The Goat's Blues


Introduction

Dallas, Texas has long been a hub of Blues music in America. With a pedigree of blues performers spanning the 20th century such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, and the later Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dallasites are among the privileged few to claim the ancestral birthplace of a music culture. The richness of Dallas blues history allows us a good deal of perspective when we attempt to analyze the smaller communities and niches in which Blues music has maintained it's relevancy. The East Dallas dive bar The Goat remains one of these bastions of an often considered bygone musical era, and with that, a unique opportunity to observe the ideas about Blues that have allowed it to maintain it's relevancy and thrive in Dallas.


Methodology

The main body of data collected to create this analysis is fieldwork. Because this music culture is so small and currently active, there is little or no actual data or observation concerning it in terms of description. Many of the ideas presented in this work reflect the direct opinions of the members of The Goat's musical niche, including three interviews with Blues performers involved in the music culture. The events held at the Goat (which may be called events only in the sense that there was a loose scheduling of musical performers) served as the basis for analyzing the actual musical style being performed. For reference regarding many of the influential musicians and places often cited by participants in The Goat's music culture, the website www.Blues.org was helpful.



Aspects of this Music Culture

Ideas
Armed with a at least a modicum of blues history, one could attempt to piece together a history of influences and development of The Goat's Blues style. In reality, it is quite easier. Perry Jones, singer and guitar performer staple at The Goat, says “You want to know something about the Blues around here? Go find out about Tu Tu Jones, then come back here.”

The Goat's brand of blues would and could definitely be linked to the early buddings of Mississippi Delta Blues or Chicago Blues, but that is almost peripheral to accounts of the local top dogs. Names like Freddie King, and T-Bone Walker, Blues musicians who shaped Dallas Blues, are cited almost universally as influences. In this way, it is evident that to understand smaller Blues niches like The Goat, one would glean more insight from searching for more local predecessors rather than pre-eminent Blues musicians that were active outside the Dallas area.


Perry Jones plays one of his influences, Freddie King

Stevie Ray Vaughan is acknowledged as a rightful pillar of local blues legend, but didn't really influence any of The Goat' performers greatly. As Jones explains,“See, he took the twelve bar, and Buddy Guy's guitar style, and Jimi's (Hendrix) electric sounds and did that. But he was coming up at the same times as most of us.” Most of the performers at The Goat are old enough to have been influenced separately from Vaughan. That fact might lead someone to believe that the Goat's performers may be slowing down their involvement in music; in actuality, performers such as Jones have a vitality that seems to be shared in The Goat. Jones admits that he's probably never going to stop playing, and goes on to say that he plays over 280 nights a year, smiling with pride.True to form, The Goat exudes that vitality. Almost every night of the week, the small corner stage will see some sort of performance. As early as 8 AM, regulars can be found happily sitting at the bar, perhaps even waiting for the evening's music to begin.

Activities

The average pedestrian meandering through Dallas bars and hotspots would enter The Goat and immediately be familiar with the scenery. The bar/live music formula is a pervasive one, and possibly for good reason, but what belies cursory glance, however, is the depth of relationship between the on stage performers and the audience. A deeper observation of interaction between the musicians and their audience in between sets immediately informs you of a friendly familiarity, something akin to good friends playing for each other in the comfort of their own home. This initial performer/audience relationship observed was later clarified as something even beyond what was first assumed; while being interviewed, one bar patron, Jim Russell, was called up to the stage to perform Blues guitar. In surprising number, many Goat patrons are in fact musicians that perform in the music culture themselves.

While it is surprising that a distinction between audience and performer is not entirely clear, it also underlines a salient point about what it means to look like a blues performer. Russell, who sat slumped at the bar wearing plain slacks, loafers, and sporting glasses, had this to say after he departed the stage subsequent to delivering his performance, “No, it doesn't matter what you look like.....you know...It matters what's in here (he taps his chest), could be anybody”. For anyone expecting to see the flamboyant style of Stevie Ray Vaughan, or the patented cool of John Lee Hooker being replicated at The Goat, disappointment would be certain. Simply put, visual persona has little to do with the culture.

Many of the patrons and performers look just as unassuming as Russell (with perhaps the exception of the long haired, John Lennon-esque, round-spectacled Perry Jones); they are also almost entirely white. Race, it seems, does have it's definitions in Dallas Blues communities. Without prompt, performer Perry Jones exclaims, “If you wanna see what the black people are doing, go head down to R.L.'s (referring to prominent area black musician R.L. Griffin's live music venue)”. Not only Jones, but many other patrons of the Goat, and especially performers, eagerly direct you to predominantly black establishments or musicians. With a small grin, Jim Russell recounts one of his favorite accomplishments; playing well enough at R.L.'s that blacks danced to his performance. “Whew..thank you for that....”, Russell laughs. The noticeable divide between the two races is easy to mistake as perhaps a prejudice, but in reality, for the predominantly white patronage of The Goat, there is a reverence for black Blues. Russell goes on, “This is their music, you know...... they take it seriously. You better know what you're doing.”


Repertoires

Most Goat musicians would accept the title 'electric blues', or 'blues rock' in a general sense. The 12 Bar chord progression remains prominent throughout performances and performers, as with many other Blues cultures. Standard Blues lyrical themes of misery and problematic love also remain unchanged. An example from performer Homer Henderson's Monday 8thperformance of Dynamite Nitro:

My love is like dynamite
Don't you mess with my fuse
My love's like Napalm
Better handle me with care


Homer Henderson plays Dynamite Nitro

Lyrics will also often change to reflect the steady stream of new performers taking the stage. During a performance by Tony DeCiccio, the names of the new performers on stage were improved into the song as a sort of running introduction. During the same night, one of the performers, Jim Dugger, a jazz-fusion drummer, experienced his first time playing at The Goat. He had never before played with any of his fellow performers. He was able to use his knowledge of jazz drumming and music theory to improvise without any rehearsal. He explains; “Well, you know it is going to be shuffled, and in swing time, so you can almost fake it. That was 100% improvised”, he says, packing away his drum sticks. To this point, rehearsal does not play a significant part of the music culture at all. When asked what band was playing, one patron explained that it was no particular band – only particular musicians who happened to be playing together that night. Perry Jones gives this perspective, “I don't want to be in any band. That means two things – that I have to have a job, and that I have to go to rehearsals. And I ain't doing any of that.”


Material Culture

While the music coming out of The Goat has little to do with anything material at all, there is something to be said about it's near round-the-clock serving of alcohol. It's consumption is near universal, not even the performers refrain. One performer, an electric bass player named Russ, rationalized that at some point, some money has to be made.

Conclusion

With such royal parentage and legacy to pass on, Dallas Blues culture depends on venues like The Goat. The very nature of the bar allows a very flexible cache of talent to express Blues music without many of the common constraints of musical performance. At the Goat, Blues musicians are able to perform almost nightly, without a formal band, and sometimes even without any ties at all to the music culture. These musicians are not only the current keepers of Dallas blues culture, but the influence for the next generation in turn.










Works Cited

Tony DeCiccio/ Perry Jones Jam. Texas, Dallas. 08 Mar. 2010. Performance.
Jones, Perry. Personal interview. 8 Mar. 2010.
Russell, Jim. Personal interview. 08 Mar. 2010.
Dugger, Jim. Personal interview. 08 Mar. 2010.