If life’s a pain, music brings relief.

"Impressive blog you have (loved Free).
Bev Wills (@CoreCritical), England/Miami, November 8, 2013.

 This is definitely not turning into a blog on musical market research findings (after the last post), but since a new survey shows the beneficial effects of music upon people suffering chronic pain, it’s certainly worth mentioning here.

I know from experience how standing with a solid-body electric guitar around your neck can make your lower back hurt, especially when you reach a certain age. Even young musicians in fledgling bands aren’t spared when it comes to the back pain lugging heavy amps and equipment around can

All Right Now. Free's Paul Kossoff

cause. You’d be surprised how many people wear back braces under their stage clothes. 

Non-guitar players might also be surprised just how heavy some guitars are. The Gibson that Paul Kossoff is playing, left, weighs in at 12 to 13 pounds. That's heavy in anybody's language, almost a stone in English. 

To digress for a moment, Paul Kossoff, as some will know, was the guitarist responsible for the solo in Free's all-time-great rock-blues classic, 'All Right Now'. Actually, there were two solos: the cut-down one on the single and the full-length one on the album. Paul's dad, some old timers might remember, was the famous English TV and film actor, David Kossoff, who became an anti-drug campaigner after Paul died of an overdose in 1976, aged just 25. 

But back to pain of the body rather than the soul. The good news is: listening to music relieves 41 per cent of all people living with physical pain, according to the latest survey by UK pharmacy group, Lloyds. And, with younger people, music helps stop pain for almost seven out of ten 16 to 24-year-olds, 66 per cent of the 1,500 young people surveyed said.

Pop music is the most potent pain reliever, helping to relieve 21 per cent of people in pain. Classical music helps 17 per cent, narrowly ahead of rock or indie music which alleviates pain for 16 per cent of those surveyed. It seems soothing songs help you most, with Simon and Garfunkel’s chart-

The single alone sold over six million copies.

dominating 1970 smash ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ topping the pain relief chart as well as the all-time pop chart.

The Top Five pain-relieving songs.

1.     ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ -  Simon and Garfunkel

2.    ‘Angels’ – Robbie Williams

      3.    ‘Albatross’ – Fleetwood Mac

      4.    ‘Candle In The Wind’ – Elton John .    

            

           5.    'Easy’ – Commodores

Said Lloyds Pharmacy, “After speaking to many people living with pain we were interested to learn  just how many found music beneficial, which is why we're now trialling the use of music within our pain service in some of our pharmacies.

It's nice to get a chance to show the original Fleetwood Mac.

David Bradshaw, an Assistant Professor at the U.S.’s University of Utah Pain Management Centre, backed this up saying: “If you can get absorbed in the music this can help with your pain. Choose music you like and know well, humming or singing along can help you engage in listening and distract you from your pain.”

That’s the good news. The bad news is four out of five people will suffer chronic back pain at some time in their life, so maybe it's time to start stockpiling those soothing songs.

And on the off-chance that not knowing how blues came about causes you pain, why not purchase the E-book 'How Blues Evolved'.

There are two volumes, both going for a song, at Amazon on the links below.

How Blues Evolved in the UK is on the following link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital- text&field-keywords=how+blues+evolved+volume+one
In the USA, please follow this link:http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=how+blues+evolved