MOG

yes and the name of the album b.b. king classics operative word classics i'm talking new, and who did b.b. king influence every guitarist from england, eric clapton made robert johnson more of a household name then anything

Amy's just a self-destructive train wreck, Good, but certainly not the best American blues out there, just maybe the most commercially exposed for the moment.

you're not getting it, i didn't say she was the best i'm saying these days american r&b and blues is sampling looping that stuff british artists are taking old school blues/r&b and showing that pure musical talent wins everytime, it's about the music and nothing else

come on now

guess I missed your present time meaning. Seems Europe in general is more taken with much, including the blues, american roots music than america currently is...

Americans don't support their roots music at the pop level..I think it is as simple as that. There are tons of great American blues and R & B artists out today, but they are never gonna rise up the charts and reach the masses here..

sure they do when they need to sample the tunes instead of imbracing and following in the footsteps, why is that, has music become all about the bling in this country

Well some would argue that hip hop is a progression of R and B/Soul and that the Brits are retro. Still though, the US supports a huge Blues community and an evergrowing raw funk scene. The scene that produced Ms.Winehouse's backing band, the Dap-Kings.

Part of the problem is US radio and major label distribution companies. They want their R and B with bling, so that's what goes out to the radio, that's what people hear and that's what gets publicised, and that's what people buy. British fans may have more taste, but I don't believe they have the market cornered on talent. I would argue that Sharon Jones' album with the Dap-Kings blows Ms.Winehouse's record out of the water, but Ms. Jones is not on a major label, so she can't really compete. Plus she is a regular sized Black woman close to sixty years old..

Any young black US artist who doesn't conform to the "look" for R and B simply will not be able to make it (as a pop star) here. Take Alice Smith, for example, she's a superlative singer..not quite retro-soul like Amy, not quite rock..just damn good. You won't find her fitting into cookie cutter radio of any genre.

Finally, part of the problem is the fans here in the US, who for the most part (Moggers excepted) either take the stuff shoved at them or simply say there is no good new music coming out.

I lament that folks like Sharon Jones or Alice Smith can't become major stars in the US, but in the end you are right..the bling is the thing here. Major labels believe they can sell an artist like Ms.Winehouse as an exotic, they don't believe they can sell our own homegrown talent.

that is true, that's why I internet is because a very important portol for discovering music (old & new), and the record companies are scared, very scared. I read an article about how with rhapsody and itunes that the surge in sales (mp3 format) for the original blues masters went crazy and that's a good thing, hopefully now with sites like this and others more diverse music and musicians and reach larger audience, and the major acts are being to realize this to go radiohead!!!