Women of the “Blues”

The last couple of days of class, we have heard several artists who sing the “Blues”. The “Blues”, from my recollection, sounded like, The Blues Brothers. A few things I can recall are a repeated tone and a harmonica added to a short story. The artists that we listened to were Saffire, Curtis Salgado, Cowboy Junkies and Leon Redbone. The “Blues” were described as being sad, mellow with a slow tempo, and tells a story. Instruments that are linked to the “Blues” are the harmonica, a piano, and a base guitar. We learned that the “Blues” came from New Orleans and has been heard since the 1920’s in places like smaller clubs and bars. The women of the “Blues” usually sung torch songs, men who wronged women; ironically, men were the writers of such torch songs. Even though I enjoyed listening to all of the groups, Saffire and Cowboy Junkies were my favorite of the four. Saffire was different from the Cowboy Junkies in the way that the rhythm was more upbeat; they also added humor into their song. They also used sarcasm in the song, Wild women don’t have the Blues. An instrument that Saffire’s group had that was not in Cowboy Junkies group was the piano.
I felt that there were more similarities between Saffire and Cowboy Junkies than differences. Some of the similarities, of course, are the groups consist of women, both sing torch songs, both have a mellow tone to their music and similar instruments played. Both of the groups spoke of separation between a man and women and for the most part the man was the cause of the separation. Saffire and Cowboy Junkies try to relate everyday tragedies that occur in most lives of women in their songs. They make you relate and feel what is being said. When a person can connect to a song; the song will make a lasting impression upon them. The instruments I heard in both the groups were the harmonica and the base. The singer’s voices of both groups were low; it was almost difficult to understand what was being said, especially, if you were not paying attention. It was like their voices were hypnotic. The differences between Saffire and Cowboy Junkies were the instruments, the key that the songs were sung in and the beat. There were instruments used by Cowboy Junkies that were not used in Saffire were an accordion, mandolin, drums, fiddle and various percussion. The instruments gave a more variety in sound from Saffire. Although, the piano sounds beautiful when played with the “Blues”, Cowboy Junkies did not incorporate one into the songs we heard. There may be several types of “Blues” sung by woman groups they all ring true in uniting the women’s spirit in what is felt at one point or another in their life. Saffire states no one is immune to the blues, and at least one time in everyone’s life, whether being a man or woman, will go through a rough period and can be related back to a blues song.