True Blood of Snooks

American music of any variety can trace its roots through some circuitous route back to times and places that most folks don’t know about in the least. The confluence of country, blues and spiritual music came in many forms – often times in the physicality of street preachers like Blind Arvella Gray or Willie Johnson. Snooks Eaglin too shares the singular infirmity of blindness with these two performers, but he has not seen fit to allow that obstacle to impede his music, his career or his love of performing. While these aforementioned men seemed to take the message of God seriously enough to dedicate their lives to singing songs of praise, others used these religious concepts to intersperse their secular set list with familiar and joyous songs.

Snooks Eaglin is one of these men.

I had the chance to interview Leo Kottke earlier this summer and as we spoke, he began recalling a multitude of guitar players and styles that he has chosen to take with him every time he steps on stage. Snooks is one of these timeless players. And even amidst heaps of praise from the more traditional sects of American music, Snooks always sought to work in a variety of modes.

Part of what initially made Snooks a sought after performer was the depth of this musical knowledge. Not just his ability to piece together disparate parts of the American experience through song, but his tenacity in performing material from different genres that occurred throughout time.

Just as essential as â??I Must Meet Jesusâ? is his rendition of the Ray Charlesâ?? classic â??I Gotta Woman.â? Snooksâ?? appetite for all kinds of music was what Harry Oster heard when he encountered the former busking in NOLA. Undoubtedly, Snooks wasnâ??t the only musician that Oster encountered that day. But Snooksâ?? vocal panache and ability to sound as gritty as Ray Charles one moment and then as soothing and calm as Mississippi John Hurt on the next number must have grabbed the producerâ??s attention.

After his first few acoustic recordings, Snooks began recording RnB (his true love) during the â??60s and â??70s. Applying his extensive knowledge of traditional songs to an electric forum, he continues to record in this vein today.

Eaglinâ??s material isnâ??t all too common, but a quick perusal of the internet turns up a few places from which one may acquire his music. But amongst all of these posts comes a bit of sadness. At the advanced age of seventy two, health problems are inevitable and at this point Snooks needs blood donations. It seems on odd idea to grasp â?? and one that not too many can even consider helping with because of geography.

Itâ??s his vastness, depth of knowledge and appreciation of everything truly unique and American in music that Snooks carries around every day. In a time when Odetta has recently left the world, everything needs to be done to ensure the longevity of a vital and priceless part of American culture. It seems likely that very soon, listeners will only have the disciples of these genres left. But I guess the Carter Family existed in a multitude of forms subsequent to Maybelle, Sara and A.P. leaving us. Weâ??ll just have to see who can take up that task.