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The Blues
First, what is “Genre”?
Absolute?Grey areas?Changing?
What purpose?Historically
Blues• Very important to North American popular
music history. Influenced all genres, especially rock and roll.
• Blues as we know it, stated after 1865 (what is the significance of this date?)
• Not recorded until 1920s, so there are many unknown aspects about the music.
• Old saying “Having the blues”
• May come from “blue devils,” a term from Elizabethan England
• C1900 “Blues” used to describe music, not just what we think of as blues music
Delta Blues
• Earliest form of blues
• Geographic origins of name
• Mississippi plantations
The State of Mississippi
Delta Blues
• Often solo performers, usually men• Acoustic guitar, sometimes banjo, mandolin• Piano?• Itinerant performers – travelling around from
plantation to plantation
Robert Johnson (1911-1938)• b. Hazlehurst, Mississippi
• One of the most well known delta blues singers
• Influence
• Crossroads legend, death
Ex: Robert Johnson –“Me and the Devil Blues” (1937) see lyrics
Robert Johnson (1911-1938)• “Who’s the other guitar player?” (Keith Richards)• Thumb and finger style (guitar demo)
• Ex: Robert Johnson –“Sweet Home Chicago” (1936) see lyrics
• 2 recording sessions:• 1936 San Antonio, Texas hotel room• 1937 Dallas, Texas, makeshift studio
12 Bar Blues Form
• Beats and bars as measures of musical time.
• What is a chord • What do we mean by chord changes
(a.k.a. harmony).
12 Bar Blues FormBar 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Chords I IV I V IV (T)
Lyrics a a b
Guitar Res. Res. Res.
Charley Patton
• Unknown birth year: 1881 (or 85 or 87)-1934• B. Hinds County, Mississippi
• Hugely influential to other Delta blues musicians including Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker
• Mississippi cotton plantation• Illiterate• Mixed race (poss. Cherokee)
Charley PattonEx: Charley Patton –“A Spoonful Blues” (1929)
• What is he using to play the guitar?
Religious father hated guitarBlues/Church dichotomy
• Huddie Ledbetter (1888-1949), b. Mooringsport, Louisiana
• Angola Prison farm, Louisiana• Release• Songster • name
Ex: Lead Belly –“Midnight Special”(1934) See lyrics
Lead Belly
Lead Belly• King of the 12-string guitar• NYC• Songs recorded by Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin,
Nirvana, White Stripes, etc.
John and Alan Lomax
• Father and son musicologist and folklorist team• Song collectors• Library of Congress• Field recordings, started 1933• Styles• “portable” recording device
• Possible exploitation of artists
Muddy Waters• McKinley Morganfield• b. Issaquena County, Mississippi• 1913-1983
• First recorded by John and Alan Lomax, 1941
Ex: Muddy Waters –“I Be’s Troubled” (1942)• Later re-recorded in Chicago
• Moved to Chicago 1943, more later
The Great Migration
• Post-Civil War: explain Sharecropping
• 6 million African Americans, 1910-1970, mostly after the Depression
• Train routes (see map next slide)
Train routes
Northern cities
• Chicago, Detroit, New York• To a lesser extent Pittsburg, Cleveland
• 24 hour factories• Higher wages and standard of living• Less racism
• Chicago: All hours blues clubs
Chicago Blues• After the Great Migration to northern cities, a
new electric blues style emerged, known as Chicago blues.
• Delta vs. Chicago
Muddy Waters• Ex: Muddy Waters –
“I Can’t Be Satisfied” (1948)
Compare to acoustic version• What is Muddy using
on his guitar?Recognize the form?
Chess Records• Most important Chicago blues record label/studio• Leonard and Phil Chess, Polish, Jewish• Role of
Willie Dixon
• Influence back in the Delta
Ex: Muddy Waters –“I Just Want to Make Love to You” (1954)• Hyper-masculinity
• Classic Chess sound:• Muddy (vocals and guitar)• Little Walter (Harmonica)• Otis Spann (Piano)• Jimmy Rogers (Guitar)• Willie Dixon (Bass)• Elgin Evans (Drums)
Howlin’ Wolf• Chester Arthur Burnett• 1910-1976
• b. White Station, Mississippi
• Learned guitar from Charley Patton
• The other major Chess performer
Howlin’ Wolf• 1951 recorded at Memphis Recording Service with
Sam Phillips
• Songs licensed by Chess • 1952 moved to Chicago
Ex: Howlin’ Wolf – “Smokestack Lightnin’” (1956)
Muddy/Wolf Rivalry
Little Walter• 1930-1968, b. Louisiana• Harmonica player (harp)• Amplification creates new sound: distortion• Recorded and toured with Muddy• Only harmonica player in Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
Ex: Little Walter –“Juke” (1952)
The “Blue” Note
• 12 tone system
• Other ways to divide notes
• Demo
• Africanism
Big Band Blues• Some of the first blues recordings ever were
done in a big band, jazzy style:
• Ex: W.C. Handy – “Memphis Blues” (1914)• Heard song on the street in 1890s
• Ex: Mamie Smith – “Crazy Blues” (1920)• The “first” blues recording• Jazz connections• New Orleans
T-Bone Walker
• 1910-1975 • b. Linden, Texas• First record 1929
• Extremely influential guitar player• West Coast blues, jazzy soundsEx: T-Bone Walker – “They Call it Stormy Monday (But Tuesday’s Just As Bad)” (1947)
BB King• 1925-2015
• b. Bernclair, Mississippi
• Sam Phillips• Los Angeles
• Endless tours
• Big band jazzy styleEx: BB King – “Everyday I Have the Blues” (1955) (& live)
BB King
• Another blues style: Orchestral bluesEx: BB King – “ The Thrill Is Gone” (1969)
Other Blues Musicians and Styles
• John Lee Hooker
• Big Mama Thornton
• Freddie King
• Albert King
John Lee Hooker• 1917-2001• b. Coahoma County,
Mississippi• Detroit 1943
• Difficult to play with
• One chord, boogie-rhythm style (demo)
Ex: John Lee Hooker – “Boogie Chillen” (1949)
Big Mama Thornton
• 1926-1984• b. Willie Mae
Thornton,Ariton, Alabama
• Where are the women? (big band)• American Folk Blues Tours
Ex: Big Mama Thornton – “Hound Dog” (1952)
Freddie King
• b. Gilmer, Texas• 1934-1976
• Chicago, Chess rejection
• King Records, Cincinnati
Ex: Freddie King – “Tore Down” (1961)
Albert King• b. Indianola, Mississippi• 1923-1992
• Stax Records, R&B
• Guitar style
Ex: Albert King –“Born Under a Bad Sign” (1967)
Too many important blues musicians to cover:
• Buddy Guy• Jimmy Reed• Jimmy Rogers• Bobby “Blue” Bland• Lightnin’ Hopkins• Mississippi Fred McDowell
Blues/R&B/Early Rock n Roll
• Blues origins
• White and Black originators
• Race and Genre labels
• Credit
R&B/Early Rock n Roll
Ex: Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm –“Rocket 88” (1951) • originally credited to “Jackie Brenston and His Delta
Cats” (JB was Ike’s sax player and sang this song)
• Sun Records• 1st Rock n Roll song?• Distorted guitar
Chuck Berry• b. 1926, St. Louis, Missouri
• Chess Records• First recording 1955
Ex: Chuck Berry –“Maybellene” (1955)
Top 10 R&B and Pop (significance)
Chuck Berry
• Ex: Chuck Berry – “Johnny B. Goode” (1957)
• How is this blues? Or is it something else? (guit. demo)
• How is it different from the Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters songs we heard?
• John Lennon: “If you had to try and give rock ‘n’ roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry”
Bo Diddley• AKA Ellas McDaniel• 1928-2008• b. McComb, Mississippi
• Blues to rock n roll• Chess
Ex: Bo Diddley – “I’m A Man” (1955) see lyrics
Bo Diddley• The Bo Diddley Beat:
Clave (Sub-Saharan Africa and Afro-Cuban music) – demo
Ex: Bo Diddley –“Bo Diddley” (1955)
• Self-mythologizing
• Beatles and Stones
Early Rock and RollEx: Bill Haley and his Comets – “Rock Around the Clock” (1955)
• Similarities to blues? • What’s different?
R&B/Early Rock and Roll• Ex: Elvis Presley – “Hound Dog” (1956)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMmljYkdr-w
• Racy?• Solution/Humiliation?• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMN-1nSQv3U
• Sun Records, Memphis• Black and White influences
• Why is Elvis referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll”?
• Significance?
American Folk Blues Festival
• 1962–70, 1972, 1980–83, 1985
• First time in Europe formost performers
• New audiences in theUK, Germany, France
Blues in the UK, 1960sEx: “Little Red Rooster” –
Howlin’ Wolf (1961); Rolling Stones (1964)• Credit given by Stones
• Blues and the British Invasion• Blues: US to UK to US
Ex: “You Need Love” – Muddy Waters (1962)Ex: Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin (1969)• 1985 settlement
Eric Clapton, Yardbirds, Beatles, Animals, etc.
1980s- Present• Blues in all forms continue to be made
• Preservation bands
• 1980s: SRV, MTVEx: Stevie Ray Vaughan –“Mary Had a Little Lamb” (1983)
Fat Possum Records• 1992-present• Oxford, Mississippi• Delta and other styles
• Junior Kimbrough• RL Burnside• Black Keys• T-Model Ford
• Non-Fat Possum, 21st Century blues: Gary Clarke Jr.