The History of the Blues

Discover the history of the blues and how this genre of music has evolved over time. From its origins in the Mississippi Delta to its influence on other genres, the blues has had a lasting impact on American music.

Origins

The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American community in the United States around the end of the 19th century. The style of music was influenced by African music, as well as the music of the folk tradition.

African American work songs

The original blues were created by African Americans in the early 1900s. These songs were generally about working hard and the difficulties of life. They were sung as a way to pass the time and to lift the spirits of the workers. The blues eventually spread from the American South to other parts of the country, and started to become popular with white audiences as well.

Spirituals, gospel, and rhymes

The earliest blues recordings were made in the 1920s by black musicians living in the southern US. The style was based on a mixture of European and African music, and it was originally played on homemade instruments such as the banjo, fiddle, and harmonica.

The blues soon became popular with white audiences as well, and by the 1930s it was being played by jazz bands all over the country. In the 1940s and 1950s, electric guitars and amplified harmonicas became standard instruments in blues bands, giving the music a louder, more energetic sound.

The blues has been a major influence on many other genres of music, including rock ‘n’ roll, country, and jazz. Many of the most famous blues songs have been recorded by some of the biggest names in popular music, including covered by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix.

Development

The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American communities of the southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The style is rooted in the work songs and spirituals of African-American slaves.

Mississippi Delta

The Mississippi Delta is a region of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, with the Arkansas border to the west. The region has been historically referred to as the Delta since the late 19th century, when cotton was the dominant commodity crop. The area was developed for cotton plantations and was one of the wealthiest parts of the American South until the mid-20th century, when it became one of the poorest regions in the country.

The blues is a music genre that originated in the Mississippi Delta region of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The style developed from African American work songs and spirituals, and iscentered around the vocal performance of an individual performer accompanied by guitar or other instrumentation.

The blues has been a major influence on many other genres of music, including jazz, rock and roll, Rhythm and Blues (R&B), soul, country and pop music. The Mississippi Delta is sometimes referred to as “the cradle of the blues” because it is considered to be where the genre first developed.

Chicago

The deeply emotional, spiritual and often sexually explicit lyrics of the blues were originally performed by largely anonymous musicians in an oral tradition that stretched back earlier than the Civil War. These musicians were most often African American sharecroppers, laborers and ex-slaves who later found work in juke joints, barrelhouses and on Mississippi River boats. Although many early blues songs were original compositions, others were cleverly rewritten versions of popular songs of the day or classic ballads that had been altered to fit the needs of the performers.

The first commercial recordings of blues music were made in Memphis and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the early 1900s by W.C. Handy and others. The recordings were made for local jukeboxes and for release on 78 rpm records. The first national hit was Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues,” recorded in 1920. The success of this recording opened up a new market for what was considered race music – music by black artists for black audiences.

Over the next few years, a number of other female vocalists had great success with the blues including Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter and Ethel Waters. Male artists such as Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and Ma Rainey also became superstars in the world of race music. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, a new style of blues evolved from the barrelhouse and juke joint traditions of Texas and Louisiana. Called urban blues, it was heavily influenced by jazz and featured solo vocalists backed by small bands playing electric guitars, double bass or piano. Artists such as T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf helped to popularize this sound which would later be adapted by white rock & rollers including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins

West Coast 3. Modern Era

In the modern era, the West Coast sound developed into two subgenres: hard bop and cool jazz. Hard bop was a reaction against the light, airy style of cool jazz; it was heavier, more blues-based and more energetic. It was also popularized by Art Blakey and Horace Silver, two of the most influential drummers of the 1950s. Cool jazz was a reaction against bebop; it was softer, more relaxed and often featured muted horns and pianos. It was popularized by Miles Davis, who also influenced hard bop with his album “Birth of the Cool.”

British Invasion

In the 1960s, a combination of factors, including the rise of youth culture, the increased availability of illicit drugs, and the sexual revolution, helped lead music away from its earlier conservative character. Political and economic changes also played a role—for instance, the country was trying to recover from the Great Depression, and musicians were affected by the draft for World War II. The British Invasion—a term used to describe the huge popularity of bands from Britain in America—changed everything. The Beatles were at the forefront of this musical revolution, and their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 is often cited as a key moment in pop music history. With their long hair, unconventional clothing, and legendary performances, the Fab Four quickly became icons of counterculture. Although they only stayed together for a decade, they left an indelible mark on popular music and culture.

Electric blues

The electric blues began to be developed in the early 1900s, when musicians started to experiment with amplified music. The first electric blues recordings were made in the 1920s, and the style became increasingly popular in the 1930s and 1940s.

Some of the most important early electric blues guitarists include T-Bone Walker, who was one of the first to use the electric guitar as a solo instrument, and Muddy Waters, who popularized the use of distortion and feedback. In the 1950s and 1960s, electric blues was developed further by artists such as Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, and B.B. King.

Electric blues has been a major influence on rock music, and has also been popularized by blues-rock artists such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Contemporary blues

Contemporary blues is a genre of music that developed from the original form of the blues. It is often characterized by a combination of elements from both the electric and acoustic blues. Often, contemporary blues combines different styles, such as Chicago blues, Louisiana blues, Mississippi Delta Blues, and Texas Blues.