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Wednesday, July 25, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Blues for America
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
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To the Editor:
As many of your readers are aware, the
new SPRD executive director, Todd Garrett,
resigned unexpectedly in early July. These
types of partings are never happy, but it was
felt by all parties that the fit was just not work-
ing. The SPRD board wishes Todd well in his
future ventures. In the meantime, the board
will take some time to assess where SPRD
goes from here before initiating a search for a
new permanent executive director.
While we conduct that assessment, the
board will retain the services of an interim
director who is experienced at mending orga-
nizational wounds, managing a public agency
and communicating with constituents. Until
we find that person, I will be volunteering my
time as the “board-member in charge,” work-
ing hand-in-hand with staff to keep the SPRD
wheels turning and meeting with key partners
in the community to discuss next steps for the
organization.
While the last few months have not been
the most pleasant for the organization, I am
pleased to report that our summer kids’ pro-
grams are simply great as usual. Seeing happy,
engaged kids running around the building
learning about astronomy, physics, wilder-
ness survival and computer coding — just to
name a few of the topics they are studying
— makes our adult aggravations seem tiny in
comparison.
I am also happy to report that SPRD is con-
tinuing the summer community dinner, but in
different form. The luau will not be held this
year because we lack the expertise on staff
to organize and lead this event. In years past,
Shannon Rackowski led this effort but has
opted out of the event this year. As a result,
the board decided to take a different direc-
tion. Board members and staff will host a free
community dinner on August 9 to thank the
See LETTERS on page 18
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Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius
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Early next month —
August 3 and 4 — Sisters
will celebrate the most
American of art forms: the
blues.
For decades, the blues
was the most muscular
exponent of American cul-
ture in the wider world,
along with its progeny,
rhythm-and-blues and
rock-n-roll. The blues grew
out of the fields and plan-
tations of the Deep South,
coalescing in the humid
heat of Mississippi Delta
juke joints. African chants,
church music, field hollers
and minstrel songs were
seeded in a deep, black
soil of lives hard lived and
burst out in passion and
fervor that would roll up
the Mississippi to Chicago,
plug in and blast out across
the globe.
It’s not hard to see why
the blues connected. As Ed
Kopp writes in his “Brief
History of the Blues”:
“When you think of the
blues, you think about mis-
fortune, betrayal and regret.
You lose your job, you get
the blues. Your mate falls
out of love with you, you
get the blues. Your dog
dies, you get the blues.
“While blues lyrics
often deal with personal
adversity, the music itself
goes far beyond self-pity.
The blues is also about
overcoming hard luck, say-
ing what you feel, ridding
yourself of frustration, let-
ting your hair down, and
simply having fun. The best
blues is visceral, cathar-
tic, and starkly emotional.
From unbridled joy to deep
sadness, no form of music
communicates more genu-
ine emotion.”
In one of the most
extraordinary moments of
cultural cross-pollination in
history, the record “Robert
Johnson: King of the Delta
Blues Singers” sailed
across the Atlantic and lit
a fire under Eric Clapton,
Keith Richards, Eric
Burdon and who knows
how many other kids with
guitars, and it caused an
explosion. The American
blues came roaring back
across the sea in the British
Invasion, up-ending, well,
just about everything.
I went to the crossroad
Fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroad
Fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above
“Have mercy, now
Save poor Bob, if you
please”
A soul sold to the devil,
a fast life ended by poi-
soned whiskey at the hands
of a jealous husband (or
a jealous lover) leaving
poor Bob on his hands and
knees barking like a dog
— you don’t get more wild
and weird than that. That
hellhound-driven guitar
and that haunted, keening
wail… that’s rock-n-roll.
America needs the blues
today more than ever —
not least because the blues
stand as a rebuke to the
political identitarians of
both right and left. The
blues is Exhibit A, that
truly, uniquely American
culture belongs to all of us,
and, in fact, often comes
from the most marginalized
people in our society. And
those who bleat about “cul-
tural appropriation” can’t
possibly argue that Stevie
Ray Vaughan was anything
but a blessing upon the
world. Put Stevie Ray and
Albert King together on
“The Sky Is Crying” and
you’re touching something
transcendent…
The blues is human —
we all get ’em; we all feel
’em, and we all love shak-
ing ’em off. Hats-off to the
folks who are giving us
the chance to do that right
here in the old hometown.
See you down at the Sisters
Rhythm & Brews Festival.
I went to the crossroad
Fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroad
Fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above
“Have mercy, now
Save poor Bob,
if you please”
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.