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
 

 

8 comments:

  1. Just read your blog with a massive pleasure rush! I wish I could share your love for the blues, but I'm with Navin Johnson on that one - "aren't they kind of ... depressing?"

    Thanks for your comments over on th' Isle O' Foam, where ypu're always welcome. If there's anything you want from my back pages, leave a request in the comments to the thing you're interested in.

    Love your life - from one old hippie to another, living the dream as hard as we can.

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  2. Looks like ole Farquhar & I are on the same page (blog page, that is). Just got here by different routes. Thanks for your comment over at Nothin Sez Somethin about all things Jimi & P-Funk.

    If you like imaginary bluesmen, are you a fan of Marvin Pontiac?
    I've got both releases if you're not familiar or interested in either.

    I'm always hyping my favorite imaginary psyche boy Clutchy Hopkins. Keep it unreal.

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  3. Thanks for the link. Hope you enjoy the offerings.

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  4. Hey great blog! I make 3,000,000 dollars tax free working from home! Go to oneborneveryminute.sap.com for details!

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  5. Hi Del, I've just been listening to Deltadelic whilst doing some light housework, and am really impressed with the record quality and playing on display. The use of loops and dialogue keeps it interesting and modern (i.e. not typical blues)
    I was massively into blues music in the 80's but sort of od'd on it, and afterwards was never as bothered by the genre. However along the way saw a couple of amazing gigs, the best being Stevie Ray Vaughans first uk show at Reading Festival August 1983. Another was a show you may have attended (assuming you lived in the south west in the 80's) at the Colston Hall, Bristol, 1981, BB King. I remember one of the brass players in the band had the most amazing 'wobbly head' routine when not playing his instrument.

    I'll listen to your other album soon, thanks Del.

    By the way I don't trust Farq's get rich quick scheme (above).

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the album Bambi, thanks for the compliment.

      I saw BB in London around 1978 and in the South West, Exeter I think, in the 90s and he was cool, and his bands were great. But Freddie was the guitar King for me, saw him 3 times in the early 70s, he attacked that Gibson hard, pinned me to the wall with one note!

      And Farq’s scheme is totally legit, its just they’re Throckmorton dollars, you can only spend them on the Island.

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  6. I finally made the time to mosey on over here -- great stuff and very inspiring. Adding it to my library now. I don't have anywhere near the chops you got but you might enjoy this noodling I recorded straight to iPhone (voice memo) amid the chaos of the MrDave homestead one Fryday earlier this year when I was twisting in the wind a wee bit. It don't go nowhere but such is life. Working on it.

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/gt0ql95527omyid/Or%20Text%20It.m4a?dl=0

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    1. Hey MrDave glad you enjoyed your vist to deltadelic world, I enjoyed my visit to the MrDave homestead. Great positioning of those ambient samples, must have taken you hours. And the guitar was cool too. Keep on twistin!

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