In trying to explain the blues in the following entries below,
I have had difficulty placing certain artists into categories. Any musician can fit into any category. Although
I may list a certain artist under a specific category, it is merely to give you an example of that categories style
of music, as opposed to the musicians style of playing. I have yet to hear a blues artist who can be pigeon-holed
into a specific style.
One Variation On What The Blues Is?
Often sad, lonely, and mournful, but in other cases
fully energized and bursting with electric-guitar-fueled vigor, blues is one of the most powerful, influential, and popular
musical styles to have risen during the last few centuries. Its origins are based in Africa, and it arrived on American shores
during the slave trade. It's a music strongly associated with the American South, where field hollers, spirituals, and folk
stories turned into full-fledged songs, with banjo and then guitar and piano as their main accompaniment. The song structure
is simple--much of classic blues is based around a three-chord, 12-bar progression that leaves room for boundless improvisation--and
it serves as a foundation for much of today's popular music. Acoustic country blues, often from the Mississippi Delta, blossomed
during the 1920s, while during the '40s the electric guitar took the music in wild new directions (including north to Chicago).
Today it's still being picked on the front porches of tar-paper shacks, but it's just as frequently fired up loud and proud
in front of a barroom (or for that matter stadium) crowd. In either case, though, it remains a music that reflects hardship,
trouble, and strife, but also perseverence and strength of character--to know the blues is to be in touch with your true spirit
and soul.
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What Is Electric Blues?
Since it encompasses essentially every style of blues
that uses amplification, electric blues is too broad to be distinguished by regional or stylistic characteristics. Soul blues,
blues rock, and R&B blues all incorporate electric guitar and bass as primary instruments, yet they are individually distinct
styles.
John Lee Hooker/ Stevie Ray Vaughn/ Muddy Waters/ Johnny Winter
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What Is East Coast Blues?
Covering all of Piedmont blues--a style that relied
on fast, virtuosic fingerpicking and added influences such as ragtime--as well as the urbanized R&B of New York blues
and countless smaller regional styles, East Coast blues casts a wide net.
Louis Jordan / Blind Boy Fuller/ Sonny Terry
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What Is Memphis Blues?
The Memphis blues is a
type of blues music that was pioneering in the early part of the 20th century by musicians like Sleepy John Estes and Willie
Nix, associated with vaudeville and medicine shows. It was in the Memphis blues that groups of musicians first assigned one
guitarist to play rhythm, and one to play lead and solos -- this has become standard in rock and roll and much of popular
music. In addition, the jug band arose from the Memphis blues, mixing the sound with jazz and using homemade, simple instruments.
The Memphis blues is strongly associated with Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. After World War II, the Memphis blues
became electric.
Robert Johnson/ Skip James/ Muddy Waters/ B.B. King/
Dr.
David Evans/Joe Willie Wilkins /Raymond Hill /
Sleepy John Estes /Walter Vinson /Willie Nix
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What Is Delta Blues?
The Delta blues is one of the
earliest styles of blues music. The name refers to the Mississippi Delta region, an alluvial plain which stretches from near
Memphis, Tennessee south to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and whose east-west boundaries are the Mississippi River to the west and
the Yazoo River to the east. Delta blues was first recorded in the late 1920s. Slide guitars and harmonicas dominated the
music, while the vocals were passionate and fiery. Recorded Delta blues consists mostly of one person singing and playing
instruments, though the use of a band was more common during live performances. Delta blues spread out across the country,
giving rise to a host of regional variations, including Chicago and Detroit blues.
"Delta blues" is something of an amorphous
category; Skip James is often cited as a Delta blues artist, although he was from Bentonia, Mississippi, which is a scant
twenty-five miles outside the Mississippi Delta proper. Elmore James is another artist whose music might well be termed Delta
blues, and he grew up near Jackson, also not in the Delta. These performers, and many others, not only traveled through the
Mississippi Delta but also made their way through the geographically and culturally similar regions of southeastern Arkansas
and southwestern Tennessee.
Scholars disagree as to whether there is a substantial, musicological difference between blues
that originated in this region and in other parts of the country. The defining characteristic of Delta blues would seem to
be instrumentation and an emphasis on rhythm; the basic harmonic structure is not substantially different from that of blues
performed elsewhere. Because the Mississippi Delta was essentially feudal in the 1920s, and the plantation system oppressive,
there existed a subculture of blues artists who were refugees from that system. The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman
Farm was an important influence on several blues musicians who were imprisoned there, and appeared in songs such as Bukka
White's 'Parchman Farm Blues' and Leadbelly's 'Midnight Special'. Thus Delta blues can refer to one of the first pop-music
subcultures as well as to a performing style. The recording of early Delta blues (as well as other genres) owes much to John
Lomax, who criss-crossed the Southern US recording music played and sungby ordinary people.
The Delta is changing in so
many ways that the style is being lost by most kids to rap. There are people like John Billingsly from Clarksdale and Bobby
Cobb from Belzoni teaching this style of music, so they are helping to perserve it. Highways 61 and 49 also influenced this
style of blues music, as did the Southern Railroad, where it "crossed" the Yellow Dog railroad in Moorhead. The Yazoo River
flows through Greenwood and Belzoni on down to Vicksburg where it runs into the Mississippi. Paul Jones and Pinetop Perkins
are from Belzoni. Blues music is still being played in the Delta today around Belzoni and of course Cleveland, where W. C.
Handy and his band first heard the blues when a band from nearby Rosedale was allowed to play at the request of the revellers
because W. C.'s band just couldn't get it going. Monkey's just outside of Merigold to the west and the Half Way Grocery east
of Cleveland are two wonderful clubs offering good music. Also Clarksdale and Indianola, where B. B. King lived briefly, along
with Greenville and Greenwood. Rosedale, located west of Cleveland on the Mississippi River (at the intersection of Highway
1 and Mississippi Highway 8) is the town mentioned in Robert Johhnson's Crossroads, and it is still a good place to hear the
blues. Oxford, even though it isn't in the delta has an exellent blues atmosphere at places like The Longshot and Proud Larry's.
Ishman Bracey/Willie Brown /R. L. Burnside
/Sam Chatmon
Mike Cross/Arthur Crudup/David Honeyboy Edwards (1915- ) T-Model Ford /Earl Hooker /Son House (1902-1988)
/ John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) Mississippi John Hurt (1892-1966) / Skip James (1902-1969) One of the most original of the Blues Musicians.
Robert Johnson (1911-1938)
Most Famous Delta Blues Guitarist and Singer
Tommy Johnson/Robert Lockwood Jr. /Tommy McClennan /
Mississippi Fred
McDowell /Charley Patton (1891-1934) /Paul Pena/
Johnny Shines /Sunnyland Slim /Geechie Temple /Hound Dog Taylor
Muddy
Waters (McKinley Morganfield (1915-1983) Bukka White
/Big Joe Williams /Elmo Williams /James Cotton
Paul Jones(Fat possum recording artist from Belzoni played with T-model
Ford, The Cobb Brothers,R.L.Burnside[Trail of the Hellhound - Delta Blues in the lower Mississippi Valley]
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What Is St. Louis Blues?
The St. Louis blues is a type
of blues music. It is usually more piano-based than other forms of the blues, and is closely related to the jump blues, ragtime
and piano blues. Typically, a small number of singers, a pianist and a few other instruments (used primarily for rhythm) make
up a band.
Jelly Roll Anderson /Henry Brown /Olive Brown /Teddy
Darby/
Walter Davis /Tommy Dean/Leothus Lee Green /
Stump Johnson /Lonnie Johnson /Daddy Hotcakes Montgomery /
Robert
Nighthawk /St. Louis Jimmy Oden /Pinetop Sparks/
Henry Spaulding /Roosevelt Sykes /Henry Townsend /
Joe Lee Williams
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What Is Swamp Blues?
The swamp blues is a form of
blues music that is highly evolved and specialized. It arose from the Louisiana blues and is known for its laidback, plodding
rhythms which dominate the music. Influences from Cajun music (such as zydeco) can also be heard in the sound, which has long
been based out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Nathan Abshire/Marcia Ball /Tab Benoit
Cookie &
the Cupcakes /Guitar Junior /Slim Harpo
Joe Hudson /Lazy Lester /Lightnin' Slim
Lonesome Sundown /Kenny Neal /Katie
Webster
Whispering Smith /Muddy Waters
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What Is Detroit Blues?
Detroit blues is blues music
played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 50s. Detroit blues originated
when Delta blues performers migrated north from the Mississippi Delta and Memphis, Tennessee to work in Detroit's industrial
plants in the 1920s and 30s. Typical Detroit blues was very similar to Chicago blues in style. The sound was distinguished
from Delta blues by its use of electric amplified instruments and a more eclectic assortment of instruments, including the
bass guitar and piano.
The only Detroit blues performer to achieve national fame is John Lee Hooker, as record companies
and promoters have tended to ignore the Detroit scene in favor of the larger, more influential Chicago blues. The Detroit
scene was centered on Black Bottom, a Detroit neighborhood.
Alberta Adams /Andre Williams /Big Maceo Merriweather
Bobo Jenkins /Calvin Frazier /Eddie Burns/Joe Weaver
John Lee Hooker /Johnnie Bassett /Nolan Strong & the Diablos
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What Is Texas Blues?
Texas blues is a subgenre of
the blues. It has had various style variations but typically has been played with more swing than other blues styles.
Texas
blues began to appear in the early 1900s among African Americans who worked in oilfields, ranches and lumber camps. In the
1920s, Blind Lemon Jefferson innovated the style by using jazz-like improvisation and single string accompaniment on a guitar;
Jefferson's influence defined the field and inspired later performers, like Lightnin' Hopkins and T-Bone Walker. During the
Great Depression in the 1930s, many bluesmen moved to cities like Galveston, Houston and Dallas. It was from these cities
that a new wave of popular performers appeared, including slide guitarist and gospel singer Blind Willie Johnson and legendary
vocalist Big Mama Thornton. Duke Records and Peacock Records were the most important labels of the scene.
In the 1960s,
however, the record industry moved north, reducing Texas' importance in the blues scene. The area's importance returned in
the 1970s when a Texas blues rock sound developed, led by ZZ Top and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. This set the stage for the
revival of the 1980s, which produced Stevie Ray Vaughan and moved Austin to being the blues capital of the state.
Albert Collins /The Fabulous Thunderbirds /Lightnin'
Hopkins /
Blind Lemon Jefferson/Freddie King /Jimmie Vaughan /
Stevie Ray Vaughan /T-Bone Walker /Tony Vega Band
Johnny
Winter /Tracy Conover /ZZ Top ***********************************************
What Is West Coast Blues?
The West Coast blues is a type
of blues music characterized by jazz and jump blues influences, strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos (which
originated from Texas blues players relocated to California.
Charles Brown /Roy Brown /Pee Wee Crayton /Floyd Dixon
/ Lowell Fulson /Cecil Gant /Peppermint Harris /Duke
Henderson/
Ivory Joe Hunter /Little Willie Littlefield /Percy Mayfield / Jimmy McCracklin /Amos Milburn /Roy Milton /Johnny
Otis/ Joe Turner /Cleanhead Vinson
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What Is Louisiana Blues?
The Louisiana blues is
a type of blues music that is characterized by plodding rhythms that make the sound dark and tense. As a result of this sound,
a subgenre appeared called swamp blues (based largely out of Baton Rouge), which emphasizes the dark sound and laidback rhythms
of the standard Louisiana blues.
Nathan Abshire /Marcia Ball /Guitar Junior /Slim
Harpo
Lightnin' Slim /Lonesome Sundown/Raful Neal
Rockin' Tabby Thomas /Leroy Washington /Katie Webster
Robert
Pete Williams
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What Is Chicago
Blues?
With an increasing number of African Americans moving
to urban areas in the 1940s and '50s, and with amplified electric guitars playing a larger role in the music's development,
Chicago saw the blues evolve from its Southern roots into a more expanded, modern sound. Musicians were putting the blues
into a band context by incorporating drums, piano, electric bass, and even horns, a lineup that soon became the standard blueprint
for all modern blues ensembles. Chicago blues represents a style of electric and acoustic blues that still has close ties
to the music's early roots but is perhaps built more for playing in bars and clubs than on front porchs.
Big Maceo Merriweather/ Big Walter Horton/ Billy Boy
Arnold/ Billy Branch/
Blues Brothers /Paul Butterfield /Buddy Guy /Champion Jack Dupree/
Earl Hooker /Elmore
James /Hound Dog Taylor / Howlin' Wolf/
J.B. Hutto / J.B. Lenoir /Jimmy Cotton / Jimmy Dawkins/
Jimmy Rogers / John
Brim / John Primer / Johnny Shines /Junior Wells/
Kansas Joe McCoy / Koko Taylor /Kokomo Arnold / Charlie
Musselwhite/
Little Walter /Lonnie Brooks /Luther Allison / Magic
Sam /Magic Slim/
Mighty Joe Young /Muddy Waters/ Otis Rush /Otis Spann
/Papa Charlie/ McCoy/Paul Butterfield/ Robert Lockwood Jr. /Robert Nighthawk
Snooky Pryor /Son Seals /Sonny Boy Williamson /Willie
Dixon ************************************************
What Is Jump Blues?
The jump blues is a type of blues music,
influenced by big band. It is characterized by a jazzy, saxophone (or brass instruments) sound, driving rhythms and shouted
vocals. Unlike most other types of blues, the jump blues relegates the guitar to the rhythm section.
The jump blues first
appeared in the early 1940s, becoming popular in the latter part of the decade. Jump blues was an early manifestation of what
became rock and roll.
Big Joe Turner/Jackie Brenston /Jimmy Liggins &
His Drops of Joy
Louis Jordan /Louis Prima /Wynonie Harris Jimmy T99 Nelson /Joe Liggins /Smiley Lewis
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What Is Piedmont Blues?
The Piedmont blues is a type of blues music characterized
by a unique fingerpicking method on the guitar in which a regular, alternating-thumb bass pattern supports a melody using
treble strings. The Piedmont blues typically refers to a greater area than Piedmont, which refers to the East Coast of the
United States from about Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia. Piedmont blues musicians come from this area, as well as
Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida.
Pink Anderson/Scrapper Blackwell /Blind Blake
Bumble
Bee Slim /Reverend Gary Davis/Blind Boy Fuller
Lonnie Johnson/Furry Lewis /Brownie McGhee
Blind Willie McTell /Sonny
Terry/Curley Weaver
