The Blues Goes to School

Posted by Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania - Maria K Thursday, January 7, 2010 2:06 AM
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Eugene Morgan, veteran blues performer and instructor, took the blues to the Avonsworth Middle School on November 19, 2009.  This project was made possible by Ken Lockette, High School principal, BSWPA member and fan of blues roots music.  The students of the American Popular Music class were also joined by student photographers and journalism students.


Eugene began his presentation by telling of his life in rural Atlanta, Georgia and that the music in the rural South kept the family together during work and play. He then explained that machinery and factories led to the migration from the farms in the South to the cities in the North so that people could make a better living.  Eugene talked about his move to the Western Pennsylvania area in the 1960’s. His world of music suddenly took on different dimensions.  “Music was everywhere.”  There were radios and records that allowed him to explore music from Chicago and St. Louis.  Eugene stated that he was a regional artist.  He travels to where the music is. His travels have taken him to venues in Ohio and New York State. He claimed that the years that one spends in the blues business “helps to bring out the blues in yourself to share with the audience.”

Eugene asked the class, “Have you ever heard of Jim Reed, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker?  They were pre rock and roll. You are in for a treat today!”  He continued to talk about how those “cats” of music influenced him and inspired him to play the guitar.  There was a sing a long to “Got my Mojo Working.” He told of how blues legend, Muddy Waters, changed his name continuously to play on different record labels just to keep playing.  The presentation included excerpts of songs from Tampa Red, Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson.  The students learned that Son House changed the blues by “taking it on the road in his travels.”  They heard about how the early blues singers would hop on trains and ride to the next stop.  The students heard how Lighting Hopkins let the rock and roller see what was coming in the mid 1970's to Pittsburgh.

Eugene told the students that you have to have “a lotta soul to play blues and put your soul in it.”  He explained that blues is a natural music. (Eugene showed the students that he played his guitar without a pick to feel more soul in his guitar.) The students were then asked, “How many of you have heard the blues?”  Amazingly, over half of the class raised their hands.  The lesson continued.  They soon learned that Muddy Waters from Mississippi changed the “concept” of what a band was when he went to Chicago.  Muddy “plugged in” and went electric.  Muddy took the acoustic music from the South and made it the electric of the North. The students identified with a John Lee Hooker song that ZZ Top made into their own.   He went on to explain that today’s American music is all based on the roots of blues music.  Eugene said that blues is a means to bring people together.  All of the musical influences enable every band that we know to explore and to take a song farther …just like ZZ Top did. He asked, “What makes as song a blues song?”  He continued the lesson by talking about the steps of three-chords and then demonstrated how different variations will change one song.



Questions and answers followed. When asked what his advice would be to an aspiring musician, this man with the ready smile became very serious and answered, “Do your homework. Read and study.  You need to learn timing, learn the steps, learn the notes on the instrument and you need to feel from the soul.”  
Eugene was asked about electric blues and about the British invasion that brought the blues back to America.  He answered by saying that merchant marines took our American records overseas.  The Europeans embraced the music.  Musicians like Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page loved the blues.  Eugene then asked the students if they had heard of the group, the Rolling Stones. He claimed that the Brits loved the blues and that the Rolling Stones took their name from a Muddy Waters tune.  The “Stones” came to Chicago and wanted to record at Chess Records where their idol, Muddy Waters, had recorded.  They wanted to sound like their hero but ended up sounding like themselves. 
Eugene was asked, “Would you have progressed in the blues if you had stayed in the South?”  His response, “I think that I would have continued to play. However, my move to Western Pennsylvania exposed me to more of the blues as well as other music.  The move gave me a better outlook into my love of the music.” Once student then asked about Eugene Morgan’s “Blues for Food” project.  Eugene’s response, “I call blues my baby. Musicians get together to raise money. I am a giver…I got that from my mother. “Blues for Food” allows people from all walks of life to share the blues and to bring donations to help those in need.”
His parting advice, “Do your homework.  If you don’t dream, you have nothing.  The life of a musician can be a tough road. If it is what you want to do, seek out professionals for advice.  If you become good at what you want to do, then success will follow.”

~ Jonnye Weber