Robben Ford Discussion

stalkerj · New Member Joined: 09 Oct 2005 Posts: 4

Hey Folks,

I wrote a profile on Robben you might find interesting.

here is is http://www.musicandvideoreview.com/2009/12/robben-ford-profile.html

PaulG · Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:48 am Post subject:

Nice writing, Stalker.

I'm always amazed that , within the relatively small genre of 'Blues', someone of Robben's talent is still considered a 'best kept secret'. I felt the same way 10 years ago, when I first received Supernatural as a give-away at my local blues society. (Why haven't I heard this guy??)
The past few years has brought more attention, with his touring work with artists like Greg Allman, John Mayall, Larry Calton, and JormaK. And his grammy nomination for Truth won't hurt.
But, something tells me that Robben's consistant style and class is not of the type to bring great commercial exposure.

I kind of like it that way.

frank0936 · Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:22 am Post subject: the great unheard

I felt that way, too. Then I looked at Robben's discography and realized that I had heard him before - I just didn't know it. Robben has been on a ton of stuff. He just needs to be marketed better!

PaulG · Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:22 am Post subject:

Very true Frank.
I remember reading about 10 years ago that he played with Tom Scott and the LA Express. In disbelieve, I went to my garage where my old LPs were stored, found my copy of Tom Cat, and sure enough, there was the caracature of Robben among the garbage cans in the alley!
That was a fave of mine during the my fusion days, and I never followed up to see where Robben had gone.
What really sucks is I moved to LA in 79 and obviously missed alot of opportunities by not re-discovering Robben until the late 90s.
Trying to make up for it now.

Budda · Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Posts: 80

Great Profile! Your writing is really good. Thank you for sharing that. I've forwarded it to a few Students who are hip to RF, or are leaning towards that direction. Maybe we can turn a few more people on to Mr. Ford.

P.S.
I saw the Sierra Center Stage (I think that's the name) show over the Holiday. It featured the Ford Brothers. Really cool! And I LOVED the Harp player, Marc Ford.

BlueRunner · Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:30 pm Post subject:

Great profile. I'm hoping to get to Yoshi's next month for the Landau/Novak/Haslip lineup.

Not to be picky or anything, but while Robben's version of "Chevrolet" is one of my favorites, it's his take on an oldie but goodie. Some sites credit the writing to Earl McDaniel, others to Ed and Lonnie Young. Another source claims it's based on an old field holler. There's a YouTube snippet of Mance Lipscomb doing it as "Can I Do Something For You?" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Geyd2LWKPZc&feature=related

Jim Kweskin's Jug Band (with Maria Muldaur) recorded the tune in 1966 or 1967. I recall it was on my own band's set list, and while I'd like to think that was before Kweskin's version got airplay, it's possible that both Robben and his brothers, and my bandmates and I, heard the Kweskin version around the same time on one of those great mid-1960s San Francisco "alternative" FM radio stations.

Would be interesting to see who on this board has information about the history of "Chevrolet."
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- BlueRunner

frank0936 · Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:39 am Post subject: chevrolet

A great tune. Robben writes some cool tunes, but he also finds some great stuff to cover. He said in several interviews that he finds songs to cover by "digging deep". He finds some real jewels.

roadwarriorfortheblues · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 5:31 am Post subject: Songwriting... "file under Blues"

The Blues Genre has a lot to do with why artists as talented as Robben Ford don't become household names or mass marketed pop stars. The flow runs backwards with Blues. The Blues genre does not value originality the way nontraditional folk and rock does. When Tom Rush recorded songs by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Jackson Browne for his 1968 release "The Circle Game" (his sixth album), he gave exposure to these three new voices on the folk scene. These artists didn't gain fame by recording traditional folk songs; it was their song writing, their original music that propelled them into the limelight, and onto Rush's album. Rush's album gave their original music exposure. The flow runs backwards with Blues... no matter how talented a musician is, a person who records traditional Blues songs, or traditional folk songs, or other peoples music isn't going to move mountains or reinvent anything. It takes an original voice.
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Travelling by train of thought

roadwarriorfortheblues · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:04 pm Post subject: Chevrolet