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
Ex: Robert Johnson Me and the Devil Blues (1937) see lyrics Robert Johnson (1911-1938) b. Hazlehurst, Mississippi One of the most well known delta blues singers Influence Crossroads legend, death
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 Form Bar 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)
Ex: Charley Patton A Spoonful Blues (1929) Charley Patton What is he using to play the guitar? Religious father hated guitar Blues/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 sounds Ex: 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 style Ex: BB King Everyday I Have the Blues (1955) (& live)
BB King Another blues style: Orchestral blues Ex: BB King The Thrill Is Gone (1969)
Other Blues Musicians and Styles John Lee Hooker Big Mama Thornton Freddie King Albert King
1917-2001 b. Coahoma County, Mississippi Detroit 1943 Difficult to play with John Lee Hooker 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 1 st 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 Roll Ex: 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 for most performers New audiences in the UK, Germany, France
Blues in the UK, 1960s Ex: 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, MTV Ex: Stevie Ray Vaughan Mary Had a Little Lamb (1983)
1992-present Oxford, Mississippi Delta and other styles Fat Possum Records Junior Kimbrough RL Burnside Black Keys T-Model Ford Non-Fat Possum, 21 st Century blues: Gary Clarke Jr.