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Recyclin' The Blues
with Al Swanton
Saturdays 6-8pm
In a murky Katoomba radio studio on a Saturday night the air is thick with the sound of blues. Dimly cast light trickles over the radio equipment at BLU FM while one man keeps the music playing. The atmosphere is sombre and dark while the haunting voice of Marianne Faithful trembles over the airwaves. Al Swanton, the man behind the microphone, brings the blues to life.
But as Al explains, the ravaged tones of Marianne Faithful are just one aspect of blues music that makes up his show every Saturday night from 6-8.
Al calls the show "Recyclin The Blues", and for two hours leads his audience through the various forms of blues music, and how they have been recycled or re-interpreted through different generations.
"I present a classic and contemporary blues show with a mixture of electric and acoustic blues with an emphasis on music that came out of Chicago in the 50s, Louisiana, the Mississippi delta, Texas and British R and B," says Al. "They're the four corner blocks of my show."
Recyclin The Blues is an interesting look at blues music, and regular listeners will know that it provides a well-researched analysis of the influence blues had on legendary bands like Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and the Doors.
Al has been presenting his show for over three years and explains that it came about through the music he listened to as a child.
"This show grew out of the sort of music I grew up with. I used to listen to things like the Stones and the Animals, the Yardbirds, Cream and Hendrix and the great rock of the 60s," he says.
From listening to pop and rock and roll music, Al began to suspect that much of it has its roots in the blues culture of the States.
"I realised from listening to it how much was based on American blues, so it got me to go back to the source. I wanted to do a program which represented both traditional blues and how it had been re-interpreted by the next generation of musicians," he says.
Blues music had its start as rural music in the deep south of America. It was the voice of many enslaved black Americans, and the traditional blues sound of one man with a guitar and harmonica can be heard on the show. Al is also interested in following the blues as it has met and mixed with other styles like jazz, country and Cajun sounds.
"I like to juxtapose modern versions and earlier versions of the same stuff," says Al. One example of this is Eric Clapton's "Cocaine", which was adapted from an old song by JJ Cole. But then, JJ Cole borrowed the song from somewhere else too, so the intricate web of blues music begins to be obvious, and you can see how recyclin the blues is possible.
Along with Eric Clapton, Al plays music from a whole range of artists.
"The kind of people you would expect to hear on my show are the likes of: Taj Mahal, the Backsliders, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Ronnie Earl, Eric Burdon, BB King and Muddy Waters. The old time delta blues of Robert Johnson is a personal favourite," he says.
Al owns a huge collection of music and says that "I grew up in a generation of people who were all huge record collectors." He modestly admits to owning 600 records and some 150 blues CDs. This resource of music ensures listeners are never bored with Al's show. Even the theme music for the show is original. It was composed by Stu White, a friend from Blackheath and is written in the style of the great TBone Walker.
Al, who lives in Blackheath, says that he probably got into radio because he was a 'frustrated musician'. He says jokingly that he'd love to be a flamboyant slide-guitarist or something similar. But then wouldn't we all?
Recyclin The Blues airs every Saturday from 6-8pm on BLU FM 89.1.
Written by By Joshua MacKenzie,
Blue Mountains Independent November 2000.