Arts Entertainments

Birth of the blues guitar: Keb Mo ‘

It seems almost inconceivable that one of the most authentic musicians preserving the true sound of the Delta blues acoustic guitar comes from a man hailing from Compton, California, a place that has a musical reputation for being more of a bubbling cauldron of hip-hop. and hardcore west coast rap than anything else. But that’s precisely where Kevin Moore, better known as Keb Mo ‘, began his career on blues guitar.

Moore was born on October 3, 1951, born in Compton to parents of deep southern heritage. When he was young, Moore’s parents kept him immersed in his own taste in music, playing many of his own gospel, R&B and blues records that they kept at home. He has also acknowledged that the local radio and the music he listened to at the local Baptist church also served as tutors for his musical interests.

At the age of ten, Moore joined his school band, first testing the trumpet. In an interview with the LA Times, Moore said, “I remember the first time I played with the band, playing full notes, it just felt so good.” From the trumpet, Moore went on to play the steel drums and other percussion instruments, as well as the French horn before deciding to learn to play the blues guitar.

According to Moore, he began learning to play the guitar at the invitation of his uncle. “When I first picked up the guitar, I knew what it was.” Within two weeks, Moore had dropped 5 chords and was already experimenting with fingerstick as well. After high school, Moore joined several local cover bands, playing small local venues and had mediocre acceptance, at least until one of his bandmates suggested that his music was missing ‘something’ and featured it. to a broader musical experience in the Caribbean and the Caribbean. African sounds. Moore took instruction seriously and began experimenting with a wider range of rhythms.

In the early ’70s, Moore began working as a backup and accompanist musician in and around Los Angeles, while still occasionally playing with some local Top 40 bands. He landed his first major professional gig with the former Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane violinist. , Pope John Creach. Creach hired Moore when Moore was just 21 years old. Once, while the band was rehearsing in a space they had rented in Los Angeles, Creach and his producer stopped by. “He came in, liked what he heard, and hired us on the spot – true story!” He stayed with Creach throughout 4 albums and a constant touring schedule.

In an interview, Moore credited Creach for his time with opening his eyes and ears to a wide range of influences. Until joining the veteran violinist, Moore had been playing primarily for nightclub audiences in south central Los Angeles. “This was really different for me, and it influenced my playing, it helped me experiment with different types of sounds and styles.” This exposure also had a positive effect on his songwriting and blues guitar playing skills, serving as a guitar lesson of a certain kind.

After leaving Creach’s job, he began working as a contractor and organized Alamo-Irving music and began to get a fairly steady job in Los Angeles; all the time trying to promote himself as a blues soloist and guitarist. He released his first solo album Rainmaker in 1980 on the Casablanca label, which quickly closed shortly after its release. The album garnered little interest, but its reputation among blues guitarists and other musicians was growing. He was self-taught with no formal guitar lessons, which is inspiring to others trying to learn to play the guitar.

After meeting and working with Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland producer Monk Higgins and a long career in the Whodunit Band (the house band on Marla’s Memory Lane), Moore turned his talents to the blues. Moore cites his work with Higgins as a pivotal moment in his transformation into a true bluesman. Occasional concerts with blues guitarist Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner completed the process and Kevin Moore settled on the sweet sounds of blues guitar as his preferred musical genre. Moore has often said that his time with Higgins was the most vital in his education as a blues musician.

However, fame eluded him throughout the 1980s until he caught what he considers his greatest opportunity. In 1990, The Los Angles Theater Company visited Moore: they were looking for an African American man to learn to play the blues guitar in the Delta blues style, to do a play called Rabbit Foot. According to Moore, there was only one guy in Los Angeles who could deliver the merchandise, Chuck Streetman, and he was unavailable due to scheduling. Moore was offered the opportunity to learn guitar musical parts and audition. To prepare for the role, Moore pulled out his old Delta records, blues guitarists, and others like Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and Big Bill Broonzy. “Big Bill blew me away, a very good composer with an incredible voice, an incredible guitar technique …”

His performance in Rabbit Foot impressed theater promoters that when another role emerged for a blues musician in a play called Spunk Moore it was considered. But this time Chuck Streetman was available and they gave him the part. But Moore was hired as a substitute for Streetman. His work in the theater is what made Moore a modern purveyor of the Delta blues tradition.

“Circumstances led me to play the blues. I was going to be in a play and they wanted me to play delta blues. And it was a job, an opportunity to work, so I started playing delta blues and fell in love with the material. After the project ended, I kept doing it, playing Delta blues, playing it sometimes at a club gig if I was playing some other kind of music and I had a chance to get out my guitar and try it out. “

So when did Kevin Moore become Keb Mo ‘? Moore would often go to see jazz drummer Quentin Denard during some local concerts and occasionally pick up his guitar and sit with the band. Denard would look over his elevator and see Moore and yell “Keb ‘Mo’!” when Moore played blues. From that point on, Moore just started calling himself Keb ‘Mo’ and the name stuck.

It was a chance meeting with the Taj Mahal and his agent John Porter that really launched his career as a blues guitar soloist. Moore gave Porter one of his demo tapes and the pair got along well. Porter knew he had found something truly unique and followed Moore to provide more material. In June 1994, when Epic Records decided to revive the famous O’Keh label, Porter made a deal for Moore and the result was Moore’s self-titled debut album. Critics loved its unique blues guitar sound, and Moore soon opened for great national acts like legendary blues guitarists Buddy Guy, Joe Cocker and Jeff Beck, the album ended up winning Moore a Grammy and launched him into the center of blues attention.

In 1995, Mo ‘performed at the Newport Folk Festival and wowed audiences with his punchy slide guitar style and soulful voice. He had arrived. Shortly after his appearance in Newport, he embarked on his first European tour, practically giving the public a guitar lesson in the blues.

Industry heavyweights like Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt took notice. A friend gave Bonnie a copy of the tape while she was riding in her car. After listening to the tape, Bonnie turned on the car radio and Mo ‘was being interviewed at the same time. Moore later recalled, “She called me at the station from her car phone. She came to a concert, stayed, and then I opened up for her on some dates. She said, ‘I’d like to do something with you, and I’m not pulling your chain. And when Bonnie says she’s going to do something, it always shows up. “

Another friend introduced Moore to Jackson Browne when they were both playing a festival in Seattle. In the end, both Raitt and Jackson ended up providing backing vocals for the title track of Moore’s second album, Just Like You.

The album earned Moore the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 1996. As Moore included some Robert Johnson tracks in his releases, he began to associate with Johnson. This association led to Moore playing Johnson in the 1997 documentary Can’t You Hear The Wind Howl?

Keb ‘Mo still receives accolades, Grammys, and a host of other awards for his albums (showing his ability to bring a homey touch to his own work and reworking blues, folk, jazz and rock classics), his occasional acting roles. and his heartfelt songwriting.

Moore continues, walking the blues highway, introducing some new delta blues fans, firming the soul of country blues to the staunch and proving that blues is not about location or background, nor is it just about the music. The blues is about the weight of passion that resides in your soul.

As has been said many, many times, it is impossible to know where you are going unless you know where you have been.

Keb ‘Mo’ knows.