"The blues is a low-down, aching chill; if you ain't never had 'em, honey, I hope you never will."
— Son House
Blues, aka the blues, aka El Big Grandaddy of Rock & Roll, is a term used to denote a musical genre, but it has become slightly genericized and it can also be used to describe musical works that don't belong to that genre but evoke aspects of it.
To Make a Long Story Short: The blues was largely created by African-American communities in the Deep South, following emancipation. The blues evolved from musical styles specific to those communities, such as spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, and chants, by shifting the focus from the group to the individual. The first published blues song was "Dallas Blues" by Hart Wand, in 1912, although there are reportedly older songs. The genre then went on to split into many, many sub-genres according to location. Some of the most well-known sub-genres are:
- Delta blues: A rural style with prominent fingerpicking and slide-guitars; arguably the most influential sub-genres.
- Chicago blues: An urban delta blues-based style relying on harmonica, amplification and simple progressions.
- Piedmont blues: Relying on ragtime-based fingerpicking techniques.
- Memphis blues: Much more danceable, influenced by jug bands.
- Boogie-woogie: A piano-based style with a fast-paced tempo that originating from Texas.
- West coast blues: A more Jazz-infected urban style, typically with a horn section and jazzy guitar work.
- Swamp blues: Basically a rawer, more primitive variant of Chicago blues originating from Lousiana.
While "blues" originally referred to any and all secular music made by black Americans, it eventually became a much more distinctive genre during the 20's and 30's, largely thanks to Trope Codifier Robert Johnson and others. Some elements which are commonly associated with blues are:
- The twelve-bar chord progression. The "eight-bar chord progression" is not as known but its easily the second most frequent progression.
- Licks and solos in the pentatonic scale, with heavy use of "blue notes" (the flattened third, fifth and seventh of the associated major scale)note
- "Shuffle" or "swing" rhythm rather than "straight" rhythm (explained in this video
), particularly on earlier records. Latin and "Funk" rhythms have subsequently become usual as well.
- Lines of lyrics that are repeated twice, then followed by another line which rhymes with it and isn't repeated
- Lyrics about lost love, poverty, and "hard times" in general, often full of Stock Phrases like 'woke up this morning' or 'wring my hands and cry'.
The most important development in the genre was the appearance of electrified blues in The '50s, with its stronghold in Chicago. Electric blues, as represented by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, and others, was one of the first genres to adopt electric guitars and the classic guitar-bass-drums lineup, paving the way for the future appearance of Rock & Roll. Jazz is another genre which developed out of the blues. In fact, most of popular music as we know it today — from Soul and Funk to Heavy Metal and Rap — ultimately derives from the blues. As Willie Dixon put it, "The blues is the roots, the rest is the fruits."
Another form of the genre appeared in The '60s - Blues Rock.
Blues performers:
- Long John Baldry
- Barbecue Bob: the stage name of Robert Hicks, an early American Piedmont blues musician. He got his nickname from working as a cook in a barbecue restaurant. He was born in 1902 and died in 1931.
- Blind Blake (a hugely influential ragtime guitarist)note
- Blind Boy Fuller (the first really successful acoustic bluesman)
- Captain Beefheart - His management referred to him as "potentially the greatest white blues singer of all time". He is best known for a series of experimental albums which contained an uncategorizable mix of Free Jazz, Blues and Art Rock.
- 1967: Safe as Milk
- 1968: Strictly Personal
- 1969: Trout Mask Replica
- 1970: Lick My Decals Off, Baby
- 1974: Unconditionally Guaranteed
- 1974: Bluejeans & Moonbeams
- 1975: Bongo Fury (with Frank Zappa)
- 1978: Shiny Beast
- 1980: Doc at the Radar Station
- 1982: Ice Cream for Crow
- Eric Claptonnote - Guitarist who earned the nickname "God" in The '60s, and is still considered one of the best guitarists in rock.
- From the Cradle was Clapton's first true, grits and all blues album. He did another one in 2004, Me and Mr. Johnson as a tribute to the man (see below).
- Rebecca Ferguson: Not to be confused by the actress of the same name.
- Reverend Gary Davis (blind Baptist minister)
- Bo Diddley (a key player in the transition from electric blues to rock and roll)
- Willie Dixon (the greatest blues songwriter of all time, especially during the early electric era; wrote most of Howlin' Wolf's material)
- Marianne Faithfull: From the late 1970s and 1980s on she reinvented herself as a jazz and blues singer.
- Samantha Fish: Guitarist/singer from the 2010s who primarily plays blues, with occasional forays into roots rock, country, or R&B.
- Buddy Guy (the big blues guitarist of the '60s in America, as well as one of the pioneers of "heavy" electric blues guitar; had a big impact on Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton). He continues to tour to this day.
- Jeff Healey
- John Lee Hooker (one of the few to smoothly transfer his Delta style to the electric guitar; notable for his one-chord songs and his "talking" vocal style)
- Son House (excellent early slide guitarist, though perhaps most famous for teaching Robert Johnson)
- Mississippi John Hurt
- Howlin' Wolf (one of the many fine artists contracted to Chess back in the day, notable for a voice you could sand with; also notable for being smart and avoiding the common pitfalls that afflicted blues artists, namely alcohol abuse, gambling, sketchy girlfriends, and bad business decisions)
- 1959 - Moanin' in the Moonlight
- 1969 - The Howlin' Wolf Album
- Hozier (rare modern example)
- Elmore James (one of the first great electric slide guitarists, popularised Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom")
- Skip James
- Blind Lemon Jefferson (another blind bluesman, apparently had a habit of wearing spectacles if the publicity photo is to be believed)
- Blind Willie Johnson (also a blind Baptist minister)
- Lonnie Johnson (one of the first blues guitarists to go electric)
- Robert Johnson (the guy who was rumoured to have sold his soul to the devil for talent, one of the most influential blues musicians ever)
- Tommy Johnson (popularised the crossroads myth before Johnson; also, Canned Heat took their name from a song of his)
- Junior Kimbrough (a notable blues musician "rediscovered" in the 90s for being apart of the North Mississippi hill country blues tradition)
- Albert King (another pioneer of heavy electric guitar; his solos were revolutionary for their day; he was also a physically imposing man at 6'5" tall.)
- B.B. King (one of the finest blues guitarists ever)
- Lead Belly (Nirvana's favourite)
- Ma Rainey (the first female blues singer, if not the first blues singer, periodnote , had a big influence on Bessie Smith and others)
- John Mayall: Founded the Bluesbreakers, the "finishing school for British blues guitarists". Nearly every British blues player you've ever heard of was a Bluesbreaker at some point.
- John Mayer: A highly blues-influenced pop rock singer and guitarist who played by and is praised by classic blues guitarists such as B.B. King.
- Blind Willie McTell (one of the great blind bluesmen, notable for his distinctive voice and Piedmont style)
- Memphis Minnie (the first great female blues guitarist...)
- Charlie Patton (arguably the first great recorded Delta bluesman)
- Bonnie Raitt
- 1972 - Give It Up
- Jimmy Reed (the most popular bluesman of the 50s, with one of the simplest and most easily approachable bodies of work in blues)
- Jimmie Rodgers: While generally remembered as one of the early country music stars, his style incorporated a number of Blues elements (hence why he was later inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame)
- Nina Simone
- Guitar Slim (born Eddie Jones, considered an innovator in the usage of high stage volume to shape his instrument's tone; also renowned as a show-stopping performer, as he would color coordinate his suits, guitar, and hair for concerts)
- Bessie Smith (...and the first great (arguably) female blues singer)
- Taj Mahal
- James Blood Ulmer (along with jazz, funk and Avant-Garde Music)
- Little Walter (former Muddy Waters associate, one of the great harmonica players of the blues, and of all music)
- Booker T. Washington 'Bukka' White (slide guitarist, cousin of B.B. King)
- Muddy Waters (another Chess artist, had a massive influence on electric blues, perhaps most famous these days for the "Hoochie Coochie Man" riff)
- 2000 - The Anthology (1947–1972)
- Johnny "Guitar" Watson: Best known for "Space Guitar", "Gangster of Love" and "A Real Mother for Ya".
- OV Wright
- Zeal & Ardor (mixed with numerous other styles, including Gospel Music and Black Metal... no, seriously)
- John Zorn
- 1987 - Spillane
- Zucchero: The main resposible for bringing Blues music to the history of Italian music, being often credited as "the father of Italian blues"
Tropes:
- Lead Singer Plays Lead Guitar: As the guitar is an instrument basically tied to the genre, plenty of blues singers are proficient guitar players too.
- Technician Versus Performer: The genre greatly leans towards the performer end, in contrast to its closely related genre Jazz. Within the genre, players such as Howlin' Wolf and Jimmy Reed are performers, whilst BB King and Albert King are technicians.
