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.