People have been brainwashed into believing that it's got to be down or it wouldn't be blues. But it's not so. It's got to be a fact or it wouldn't be blues.
Willie DixonRead
The blues will always be because the blues are the roots of all American music.
Interpretation
The blues genre is foundational to American music, influencing many other styles.
Willie Dixon's quote emphasizes the significance of the blues in the landscape of American music, suggesting that it is not just a genre but the very roots from which numerous other music styles have blossomed. By acknowledging the 'blues' as a fundamental element, Dixon recognizes its impact and the deep connections it shares with the diverse musical expressions found across America.
In practice
During a music history lecture, you could use this quote to illustrate the evolution of American music.
People have been brainwashed into believing that it's got to be down or it wouldn't be blues. But it's not so. It's got to be a fact or it wouldn't be blues.
The whole of life itself expresses the blues. That's why I always say the blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling and understanding. The blues can be about anything pertaining to the facts of life. The blues call on God as much as a spiritual song do.
The blues is the roots, the rest is the fruits.
The blues has been the foundation of all other American music since the beginning.
The Blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling, and understanding.
I think the problem with people, as they start to mature, they say, 'Rap is a young man's game,' and they keep trying to make young songs. But you don't know the slang - it changes every day, and you're just visiting. So you're trying to be something you're not, and the audience doesn't buy into that.
If you don't own the stage, you shouldn't be in rock n' roll.
I always said if a man would have done half the records that I've done, we would know about it. But we don't know all the records I've done for other artists.
I love producing, writing. I rarely write with other writers unless I have a real great respect for them. Like Burt Bacharach, or Carole Sager, or Stevie Wonder. Somebody like Smokey - like that. Otherwise, I choose to write alone.
In truth, I became a conductor because deep down I wanted to conduct Brahms's four symphonies and Richard Strauss's tone poems.
We weren't listening to guitar bands, we were thoroughly ashamed of being a guitar band. So we bought loads of keyboards and learned how to use them, and when we got bored we went back to guitars.
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