Hoodoo Highway

Hoodoo...

So you might wonder why I picked the name Hoodoo Highway. I am a blues fan and a dj. I do a blues show on a local station here and have been at it for 13 years now. So I thought I would tie in my love of the blues with a journey - because life is a journey.

Hoodoo is African American folk magic, plain and simple. In blues songs it was a prominent feature. It filled a song with conjurin', mojo's and John da Conqueroo. Talk of black cat bones and goofer dust and laying tricks, it is all documented in the acoustic blues of the delta and it migrated into the Chicago Blues scene. Since it is magical and mystical - much like I think life is - it seemed appropriate to name this blog - Hoodoo Highway.

I have a lot of favorite blues artists but Howlin Wolf is tops on my list. I can listen to the towering, hulk of a man growl out the lyrics to songs and I am just mesmerized. From Smokestack Lightin to Spoonful, from I Been Abused to Built for Comfort. The Wolf just rocks on and on. Then you can add in Willie Dixon, who probably wrote more blues songs than you can imagine. You have heard them over and over, performed by newer artists such as Johnny Rivers singing Seventh Son - well it was Willie Dixon's Seventh Son long before that. Dixon was a large man as well. I can just imagine being so lucky to be in Chicago in the 50s and being able to see these legends perform. That would be the ultimate time travel trip for me. I keep saying I am going to do an entire show of Willie Dixon tunes - there is certainly enough material for it.

posted by Deb @ 11:19 PM