‘And from a jail came the wail of a down-hearted frail and they played that as part of the blues. . .?
? ‘The Birth of the Blues?
Muddy Waters. Elmore James. B.B. King. John Lee Hooker. Stevie Ray Vaughn. Alberta Adams.
If you’re a Blues music lover like I am, these names are familiar old friends.
With raw emotion and pure soul, they sing about life, love, good times, bad times, drinkin? and groovin?. Blues musicians provide the sound track of not just Black America, but America period. Remember, without the Blues, there would have been no Rock ‘n? Roll.
The Blues finally came to Oxford last week as the Robert Penn Blues Band performed at Concerts in Centennial Park. Without a doubt, it was not only the best concert of the year, it was the best one ever!
I have never seen a concert in the park audience so thrilled with an act.
My lovely wife Connie and I first saw Robert Penn (who at one time was the music director for B.B. King) perform at Edison’s in downtown Birmingham about four years ago. We were hooked right away.
For me, Robert’s abilities as a Blues guitarist, vocalist and song-writer are on par with the all the great ones I mentioned at the beginning of this column.
Whether he’s on-stage performing or off-stage talking with audience members, you can tell he’s a jovial guy who’s doing what he loves ? playing the Blues and entertaining folks.
Judging by his facial expressions as he picks his guitar, you can tell he doesn’t just hear every note, he feels them. The sounds just pour out of his heart and explode from his fingertips. Robert doesn’t just play the guitar, he makes sweet love to it like a woman.
Robert was born to be a Blues Man.
Performing with Robert at the concert was the beautiful ‘Lady T,? or ‘The Detroit Lady Cobra of the Blues? if you prefer. What a tremendous set of pipes this elegant lady possesses. Powerful, soulful, playful and vivacious, there aren’t enough adjectives to describe Lady T.
I’ve already mentioned to some village officials that ‘The Robert Penn Blues Band? should be, scratch that, MUST BE the headlining act at next year’s Celebrate Oxford. If you really want to draw people to Oxford, just tell them Robert Penn is going to play here.