is an interesting hypothesis. I'll ponder on that while I also try to figure out how his mostly non-black band factors into that.
 
I'm not a pro category type. I just like albums and enjoy when one has cohesiveness. A few tracks of blues rock leading into contemporary R&B for one track then back to blues rock for some tracks then to almost hip hop for a track just seems like they were scrambling to complete the album. I get that he's my age, so he'd naturally be in to a lot of different genres, but it just seems to be lacking forethought.

But your take that it was just "100% blackness" is an interesting hypothesis. I'll ponder on that while I also try to figure out how his mostly non-black band factors into that.

He performs the R&B and neo-soul stuff live, so it's not like it was filler for the record. It's what he's about. I think it shows his range and sense of history, which you don't see on most contemporary blues records. I got what he was doing immediately. He mines black music. He's not a blues purist rigid category guy, with one shuffle played right after another. Everything he plays is steeped in soulful music. That's the thread that runs through his work.
 
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He performs the R&B and neo-soul stuff live, so it's not like it was filler for the record. It's what he's about. I think it shows his range and sense of history, which you don't see on most contemporary blues records. I got what he was doing immediately. He mines black music. He's not a blues purist rigid category guy, with one shuffle played right after another. Everything he plays is steeped in soulful music. That's the thread that runs through his work.

He demonstrates a sense of history by playing contemporary R&B tunes? Riiiiight.

Booker T's latest record demonstrates what you're talking about. He mixed soul, classic R&B, and contemporary R&B. He brought in a range of talent to beautifully showcase and weave together varied styles on each track. Blak and Blu is a cool record. I like it a lot. But it's a blues rock record with a few outlier songs that have a totally different tone from the rest.
 
He demonstrates a sense of history by playing contemporary R&B tunes? Riiiiight.

Booker T's latest record demonstrates what you're talking about. He mixed soul, classic R&B, and contemporary R&B. He brought in a range of talent to beautifully showcase and weave together varied styles on each track. Blak and Blu is a cool record. I like it a lot. But it's a blues rock record with a few outlier songs that have a totally different tone from the rest.

He runs the gamut from Eddie Kendricks style falsettos, to Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Albert Collins to neo-soul linked together by his thumb print. There's nothing jarring about singing soulfully and playing guitar soulfully. I understand if that's too far out to grasp. I've heard other people say the same thing which is why I referenced it. Old school traditional blues was never played exclusively by blues artists. That's a contemporary construct that everyone got use to. B.B. King sang lots of R&B ballads in the 50's between straight blues numbers.

There are other blues rock records that came out this year that are easier to digest. You should check out the new Bonamassa record Different Shades Of Blues. It's not really different but it's easily digestible.
 
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