Samui Blues » Entertainment http://samuiblues.com Koh Samui Thailand Blues Music From Around the World Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:21:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Hot Hamilton’s Cool Blues Scene a lifetime spent trying to play the Blues in Hamilton, Canada Press Release http://samuiblues.com/hot-hamilton%e2%80%99s-cool-blues-scene/ http://samuiblues.com/hot-hamilton%e2%80%99s-cool-blues-scene/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:01:20 +0000 Cool Fool http://samuiblues.com/?p=530 THE BOOK BAND Representing the Best of Small Press P.O. Box 3471, Stn. C. Voice: 905-545-5274 Hamilton ON L8H 7M1 E-mail: info@thebookband.com www.thebookband.com Attn: Trudi FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Hot Hamilton’s Cool Blues Scene It’s the early 1960s and two Hamilton teens, Doug Carter and Richard Newell (later known as King Biscuit Boy), with two other [...]]]> THE BOOK BAND
Representing the Best of Small Press
P.O. Box 3471, Stn. C. Voice: 905-545-5274
Hamilton ON L8H 7M1 E-mail: info@thebookband.com
www.thebookband.com Attn: Trudi

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hot Hamilton’s Cool Blues Scene
It’s the early 1960s and two Hamilton teens, Doug Carter and Richard Newell (later known as King Biscuit Boy), with two other friends, form The Chessmen band after being bitten by the Blues bug. Success from playing local gigs somehow results in a “tour” in England and Germany. The rest, as they say, is history … but it’s a wild journey that Blues aficionados will enjoy reliving. Cool Fool: Blues Rockin’ In The Hammer is Doug Carter’s honest, funny and as-true-as-he-can-remember-it story of playing the Blues (and other musical styles) from the 1960s to 1980s. Published by Seraphim Editions (www.seraphimeditions.com ), this straight-shooting memoir brings to life the vibrant Hamilton and Buffalo music scenes of the times. It traces Carter’s love of music and the ups and downs of his musical career, along with the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly bits about performing live.

Carter says he wrote the book to expand on the back story of Hamilton’s most famous Blues harmonica virtuoso, Richard Newell, and “to celebrate the music and the musicians I made some great music with along the way.”

A book launch for Cool Fool will be held on Saturday August 14, 2010 at the Artword ArtBar (15 Colbourne Street, Hamilton), starting at 7:30 p.m. This event is free and is open to the public. There will be live music by Eddies Club Blues with Ron Copple, one of the original Chessmen. There will also be a short reading by the author.
Founded in 1995, Seraphim Editions publishes the works of established and emerging Canadian writers.

For more information about Cool Fool or the book launch, or to request a review copy (pdf format), please contact Trudi at info@thebookband.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bassist Doug Carter has been a Hamilton musician since he started gigging with The Chessmen at local high schools and clubs. For many years, he made a living playing music with such Blues notables as Morgan Davis, Teddy Leonard, Donny Walsh, Harrison Kennedy, and Mike Oddie, as well as rockers Tim Gibbons, Fraser Loveman,
Michael O’Brien and Tom Wilson. Doug has co-written songs with Richard Newell and guitarist Mike McMillan. He is also a visual artist who has exhibited throughout Southern Ontario, and from 1995 to 2004, he administered the non-profit Carnegie Art Gallery in Dundas, Ontario.

To arrange an interview with Doug Carter, please contact him at coolfoolthebook@gmail.com

Read A Chapter here:
a lifetime spent trying to play the Blues in Hamilton, Canada
Doin’ The Buffalo Shuffle

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]]> http://samuiblues.com/hot-hamilton%e2%80%99s-cool-blues-scene/feed/ 0 Cool Fool Blues Rockin In The Hammer http://samuiblues.com/cool-fool-blues-rockin-hammer/ http://samuiblues.com/cool-fool-blues-rockin-hammer/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:43:04 +0000 Doug Carter http://samuiblues.com/?p=525 This is my story, my memories, from my very subjective point of view. I’ve tried to capture the enthusiasm of the era, a golden age of pop music, and its roots in the Blues . I apologize if I’ve left anyone out that should have been included and I’ve done the best I can to [...]]]> This is my story, my memories, from my very subjective point of view. I’ve tried to capture the enthusiasm of the era, a golden age of pop music, and its roots in the Blues . I apologize if I’ve left anyone out that should have been included and I’ve done the best I can to confirm the spelling of the names I have used, but since 1959 was over 50 years ago, etc., and memory being what it is, what you’re holding, if not the truth exactly, is how I remember it.  

I made very little money from my musical endeavours, if you don’t count the $15 or so I get each year from the royalties for “Deaf, Dumb, Crippled & Blind” and “Caledonia River”, two tunes I co-wrote with Richard Newell that, believe it or not, someone somewhere still gets out of the vaults to spin on air.

Click on the  Book Cover to order  it.

The women in all the lives I touch on in this memoire have been left out on purpose. That’s another, and in some situations very complex, subject. I think I’ll leave that for the soap opera version.

In retrospect, the music ruled. As J.B. Lenoir wrote “…the voodoo music has got the whole world in its spell.” It sure as hell had me.

It’s hard to express the appreciation I have for all the help everyone along the way gave me pursuing my dream. Having gone straight from high school to the cold mill at Dofasco, as it was once known, I knew early that the get-a-regular-day-job-with-a-pension-and-stick-to it-until-you’re-65 was never going to work for me. Face the Burlington Street bus to Beach Road to & fro 5 days a week or hit the road and take a chance on life in a Blues Rockin’ band? Well, the next 150+ pages or so is my answer to that question.
About Cool Fool, The Book
Doug Carter

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]]> http://samuiblues.com/cool-fool-blues-rockin-hammer/feed/ 0 Mastering Blues Keyboard Riffs http://samuiblues.com/mastering-blues-keyboard-riffs/ http://samuiblues.com/mastering-blues-keyboard-riffs/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 06:12:19 +0000 mtwang http://samuiblues.com/?p=113 bluesIn popular music, blues keyboard riffs are universal. From Billy Preston jamming with the Rolling Stones to Ray Charles kicking into “What I’d Say,” blues progressions and scales serve as the basis for legendary songs and amazing keyboard solos. One of the greatest aspects of blues keyboard riffs is the musical theory behind them, which [...]]]> blues

In popular music, blues keyboard riffs are universal. From Billy Preston jamming with the Rolling Stones to Ray Charles kicking into “What I’d Say,” blues progressions and scales serve as the basis for legendary songs and amazing keyboard solos. One of the greatest aspects of blues keyboard riffs is the musical theory behind them, which is simple enough for beginners, yet still challenges virtuosos.

An important musical tool to understand when playing blues keyboard riffs is the pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale is the basis for most blues solos. Its cousin, the blues scale, adds a flatted fifth in between the fourth and fifth of the minor pentatonic. The major pentatonic is also used in blues keyboard riffs.

If you’re not familiar with these scales, here are some examples. We’ll use the key of E. The minor pentatonic consists of the tones 1, b3, 4, 5 and 7. So in the key of E we would have E, G, A, B and D. To change this to the blues scale, add the flatted fifth, which is bB. This gives you the notes E, G, A, Bb, B and D. The major pentatonic consists of the 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. In the key of E, this gives us E, F#, G#, B and C#. By learning these scales up and down the keyboard, you will have a base on which to build some awesome blues keyboard riffs.

So how do you make these scales mourn and wail like only the blues can? By knowing them inside and out, you can make musical theory sing. Running up and down scales will just make your blues keyboard riffs sound like finger exercises, but knowing how to blend major and minor pentatonic together will leave your listeners astounded. The key is to understand how blues keyboard riffs incorporate each scale over different chords.

For a basic twelve-bar blues progression, the choice of scale is open, with a few basic rules thrown in for good measure. One of the basic rules to keep in mind is that there are two easy scales to use over any one chord. If you’re playing over an E or E7 chord, you can choose to use the E minor pentatonic or the E major pentatonic. By alternating between the notes of these two scales, you’ll find a variety of notes from which to choose when playing blues keyboard riffs.

You can change any of the minor pentatonic to the blues scale for some added flavor. To do this in the major pentatonic, it may be easier to visualize the scale differently. Take the root of the chord and drop it a minor third. For example, if A is the root, then you would go down to F#. Now play a minor pentatonic in this key. You’re using the same notes as the A major pentatonic, just starting on a different root. Change it to a blues scale and you’ll have the notes F#, A, B, C, C# and E. Now you’ve got another blues scale to play over an A chord! It’s that simple, and it works for any key.

By mastering the use of these scales, you can play any blues keyboard riffs that come your way. The trick is to practice them until you no longer have to think about the notes; you just feel them under your fingertips. Then you’ll wail and mourn like only the greatest blues players can.

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]]> http://samuiblues.com/mastering-blues-keyboard-riffs/feed/ 1 Blues Brothers – Soul Man http://samuiblues.com/blues-brothers-soul-man/ http://samuiblues.com/blues-brothers-soul-man/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:07:30 +0000 mtwang http://samuiblues.com/?p=250

Comin to ya on a dusty road Good lovin I got a truck load And when you get it you got something So dont worry cause Im coming Im a soul man Im a soul man Im a soul man Im a soul man Got what I got the hard way And Ill make it better each and every day So honey dont you fret Cause you aint seen nothing yet Im a soul man Im a soul man Play it steve! Im a soul man Im a soul man Listen I was brought up on a side street I learned how to love before I could eat I was educated from good stock When …

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]]> http://samuiblues.com/blues-brothers-soul-man/feed/ 25 Blues Legends Diaporama http://samuiblues.com/blues-legends-diaporama/ http://samuiblues.com/blues-legends-diaporama/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:49:21 +0000 mtwang http://samuiblues.com/?p=233

Blues Legends Diaporama Soundtrack: “As The Years Go Passing By” Albert King & Rory Gallagher – Montreux 1975 158 Blues Artists. William Christopher Handy,Gus Cannon,Mamie Smith, Jim Jackson,Ma Rainey,Frank Stokes,LeadBelly, Charley Patton,Mississippi John Hurt,Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson,Furry Lewis,Lonnie Johnson, Bessie Smith,Mance Lipscomb,Tommy Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis,Memphis Minnie, Blind Willie Johnson,Big Bill Broonzy,Sippie Wallace, Rice Miller,Blind Willie Mc Tell …

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]]> http://samuiblues.com/blues-legends-diaporama/feed/ 19 Rory Gallagher – Bullfrog Blues http://samuiblues.com/rory-gallagher-bullfrog-blues/ http://samuiblues.com/rory-gallagher-bullfrog-blues/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:40:56 +0000 mtwang http://samuiblues.com/?p=252

Played in France in 1980. It’s the same concert as “off the handle” is played :D Enjoy.

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]]> http://samuiblues.com/rory-gallagher-bullfrog-blues/feed/ 24 Coco Blues Club Closed it’s doors, Long Ago http://samuiblues.com/coco-blues-club-closed-its-doors/ http://samuiblues.com/coco-blues-club-closed-its-doors/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:38:00 +0000 mtwang http://samuiblues.com/?p=409 No More Coco BluesIn 2004 they opened a great BLUES club called Coco Blues in Koh Samui, Thailand It was great! They had a real good house band and also started to book and bring great bands in from the U.S. Blues circuit, bands like Jackie Pane who brought his own backup band. They also put on some [...]]]> In 2004 they opened a great BLUES club called Coco Blues in Koh Samui, Thailand

It was great!

They had a real good house band and also started to book and bring great bands in from the U.S. Blues circuit, bands like Jackie Pane who brought his own backup band.
They also put on some great music festivals each year around the Island.
The second year bringing in such great acts as UB40, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Blues Brothers, Ike Turner, Lonnie Brooks, John Lee Hookers daughter a

No More Coco Blues

No More Coco Blues

nd her awesome band, as well as new acts like Chris King, it was great.
But like all good things it must come to end.
I heard there was a lot of mis-management with funds etc. and all the other rock & roll things that happen to suck money.
It grew and grew and all local expats were happy to go to a decent place that actually built a club with a stage for live blues bands.
Great while it was there but now
we are all left with the BLUES!!
Hopefully someone else will pick up the slack as the place use to be pack and sold out for many years.

We only hope someone else will bring in great blues band, blues guitar, harp, sax music here in Koh Samui and replace the COCO BLUES Bar as Samui needs much more places like this once was!

Keep on playing those Samui Blues!

]]> http://samuiblues.com/coco-blues-club-closed-its-doors/feed/ 0 Buddy Guy – First Time I Met The Blues http://samuiblues.com/buddy-guy-time-met-blues/ http://samuiblues.com/buddy-guy-time-met-blues/#comments Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:27:34 +0000 mtwang http://samuiblues.com/?p=240

Buddy Guy performing First Time I Met The Blues, with David Myers, bass, from the movie Chicago Blues, in 1970.

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