Saturday, February 26, 2005
Why I Love Sue Foley
My musical tastes are actually pretty varied. I like lots of different types of things, form Gershwin to Ben Folds. My CD collection has quite a bit of jazz in it, even if it's probably about 60% blues recordings from the1920's on up to the present day.
In 1995 I got a subscription to 'Blues Review' magazine. Living in Iowa at the time, it was difficult to keep up with current happenings in the blues world, 'Blues Review' was a huge help, reviewing about 30 new releases every month and containing numerous articles about blues performers. I really got to know the music of some of the newer blues performers through that magazine, and since I was living in a town of 5,000 people didn't have much other than music to spend my money on. My music collection really grew during that 14 months.
The magazine came with my choice of CD from different blues labels. I chose the one from Antone's Records for a number of reasons. Antone's is a famous blues club in Austin, Texas. I was born near Austin and felt a little connection to the label because of that. A favorite acoustic blues guitarist, Steve James, was recording for Antone's at the time as were artists I respected like Kim Wilson.
I really enjoyed the CD, the Candy Kayne cuts were really cool, I liked stuff by Snooky Pryor and Lewis Courdray. One cut really stuck out, though, it was "Give Me Time," an old Muddy Waters tune done by a young Candian girl named Sue Foley. Her voice had the sound of a little girl's almost, but with a hard driving guitar behind it. After some research, I found out it was Sue herself playing guitar. I had assumed it was some seasoned professional playing guitar. I had assumed it was a male, not that I don't think a woman could be a good guitarist (I absolutely love Bonnie Raitt - probably my favorite slide player), but because there was almost a macho sound in her guitar playing.
Years later, living in southern California, I picked up a newly released Sue Foley CD "Big City Blues." Maybe it was the title that appealed to me, more likely it was the photo of an attractive redhead in a denim jacket on the CD cover. This was Sue Foley? She was beautiful! I liked the CD but it got sort of lost in the shuffle, and I didn't listen to it too much.
I picked up another Sue Foley a couple of years later, "Back to the Blues." a compilation of sides from her years with Antone's, her original label which ceased to exist shortly after that. This was a traditional blues album, with a few acoustic numbers on it. I really took to the album. At the same time, Sue released another album on a different label. "Love Comin' Down" couldn't have been much more different than "Back to the Blues," it was hardly a blues album at all. It had a much edgier, contemporary sound. This woman had an amazing way with a song, hers or someone else's.
So I had two terrific albums by a hot redhead (a real weakness of mine) when I found out she was playing at a club a few blocks from my house in Long Beach, California. I made plans to attend and was absolutley stunned by her performance at The Blue Cafe that night. The crowd hung on every note. She had been on the road a long time, her voice was no longer the little girl's, it was raspy, not quite so pretty any more. That just made it fit with her music all that much more.
I stood about six feet from the stage, amazed at the performance. Late in the evening as things were winding down, she slowed it down and did a ballad. Eyes closed, she emoted like few singers I've ever seen before. I stood against a post, watching her. Her eyes opened and our gazes met as she sang the line "you're the one." For just a moment, I believed that I was. Nothing anyone has ever done on stage has struck me like that one brief moment. I'm not so naive as to believe that it meant anything to her, I realize I was just standing in the right place at the absolute best time. Still, it's a little piece of my life that I'll never forget.
She did one other thing that night that made me respect her for all time. The club was videotaping her performance, with her blessing of course. As we got approached closing time, she told us she was going to play one more song, but that she wouldn't play until the video cameras were turned off. This performance wasn't for anyone else, just the people who were there. When she was positive they were all off, she did a Memphis Minnie song, just for us. She had a special way of making us all feel special.
I find this woman unbelievably attractive. Even if I didn't, I'd love her music, of course. This photo is a favorite of mine. Just look at her, this is all I want in a woman, attractive, casual and enjoying a dark beer of some sort in an imperial pint glass. Everything about this photo makes her appreciate her more.
Oh yeah, she plays guitar like nobody's business and has the voice of an angel.
BOJ
In 1995 I got a subscription to 'Blues Review' magazine. Living in Iowa at the time, it was difficult to keep up with current happenings in the blues world, 'Blues Review' was a huge help, reviewing about 30 new releases every month and containing numerous articles about blues performers. I really got to know the music of some of the newer blues performers through that magazine, and since I was living in a town of 5,000 people didn't have much other than music to spend my money on. My music collection really grew during that 14 months.
The magazine came with my choice of CD from different blues labels. I chose the one from Antone's Records for a number of reasons. Antone's is a famous blues club in Austin, Texas. I was born near Austin and felt a little connection to the label because of that. A favorite acoustic blues guitarist, Steve James, was recording for Antone's at the time as were artists I respected like Kim Wilson.
I really enjoyed the CD, the Candy Kayne cuts were really cool, I liked stuff by Snooky Pryor and Lewis Courdray. One cut really stuck out, though, it was "Give Me Time," an old Muddy Waters tune done by a young Candian girl named Sue Foley. Her voice had the sound of a little girl's almost, but with a hard driving guitar behind it. After some research, I found out it was Sue herself playing guitar. I had assumed it was some seasoned professional playing guitar. I had assumed it was a male, not that I don't think a woman could be a good guitarist (I absolutely love Bonnie Raitt - probably my favorite slide player), but because there was almost a macho sound in her guitar playing.
Years later, living in southern California, I picked up a newly released Sue Foley CD "Big City Blues." Maybe it was the title that appealed to me, more likely it was the photo of an attractive redhead in a denim jacket on the CD cover. This was Sue Foley? She was beautiful! I liked the CD but it got sort of lost in the shuffle, and I didn't listen to it too much.
I picked up another Sue Foley a couple of years later, "Back to the Blues." a compilation of sides from her years with Antone's, her original label which ceased to exist shortly after that. This was a traditional blues album, with a few acoustic numbers on it. I really took to the album. At the same time, Sue released another album on a different label. "Love Comin' Down" couldn't have been much more different than "Back to the Blues," it was hardly a blues album at all. It had a much edgier, contemporary sound. This woman had an amazing way with a song, hers or someone else's.
So I had two terrific albums by a hot redhead (a real weakness of mine) when I found out she was playing at a club a few blocks from my house in Long Beach, California. I made plans to attend and was absolutley stunned by her performance at The Blue Cafe that night. The crowd hung on every note. She had been on the road a long time, her voice was no longer the little girl's, it was raspy, not quite so pretty any more. That just made it fit with her music all that much more.
I stood about six feet from the stage, amazed at the performance. Late in the evening as things were winding down, she slowed it down and did a ballad. Eyes closed, she emoted like few singers I've ever seen before. I stood against a post, watching her. Her eyes opened and our gazes met as she sang the line "you're the one." For just a moment, I believed that I was. Nothing anyone has ever done on stage has struck me like that one brief moment. I'm not so naive as to believe that it meant anything to her, I realize I was just standing in the right place at the absolute best time. Still, it's a little piece of my life that I'll never forget.
She did one other thing that night that made me respect her for all time. The club was videotaping her performance, with her blessing of course. As we got approached closing time, she told us she was going to play one more song, but that she wouldn't play until the video cameras were turned off. This performance wasn't for anyone else, just the people who were there. When she was positive they were all off, she did a Memphis Minnie song, just for us. She had a special way of making us all feel special.
I find this woman unbelievably attractive. Even if I didn't, I'd love her music, of course. This photo is a favorite of mine. Just look at her, this is all I want in a woman, attractive, casual and enjoying a dark beer of some sort in an imperial pint glass. Everything about this photo makes her appreciate her more.
Oh yeah, she plays guitar like nobody's business and has the voice of an angel.
BOJ
# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 3:03 PM 
