Wednesday, December 21, 2011

This Is So Frenz's Fault

When I started blogging I said this wasn't about Richard Armitage and I've mostly stuck to that though he has snuck in here and there.  Oh, and there.  And there.  Anyway, the other day Frenz was talking about how his work resonates with her in the way Hemingway does.  She made her point really well, I think, so just go there to read it. 

Anyway, I mentioned in her comments that his ability to disappear reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughan and she challenged me to explain that so here goes:  his ability to disappear reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughan.  It's really that simple for me.  I said sometime ago in comments on me + richard  that while he's ridiculously good looking he doesn't really get interesting to me until he's in character and channeling something else.  That's something that SRV had when he played.  I once heard B.B. King describe it as "flow" and mention that he envied that in SRV.  Here, let me show you.


Did you notice the way his face was totally open and relaxed?  He gets out of his own way and just soars and Armitage has that same abiltiy.  Frequently when I'm watching, say, George Clooney I'm totally aware I'm watching George Clooney but when I watch Armitage I'm watching Lucas North or Guy of Gisborne or Harry Kennedy.  It's a gift to be able to do that and he has it in spades.

Oh, and as an aside:  I don't dislike Eddie Van Halen at all.  I just think the whole concept of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists!" is as stupid as the concept of "The 100 Greatest Mangoes!"  I still think SRV kicks his ass.

Just because I can I'm going to leave you with more Stevie Ray Vaughan.  This is also from his performance on Unplugged from 1990.  Have a great day!

6 comments:

  1. I'm glad to be responsible for this! Excellent piece. Yeah, I call it flow too. Glad BB agrees with me. ;-)

    SRV has a soul!

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  2. Thanks, Frenz! SRV had a great big beautiful soul.

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  3. I LOVE that you compare RA's ability to immerse himself in his roles with SRV's musicianship! I absolutely agree! I have always suspected that Richard Armitage's performances are on a higher plane than merely "acting". When I watch him perform it is like appreciating a masterfully played piece of beautiful music.

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  4. LOL...phylly3, I figured that if anyone got where my loopy head was going with that it would be you. It's such a joy to watch them do something magic, isn't it?

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  5. SRV was also a prophet who was only rarely appreciated in his own country, or not at the true level of his artistry. May also be a parallel.

    Keep on not writing about Richard Armitage, I love how you do it.

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  6. I wonder how many times I have to not blog about him before I'm blogging about him? Wait, that involves math, I'll twist my brain further into a knot.

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Thanks for commenting!