Friday 1 January 2021

DADDY, WHAT'S A DELTADELIC?


The word ‘deltadelic’ means "relating to Delta Del and blues of a psychedelic nature".  A delta is the bit where a river meets the sea, like New Orleans, or Bournemouth.  And the name 'Del' is a London slang abbreviation of 'Derek'. 
 
 
Picture the place
where that river meets the sea
with particular cakes
and a nice pot of tea.
I’m out to lunch where the the swirl meets the swell
Thats why they call me Delta Del
 

 
I’m an ancient psychedelic-blues guitarist and vinyl junkie. I live on a boat in England. By day I am usually disguised as an old hippy called Derek. When night falls or the internet beckons, I throw on my psychedelic cape to become Delta Del and fight the crime of endless slow blues jams, fake American accents, and the badly worn stylus.  
 

 
This blog is not really a blog, it's a static kinda website.  It's about sharing real original music by an imaginary psychedelic bluesman.  And other stuff about favourite guitar players and bands.  
 
As an Englishman playin the blues I always felt like some kind of joke, better try to make it a funny psychedelic one.  I think the addition of 60's English psychedelic vibes to the blues worked out pretty good some of the time back then.  That’s where I’m kinda comin from anyway … London 1966 and all that.  In fact my favourite date in history is September 24th 1966.  And my least favourite is September 18th 1970.




 
On a walk along the banks of an English river we unexpectedly encounter several African-American soul men, perhaps blown off course by a winter storm.  Can you identify the distinctive calls of these splendid male visitors?  Send your answers, on a postcard please, to : Delta Del, The Internet, England.  Or cheat and find the answers in very small print lower down this page.


 
                                 This soundcloud page has a few tracks from a Delta Del CD  ...





Download the full CD in FLAC here
 


 
Soul Men of the River (in order of appearance) … 
Al Green, Ray Charles, James Brown, Sly Stone (and the Family), Otis Redding, 
Sly Stone again, Curtis Mayfield, Wilson Pickett, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye.
 


 



The original juke joint image from the Deltadelic CD is from the excellent FSA Photography archive

Much of the music on the CD features T-Nebula Elliss-Brookes on bass and the late E. Curgenven on drums.  E took his own life in 2014 aged 43.  We miss you E. 

Many of the compositions are band collaborations, and much of this music would not have got played or recorded without T-Neb and E. 

Samples are used without permission, no infringement of copyright is intended, this blues aint for sale.
  
Delta Del 2023