Thursday 6 January 2011

The Deep Blues

I've just posted excerpts from the original blues soundtrack of the film "EBB" on YouTube.



It features three short blues sung by John Lee Hooker. The lyrics were inspired by  lines from T. S. Eliot and William Shakespeare. Hooker singing Eliot? Why not?

Greek popular singers were recording lyrics by Seferis, Elytis, Ritsos, Gatsos and other great poets well before this.

Depth and sensitivity of interpretation have got little to do with literacy or education, in my view.


Vithikotsis, Katsaros, Bellou and John Lee Hooker may be a far cry from the trained voice of a Peter Pears, but they've been down the line and paid their dues. It comes through in their voices and in the degree of empathy and conviction, and the expressive nuances they bring to a lyric.

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