Page 66 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2017

Resonating With At the beginning of his career, B.B. King
secured a job at Memphis radio station
WDIA by writing an impromptu radio
Consumers in jingle for Peptikon
Photo courtesy B.B. King Museum

Just a Few Notes a copywriter and eventually

became
Budweiser’s
first
music director.
Artists such as Leon
By Tim Parsons Redbone, Johnny Guitar
When he sang “Madison Blues,” Elmore James wasn’t making Watson and Lou Rawls had
a sale pitch to sell shoes, but he certainly could have been. Blues sung in commercials, but
artists struggle to be heard on mainstream radio, but their music is celebrity musicians began to be used much more in the 1980s.
in demand for television programs and commercials. The nature Blues music, in particular, resonates with consumers because it
of the blues creates a powerful emotional pull on its listeners, and has an honesty and hipness that listeners can relate to, in just a
thus on consumers. few notes.
“Madison Avenue definitely feels that blues sells products,” Artists such as Robert Palmer preferred to write their own
said Marc Lipkin, a publicist for Alligator Records, referring to the songs for commercials, as did Muddy Waters with “Dr. Pepper
American advertising industry. Blues.” A Muddy Waters track also was used for Levi’s “501
In 1948, B.B. King may have been the first to sing the blues Blues.”
to sell a product. He visited the radio station WDIA in Memphis, The double entendre always has been a staple of the blues,
hoping to make a record. The owner said the station didn’t make seen in the use of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightnin’” and
records, but added he needed a song for an advertiser. King John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples” in commercials for Viagra, for
quickly wrote a blues jingle: example. Or you might have caught a recent GEICO Motorcycle
“Peptikon sure is good; Peptikon sure is good; Peptikon sure is commercial featuring “Going Up the Country” by Canned Heat.
good; You can get it anywhere in your neighborhood.” “You could really give your commercial some energy, whether
Peptikon was a medicinal tonic, which perhaps was popular you want it to be fiery or cool and mellow,” McCabe said. “Blues
because it was 12 percent alcohol. Utilizing blues to sell booze can make you sad or relaxed, but it’s also cathartic and can be
has been popular ever since. exciting as well – it just covers all of that. You could see why
Berghoff beer, for example, features guitarist Eric Sardinas brands like Levis and Budweiser would turn to the blues for that
using a Berghoff bottle as a slide for a 30-second commercial, kind of feel.”
and the same ad campaign has blues harmonica player Billy Robert De Pugh, the director of licensing at Alligator Records,
Branch rhythmically stomping his foot to the music, catching a agrees that blues can quickly create a mood for listeners.
bottle to take a swig just before it falls off the porch. “That’s exactly what it’s about,” he said. “And if it’s a
“The whole history of beer and blues and rock ‘n’ roll goes recognizable song, and they can share the feeling the audience
way back. They kind of fit like a hand in a glove,” said Steve has about that song and transfer it to their product, the song does
McCabe, who runs a music and sound design company and has a lot of the heavy lifting for the commercial.”
produced many commercials throughout his career. De Pugh said Alligator Records frequently gets requests for
McCabe is a musician who learned about the blues from songs to be used in commercials, television programs and big-
his college schoolmate Bob Corritore, now a famed harmonica screen movies.
recording artist in Phoenix, AZ. He got his start after college living Sometimes, the intended meaning or context of the song
in St. Louis and playing in a band with some older musicians, may alter for the benefit of marketing a product. The Luther
whose day job was selling Allison song “Cherry Red Wine” is a poignant tale of a woman
advertisements for Budweiser. destroying her life with alcohol. However, the storyline for the
“When I found out what they commercial is changed. The verse ‘I’m watching you’ is sung
did, I started to torture them while a child looks longingly at another youngster who is eating
[asking for a job],” he said. macaroni and cheese.
McCabe landed a position as Songs are often rerecorded to fit into a commercial. It also is
sometimes less expensive to record a sound-a-like, De Pugh said.
Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightnin’” Songwriters and publishers can be paid a flat “synchronization”
was once used in commercials fee and then receive additional royalties every time it airs. The
for Viagra! label gets a one-time synch fee.
Photo by Robert Hughes

64 Blues Festival Guide 2017