"Now we know that black guys didn't get paid and made no money," said Bobby Rush, a blues singer and innovator who is featured in the "Road to Memphis" segment, which is scheduled for Tuesday. "Skip James cut 28 songs and made $45. I can show you another Skip James. Every time I look in the mirror, I see a guy who didn't get paid for what he did." (Skip James was one of the most influential Delta bluesmen of the 20's and 30's, though Mr. Rush's figures could not be confirmed.)
Nowadays, he continued, things aren't necessarily much better. "We know that record companies today are like they were yesterday," he said. "They may pay a little more, but they're still not paying what they should. So you get what you can."
Thus he knew exactly what he was doing when he agreed to appear in the PBS blues series. "I'm doing it not for the cash money upfront," he said, "but for the clout it brings me. Because the more people know of me, the more value I have."
| Continue Neil Strauss' New York Times article "Royalties from PBS Dismay Bluesmen" (and then go back for "Teach America and the World About Mixed Messages")
posted in articles on September 25, 2003 1:56 AM | t (0)
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