3 The development of the blues

DÁ.VID EV,{NS

Betwee 1890 and i9l0 íew sounds - melodic, i¡strumental, and verbal -began tð-penetrate the iêþertoire ofAÊicanÄme¡ican music hitherto domi-nated byspirituals, functional songs ofwork and pla¡ narrative folk baÌlads,banjo tunes, and iast:iiâCed instrì¡mental ¿u".t-mosic. ttu;;g noã aìlthese õide¡ fo¡ms, as well as the simultaneousìy emerging ragtime andjaz.z, these sounds coalesced full,v by the end of thii p".iod io*the põñtwhere they could be recognized as a distinct genre of music called the blues.This new music conveyed a ¡ema¡kable sense of immediacy, purportingto express t}le thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the singer as well asthe spontaneous inventions aIId variations of musicians at the moment ofperformance. Yet for all ofits immediacy, blues as a whole had a power ofendurance thatwoùld sustain itthroughout the twentietà century and see itat the end ofthat century as a ma.jo¡ form ofpopular music with wo¡ldwideappeal.

Contemporary reports and latet recollections ofblues during this earlyperiod place the music in rural areas, small towns, and cities throughoutthe South, especiaily the "Deep South" ftom east Tèxas to central Georgiaand the Caroiina Piedmont region, the land where cotton was king- Bluesappear to have been ¡a¡er or non-existent along the Adantic and GulfCoasts and in olde¡ setded regions such as Virginia o¡ a¡eas such as theAppalachian Mountains where the population was overwhelmingly white.From the Deep-South blues flowed along arteries odcomme¡ce and t¡ans-portatiù\the !!!s¡!9¡ippi and Ohio Rive¡s and the-various railroad--lines-stretching noríhward and westward. Ëarly centers of blues activity wererur¿l area: containing large plantatìons worked mainly by sharecroppers,such as the Mississippi Delta, lowland regions of adjacent st¿tes, the riverbottoms of southeast Texâs, the turpentine, railroad, mining an_d leveecamps, and the cities ófboth the South and the No¡th that were 61ling upwith ¡nig¡ants fiomthese rural areas. People were newìy arrived orpreparingto leave, urcrking on iemporary or seasonal jobs or in mig114t_o_cJllpetlqls,moving everyyear or two fiom one plantation to anothe! t¡ying thei¡luckinthe cityor ¡eturning to a more predictable existence on the farm. Blues alsothrived among hobos and hustle¡s in the underworld ofgambling, moon-shining, and prostitution, and among the pèóple floating in and out of

[20] prisons. This population was essentiall]' a mobile labor force, cut off ftom

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21 The det'elopment of the blues

the certainties of the ante-bellum plantation, having little o¡ no fo¡maleducation, competing with white immigrant laborers, and desperately try-ing to make a ìiving and find a safe harbo¡ f¡om ¡aciai ha¡assment. Blueshad less appeal for those who rvere able to hold onto farms that thei¡ fami_lièsliàl èstabÌirìhed durin! the Reconstruction era following the Civil Wa¡(186i-65), for the religious segmenr of rhe black population who viewedthe blues as sinful, or for the upwardly mobile and educ¿ted class. But forthose who supponed the blues, it was thei¡ music for dance and ¡ec¡eation,humor, philosophy, courtship, even at times approaching the status of areligious cult and a way of life- For its performers it could become thei¡means of making a living-

The hopes ofReconstluction and its promise ofintegration ofthe freedslaves into the mainstream of Ame¡ican society we¡e dashed in a latenineteenth-century backlash of disenfianchisement, .lim Crow laws, andst¡ict segregation. Lynching¡eached its peak in the lBgOs and remained foranothe¡ three-qua¡ters of a century the ultimate threat agaiûst any âsse¡tion of black digniqv, powe¡, or aspiration. This threat feil hardest on thechild¡en of the freed slaves, the flrst generation to g¡ow up in a fieedomthat turned out to be not ¡eally ftee, cut offftom their parents' experiences,¡esented by t¡e southern whites who had losr tlre Civil Wa¡, and denied anyreal opportunity for advancement ì¡ Ame¡ican life. With its social institu-tions undersiege, a sense ofindividualism grew in the blãcktommunity, andthis is reflected in blues and the other new musical fo¡ms that arose at thistime in the form ofsolo performance or increased soloing within ensembles, virtuoso improvisation, and increased competition among musiciansieading to "cutting contests" and "carving." Individuaiism, ofcourse, \\¡as agrowing factor in white society at this time, related to industriai competi-tion, but for whites it often became a vehicle for opportunity and sr_rccess.

Fo¡ blacks it was a matter of su¡vival.

The blues genre

Seve¡al cha¡acte¡istics ofearlyblues became the genre'{iàenti$ing features.,One of these was tle use of seemingly ambivalent jõl-ue nãË_ aiZertàlpoi¡ts i¡ the scale (see Chapter 5). Bìues players and singers ¿lso rendedto lmp¡ovise and vary their melodic ljnes. instrumental parts and h rics.and to experiment with "oun{uality, using growJing. screaming, r.railing.and falsetto singing and the muffìing, snapping, sliding, and bending ofnotes. Thi5 spont¿neous quality created tle jmpression that the thoughts.feelings, and èxpressions of the momen¡ were qujte imporlant. turning at.tention away fio..ñ-thè song as proáuct of a deliberate and often a¡duous

22 Davíd Et'axs

process ofcomposition, toward the perfo¡mance itself and tl¡e personalitvan$uniqueness ofthe performer. Blues ¿ìso elevated th" ,ol" oi th. -,lri_c¡l inst¡ument within popular song, making it a second voice, integral tothe song itself, punctuating, commenting upon, and answering tle vocalline- Earlyin iß deveþpment blues became especi¿lly associatå with thehvelve-b¿rLlhree-line AAB paftern, which seemed to lend an.asymmçtricDguality to the bluel,Finaìl¡ blues inrroduced ro popular song a'n.rvufrrn_k_ness, breadth ofsubiect matter, and âssertiveness. The songs demanded tobe ral<en seriously, thus causing their singers and the sulrc_uliu¡e they ¡õ¡esented to be taken s,eúo,-u¡ly.as we.[ Blues were aisti".U["cotu.

"nã *o jat¡

unsentime-rìral, \exually er?licit. and ironic. with an unãrtone oldeeo dis_s¿lisfactionj All *lese ch¿racteristics were new or unusual withìn popularAmerican musjr. ofren contradicting established rules of Western musicrlform and performance ttyle as will as popu-tu, ,t"."otyp., una .*pãåã,ion"ofblack music. Often they shocked ihe muiical, sóìiäÌi ãnd rljo¡¿rtsensibil_ìties ofthose outside tle culture, yet this new music had withi¡ it a st¡angefascination that demanded attention and caused it to influence almost a'lldevelopments in American popular music ofthe twentieth century as lvell¿s much of the :est of the world! musjc. Ultimately blues woulj out.lastmany of tlre genies and styles that it influenced.

Although blues emerged as distinctly new, it developed ûonGlder t¡pesof music)|4uch of irs vocal materi¿l is de¡ived from the ..holle¡s.. of lonewo¡kers- These songs were generalJy fiee flowing. meùsmatic, sponl¿neousexpressions set to pentatonic tunes containing blue notes, commenti¡g on

*Þe work situation irselfor the singer's love ljfe. There were also tipes ofiolo

relrgrous expresston. pravers ¿nd sermons. with a simila¡ musical structure.Most blues singers were,exposed to tiese qpes ofwork song and reiigiousexpression earlFi.nlie arid-were abie to adapt some ofthe meùdi. .irl.ã.,"asubject matter. emotionaj intensiry, and spiritual dept_h oft.hese songs to thedeveloping blues. But blues generalJy h¿d a more rigid slructuÀ Lhãn th"r"unaccompanied songs, for biues was a vocâl and instrumená genre thatoften served as musjc for dancing. The form4J mold th¿t qave shaDe rorhis loose voca]izing came largely flom foú bàDdì the ùalad wås anold European fo¡m of narrative ,ong *"1ì\t bti*íd in southern Anglo-American folk t¡adition, which blacks began to adapt soon afterEmancipa_tion. Increasinglyblacks began performingballads to the accompaniment ofbanjo, guita¡ or othe¡ instruments at fast tempos for dancing. They createdoriginal songs.on such cha¡acte¡s as.SJohn Henry', the railroad worker o¡"Jesse lamest the outlaw. Bl¿ck ba aáry reached its peak ofpopularity andcreâ tivity in rhe period 1890- I9 I O as the blues genre was developlng. By thisti¡ne almost all these ballads celebrated characte¡s who acted outsidi the lawand organized socieq/ or who we¡e in some way bold and ,,bad.,, Many of '

2i The det'elopment of the blues

theserrewballads proved popular with white singers; who learned them fìomblack musiti¿ns i¡r work camps, waterfiont dives, gambling d"n,.

"nd ;;;dellos, and began composing similarsongs themselves. Man-yof these songs(suchas "Stagolee," "Frankie and Albert,,, ..The Boll Weevil,'; and,.Ra ¡oäBill") used a threeJine form consisting ofa rhymed couplet foliorved b,rr aoneline refiain. The couplet lines were roughly in iambic heptamete¡ verse.The three lines began respectiveiy with tonic, subdominant, and dominantharmonies, by the end usually resolving to the tonic. The emerging bluesgenre borrowed tïis st¡ucture, reducing the iength of all of the lin-es to arough iambic pentameter to leave space at the end fo¡ an inst¡umental ¡e_sporse, conve¡ti¡g the toi::tuaÌ patte¡n to AAB, often slowing the tempo ino¡de¡ to make tle songs more suitable for the increasingly poputar cåupledances such as the "slowdrag,,'and changing the thematic focus lìom thi¡¿_person tales of"bad" men and women to first-person statement, ir., ,Ãìihtle singer rvas tbe protagonìst. Not all ear! biueäóniormed to rhe rwelve_bar form: two-line teight-bart and fouì.tine lslrteen_bar) blue. drew fromothe¡ fo¡ms of ba.lÌads and social songs or represented contractions o¡ ex_pansions of tle threeline fo¡m. Some blues lines had thei¡ length ertendedbyrepeated short melodic.rh¡hmicphrasesor..ritfs.. Muchoìde¡blackin_strumental dance music, played on frddles, baajos, and other instruments,was structured on tle ¡iffidea, f¡om whe¡e it ente¡ed the blues.

The blues amalgamated va¡ious elements de¡ived ultimatelv f¡omEuropean and African musical traditions. aJthough t}ey are abor

" uíl prod_

ucts of their time. pJace. and sociocultur¿l conditions and contain olhe¡elements that are distinctly.{merican and original.In general, the Euroaeanelemeûts tend to be formal, and they are usually modified or trunrioi-.¿through ihe influence ofAfiican sr,vlistic characteristics. Tholambic pentameter, for example, is familiar from Renaissance authors and may havebeen abso¡bed by blues cingers through their often limired schooling. Buta line like "I gót the blúes and cán't be sátisñed,, would neve¡ b" ,,,.r! by ublues singer in this strictlymetrical manne¡. lnfead, its accents rvould be dis-placed, giving life and strength to syllables and wo¡ds that 1\,,ould othe¡rvisehave a weak impact on the listener. This so¡t ofimp¡ovisational variation isgpical of African singing, which rarely corresponds to set poetic me¡rjc¿lpanerns. ïn mosJblues. in fact, this metrical structure h¿s become unrec-ognizable. The'harmonic sequences are also tlpicallv European. bur rhesubdominant ¿nd dominanl harmonies are often onJy partiaJly expressedor merely suggested bya single nore, a¡d melody and harmony a¡e q?icallydrawn back to the tonic.at iÍie end of each line, reasserting rhe es;daüyAfiican modal cha¡acrer of this music. BIues pgþ¡p.5-oi." ,rUrl., ,i-r"twelvg-bar pattern with is standard harmonies rather than reinforce it. Themai#inst¡umints of blues music - gùítar, piano, haimonica, aiong with

24 Dattid Evans

]l:,-, -i:O:tyf"ing bass, rrumpet, clari¡et, saxophone, and the d¡umsc( _ are au of weste¡n ma¡uf¿ctu¡e, but blues players have found ways ofc¡eating pe¡cussive effects, bent notes, and other sounds on these inJt¡,r_ments thar were neve¡ intended fo¡ them but wlich spring fiom,;.h;ì;r.,f¿miliar in Afiic¿n music. Many secondrry in.,ru,n"n,, ärf,";i;. _l;kazoo, washboard. washLub bass. ; ;;; :i;,;;;';ì,i;iuiiåi,üi(r¡oe rechn¡que _ are ¿ll derived Êom AÍiican p,otor¡p" lnrirurn.nt , ot_ten preserved in American t¡à¿itiòn as child¡en! i;s;"rn;;;¡dl_-ìì;e"put lhem to use. Many other basic characte¡istics of the blues;;;;ìì,AÍiican as well, including the call and respon." qf,uoi.¡.u,q¿ jo,;;;ä"use ofrepeated riffs, flexibility ofpitch, timUr"iì"rì"Çìfr. _"ri;r "t;;;;¿no pe¡cussrve sound quaiirjes. and the use ofinst¡uments as uoiir. Songsof so¡1a.l commenrarl, p-raise and derision, OourtirrguJ1a*"U--pÇur. utr"ocommõii-16ñälf ¡þican traditions, and aspects -àf th-q-lrf".$yü;.h*singers and rhe social position of the outside¡ can bá observeá i, ¡îiã,minstrel and 3.ríor traditions.

Blues appear originâäy io h* been the er,pression of one voice andone instrument - normalJy guitar. piano, o¡ ha¡monica _ all of which w"."reialrve,y new to bI¿ck Americ¿n music at the end ofLhe nineteenth century.Male singers usually played their own accompaniment, while femal" si.rge.smo¡e often had someone else, usually male, accompanying th"_. fi"riìimuch evidence fo¡ solo performance in th.

"urti"rt ."port äftfr" ;l;;,;;;it ¡emained common among black musici"rr th.ough th" 1950., ,"k ;;;;extended life since then through the inte¡national

"blu", .""i""i. ;;;;;;two guitars, guitar and ha¡monica, guitar and plurro, urra Urg". .o*io,of these and othe¡ inst¡uments, variously known as jug, jrk",;rhb";;;

or skiffle bands, emerged on recordings in the f9Zós1ít "." koo;";;

have been in existence earlie¿ These larger combinations *"r";.;".;"X;cha¡actedstic of urban centers, whe¡e musicians v/ould band

.ló-g¿the¡ì;o¡der to make mo.e money and compete with more polished a.rã.,.bu.r"ensembles. As the blues fo¡m coalesced and gained popularity in the bla.kcommunities in the earlyyears, it was also adopted bymàre estábhshed qpesof groups, such as '.rocal quartets and string bands featuring fr¿¿f", U"Uå,or mandolin. Ragtirne pianists began playing pieces in the bìue, forrn, u.,ãdance bands adopted it, in the p¡ocess beginniag to transform ,h;;;;.into jazz bands. T¡aces of threeline blues strains show up in u nu*i". oipublished piano rags before 1910, along with what appear to be ,tt"_pt tof:1.s'.^1,1".i"". io print.-\\¡hen iazz emerged on comme¡cial ,",o.iing,trom i917, rle number of blues ¡unes in the repertoires ofthe earlieitbands r.r'as truly remarkable. It goes without saying, of.ou..", ,t.i*,_,.tof the essential imp¡ovisational and ,,hot,, quarty à'f ¡zz .p.irrf ão_ ,fr"blues.

25 The detelopment of the blues

The ea¡liest blues

$ From its very_beglqlg_U!9t was a commercial music. Man1, earlv per-' for-"rs *eielaid-er e.taiìì-aid.**;;;""i;jõtayini for i;ps in

public places, but the money made in tìe earliest years was reÌatively smallchange. No stars were especially associatedwith this music, and no perforrn_e¡s had mo¡e than local fame. Fu¡thermo¡e, blues represented only a portionof what they performed. In late¡ recordings of some ofthe oldèst_k¡ownblües artists, those bo¡n in the 1870s and lggos such as Henry Thomas,¡rank Stokes, and Lead Bell¡ we frnd many songs besides blues _ ballads,social dance tunes, ragtime and "coon', songs, and spi¡ituals. These pe¡_fo¡me¡s needed music fo¡ all tastes and occasions. The name ,,blues', hadnotyet been applied to a whole musical genre, and for manymusicians andaudience membe¡s tl¡is music probably consisted ofa handful oftunes thatconstituted a small portion ofavaded repertoire. Some ofthese tunes $,e¡enovel enough at tlìe time to become widespread over much ofthe South,songs such as "Poor Boy Long Way from Home,,, ,.Red Rive¡ Blues,,,thesemi-narrative "Joe Turner," and the ragtimelike ,,Make Me a pallet on theFloo¡."

As blues began to be adqp.&d by bands with_some formal training (likeW C. Handy's) artd began to appear occasionatiy ai odd strains in rag-tiniè tunes, the music was ready to take on a popular identity of its orvn.

{?. ì This process of consolidation into a recognizable gen¡e occur¡ed be¡.¡een"T908 and 1914,{:hrough the appearance of published tunes bearing the word

"blues" iq th;l tides and the rep¡esentation ofblues songs on thevaudevillestage in southern blacku¡ban communities. Milestones inthis process werethe 1908 New O¡leans publication of .A.ntonio Maggio's',I Gor ùe Blues"and the Ì909 "I'm A.labama Boundj' subtitled "The Alabama Blues,', c¡ed-ited to white l{ew Orleans theatre pianist Robe¡t Hoffmân. Although notexactly in the twelve-bat format, it contains th¡ee-line ve¡ses rvith the linesbeginning respectively with tonic, subdominant, and dominant ha¡monies,and qpical blues subject matter in the lyrics. The song spread quickiy andsoon developed variants like any folksong. It would take another three yearsfo¡ a new wave ofblues tides to be published- Meanwhile, southern blackvaudeville ente¡tainers were adopting into thet repertoires this and othe¡blues songs, some of them of their own composition, and enjoying audi-ence success. By 19i l performers like ventriloquist Johnnie\4¡oods, pianistsBabySeals and Kid Love, and vocalists Laura Smith and Esteile Har¡is Heregaining reputations as blues specialists and blues could regularly be heardin theat¡es in the T¡i-State Circuit centered in Memphis.

In 1912 fou¡ mo¡e blues tunes were published, "Dallas Blues,' bywhite Oklahoma City musician Hart A- Wand, "Baþ Seals Blues,, by the

26 Da!íd E1,ans

professional black vaudevillian and pianist, "The Memphis Blues" by blackMemphis band-leader W C. Hand¡ and "The Negro Blues" by white min-strel show performer Leroy "Lasses" White ofDallas. That whites were c¡ed-ited as the compose¡s ofr*-o ofthese, as well as t}re two earliettunespublishedin 1908 and 1909, indicates that blues were sufÊciently established to easiìy¡each southern white ears through performances by black street musiciansand bands hired to play for dances. Mor,e -b,lues songs were published in thenext two years, including Handy's "St¡Louis Bluèàl'in 1914, which becameone of the greatest hjt songs of Lhe rwentieth century. By this tìme. anyvaudeville singer in America,-_b.l4ck-9!¡gLr1'e', could easily acquire a bluèsrepertoire of several songs, even without any direct contact with the blues -envi¡onment.

While several prominent white vaudevillians during the 1910s had rep-utations as delineators of Negro character in song, blues tunes constitutedonly a small portion of their repertoires- Among black performers in tleSouth, ho¡r'evet the situation was diffe¡ent. Artists liÌe Ge¡trude "Ma"Raine¡ Bessie Smith, and Edna Benbow (later Hicks) increasingly spe-cialized in blues mate¡ial during this dec¿de, and by its end the¡e werehundreds ofblack blues singers working in the professional circuit. Manywould become reco¡ding artists irl the 1920s. Meanwhile, for those si¡ge¡sunable to compose tiei¡ own blues o¡ obtai¡ them fiom the folk traditio¡¡ .-,Lhere was an increasing number ofblues being pubtished in sbeet musicin both piano and o¡chestral ar¡angements. Two black-owned iìrblishinghouses were particularly successful. that of Harry Pace and W. C. Handyfounded in Memphìs iD i913 and that of Clarence Williams and A. ). Pirorrfounded in New Orleans in 1915. They published blues by tleir ownersas welÌ as by other songwriters.fuany of these tunes contained vestigesof ragtime and popular song, including multiple musical strains, some ofwhich we¡e not in a blues fo¡m, int¡oductions, narrative story lines, exag-gerated sentimentality and pathos, and stereotyped "coon' imagery. Somer^ere merely ragtime songs with a lot ofblue note] Nevertheless. they aìlm¿n¿ged ro convey some degree of blues 'ensib ìryíboLh musical and lyri-cal. Increasingly the songs were composed for female singers, while malesinvolved in blues in the vaudeville scene tutned mo¡e and mo¡e to tle ¡olesof pianist and songrvriter This situation stood in coDtrast to tlat of thefolk communities, rvhere the blues perfotmers were predominantly male.Guitar playing blues singers remained conspicuously absent íiom this p¡o-fessional scene, hov¡ever, aìthough thel' were probabiy the most commongpe ofblues performer in the small tow¡s and ¡ural areas of the South.

Between l9l4 and 1920, for many Americans the blues appe¿red to bea ne* qpè cjT!4!ììm" i",[e¡p'".iã! ããõñ r"ãistiîË* ãr ul".t l¡"and emotions and containing novel strains and inflections. When jazzburst

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27 The detelopment of the blues

onto the scene ir 1917, shifting t¡e focus ofinterest toward the pe¡fo¡me¡tmomentary imp¡ovisations, the new musical stylists featured many bluestunes. Audiences couldnowviewblues as a type ofjazz. The problemü,asthatfew Americans except fo¡ blacks and southe¡n whites had heard authenticblues. White societybands ¡ecordedblues, as did whitejazzbands follorvingthe initial 1917 success ofNew O¡leans' Original Dixieland Jazz Band. A fervblack bands recorded blues in the wake o f the jazz craze, including those ofHand¡ Wilbur Sweatman, and James Europe, butthese were units ofhighlyt¡ained musicians whose backgrounds were in ¡agtime, ball¡oom dancemusic, militarybands, and circus and minst¡el show music. This music uasfor them essentially something to be exploited as a trend in popula¡ music.Whetle¡ it was viewe d, as ragflme, jazz, or a separate genre matte¡ed little.

Earlyblues recordings

Iû 1920 the firct vocal blues by a black singer was released on a phonograph¡eco¡d- The a¡tist was Mamie Smith, a vete¡an of the vaudeville and cabaretcircuit, and the song was "Crazy Blues," composed by black songwriterPerry Bradford, rvho also led the band that backed the singer and helped tomanage her career. The tune was arranged in the manner ofa popular song,but it contained a blues strain. The lyricr told in a ¡ather melodramaticway how the singer's man had left her, causing her to go c¡az,v and in theend get high on "hop" and shoot a policeman: it sold phenomenally u,ell.Other record companies, all ofthem based in o¡ nea¡ New Yo¡k, followedthe lead of Mamie Smith's compan¡ Okeh, and signed up blues talen[ forrecording. "Crazy Blues" established something of a fo¡¡nula that wouldbe used fo¡ lËãîext ferv u"u.., a female irar àiawn f.om rhe northe'nvauileville or caba¡et scene or working in ¿ current stage siìow. pàrfo¡-mingason!'b1;ã irialé þrôfeisiónal songwriter (rvho might also be her pianisì,band leade¡, manager, or husband), accompanied by a frve- to eight-piece)azz band. Many of the songs contained multiple strains, not all of themin a bluês form, and most were complaints about no-good men. Thesesingers (the most important being Mamie Smith, Lucille Hegamin, TrlrieSmith, Albe¡ta Hunter Ethel Waters, Lizzie Mües, and Edith Wilson) rvereprofessional entertainers, some of them dance¡s a¡d act¡esses as well, forwhom blues was just part oftheir repe¡toire. Few wrote many oftheir orvnsongs.

In the early 1920s most blues records by black a¡tisrs were ¡eleased in theregular popular series by such companies as Okeh, CoÌumbia, Arto, Bell,Pathé, Pa¡amount, and the black-owned Black Swan. These ¡ecords .l,e¡e

generally avaiÌable to white buyers, although the ma.jority ofpu¡chase¡s we¡e

28 Darid Etans

black. Realizing this, and attempting to expand tieir major custome¡ base.the (omp¿nies by l92J eslablished series of..¡ace ¡ecords" ofblues. gospeL.andjazz music to be ma¡keted almost exclusively in black comrnunities andadve¡tised in black newspapers. Most white corsumers thus became cutoff ftorn records by black a¡tists except for those by jazz figures with thebioadest mass appç41iike Louis Arnist¡ong and Duke Eliajon. From tiispoìnt onw¿rd, however. bl.res records became progressively more blues¡ In1 923 a new wave offemale singers fiom the southe¡ìì váudèrville circuii beganto .ecord, and othe¡ companies like Victo¡, Vocalion, Brunswick, Ajax, andGennett got into the race recording business. Some of these singers likeM-a,Rain9¡ Bessie Smith,_and Idu C9"{-.o-_1r1pq_Cgd.a..good bit of thei¡ ownm¿terial, dnd more of their songs employed a single rwelve,bàr strain wiLhvariations. Mosl ivere nov.accompanied nor by a full jazz band bui by apianist, sometimes with one o¡ tr¡;o othe¡ insäuments such as iìuräp"t,i¡ombone, cla¡inet, o¡ banjo, using leading soloists fiom the jazz world,

though some (Smith, Raìae¡ Sara Martin) were occasionallyaccompaniedln record just by one or fivo guitarists, a banjo player, a guita¡ and ûddle,:r a_small jug band.

'Themes of rhese songs were more reaijstic, and ly.rics and tunes drew¡oi Êom folk sou¡ceì. Pa¡¿mount. Gennett, Brunswick. and Vocalionregan makìng recordinp/s ar Chicago and other midwestern studior, ar.*ingrn the local and regional talent base thât was generally closer to blues sou¡ces.han that ofNew Yo¡k. Okeh Reco¡ds even made field trips to Atìan ta,n 1923,òllowed by further trips to St. Louis and New Orleans. Most ofthese new;ingers (Lucille Bogaa, Clara Smith, Viola McCo¡ Bertha ,,Chippie,, Hill,ìara Martin, Sippie Wallace, Rosa Henderson, Victoria Spivey) had rougherrcices than rhe fi¡st wave ofrecording artists and sounded more comfortablerandling blue notes. Man /woman duos also began to record, includinguch vete¡an vaudeville acts as Geo¡ge Williams and Bessie B¡own, Leola B.Lnd Kid Wesle,v \Â/ilson, and Butterbeans and Susie. Most of their songsvere original stage routines set to bluesy ragtime tunes aod dealing withhe battle of the sexes. There are recordings ofa few solo male performers,nostly fiom the vaudeville scene, such as female impersonator and yodeler)hariesAnderson, Nerv Orleans singingbanjoist Papa Charlie Jackson, one-nan-band Hezekiah Jenkins playing guitar and harmonica, and Louisville:uitarist Sylvester Weaver who also played on some ofsara Martin's ¡ecords-r few came fiom the juke houses and streets, such as Atlanta twelve-stringuitarist Ed A¡d¡ews and one man-band Daddy Stovepipe...

The art;sr who broke opcn rhe recording feld lor maJeself-accompanielolqòlües 'inge¡s was ¿ guirar-plafingstreer singei Êom úafas named BIindemon lefferson. Recording in Chicago around the beginning oiiola herìgtiaborate blues melodies in a vocal range that stretched ro rwo oct¿ves,

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f

29 The development of the blues

and played extended single-note runs on the guitar, displaying a seeminglyinexhaustible suppl;r ofimprovisational ideas performed witl amazing virtuosity. At first he relied largely on traditional blues þics in constructinghis songs, but by 1928 he was displayiag more lyric originality and a rarecompositional skili. Jeffersoris records sold widel¡ and he served as a rolemodel of success and ihe standa¡d of,-musicai excellence for many othersi¡ger-guil¿rists. His pJaying antìcipated by abour frfteen ye¿¡r the imp¡ovisàiìbnafiingJe note styte'o-fitËctricìàd !uìr,äi. oi*"ãììììr40s, suchas Aa¡on "T-Bone" W¿lker, who as a child used to lead Jefferson around onthe st¡eets of DalÌas. A¡othe¡ influentiai singer-guitarist, lvhose recordilgcareer began around tlre same time, was fônniã-loÎìi¡n .o¡iginalìy fiomNew O¡leans but ¡elocatedto St. Louis. JoÊ-rison came from a more sophisti-cated musical wo¡ld than Jeffe¡son, being equally adept onviolin aod pianoand comfortable performing in vaudevüle theatres andwith jazz musicians.As spectacula¡ a musician as Jefferson, he served as anothe¡ role model andinfluence to aspiring guitarists and blues singe¡s- Both a¡tists we¡e k¡orvnfor bending strhgs in their playing and have been cited as influences byB. B. Kilg and other later electric blues gLrit¿¡ists.

Two factors contributed to the success of Jefferson and Johnson andartists like them who recorded in subsequent years. One.!vas the inventionofthe elecrrical relqlding process, which c¿me into general use in 1925.The use ofa r{ciophoneàabled records to convey a wider ftequency rangeof sound, reducrn'-g-s-urface noise a¡d allowing reglonal accenrs and roughvoices (as well as light voices and inst¡uments such as guitars and pianos)to be heard better. The second was the decision by many of the compa-nies to record awav Êom their main studios located jn northern cjties.Electrical recording equipment was lighter in weight, more portable, andless sensitive to envi¡onmental va¡iables. Record companies were facing in-creased competition fiom radio, which seemed to provide unlimited freeentertainmert, whereas ¡eco¡ds t)?ically cost 75 cents fo¡ sjx minutes ofmusic. The companies had to find new ma¡kets, and one of these rvas theaudience fo¡ blues by black performers, who hardly ever appeared on radio(a situation tìat prevailed with only a few exceptions up to the end ofthe1940s). The success of lefferson and lohnson indicated thar rhere was ama¡ket fo¡ southe¡n blues straight Êom tle b,a:¡elhouges, st¡eet corners,andho*usè paitied.4Ìthòú!j1i.Okeü Records had been making a few field ses,sions as early as 1923, t}le comparies stalted this practice in earnest in 1926:Atlanta, Dallas, and Memphis were favodte locations up to i931- Sessionslasted a few days to a couple of weeks in ¡ented hotel rooms, auditori-ums, or office buiJdings. and gospel music. sermons, iazz, country music,ethnic music, and more mainstream popular music were also ¡ecorded_ Theaudience fo¡ downhome blues couid be reached through advertisements

30 Dayid Eva¡s

in the black piess and distribution networks reaching to music and fur-niture stores in black u¡ban neighborhoods, even to soutìern plantationcommissa¡ies.

Blues with guitar or pianoBetweeC 1926 and I93l þ large n umbe r of solo gu itar plal ng biues sinqerswe.e ¡eãrded in bothròe nortlern ¿nd the tempoiary ,ourhern ltu¿ìliby over a halfdozen record companies..Besides Jefferson and Johnion, tñeyincluded HenrvThomas, Furry Lewis, Charley Patton, Son House, TornmyJohnson, Ishman Bracev, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Barbecue Bob,Peg Leg Howell, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake, almost all born in the1890s or earJy 1900s. Abourhalfofrhem also recorded folk ballads, spirituaìs,minst¡el and ragtime tunes, and other olãár maìeiial;õùì ;la¡tõn;ent¡ttèdamol lntliãty ói bhies, after àbòìt a quarteiêentury ofdevelòpmènt bluesmusit wãi énough to sustain tlle musical interests and careers ofplenty ofperformers. This situation would p¡evail fo¡ tlle ¡emainde¡ of the twentiethcentury'

Enough singer-guita¡ists we¡e ¡eco¡ded in this era rhat it is possible tocategorize most in terms of three regionaily diffe¡eJ.rü+edapproaches toblues per[ormance <qvle. one of ¡hese encompassèi East Texas fniããffitportions ofOkl¿homa, Àrkansas, and Louìsiana- Here the¡fllodic lines areoften wide ranging and free flowing, ¡most tit "il¿ úoüÃ. lil g"it-pounds ãu;áy wiiñ"ôiãt 6;;¡õñã¡TñÉfe ¡rìijmèðnõiê di gióÇ of notes inthe bass, while fiee-flov'ing and seemingly improvised treble lines answe¡the voice. Sometimes, in blues apparendy designed more for listening thanfor dancing, the guitar virtuaìly drops out during the singing, only to comeback with a string of noles as a response. Blind Lemon Jqfferson epitomizedthis approach, which wo uld prove to be in flGti"l - ì;-t*;1"ät?È"ìîiñG--rviìiôuìA apply it to an ensemble fo¡mat whete otìe¡ instruments cou.ldbe counted on to keep the beat and provide the þarmoniq-bacþround.

Another tylistic region might be called Ltrã Deep Sour-Lrr\etching Ênmthe Mississippi Valley eastward to Cenrral Geoigiarltrhé'eafiìòt6Deka )region of norrhwest Mississìppi, an area of Iarge plantations ¿nd an õvélwhelmingly black rural population where blues was intensely cultivatedalong with the cotton crop. Blues from this region dispiay the greatest in-teqrjtgof emotional feeÌing and seriousness of contlt, C..ryælgryçt!ûg__¡he h¿¡shness oflife the¡e. The guit¿r pl¿ying rends to bi-very_pg¡gg¡¡¡ve.with rhe slide_style heard fiequentlv. and mìnyìr*. ur. .o*ü*ì!ãEi-rJpeated riffs, lr,iààdiès aiè often perraronic,

"nJ hi.rnoni.-äã-uáffi"nìií little emphasized. Singers rel;' heavily on a shared body of \ric verses

31 The d.etelopment of the blues

and phrases i,r const ructing their 'ongs. Àtogether jt jç a srark. mini¡n¿listapproach to t}e blues. effecúve through irs hypnotic powêriit proved Lo bevery infl uential post- 1 945, when the guitar became electrifr ed and harnessedto the sound of a small ensemble that could rein_force .the musicl intensiry

The thi¡d blues region encompassed ¡6e,,ÉEsl-eo{t from Flo¡ida toMaryland, stretching westwa¡d through thel€igäñõñi, .rhe AppalachianMountains. and tfre Ohig fuver Valley to central Kentucþ and Tennessee.

Hg:l!" -n !:!S,f í"s,q:..I"/t'g r r''.. and 4{!lo - Arneri ca n fol kmusic could be hea¡d in the blues. Guitarists tended to play patterns ofal-

Mountains, and the Olp,fuver Valley to central-Kãntucþ and Tennessee

music coulfbe hea¡d in the blues. Guitarists tended to play patterns ofal-t"ñ;tngbd;;tõ* ã" at"i"uting l"ss note and chord, ir the manne¡ ofragtime, witlì spectacula¡ virtuoso playing in the treble rânge, featuring fre-quent harmonic changes and passing notes and chords. The ¡h¡hms werelishter. and most pLavers adhered strictlv to the twelve-bar or some otherstandard format. It was in many respects the opposite of the Deep SouthstylaSome of its gåates-t eipoiÞits werãb)inil oi ötheniise halrd-appedmusicians, fully professional in music on account ofthei¡ disabilities. Thisstyle reached its peak ofdevelopment in the i920s and 1930s and, perhapsbecause of its tertural and ha¡monic density,_did-no-t t!4¡-,11tgw-ell into a

late¡ electrìc and ensemble form¿t.--D¡ñfg this Ë.i;ãït,-,".1-tliätri.t. *"." also recorded in combinatíonswith otier inst¡uments- There $'e¡e duos of two guitarists, such as FrankStokes andDan Sane (the Beale Street SheiÌs), or Memphis-based MemphisMinnie and Kansas Joe (McCoy), and Tommy Johnson and Charlie McCoy(Joet brother) lrom Jackon, Mississippi. The Mississippi Sheiks we¡e a

st¡ipped-down string band ofjust guitar and Êddle, rvhile Peg Leg Howell's"Gang" from Atlanta consistedoftwo guita¡s and a fiddle. The Dallas StringBand used a mandolin, guitar, and string bass. Larger combos of three tofive musicians we¡e especially found in the black u¡ban communities andwere variously known as washboard or jug bands (from their emblematicinst¡uments), skif8e bands (derived from "scuffle" and suggesting their dif-ficult musical existence), juke bands (from the juke house environmentwhere they often performed), and spasm bands (fiom their irregular andimp¡omptu pattern of performing and their use of "pick up" musicians).They played in clubs, street co¡ners, parks, serenading in residential neigh-bo¡hoods, on excu¡sion boats and trains, at store openings and sales, and âtprivate pa¡ties in homes and hotels, and were popular with white as welÌ as

blackaudiences. ]ug bands were recorded in Memphis (Memphis Jug Band;Cannon's lug Stompers), Dallas, Birmingham, Cincinnati, and Louisville,here often displaying agreater af6niqv fo r jazz andpopular music sounds andinstlumentation. Walter Tafor's band fiom Kentucky consisted of guitar,banjo, washboard, and kazoo, and there were othe¡ combinations ofstring,wind, and percussion instruments recorded at this time. Although these

ating bass note and chord, ir the manner of

32 Davíà Evans

bands reco¡ded some ¡agtime and popular tunes, thei¡ main repertoirewas blues, and they can be viewed as the frrst real blues bands, .on*irtirrgso¡ne ofthe elements in protot'?e form that would occur in mo¡e mode¡nensembles.

_PianisFsinger Leroy Carr and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell, based inindianapolìs, took the lead in popularizing this qpe of duo which, {¡om1928, became anothe¡ foundation ofmode¡n blues ensembles. Carr,splairl_tive singing was ser to a frrll, rolling, rh¡hmic piano, with Blackwell,s single_noteguitar lines cutting through like aknife. Blackwell played a steei_boãiedinstrument, giving him added volume to match that oithi piano. Itbecamean immenseþpopula¡ and influential combination, spawning many imita_to¡s and outlasting Carr,s death in I935. A variation on this set-up, áne thatcame to be known as "hokum,, blues, was also created in l92g bv two mu_sicians based in Chicago. pianist Thomas A. Dorsey l..Georgia fom..) ¿ndguita¡ist Hudson Whitaker (.Tämpa Red,'). The latter also f,layed a steel_bodied guita¡, oftea in rhe slide sryle. Hokum blues tlpicalyìrád ,h".,,..r"form of couplet and ¡efrain, had fast tempos, and dealt humorouslv withsexual topics, often full of double entendre.Dorsey and Whitaker, ,o*áti-".wjth Bìg Bill Broonzy substituting on guiur, often recorded as the HokumBoys or Famous Hokum Boys, but these names we¡e also used by othe¡musicians. The style's popularity would last th¡ough the 1930s, anã sexualthemes have ¡emaired part ofthe blues eve¡ since. A numbe¡ ofthe fem¿levaudevíìle singers and male-female duos also reco¡ded hokum bluesin thelate 1920s and ea¡ll 1930s in an attempt to counte¡ slumping ¡ecord salesthat came with the onset ofthe economic Depression.

It r.âs not untii the end of 192g that solo piano blues emerged as aclearly defined format on records, although earlier players (Hersul iho-"s.Will Ezell, "Cow Cow" Davenpo¡t ) had reco¡ded. Success was ¿chieved thatyear with Chicago pianist pine Top Smith,s ,,pine Top's Boogie Woogie,,,a dance-oriented instrumenral piece with jive talking ty S-ith .urjirrgon an imaginary dialogue with dancers. An eight-to_the_bar ¡iffwus h"*ãprominently in the bass, modulating according to the twelve_ba¡ ha¡monicscheme, a patte¡n that took the name ..boogie-woogie.', Smithl blues wasthe sound ofthe saloon or "barrelhouse,' (another name given to this style)and the urban house party His success opened up the recording studiosto many other solo pianists (Romeo Nelson, Montana Tafor, Alex Moore,Charlie Spand, Speckled Red) Íiom this environment in both Chicago andthe South. lnstrumental solos we¡e common: many oftl-Ìese men haã beenaccompanists to singers, while the piano being a loud instrument and theplayer in a small noisy sa.loon o¡ house party having to face into it andaway fiom the audience, made any singing hard to hear. The success ofthisstyle came as the Depression was setting i¡, so most ofthe ¡ecords sold in

33 The àetelopment of the blues

small quantities, and few oft}re a¡tists had more than one or two recordingsessions.

Consolidationflq P_"p*".i." U.""Shtó ofalmo.stall ofthe companiesq{ h"9_Þ::i-1r_r]11g. jgS. ftrSrdr._ Srl"s were reduced to ¿ trrtkie, ano intlll \q¡d!13¡..y..-bl¡:es records lv-e¡e_ made {lgther11$llry ly.1s-th€ vaude-

!l!!;1¡e circuit t!'e! h4-*r-.!e.1.,':4,¡_s_r!el¡-p"{i.g1r¡-!:Ti]:Ì ïli:I.Cõñiributing to th is decline w¿s the g¡owi¡g popularity (since 1927) oftall-infpì-A-ul-é! which i;¿rá cheaper to run tlan live musii a¡id ñõìäiliãti"eto audiences because of tlei¡ novelry A few vaudeville singers (lda Cox,Victoria Spivey, Trixie Smith) soldie¡ed on, but recording sessions wererare, and they had to combine the occasional theatre show with appear-ances in cabarets, road houses, and tent shows. Most retired or faded intoobscurity, while a few like Ethel Waters and Hattie McDaniels enjoyed suc-cess in the limited roles available to them in Holllwood ñlms. Some madecomebacks in the i940s as the jazz revival got under wa¡ Most femaie bluesa¡tists ofthe 1930s, such as Merline lohnson, Lil Johnson, Alice Moo¡e, andfo¡me¡ vaudeville singer Lucille Bogan, sang in a rougher style like that oftheir male counterpa¡ts and used simila¡ accompaniments ofa solo pianisto¡ a small combo ofpiano, guitar, and sometimes one or two otìer inst¡u-ments. Memphis Minnie and Georgia White even pla,ved their own guitarand piaoo ¡espectively- Mù ,4!¡8,.J,.914-"--S-¡,-would become the lêadingfo¡ces in the blues fiom th-930s on, whíle mosi ivoirr-élsìnldl õüèh as

Lil Green.and Rosetta Howard. tended to combinè iheir blues with po¡mgterial-þzl-ts+z saw a consolidation of the bÌue,s recording industry and a

certain homogenization of sound in the musidThree record companiesemerged to dominate blues recording during this period. Ame¡ican Reco¡dCompany had Vocalion and several othe¡ labels, and eventually revived theOkeh label. ln 1938 theybecame part ofthe Columl¡ia B¡oadcasting SÏstem.RCA Victor's Bluebirdlabel was the successor to the oldVicto¡ Records, andDecca Records was a new company sta¡ted in 1934. NewYo¡k a¡d especiall,v

Chicago became the locatio¡s for tn-qsl-¡9ç.9r.dj!g_fe.!¡i9.1sr_aqq tuo Chicagotalent scoutlärid þiòãucers, Leste¡ Mel¡ose andJ. Mayo \\¡illiams, cont¡olledmuch-õf'the-access tö recÕrding fór blues artists by ihe inid-1930s, whileArt Sathêily äld à féw ôtheÌs ¡oa¡¡ied the Sóuth iò.ùôik with iãlonrthe¡e.Although the companies visited Dallas, San A¡tonio, Atlanta, and Cha¡lottewith some regularit¡ field sessions fo¡ blues artists were considerably less

ftequent. Chicago and New Yo¡k were the pìaces to be for those artists who

wa¡Ìted to get on reco¡ds. )uke boxes and discount chain stores accountedtt "Ì l"::"11t share of ¡eéorá sales, and the compa¡ies U"""-,, i"t"an asíê'mbÌy line a;¡proach to blues recording_ They sought ãrt¡t. *iawere r*ikipffiI-ented as singers. songwriters, and i¡st¡umentalists. andthey oflen recorded them in m¿ssive sessions that yielded eight or moremâsier recordings in a few hours. Many of *"i" "r,iir, ,"r,äUãa ...oiãingcáiee¡s ofa decade o¡more and often appea¡edas sidemen on ona

"no,frartrecordlõiÏélþêä as .ong*rite.. undìl"", r.or,r. O."pi," rf* r."i"".ytoìàlÌÌõõiaõIidà¡iòr duiing ttiii periòã, ih"rè *à, stiU " consid"r"bl";;;;.y

of styles to be hea¡d, with sorne emerging þic commentary o" p"fl i."fsubiects.

Tlìree artists ofthe 1930s with deep roots in the blues t¡aditions ofA¡ka¡sas, Mississippi, and Tennessee created styles on the pian", g"i;;;;harmonica that seemed to consolidate their pasts ana would p#;;;;thei¡ future di¡ection as components in electric blues ensembìes. RooseveltSykes (from Helena, A¡kansas) reco¡ded almost every yea¡ ftorn I92;;;the 1970s, in fo¡mats í¡om solo to eight_piece ba¡d. He displayed e¡eatvirtuosity ard independence ofthe hands, especially on ,to*ilu", *i"r"the left kept up an insistentbeat deep in the bass while the right.urrg"d Íì;;ìyoverthe upper and middle keþoard ptaþg hornllke pusslug"s *iä pl"r,tyof flattened rhi¡ds and sevenths ¡epresetting biue ,rot"r. Voîrrg", plnirt,f¡om the same Mid-South region, such as Memphis Slim

"l,a ött^Sp"rrl

picked up this style and helped popularize it in ensembles du¡i"g,f,. ìSaò.and 195Os. Fo¡ most ofthe l93Os, Sykes was based in St. Louis,

"'.ia¡ fu-"áfor its piano players since the ragtime era. St. Louis was also home tá Walte¡Davis, who specialized in rather sad þics and played in a simpìified andidiosyncratic version ofsykes, style, and peetie Wheatstrawwho, _ .o",."r,,presented tlre iraage ofthe wild ¡evele¡ and played in a rhlthmic style closerto the olde¡ ba¡¡elhouse t¡adition. His vocal manne¡ism ofleaping into thefalsetto range became widely imitated. A numbe¡ ofsoutle¡n bairelhousepianists had a more improvisational righthand. Among the most successfulwere Littie B¡other Montgomer¡ based in Jackson, Mississippi, and WalterRoland from Birmingham. Texas pianists based in Houstån, Dallas, SanAntonio, and Shreveport, Louisiana, were the mosI extensively recorded,duela¡gelyto continuing field trips by the record companies to thi, ."gion.Their playing used a va¡iety ofbass patterns and was improvisational ii theright hand but generally with mo¡e ha¡monic development than that oftÌìeir counre¡parts irt the Deep South and Chicago. pianists like Black BoyShine, Rob Cooper, And,v Boy, pinetop Burks, anà Bhck lvoryKing *o.k áa regional circuit ofroadhouses and u¡ban saloons in tlle Southwe.iu regionwhich su¡vived the Depression somewhat better tha¡r the rest oftt

"-"o,.,n',.]r-From .. 1935, Meade Lux Lewis, Albe¡t Ammons, pete Johnson and limrny

35 The àevelopment of the blues

Yancey led a revival of recording classic boogie-woogie piano. These werevirtuoso players who rarely sang, and by 1940 boogie-woogie began to beappreciated as a form of instrumental jazz, being the first solo blues styleto achieve mass acceptance with a white audience. It reached its peak ofpopularity during World War ll, but continued thereafte¡ to influence thepiano styles heard in jump blues bands and i¡ the Âelds ofcountry musicand ¡ocì¡'¡!e+-.

Rôben Joh¡sbn f¡om Robinsonville, Mississippi, was heir to the im-passìoned singing and harsh percussive Mississippi guiiàr styte õf SoìHofse, VVillìè Bìown, and ChirIe' P¿non,ãn¿ t¡ii ¡ ietlecte¿ especially inIohnson's slide playing on tle recordshe made in l9J6 and 193:. Bul he alsolistened to smootìe¡ players like Lonnie )ohnson and especially to pianistslike Sykes, Wheatstraw and Carr. Johnsont recordings reflected aìl oftheseinfluences (see Chapter 5). He died in 1938, but his i¡fluence wouldbe heardover ten years later in the electrjc ensemble wo¡k ofi'èilôú ivii;issippì andArliansas guitarists who had migrated to Chicago, sûch as Mudãy W'áìets,elmô¡g 4a9s._rdj1q&y,lo¡ þbnny_Slines, and Robe¡t ".lunio¡" LocL'wood.81"""';i, s"l;irttt;;;us;ú ó¡;; i*piied by lòhnsónì songs andsryle â s well as h is-rirysteridus agè. and a bo¡ed collectio n of h is co mpletereco'áings becamè--p1ati¡u¡n-iéáo¡dÇ-the i990!.Oîtiêi'iVä-säsìppi bluesguitaiists suôh âs Èùlkã v;"fiäé"ãiìãBiglöël;rüìâ-nìs represented the roughDeep South style on recordings during the 1930s and early 1940s, whilethe mel95!ic_all_y_{9¡rser and mo-re h,a¡¡¡^o;ri-ç.Pie4nS!l C_.'ty-1.€-y_i!_sl*Sss-fully.recorded by such artists as Joshua White from Sqg-tþ.Ç3¡,-oþ,9-Pg*UMoss fiom Georgia,.arrd-Blind Boy lullçt ft.o_1n ¡Jg¡lh-Earglina.-lhite andFulle¡'s successo¡ B¡ownie McGhee, along rvith harmonica player SonnyTêrry from North Carolina and guitar evangelist Reverend Gary Davis, re-settled in New Yo¡k City in the 1940s, influencing the nascent folk-musicrevival.sl-.e¡-r-e- tbsrç.-l\notier set of blues gui'Arisd ñ-iñ fsmlxók'onioArnold, Casey Bill Weldon, Osca¡ Woods, and Tampa Red, incorporatedthe Hawaiian practice ofplayinglong melodic lines with a slider, in contrastto the older blues practice of usiag the slider to play short riffs.

Solo harmonica was reco¡ded during the 1920s by such artists as DeIord Bailey and )aybird Coleman, but because the performer cannot Playand sing at the same time, it mo¡e often was hea¡d in a blues setti¡g wiùotìe¡ instruments. Alone, it was oÍÌen confined to novelty pieces such as

train imitations. In the late 1920s and early 1930s the harmonica began tobe heard in duets with guitar and in jug bands. Learning from fellorv \\¡est

Tènnessee ha¡monica players Noah læwis, who had plal'ed in Cannon's JugStompers, and Hammie Nlton, who had accompa¡ied guita¡ists Son Bondsand Sleepy John Estes, Sonny Boy Williamson f¡orn Jackon, Tennessee,consolidated the instrumenfs position in an ensemble setting. Between

36 David Evans

1937 and his death in 1948 WiÌliamson ¡ecorded with groups ranging &omsimply two guita¡s or guitar and piano to a five_pieå U""¿, "¿ã_?-i"r,and drums. His plapng was ñ:ll of bent blue notes and had a u..aqiaìry

that seemed to flow seamlessly in and out of his singing. H" i"nr""."¿coundess otler players in the 1950s and luter, mo.t .roLbiy the great ;;ttleWalte¡ His major rival during this period was Sonny ft;rv lvio rv; ;equally spectacular playe¡, notable for his interjection

"f "*a 1vfr."p. i.his playing and his falsetro singing.

. YTf.:{t!: ",t*t popular blues aftists during the t930s and ea¡ly 1940shad come fìom the Deep south to Chicago. rli rretpea èitàulìeìf*;as a key destination fo¡.òiheì á¡tists

".rã u, a á.rtinoing .."r;;;i;i;..éo¡dìäg.-nesjdes the female a¡tisti mentioned ea¡liei ùJmôSt6fiãofthese srars we¡e guitarists BigBill (Broonzy), Bumble Bee Slim, Bill Gaithe¡Tampa Red, and Johnnie TÞmple, pianists limmie Go¡don, B[nãj"hr;";;,Curtis Jones, Memphis Slim, and Big Maceo, harmonica players Jazz Gllumand Robert Lee McCo¡ and Washboard Sum. Fr"rrkie ..Hutf p-f, l*.n, "vaudeville veteran, and Doctor Cla¡on, whose singing anticipated;he rn;_lismatic quality of late¡ soul bìues stylists, we¡e popofu, ]ro.atu. fo ,fomiddle ofthe 1930s the t)?ic¿l instrumentation was guitar and piano in theCarr/ BlackwelÌ style, or two guitars. Thence the¡e às in.r"urirrg ,,lppÌ"_mentation by such instruments as st¡ing bass, washboard, and t ui-#.".

A.¡othe¡ kind ofbiues ensemble began to be heard from 1936 onward,pioneered by a Chicago group calling itself the Harlem Hamfats. Led bysinger and guitarist Joe McCo¡ they consisted of two guitars, piano, basidrums, trumpet, and clarinet, combining elenents fro; MississippiUf

"".and New Orleans styl e jazz. The jazz mtsicians represented the m"", ¿*r.at this time who we¡e unwilling or unable to adapt to rle mo." ."gi-"rlr"dbig band swing style and who found refuge with biues artists tryiog; oOuina fuller and more sophisticated sound. The success ofthe Hamf"ä irrrpir"ãthe creation of similar groups in Chicago and elsewhere, including b[ieShepard and His Kentucþ Bo,vs and Louis Jordan and His Tyrrrpurr], Fiu".BigBill, Tampa Red, Jimmie Go¡don and others experimented rnriJr Ual,¿s ofa similar instrumentation, while lohnnie Tèmple, FrankieJaron, and RosettaHoward bo¡¡orved the Ha¡lem Hamfats fo¡ some oftheir ¡eco¡dings. Groupsolps so.t proved to be anothe¡ of the foundaLions fo¡ i¿ter blu"s b¿nds.

foward the end ol rhe l9J0s. ¡he eledric guitar entered the blues,adopted by some oI the leading Chicago st¿rs, jncludinq Bie Bill. TamoaRed. Memphis Minnie. and Lonnie Tohnso-n.\tn f s¿l Lthir "Bie Bo/Crudup_ emerged, pfaying electric guirar buiìnging *ith a .aw cãuntíyvoice- He was accompanied at fi¡st only by a string bass, but by the mid'_1940s he had added d¡ums- His sound was a precursor ofthe harsher electricbluesthat would soon be recorded by other Mississippi migran"," Cii."g;

ä

ßfä

$

37 The development of the bluæ

Iike Muddy Waters. It also had a major influence on Elvis P¡esley and thebeginnings ofrocknroll in the 1950s.

Blues in transitionThe 1940s we¡e a t¡ansitional time fo¡ the blues, for the homogenizing trendswe¡e ¡eve¡sed and new styles emerged. The military draft for World War Iibroke up many blues groups and removed musicians ftom theù commu-nities. During the war a shellac shortage and a strike against the recordingstudios called bythe Ame¡ican Fede¡atioo of Musicians crippled the ¡eco¡diadustry New independent ¡eco¡d companies founded by entrepreneursfiom varied bacþrounds sprang up in cities all ac¡oss Ame¡ica, especiall,vafter the wa¡ and the st¡ike ended, and they drew upon local talent in man,vcases. Many recorded black music, includingblues. The post-roar,vears \{¡e¡e

atime ofprosperiry even fo¡ blacks to some degree. Manyhad left the ¡uralSouth during the war for military service and jobs in the North, the \{estCoast, and southern cities, fleeing poverty and racism, while the increasingmechanization ofag¡icultu¡e and the decline ofthe sha¡ecropping s)'stemdrove many others to the cities. B), the end ofthe decade the first of manyradio stations with an all-black on-air fo¡mat was established in Memphis,broadcasúng a steady diet of live and recorded blues.

Most ofthe established Chicago blues stars ofthe pre-war years contin-ued to ¡ecord in the 1940s for the three major companies and sold ¡eco¡dsin good qua¡tities thanks to superior distribution. But by the end of thedecade their sound was passé, and these compa¡ies soon got out of tlteblues field, leaving it entirely to the i¡dependent labels and a iargely neu'cast of cha¡acte¡s. The electric guitar had meanwhile beco¡ne increasinglyprominent: by the early 1950s it had given new life to solo country blues,making the sound ofLightnin'Hopkins and Li'l Son Jackon f¡om Texas andJohn Lee Hooker ftom Detroit by way of Mississippi, louder and mo¡e insistent. Hopkins perfo¡med in a somewhat spare version ofthe style createdby Blind Lemon ]effe¡son, ¡qhile Hooker featured pe¡tatonic tunes withoütmany harmonic changes and boogie rh¡hms drawn fiom piano and en-semble blues. Although most of the solo guitar performers we¡e based incities, their country origins were quite appa¡ent in thei¡ voices, lyrics, andsound.

At the opposite end ofthe spectrum were the blues shoute¡s and c¡oon-ers, who projected an ai¡ of comfo¡table urbanit¡ Sorne of them did notplay an instrument but, like their pop music counterparts, left that choreto others. Thei¡ music suggests the post-WorldWar Il mood ofconfrdence,progress, sophistication, and growing assertiveness in black u¡ban Ame¡ica.

38 David Evans

They remained popula¡ into the 1950s. The shouters sang with big, husky,authoritative voices, offering lyrics on upbeat themes oipu.ryi.rã, ¿.inl_ing, love making and other good_time acrivities, or mesàge. a;;ct"a utthe opposite sex that made it clea¡ that the singer meantiusi¡ess. Thepreferred style ofaccompaniment for shoute¡s was the five_ to .".r", n"."jump band, evolved Íiom older groups like the Ha¡lem Hamf"t"

"rrd ioui.

Jordan's Tympany Five as well as scaled_down big bands. Most of th" ;;_cians rvere versatile jazzmen. Ahonking, bleating, shriekingsaxopt o.r" *ãsome bebop tìavoring became the most p¡ominent lead i¡strument, whiledrums and a boogie-woogie-styiedpiano were also promiaent. A ""*¡* ",thesingers, in fact, played saxophone or drums in thei¡baads. F.* *"r" glri_tarists. Some ofthe shoute¡s we¡e pianists, although these musicians mo¡eoften tended to be crooners preferringa smalle¡ softer, ,,after hours,, format¡,

' ch as pia¡o and lightly amplified jazzy guitar witl string bass

".,alo, figit

drums, following Nat "King,, Cole and otherjazz arld pop singe.r. Sh.ui;;and crooningwere fwo sides ofthesame coin,bothr_rrbu.r" arrd-sophisticatej,and some singers we¡e adept at both styles. Although early strángholds ofthese sryles appear to have been Kansas City and othe¡ midwestl¡n citiesstretching down to Oklahoma and Texas, their greatest flowering was inCalifornia, where many migrants Íìom this a¡ea hà settled du¡ing ina uft",World lVa¡ II and where there were many new independent re.oã .orrrpu-nies- Some ofthepioneer shouters had experience in tlte big swing ba.rds tiratwere popular in the 1930s and early 1940s. LouisJordan himselfiad wo¡kedin Chick Webbt band. Jimmy Rushing and ]oe Williams sang with CountBasie's O¡chest¡a in Kansas Ciry andJimmyWitherspoon and i{alter Brownsang with layMcShann's band there. Big loe Tu¡ne¡ was another Kansas Cirvshouter, who rvorked with big bands and boogie_woogie pianist, urrd -"rr'_aged to carry his style into ¡ock'n ¡oll in the i950s. Wr.nonie Ha¡ris f¡omnearby Omaha, a h:ghly popular shouter. had sung with Lucþ MillinderìOrcbestra. A bjg vo,çq ¿¡d ç.nlranding presence were undoubted ¿dvan_tages wherì singing with these large aggregations. Singers f¡om Tþxas andOklahoma especiallywound up on the West Coast. Mo¡e of them played in_st¡uments than thei¡ counterpa¡ts from further north, includhgàrrrrnln".Roy Milton, guitarisr JimmyLiggins, and alto sax player EddieViiso.,,

"longwith a host of c¡ooning/shouting pianists: Charles Brown, Floyd Dxon, þãLrggins,Iittle Willie Littlefield, Ivory Joe Hunter, Amos Milburn, and percyMalúeld. But there .were shoute¡s and c¡oone¡s in many other cities ofthe Midlvest and South: New O¡leans (Roy B¡own, Cousin joe), Charlotte(Nappy Brown), Atlanta (Billy Wright) and Ohio (Buli Moose Jackon, TinyBradsharv, and H-Bomb Ferguson). Rufus Thomas and Gatemo,rth Moor"were Íìom Memphis, while even Cla¡ksdale, Mississippi, had a jump band,Ike Turne¡'s Kings of Rh¡hm. C¡ooning pianists C".il C"r,t

""¿ jo¡rn"y

å

39 The de1lelopment of the blues

Ace we¡e fiom Nashville and Memphis. Veteran Lonnie Johnson enjo,r'edanotler ofhis periodic comebacks as a blues crooner. Some shouters wo¡kedwitlin vocal groups (the Midnighters, the Five Royales, and the Coasters)using jump band instrumentation and specializing in blues on humorousand sexual topics, making tle transition to ¡ock'n'¡oil in the 1950s. Therewe¡e also female shouterswith backgrounds in gospelsinging, and croonersinfluenced by jazz and pop singers, especially Billie Holida¡ These singersincluded Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, Little Esther, Big Maþelle, EttaJames, Big Mama Thornton, and singiag pianists Camilie Howa¡d, HaddaBrooks, Nellie Lutche¡ and Julia Lee.

In the late 1940s and 1950s in Chicago, a small elect¡ic combo fo¡matdeveloped, combining some cha¡acteristics of both the solo eiect¡ic gui-tadsts (the ¡aw quality and closeness to countryroots) and the jump bands(volume, power, and urban aggressiveness). Blackpeople u'ere streaming outof the plartaúons of the Deep South, often heading straight for Chicago,Gar¡ Detroit, Minneapolis, Mi-lwaukee, and Cleveland. Because ofits priorimportance i¡ blues and the presence of man)' new independent recordcompanies, Chicago became the focal point for this new styie. The bandsfeatured typically one o¡ two electric guitars, usualÌy a harmonica pÌayedthrough an amplifier, drums, andperhaps stringbass, piano, or even a saxo-phone. Some ofthe earliest groups werejustha¡monica and two guitars. Thesinging guitarists had often sta¡ted out as solo performers on acoust-ic in-struments û1the South and built orjoined aband after tiey came to Chicago.The¡e was little obvious jazz influence: tïe musicians had grorvn up in thecountry and they were loud and raw. Repeated riffs, bottleneck guita¡ andwailing harmonica abounded. Muddy Waters and Howlin'Wolf, ¡vo leade¡sin this movement, were both f¡om Mississippi and had been influenced b,"-

older country blues artists such as Cha¡ley Patton, Son House, and Robertlohnson. Other prominent figures we¡e guitarists Jimm1, Rogers, Elmorelames, Eddie Talor, J. B. Lenoir, and Bo Diddley, all from Mississippi, har-monica players Little Walter, ]unior'Wells, and limmy Reed, and pianistsSunnyland Slim, Willie Mabon, and Otis Spann.

Chicago was not the only place where this sound existed: artists likeBaby Boy Warren and Bobo Jenkins had a simila¡ sou¡d in Det¡oit, andit could be hea¡d in the Delta itself in Wiilie Love, Sonny Boy WillìamsonNo.2, a¡dWood¡owAdams (Howlin'Wolf and Elmore )ames had ¡eco¡dedin this fo¡mat in the South before they headed to Chicago). ¡rom the late1950s a regional variant ofthis style eme¡ged in t¡e Baton Rouge area, withartists like Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Lightnin' SIim, andLonesome Sundowncombining influences f¡om the Deita, Chicago, Nerv O¡leans, and Texas.

,Arrother late developing regional variant was found in the hills ofnorthernMississippi, built around a ¡iffing electric countryblues guitar and rh,r'thns

40 David. Evafis

influenced by local fife and drum ba¡ds. Some of its chief ex?onents wereJunior Kiinbrough, R. L. Burnside, and Jessl" Vu" H"mphiU. À*rough thisstyle existed by the 1960s, it wasn,t recorded to any etent until tf," iSiã",l:o l"Í a make a nationaì impact among black listeners whose tastes inblues had moved on.

Two other inte¡esting small combo variants emanated from Louisiana.From the Creole pop tlation came zydecoblues, featuring the elect¡ic acco¡_dion as the lead inst¡ument with vocals occasionally surig in F."".h, ";";_plifìed by Clifton Chenier This sryle developed among ðreole _ig.unt"ìr,u¡ban southeast Texas, especially Houston, in the early 1950s, b,ri it soo¡spreadback to southr,r,est Louisianawhere it has ¡emained ent¡enched. NewOrleans, with its ¡ich jazz tradition strongly grounded in the blues, devel_oped a sound built a¡ound piano, a horn section and d¡ums. It is close¡to the.blues shouter and jump band slvle but with the unique rhlthmicsensibiìity and vocal phrasing of New Orleans: a numbe¡ of the blues us.an eight-bar rather than twelve_bar fo¡m. pianists professor Longhair andFats Domino, guitarist Smiley læwis, and vocaìist Earl King we¡e päminenthere.

Modern styles artd the move to rock'n,rollRockh'roll duringits earliest years grew largely outofelements fiom electriccountry blues, Kansas City blues shouters, and Chicago and New Orleanssmall combo blues. The unifting factors we¡e a fast danceable beat andþics that appealed to adolescent sensibilities. ChuckBerryand Bo Diddleyint¡oduced sounds f¡om Chicago blues, while Fats Domino, Little Richa¡d,and Larry Williams int¡oduced New O¡leans elements. Most ¡o.k,n.oia¡tists fiom the Memphis a¡ea were whites who had absorbed the blues,both fiom di¡ect contact and through radio and ¡eco¡ds. Elvis presle¡ CaríPerkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others enjoyed initial popularity with blacklisteners, and these "hillb illy cats" appearedfo¡atime io beturningblues intoan integrated music, \chile otherblack a¡tists from Memphis and Mississippi,such as Rufus Thomas andlke Turne¡were also involved_ By l9AO, ¡oct<,nätiand blues had diverged, with the former becoming a predominaatly whitefield. Blacksecula¡ music became categorized as eithe¡blues, r&b, or á ne.lyemerging "soul music."

The most enduring blues sou¡d post- 1945, ând oûe thât st¡ongly influ-enced ¡ock'¡'¡oll, was the elect¡ic lead guitar featu¡ing horn_ükJáelodiclines and ertreme use ofstring bending. This is a soundihat ¡equi¡es a bandof so¡¡¿ 5j7s to provide ¿ harmonic and rh¡hmic background. Modernelectric guitar emerged in the mixedjazz-blues musical envi¡onment ofthe

41 The detelopment of the blues

Southwest and Midwest. Oklahoma City jazz guitarist Charlie Ch¡istian andDallasblues guitarist Aaron "T-Bone" Waller, who had known one anotherin the early 1930s, are generally regarded as pioneeñ ofthis sLyie, althoughits blues ¡oots can be trâced back to the wo¡k of Blind Lemon Jeffe¡son.Although )efferson performed solo on an acoustic instrument, his extendedimprovisational lines and string-bending anticipated ideas these ,voungermusicians would develop when tìe instrument became amplifred. It wasWalke¡ and other Texas guitarists, mosdy ¡elocated on th€ wêst Coast,who would spread this sty'ie in the blues wo¡ld of the 1940s. Among theother p¡ominent early performers were Saunders King, Pee Wee Cralton,Clarence "Gatemouth" B¡own, and Lowell Fulson. The latter, originâllTfiom Oklahoma, evolved ftom a country blues to a iead guita¡ist ove¡ thecourse ofhis early recording career in the 1940s- Later Texas guita¡ists suchas Johnny Copeland, Aìbert Collins, and Johnny "Guitar" Watson carriedthis style forward. While Walke¡ preferred a'jazzy''sound on an amplified hollow-bodied instrument, the younger guitarists generalìy strove fora more "eÌect¡ic" sound, often on a solid-bodied guitar.

Certainly by the early 1950s, blues guitarists outside the Texas-WestCoast axis, such as Memphis-based B. B. King, were being affected b1' thisnewsound. Like Walker, King preferred to work with large bands containinga fril ho¡n section- He brought a harder edge to his playing, however, anddisplayedless jazzinfluence. King's records duringthe l950swere immenselypopular with black audiences, and he did much to sPread the populariryofthis guitar sound. By the mid-1950s it could be hea¡d in Chicago small-group blues in recordings by Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, and others.Older Chicago artists like Howlin'\Molfand Muddy Waters began emPloyingyounger players to add thissoundto theirbands, and by the end ofthe decade

hundreds ofblues guitarists had mastered this style.Formerþ a gospel singe¡ B. B. King was also a pioneer blues r,'ocalist,

introducing a gospel-influenced "soul" style in the early 1950s, demonst¡at-ing a highly emotional, often pleading qualit¡ with extreme use of melismaand occasional leaps into the fâlsetto ¡ange. Otis Rush and Buddy Guysangin this style, as did Bobby Bland, who rvas not an instrumentalist, whileRay Charles and James Brown took soul singing into the fieid of¡ock'n'¡olland beyond. Soul blues has ¡emained the most PoPular style u'ith blackaudiences to the present, often in association with the sound ofelect¡ic ìead

guitar and a horn section, as in the wo¡k of Litde Mitton, Albe¡t Kiûg, and

z. z.]lúL.From the late 1950s, following the incorporation of elect¡ic bass and

keyboa¡ds into blues ensembles and the ascendancy of electric lead guitarand soul blues singing, blues experienced a slowdown in its evolutionarydevelopment witiin the Ame¡ican black community. Popular blues in 2000

42 Dayíd Erans

sounded rittle diffe¡ent ftom popurar brues in 1g60. lnnovative artists suchas Jimi Hendrix had their main influence in rock or jazz, *frif" .fü,.outgrowths ofblues, such as soul music and funk, were gener"tty,ri"*J u,new and distinct genres. Bluesbecame increasingly a muiic ofnostaleiaandasymbol ofcultural heritage or,,roots,,for blu.k-u,l¿i"n."s. Son*, *r?iå,conscjous tides.like -Why I Sing the Blues,,, .,f,ff ffuy tfre ntuås for Vou;,uown Home Bl,res," and ..The Blues is AII Right,,became popular hits.The 1990s witnessed the eme¡gence of a n"-U",

"f r.", "nai"i.rgflìr" ofprominentblues artists of an earlierwho exprored order histori.ur styr"s sl'JhLi:iï""å:ffi ìlï:fj::ïfj,,jnew artists have performed mainly for white American and i¡ærnation¡audiences.

This halt in stvlistic evolution coincided with majot political victo¡iesof the Civil Rights movement, which Ìemou"¿ o. "*áiioåt"à _"",

";"social facto¡s that had cont¡ibuted to the ¡ise of blues as " fo# of.¡tpression. The Civil Rights movement st¡essed collective action and usedadaptations of spiiituals, sung by groups, to exp¡ess its goals. It had littleuse fo¡ the individualistic and socially murginui.turrc" oithe b1.;;;;;This halt also coincided with the gro*th ofwhite interest and i.,*fu.rn"eí,in the blues_ This rvas not an entirely new phenomenon. White folklorists,collectors, record company executives, songwite¡s, and even a few musi_cians had been involved in the documentation and production ofAf¡icanAmerican bJues almosr Íiom the beginning. Sourìe¡n ìh ire audi"o."r,..o"_ciall¡ hadpatronized a¡tists such as Cha¡ley panon, Blind Lemo" f"ff".r;;,and Bessie Smith, as did some of the more astute

"^rty *nite 1^2, fans,Wllites even began to perform blues withiq the g"n.", of .o"ni.ymori.and late¡ ¡ock n'roil, sometimes creating distinctltyl". ,,.,.h u, ,¡," ,,Ut,r"yodel" and "rockabilly,,' but whites workìag in these stytes n",r", lri._Jthemselves primarily as ,.blues

singers.,, It was the folk -"r¡. *"i"J,¡"ìbegan to change the role ofwhites ir rhe blues. During the 1940, *¿ iS50,lradbeU¡ losh White. Big BiU Broonzy. Brownie McGhee and Sonny Te¡¡vbegan to gain a white followhg at coffee houses. college conc"*, "í¿f.niwing political events. By the early 1960s a numbe¡ ofvete¡an countrybluesartists,lvho hâd made great recordings in the 1920s and 1930s, we¡e ¡edis_covered and brought before these same audiences. Soon a few ll,hite soloperformers, such as John Hammond, /r., began to emerge as blr". ,p".id_ists. By the ea¡ly and mid- i960s one could also witness tñe phen"*áo" ofthe white elect¡ic blues band both i¡ the United States anã Cr""t ¡riøn.F¡om that rime onwa¡d blues has grown ia popularity among americrnwhites andìntemarionall¡ until by the end of tle ."nirrry th";" rv; ;;_doubtedly far more non-black performers than blacla viewing t¡r"_..1r",

43 The development ofthe blues

as blues specialists. Most ofthese performe¡s have continuedto wo¡k withinestablished contemporaryblues parameters or have explored and ¡e-c¡eatedhisto¡ical sounds, creating new songs, sometimes developiog neu' themesto reflect a more modern lifestyle, and maintaining a high level of inst¡u-mental virtuosity. Although its stylistic development has slorved, blues has

inc¡eased and broadened its audience, until today it is more Popular than