A Comprehensive History of Blues Music

A Comprehensive History of Blues Music covers the origins of the blues and the influence it has had on other genres of music.

Origins of the Blues

The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term “blues” refers to the melancholy feeling of sadness and despair that is often associated with the music. The blues is often considered to be the foundation of modern popular music, including rock and roll, jazz, and country music.

African American work songs

The origin of the blues is often traced back to the field hollers, work songs and spirituals sung by African-American slaves during the late 19th century. These early blues songs were simple and repetitive, but they often told stories of hope and resilience in the face of hardship. As slaves were gradually freed and moved from the rural south to urban areas in the north, the sounds of the blues began to change.

In the early 20th century, blues music became more popular and began to evolve into different subgenres, such as Chicago blues, Delta blues and Piedmont blues. Each subgenre had its own distinct sound, but all shared a common core of soulful vocals and mournful guitar melodies.

Despite its humble beginnings, the blues went on to have a profound impact on American music and culture. In the 1940s and 50s, blues musicians like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf helped to shape the sound of rock ‘n’ roll. In the 1960s, British Invasion bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles drew heavily from the blues in their own music. And today, virtually every style of popular music has been influenced in some way by the Blues.

Spirituals, field hollers, and shouts

The three broad categories of black music that posed the most direct challenge to white musical hegemony were the blues, jazz, and gospel. Each developed in slightly different ways, but all were products of the interactions between blacks and whites in the American South. The blues, jazz, and gospel all originated in the same general region and share many common features, but each also has features that distinguish it from the others.

All three genres developed out of a tradition of black music that was largely based on oral transmission. This means that much of what we know about the early history of these genres comes from oral histories, rather than from written records. These oral histories often conflict with one another, and they can be difficult to verify. Nevertheless, they provide a useful starting point for understanding the origins of these genres.

The blues is a genre of music that evolved out of spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, and chants. It is characterized by a 12-bar chord progression, a call-and-response pattern between singers and instrumentalists, and lyrics that deal with personal emotions such as love, heartbreak, and loneliness. The earliest known examples of the blues date back to the 1890s, when black musicians in the American South began playing songs that combined elements of folk music and marching band music.

The first known mention of the blues comes from an 1895 article in the Chicago Defender, a newspaper aimed at black readers. The article describes a performance by an unnamed female musician who sang a song called “I Got da Blues.” The term “blues” was used to describe this type of music as early as 1897, when it appeared in print in reference to a style of piano playing known as “the blue style.” By 1900, the word “blues” was being used to describe both the music and the emotions it conveyed.

The term “blue notes” is often used to describe the distinctive sound of the blues. Blue notes are pitches that are slightly lower than what would be considered “normal” for a given key or mode. For example, in C major (a key often used in blues), there are seven notes: C D E F G A B. The third note (E) is normally played as a major third (i.e., two scale degrees above C), but it can also be played as a minor third (i.e., one scale degree above C). This gives rise to what is known as a “blue note.” Similarly, the fifth note (G) can be played as either a perfect fifth (i.e., seven scale degrees above C) or an augmented fifth (i.e., eight scale degrees above C), which is also considered a blue note. The use of blue notes creates a distinctive sounding scale that has come to be associated with blues music.

The earliest known examples of bluenotes being used in popular music date back to 1901, when W.C

The Mississippi Delta and the Birth of the Delta Blues

Charley Patton, the “Father of the Delta Blues”

Charley Patton is remembered as one of the most important figures in the development of the Delta blues. A virtuoso guitarist and powerful singer, Patton’s music laid the foundation for the work of many later artists, including Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf.

Born in rural Mississippi sometime around 1887, Patton began his musical career in the early 1920s, playing for both black and white audiences in the Mississippi Delta region. His style was a unique mix of African-American and European musical traditions, and he quickly gained a reputation as a master musician.

Patton’s recordings, released on the Paramount label in 1929, were hugely influential and helped to popularize the Delta blues sound. His songs “Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues” and “Pony Blues” are considered classics of the genre.

Patton continued to perform and record until his untimely death from heart failure in 1934. His legacy has lived on through the work of many later blues artists who were inspired by his innovativeness and skill.

The Mississippi Sheiks

The Mississippi Sheiks were an American blues string band from the 1930s, best known for their hit recording “Sitting on Top of the World”. The band members were brothers Charlie and Calvin Jackson, and Pete Williams. The Jacksons were from Bolton, Mississippi, and Williams was from Corinth, Mississippi. All three were members of the Candy Stripe String Band before joining forces as the Mississippi Sheiks.

The Mississippi Sheiks’ first recordings were made in 1930 for Okeh Records in Memphis, Tennessee. They recorded 68 sides for Okeh over the next three years. The Sheiks’ popularity grew with appearances on the Louisiana Hayride and Grand Ole Opry radio programs. In 1934 they switched labels and signed with Victor Records, for whom they recorded 27 tracks over the next year.

The group’s biggest hit came in late 1930 with “Sitting on Top of the World”, which sold over half a million copies. The song was later popularized by Howlin’ Wolf, who recorded it in 1969. Other well-known Mississippi Sheiks songs include “Stop and Listen”, “Sweet Charlotte”, and “Yodelin’ My Baby Back Home”.

The group disbanded in 1935, following the death of Calvin Jackson. Charlie Jackson continued to perform as a solo artist until his death in 1951. Pete Williams served time in prison for murder before being released in 1954; he died shortly thereafter.

The Chicago Blues

The Chicago blues is a form of music that developed in the mid-twentieth century in the United States. It is characterized by a heavy, guitar-based sound and a lyrical focus on the struggles of everyday life. The Chicago blues was first popularized by artists such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, who made records for the Chess label in the 1950s.

Muddy Waters and the Chicago sound

Muddy Waters is considered the father of the Chicago sound, which was a harder-edged version of the Delta blues. Waters’ guitar playing was more aggressive than that of other delta musicians, and he often used amplification to give his sound more power. Waters moved to Chicago in 1943, and his band became one of the most popular groups in the city. They recorded for Chess Records, which was founded by two Polish immigrants, Leonard and Phil Chess.

The Chicago sound dominated blues music in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the most famous artists who played this style of music include Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, and Buddy Guy.

The Chess Records years

The Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, founded Chess Records in 1950. The company soon became the leading Chicago blues label, with such artists as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson recording for them. In addition to these greats, Chess also recorded Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, two of the most important figures in the development of rock and roll. The Chess years were a time of incredible creativity in blues music, with many of the songs recorded during this period becoming classics that are still widely performed today.

The British Blues Invasion

The British blues scene started to gain momentum in the early 1960s, with the introduction of American blues music to the UK by visiting musicians such as Muddy Waters and Sonny Terry. At the same time, a number of British bands began to emerge who were influenced by this new music, including The Rolling Stones and The Animals. The British blues boom reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with a number of iconic albums being released by British blues artists.

The Rolling Stones and British blues

The Rolling Stones were one of the first British bands to bring blues music to a wider audience. They began playing together in 1962 and by 1964 had recorded their first album, which included covers of classic blues songs by artists such as Muddy Waters and Little Walter. The Stones continued to include blues songs on their albums throughout the 1960s and 1970s, helping to keep the genre alive and introducing it to new generations of fans.

The British blues boom was a period in the late 1960s and early 1970s when a number of British rock bands (including the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and Fleetwood Mac) became popular interpreters of the American blues tradition. These bands (and others) brought a new energy and approach to the music, helping to revive interest in the genre and inspiring a new generation of musicians.

The Bluesbreakers and John Mayall

In the early 1960s, British blues was flourishing, with a whole host of young bands inspired by the sounds of American blues legends such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon. One of the most influential British blues bands of this period was The Bluesbreakers, fronted by harmonica player John Mayall. The band’s name was a reference to Muddy Waters’ song “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home”.

Mayall had formed The Bluesbreakers in 1963, initially as a vehicle for his own harmonica playing and songwriting. The band’s first lineup included young guitarist Eric Clapton, who would go on to great fame with bands like Cream and Derek and the Dominos. Clapton’s leadership position in The Bluesbreakers was short-lived, however, as he left the band after just one album to join John Mayall’s former manager Simon Napier-Bell’s new group Yardbirds.

The Bluesbreakers’ second album, 1966’s Bare Wires, featured a new guitarist in the form of 19-year-old Mick Taylor, who would later find fame with The Rolling Stones. Taylor’s addition brought a new level of musicianship to the band and helped them to continue their streak of successful albums.

By the late 1960s, The Bluesbreakers were widely regarded as one of the best British blues bands, alongside contemporaries such as Cream, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin. They continued to record and tour throughout the 1970s before finally disbanding in 1982. John Mayall would go on to have a long and successful solo career, while Mick Taylor joined The Rolling Stones in 1969 and remained with the band until 1974. Eric Clapton enjoyed even greater success as a solo artist and member of groups like Derek and the Dominos and Cream.

Modern Blues

The origins of the blues are shrouded in a bit of mystery. Some say it began in the work songs and field hollers of slaves while others believe it is a direct descendant of the African griot tradition. What is known for certain is that the blues began to take shape in the late 1800s in the American South.

The Allman Brothers Band and southern rock

The Allman Brothers Band is often credited as being the inventors of Southern rock, a subgenre of rock music that fuses elements of rock and roll, country music, and blues. The group’s 1971 album At Fillmore East is considered to be a landmark recording in the genre. The band’s sound was further defined on subsequent releases, such as the live album Eat a Peach (1972) and the studio albums Brothers and Sisters (1973) and Win, Lose or Draw (1975). The band’s 1973 hit “Ramblin’ Man” was Southern rock’s first Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Texas blues

Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Texas blues – Modern Blues refers to a style of blues music that developed in the mid-1960s. It is characterized by electric guitar and bass, amplified sound, and an overall experimental approach. Texas blues is a subgenre of modern blues that developed in Texas in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by electric guitar and drums, often with horns, and a strong influence from rock and roll.

Texas blues began to gain popularity in the 1950s, with artists like T-Bone Walker and Johnny “Guitar” Watson beginning to enjoy success on the R&B charts. In the 1960s, artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddie King took the sound of Texas blues to new heights, incorporating elements of rock and roll into their music. The 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in traditional acoustic blues, but modern electric Texas blues continued to be popular throughout the decade.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Stevie Ray Vaughan emerged as one of the most popular modern blues musicians, helping to bring the sound of Texas blues to a new generation of listeners. Vaughan tragically died in a helicopter crash in 1990, but his influence on modern blues has been profound.