Blues and Beyond

The Origin
The Roots
Not from Africa; developed in America by American slaves and their descendants
Field hollers (cries)
Ballads, from European traditions for songs that tell stories
Unaccompanied solo singing; later guitar and banjo added
By 1910, standardized elements of the blues
By 1930, big influence on jazz music
Musicians imitate the sound of the blues singer

Singing in unison, no determined chords, no specific form

After the Civil War, the Blues began to take on a specific form:
12 bar blues (the most popular)
African based chants and early Christian hymns and work songs resulted into Spirituals
Bending notes - musicians trying to imitate the singers
Characteristic topics for the blues lyrics: love, sexuality, jealousy, travel, urban live,
freedom
Blues artists could create songs on the spot
Blues first appeared after the Civil War as black musicians traveled widely and
developed a new music that celebrated their freedom
The blues was one of the building blocks of jazz, with chord structures and phrasing
sharing a common lineage in the musical culture of Afro-America, but it has a rich
history in its own right.

Styles of Blues
Country Blues (Rural) (late 1800-1930)
Characteristics
Solo male singer with guitar, harmonica accompaniment
Personal pessimistic expression
Regional styles-Mississippi delta, Texas, East Coast
Important Performers
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Leadbelly (Huddie Leadbetter)
Robert Johnson
Contemporary Performers
Muddy Waters
 influenced hundreds of musicians – Beatles, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton
B.B. King

Styles of Blues - Classic (City) Blues (from 1920 to 1930)

Characteristics
First urban style
Female singers
Piano, organ, combo accompaniment (jazz musicians) popular appeal
Start of race records (by and for black Americans)
Race records were born when recording companies realized there was
money to be made marketing music by black artists to black
consumers.
Important Performers
“Big” Bill Broonzy- major influence on the Chicago scene and instrumental blues

Styles of Blues - Classic (City) Blues (from 1920 to 1930)

Important performers
Ma Rainey -“The Mother” of the Blues - popularized the blues in America. She
opened the road for other women to sing.

W.C.Handy - “The Father” of the Blues - publisher, bandmaster, cornetist,

composer, wrote “St Louis Blues”- the first formal blues composition.

Bessie Smith - “The Empress” of the Blues – the greatest blues singer of all time.
Set up the standard for other blues singers. Her first single surpassed any of
the other recordings of blues.

Mamie Smith - “Crazy Blues” formula for classic blues - credited with taking the
blues into the popular music.

Styles of Blues

Urban Blues Kansas City (post WWII)

Characteristics
Accompanied by jazz musicians
Robust, exuberant delivery, swing feel
Important Performers
Joe Turner, Joe Williams, Jimmy Rushing
Urban Blues Rhythm & Blues (R & B)
Characteristics
Electric guitars, drums, organ, harmonica, horn section
Relax vocal delivery, Slow tempos
Beginning of rock & roll and soul
Important Performers
Louis Jordan - “The Father” of R&B -“Caldonia”
B.B. King - “The King” of Blues

Styles of Blues - Urban Blues

Rhythm & Blues (R & B)
Important Soul & Motown Performers
Little Richard
Ray Charles
Marvin Gaye
Important White Performers
Elvis Presley
Bill Haley
Buddy Holly
Jerry Lee Lewis

Blues Legacy
Blues recordings sold well, the lyrics told personal stories and national catastrophe,
triumphs and shared miseries of the times
The Greatest Jazz Singers
Billie Holiday - “Lady day”, changed the art of American pop vocals forever
Ella Fitzgerald – "First Lady of Song”, 14 Grammy Awards

George Buddy Guy – student of T-bone Walker – brilliant guitarist – Chicago sound
(Quinn Sullivan!)
Sara Vaughn, Aretha Franklin
Woodstock – Janis Joplin rendition of “Ball in chain”, tune performed by “Big Mama”
Thornton, was a sensation
Rolling Stones, Beatles, Michael Jackson
Jazz and Blues
Blues and Jazz - branches of the same tree

Many blues singers hired jazz musicians

Most swing bands featured blues singers

Blues provided the roots for Rock & Roll and R&B

Jazz became more complicated, less popular