Electric blues

Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the use of the electric guitar as a lead instrument and the amplification of the instruments, including the lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and occasionally the harmonica or keyboard.[1] Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America, leading to the development of regional subgenres, following its adoption in regional scenes such as Memphis and Texas. The genre had fully developed by the 1950s.[10]

Electric blues was instrumental in the development of electric guitar techniques such as amplification, distortion,[2][11] power chords,[3] and string bending,[6] and is credited with bringing heavy guitar sounds into popular music.[2] It was a foundation of rock music,[2][6] which adopted its dense texture, electric guitar techniques and basic blues band instrumentation from electric blues. It influenced rock and roll, particularly in the mid-1950s, and more so classic rock in the 1960s.[2] It was widely adopted in the British blues boom of the 1960s and led to the development of blues rock. Electric blues laid the foundations for hard rock[6][7] and heavy metal,[6][11][5] and influenced the development of rockabilly[9] and soul music.[8] It continues to be a major style of blues music and has enjoyed a revival in popularity since the 1990s.

Characteristics

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Characteristics of electric blues include the use of the electric guitar as a lead instrument, the amplification of the instruments,[1] rough-edged vocals, vocal-like responses from the lead guitar or harmonica, a dense texture with several instruments playing melody-like lines, and a rhythm section with a strong beat.[10] Other common characteristics include a rough declamatory vocal style, heavy guitar riffs, string-bending blues-scale guitar solos, thick riff-laden texture, and posturing performances.[6]

The basic electric blues band instrumentation includes a prominent lead guitar, second chord instrument, bass, and drums,[2] with an electric guitar most commonly used as the lead instrument.[1] A harmonica or keyboard may also be used,[1] but the saxophone had largely been abandoned from the rhythm section of a typical electric blues band since the 1950s.[12] Electric blues often incorporates electric guitar techniques such as amplification, distortion,[2][11] and power chords.[3] String bending has also often been used since the 1950s, usually to raise and lower the pitch in order to emulate vocal inflections and phrasing.[13]

Origins

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The blues, like jazz, probably began to be amplified in the late 1930s.[14] The first star of the electric blues is generally recognized as being T-Bone Walker; born in Texas but moving to Los Angeles to record in the early 1940s, he combined blues with elements of R&B and jazz in a long and prolific career.[14] After World War II, amplified blues music became popular in American cities that had seen widespread African American migration, such as Chicago,[15] Memphis,[16] Detroit[17][18] and St. Louis. The initial impulse was to be heard above the noise of lively rent parties.[19] Playing in small venues, electric blues bands tended to remain modest in size compared with larger jazz bands, providing the template for blues and later rock groups.[19] In its early stages electric blues typically used amplified electric guitars, double bass (which was progressively replaced by bass guitar), drums, and harmonica played through a microphone and a PA system or a guitar amplifier.[19] It come across when Sue invited the blue by using an electric guitar.

Chicago blues

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The electric guitar started being used in blues in the early 1940s, with Muddy Waters playing the electric guitar since 1944.[10] By the late 1940s, several Chicago-based blues artists had begun to use amplification, including John Lee Williamson and Johnny Shines. Early recordings in the new style were made in 1947 and 1948 by musicians such as Johnny Young, Floyd Jones, and Snooky Pryor. The format was perfected by Muddy Waters, who utilized various small groups that provided a strong rhythm section and powerful harmonica. His “I Can’t Be Satisfied” (1948) was followed by a series of ground-breaking recordings.[20] Chicago blues is influenced to a large extent by the Mississippi blues style, because many performers had migrated from the Mississippi region. Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed were all born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago during the Great Migration. In addition to electric guitar, harmonica, and a rhythm section of bass and drums, some performers such as J. T. Brown who played in Elmore James’s bands or J. B. Lenoir’s also used saxophones, largely as a supporting instrument. Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) and Big Walter Horton were among the best known harmonica (called “harp” by blues musicians) players of the early Chicago blues scene and the sound of electric instruments and harmonica is often seen as characteristic of electric Chicago blues.[21] Muddy Waters and Elmore James were known for their innovative use of slide electric guitar.[22] Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters were for their deep, “gravelly” voices.[23] Bassist and composer Willie Dixon played a major role on the Chicago blues scene. He composed and wrote many standard blues songs of the period, such as “Hoochie Coochie Man”, “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (both penned for Muddy Waters) and, “Wang Dang Doodle”, “Spoonful” and “Back Door Man” for Howlin’ Wolf.[24] Most artists of the Chicago blues style recorded for the Chicago-based Chess Records and Checker Records labels, there were also smaller blues labels in this era including Vee-Jay Records and J.O.B. Records.[25]

In the late 1950s, the West Side style blues emerged in Chicago with major figures including Magic Sam, Jimmy Dawkins, Magic Slim and Otis Rush.[26] West side clubs were more accessible to white audiences, but performers were mainly black, or part of mixed combos.[27] West side blues incorporated elements of blues rock but with a greater emphasis on standards and traditional blues song forms.[28] Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Luther Allison had a West Side style that was dominated by amplified electric lead guitar.[29][30]

Experiments with over-driven distortion began with electric blues guitarists, including Chicago bluesmen such as Elmore James and Buddy Guy, in order to get a guitar sound that paralleled the rawness of blues singers such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.[2] Elmore James was an electric guitar pioneer, using techniques such as distortion, power chords and slides in the 1950s to create an “explosive sound” that was “screaming with sustained tones” and was distorted and densely textured.[31] He was one of the prime architects of the Chicago blues school, while his hard driving blues guitar work, the “thunderous blast” of his guitar sound, and his slashing and bottleneck guitar techniques, had a strong influence on the development of modern rock music, particularly blues rock, heavy metal and hard rock.[32] Chicago blues musicians such as Elmore James, Albert King and Freddie King are credited with pioneering blues rock,[32] while Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Howlin’ Wolf are credited with the beginnings of hard rock.[33]

Texas blues

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Texas blues

Texas had had a long history of major acoustic blues performers like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lightnin’ Hopkins, but by the 1940s many Texas blues artists had moved elsewhere to further their careers, including T-Bone Walker who relocated to Los Angeles to record his most influential records in the 1940s.[19] His R&B influenced backing and saxophone imitating lead guitar sound would become an influential part of the electric blues sound.[19] Goree Carter’s “Rock Awhile” (1949) featured an over-driven electric guitar style anticipating Chuck Berry and has been cited by several sources as the first rock and roll record.[34][35][36]

The state R&B recording industry was based in Houston with labels like Duke/Peacock, which in the 1950s provided a base for artists who would later pursue the electric Texas blues sound, including Johnny Copeland and Albert Collins.[19] Freddie King, a major influence on electric blues, was born in Texas, but moved to Chicago as a teenager.[19] His instrumental number “Hide Away” (1961), was emulated by British blues artists such as Eric Clapton.[37]

Detroit blues

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Main article:

Detroit blues

Detroit-based John Lee Hooker pursued a unique brand of electric blues based on his deep rough voice accompanied by a single electric guitar. Though not directly influenced by boogie woogie, his “groovy” style is sometimes called “guitar boogie”. His first hit, “Boogie Chillen”, reached #1 on the R&B charts in 1949.[38] He continued to play and record until his death in 2001.[39]

Memphis blues

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Memphis, with its flourishing acoustic blues scene based in Beale Street, also developed an electric blues sound during the early 1950s. After World War II, as African-Americans left the Mississippi Delta and other impoverished areas of the south for urban areas, many musicians gravitated to Memphis’ blues scene, changing the classic Memphis blues sound. They performed on Beale Street and in West Memphis, and recorded some of the classic electric blues, rhythm and blues and rock & roll records for labels such as Sun Records. Sam Phillips’ Sun Records company recorded musicians such as Howlin’ Wolf (before he moved to Chicago), Willie Nix, Ike Turner, and B.B.King.[40]

Electric Memphis blues was characterized by “explosive, distorted electric guitar work, thunderous drumming, and fierce, declamatory vocals.”[41] Musicians involved with Sun Records included Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson and Pat Hare who introduced electric guitar techniques such as distortion and power chords, anticipating elements of heavy metal music.[3][4] T-Bone Burnett considers Howlin’ Wolf’s 1951 song “How Many More Years” to be the first rock and roll song,[42] and considers Howlin’ Wolf to be the father of rock and roll.[43]

These players had a strong influence on later musicians in these styles, notably the early rock & rollers and rockabillies, many of whom also recorded for Sun Records. After Phillips discovered Elvis Presley in 1954, the Sun label turned to the rapidly expanding white audience and started recording mostly rock ‘n’ roll.[44] Booker T. & the M.G.’s carried the electric blues style into the 1960s.

New Orleans blues

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New Orleans blues

The New Orleans blues musician Guitar Slim recorded “The Things That I Used to Do” (1953), which featured an electric guitar solo with distorted overtones and became a major R&B hit in 1954.[45] It is regarded as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll,[46] and contributed to the development of soul music.[8]

Influence on popular music

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In the 1950s, blues had a huge influence on mainstream American popular music. While popular musicians like Bo Diddley[17] and Chuck Berry,[47] both recording for Chess, were influenced by the Chicago blues, their enthusiastic playing styles departed from the melancholy aspects of blues and played a major role in the development of rock and roll.[48] Chicago blues also influenced Louisiana’s zydeco music,[49] with Clifton Chenier[50] using blues accents. Zydeco musicians used electric solo guitar and cajun arrangements of blues standards.

It was a foundation of rock music, which took its dense texture,[2] electric guitar techniques (such as amplification, distortion and power chords)[3] and basic blues band instrumentation (prominent lead guitar, second chord instrument, bass, and drums) from electric blues.[2] It influenced rock and roll, particularly in the mid-1950s, through Chuck Berry’s adaptation of the basic blues band instrumentation, and then it influenced classic rock in the 1960s, particularly through acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton.[2]

The roots of hard rock and heavy metal can be traced back to 1950s electric blues,[6][7] which laid the foundations for key elements such as a rough declamatory vocal style, heavy guitar riffs, string-bending blues-scale guitar solos, strong beat, thick riff-laden texture, and posturing performances.[6]

Electric blues is credited with bringing “nastier” guitar sounds into popular music.[2] Heavy metal music has clear roots in electric blues.[5] Electric blues guitarists such as Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson and Pat Hare laid the foundations for heavy metal, with their raw, heavily amplified, driving rhythms and scorching, distorted solos.[11]

T-Bone Burnett notes that Howlin’ Wolf’s blend of blues with the electric guitar created an early rock and roll sound, particularly in “How Many More Years” (1951), that would later influence Elvis Presley and other rock musicians.[43] The recording influenced Led Zeppelin’s song “How Many More Times” on their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin; re-issues since 1993 have co-credited the song to Chester Burnett (Howlin’ Wolf).[51]

Elmore James had a strong influence on British blues bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Animals, and The Yardbirds, and rock guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix.[32]

Electric blues acts such as Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Parker and Arthur Crudup influenced the development of rockabilly.[9] Other electric blues artists such as Guitar Slim influenced the development of soul music.[8]

British blues boom

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British blues emerged from the skiffle and folk club scene of the late 1950s, particularly in London, which included the playing of American acoustic blues. Critical was the visit of Muddy Waters in 1958, who initially shocked British audiences by playing amplified electric blues, but who was soon performing to ecstatic crowds and rave reviews.[52] This inspired guitarist and blues harpist Cyril Davies and guitarist Alexis Korner to plug in and they began to play a high-powered electric blues that became the model for the subgenre, forming the band Blues Incorporated.[52] Blues Incorporated was something of a clearing house for British blues musicians in the later 1950s and early 1960s, with many joining, or sitting in on sessions. These included future Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones; as well as Cream founders Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker; beside Graham Bond and Long John Baldry.[52] Blues Incorporated were given a residency at the Marquee Club and it was from there that in 1962 they took the name of the first British Blues album, R&B from the Marquee for Decca, but split before its release.[52] The model of electric blues was emulated by a number of bands including The Rolling Stones, The Animals. The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin (much of the early work).

The other key focus for British blues was around John Mayall who moved to London in the early 1960s, eventually forming the Bluesbreakers, whose members at various times included, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar and Mick Taylor.[52] Particularly significant was the Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Beano) album (1966), considered one of the seminal British blues recordings.[53] It was notable for its driving rhythms and Clapton’s rapid blues licks with a full distorted sound derived from a Gibson Les Paul and a Marshall amp, which became something of a classic combination for British blues (and later rock) guitarists.[54] It also made clear the primacy of the guitar, seen as a distinctive characteristic of the subgenre.[52] Clapton left to form Cream with Baker and Bruce and his replacement was Peter Green, who in turn (with the then Bluesbreaker’s rhythm section Mick Fleetwood and John McVie) left in 1967 to form Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac.[55] The incorporation of elements of rock and roll into the music of these bands led them increasingly to play a hybrid form of blues rock.

Blues rock

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The distinction between electric blues and blues rock is a very difficult one and many artists have been classified in both camps.[52] With some notable exceptions, blues rock has largely been played by white musicians since the late 1960s, bringing a rock sensitivity to blues standards and forms and it played a major role in widening the appeal of the blues to white American audiences.

Blues rock was pioneered by blues musicians such as Elmore James, Albert King, and Freddie King.[32] Elmore James developed blues rock by “energizing primal riffs with a raw, driving intensity.”[56] Freddie King created blues rock music in the early 1960s, predating by about five years the British acts who were influenced by his work, such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Peter Green.[57] In 1963, American guitarist Lonnie Mack had used a guitar style which prefigured with blues rock, releasing several full-length rock guitar instrumentals strongly grounded in the blues, the best-known of which are the hit singles “Memphis” (Billboard #5) and “Wham!” (Billboard #24).[58] However, blues rock was not considered a distinct movement within rock until the advent of such British bands as Fleetwood Mac, Free, Savoy Brown and the groups formed around the three major guitarists that emerged from the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.[52]

Eric Clapton had a lasting influence on the genre; after leaving The Yardbirds and his work John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, he formed supergroups Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos, followed by an extensive solo career that has been seminal in bringing blues rock into the mainstream.[52] In the late ’60s Jeff Beck revolutionised blues rock into a form of heavy rock with his band, The Jeff Beck Group.[52] Jimmy Page went on to form The New Yardbirds which would soon become Led Zeppelin.[52] Many of the songs on their first two albums and occasionally later in their careers, were expansions on traditional blues songs.[52]

The British and blues musicians of the early 1960s inspired a number of American blues rock fusion performers, including Paul Butterfield, Canned Heat, the early Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, The J. Geils Band and Ry Cooder.[52] The revolutionary electric guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix (a veteran of many American rhythm & blues and soul groups from the early-mid-1960s) and his power trios, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys, had broad and lasting influence on the development of blues rock, especially for guitarists.[52] Blues rock bands like Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and eventually ZZ Top from the southern states, incorporated country elements into their style to produce Southern rock.[59]

Early blues rock bands often emulated jazz, playing long, involved improvisations and by about 1967 bands like Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience had begun to move into psychedelia.[60] By the 1970s, blues rock had become heavier and more riff-based, exemplified by the work of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, and the lines between blues rock and hard rock “were barely visible”,[60] as bands began recording rock-style albums.[60] The genre was continued in the 1970s by figures such as George Thorogood and Pat Travers,[52] but, particularly on the British scene, except perhaps for the advent of groups such as Status Quo and Foghat who moved towards a form of high energy and repetitive boogie rock, bands became focused on heavy metal innovation, and blues rock began to slip out of the mainstream.[61] Today, bands like the Black Keys, Reignwolf and Gary Clark Jr. who were highly influenced by the original Blues legends, continue to carry the original feel of Blues Rock in their compositions.[62]

Modern electric blues

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Texas blues revival

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Main article:

Texas blues

In the late 1960s and early 1970s the Texas electric blues scene began to flourish, influenced by country music and blues rock, particularly in the clubs of Austin. The diverse style often featured instruments like keyboards and horns, but placed particular emphasis on powerful lead guitar breaks.[19] The most prominent artists to emerge in this era were the brothers Johnny and Edgar Winter, who combined traditional and southern styles.[19] In the 1970s, Jimmie formed The Fabulous Thunderbirds and in the 1980s his brother Stevie Ray Vaughan broke through to mainstream success with his virtuoso guitar playing, as did ZZ Top with their brand of Southern rock.[63]

Contemporary electric blues

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Since the end of the 1960s electric blues has declined in mainstream popularity, but retained a strong following in the US, Britain and elsewhere, with many musicians that began their careers as early as the 1950s continuing to record and perform, occasionally producing breakthrough stars.[64] In the 1970s and 80s it absorbed a number of different influences, including particularly rock and soul music.[64] Stevie Ray Vaughan was the biggest star influenced by blues rock and opened the way for guitarists like Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang.[65] Practitioners of soul-influenced electric blues in the 1970s and 80s included Joe Louis Walker and most successfully Robert Cray, whose Strong Persuader album (1986), with its fluid guitar sound and an intimate vocal style, produced a major crossover hit.[64]

Since her breakthrough commercial success Nick of Time in 1989 Bonnie Raitt has been one of the leading artists in acoustic and electric blues, doing much to promote the profile of older blues artists.[66] After the renewed success of John Lee Hooker with his collaborative album The Healer (1989),[67] in the early 1990s a number of significant artists began to return to electric blues, including Gary Moore, beginning with Still Got the Blues (1990)[68] and Eric Clapton with From the Cradle (1994).[69] There were also many new acts who played a version of blues rock, including Clarence Spady[70] The White Stripes,[44] The Black Crowes,[71] The Black Keys,[72] Jeff Healey,[73] Clutch,[74] The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion,[75] and Joe Bonamassa.[76] Veteran Linsey Alexander is known for his original Chicago blues influenced by soul, R&B, and funk.[77]
[78] This renewed interest in blues in general and electric blues in particular has led to talk of another blues revival or resurgence.[79]

See also

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Notes

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