Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The Blues, Gospel & Country
The Roots of Rock
The Origins of the Blues- “Blues” feelings of sadness and hopelessness
-Used by Af. Americans to help cope with problems of daily life as slaves.
- “backbeat” - accents on beats 2 & 4 of music.
-Africa, Arabia, Middle East & Spain.
-African “griots” - Oral poets who tell history - rough vocal tone - rhythmic patterns
Griots = social storiesBlues= personal stories
- European influence - 3 chord patterns
Country Blues
Call and Response - Leader sings out phrase and group sings a response to the phrase.
- Used as a way to pass the time and keep the work moving during hard physical labor.
- Also known as Work Songs.
Field Holler- sung by an individual, lamenting about the work he has been asked to do. Slow and usually made up.
- Originated in very rural areas of the South.
Country Blues, continued...
- Sang without accompaniment or with battered guitars.
- rough, yet very expressive singing.
-Early country blues was never recorded.
Big Bill Broonzy - The Southern Blues
Delta Blues
- Out of all Blues forms, the Delta Blues had the MOST influence on early Rock and Roll.
- Mississippi River Delta
-Lyrics expressive about the lives the musicians led.
-Emotional and Rough compared to country blues.
-Bottlenecks - broke glass bottles, filed down the edges and used it as a guitar slide.
-Eventually added amplification & other instruments.
-Bending notes/blues notes
-12 Bar Blues developed
Delta Blues Musicians
Huddie Ledbetter -aka “Leadbelly”- used a kife as his slide.
-House of the Rising Sun
Muddy Waters- Travelled to Chicago. Known as “the father of Chicago Blues- will play a MAJOR influence on Rock and Roll Artists
Robert Johnson
- One of the most influential blues artists of the 1930’s
- Poor, grew up on a plantation in Mississippi and was known as “quite the ladies man”.
-Lyrics expressed his love for wine, women and song.
-Only recorded 29 songs.
-Never performed in formal situations.
Cross Road Blues- Major influence on rock and roll artists.
-Movie made about it.
- Died at age of 27 by either being poisoned by either the woman or husband of which he was having an affair.
-Rolling Stones, Cream, Feetwood Mac have done covers of his tunes.
Classic Blues
- Heavy Female Artist influence
- Another form of Country blues - just performed on stage accompanied by big jazz bands.
- Served as inspiration to future female rock singers like Etta James, and Janis Joplin
Ma Rainey
- The Mother of the Blues because of her nickname and the number of singers that she influenced.
- Performed mainly on tour in tent shows with a band without amplification.
-Gutsy, dramatic pauses, expressive singing
Bessie Smith
-Ma Rainey was her mentor.
- Empress of the Blues
- Sang with mostly Big Swing Bands
- Lost Your Head BluesSt. Louis Blues
Urban Blues
-Due to WWI and losing jobs on plantations, many people moved North to the big cities to look for work.
- Country Blues Musicians banded together and played in groups and changed name to Urban Blues.
-Urban Blues groups: Rhythm Section ( Bass, Drums, Guitar or Piano) Solo Instruments ( Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Piano)
-More complex than Country Blues.
Famous Urban Blues Guitar Players
- Charlie Christian - One of the first to play solos on the guitar, rather than just playing as part of the Rhythm Section. Solo with Jazz Band
- T-bone Walker (Aaron Thibeaux Walker) - Also one of the first to use the guitar as a solo instrument.
- Very flashy Style- Played the guitar behind his back!
B.B. King
-Originally a Delta Blues musician.
- “B.B” comes from nickname “Blues Boy”
- “Three O’Clock Blues”
-Guitar’s name is “Lucille”, after a lady that 2 men got in a bar fight over.
- Influenced: Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Mike Bloomfield
-Performed with U2 on the in their movie “Rattle and Hum”
Chicago Blues
- Combined Swing Jazz and boogie woogie piano with the passion of delta blues (combining styles from all over America).
-Known for making the transformation from acoustic to amplified!
-Was a cultural center because of the Mississippi River
-Chicago Blues Sound
Phil & Leonard Chess
-Created Chess Recording Studios in Chicago.
- Helped musicians transfer from delta/country blues to Urban blues mainly by giving them back up musicians and amplifying their instruments.
-Was the record company that made everyone famous!
-Also owned a night club (Macamba) where the musicians would play.
Chess Record Musicians
- Willie Dixon - Known most for his Songwriting abilities. - “You Shook Me” - “I Can’t Quit You Baby”
- “Muddy” Waters ( Delta Blues) -Got nickname because he liked to “muddy” for fish
( reach into water and catch fish with his hands)- Bottleneck guitar- “Rollin’ Stone” - The Rolling Stones took their name from this tune- Toured with Eric Clapton
Muddy Waters Singing “Hoochie Choochie Man” - by Willie Dixon
Elmore James
-Popular Bottleneck player that used a steel rather than a glass slide.
- Know for being one of the early modernizers of Delta Blues.
- Slide guitar style was copied by Eric Clapton, Brian Jones ( Rolling Stones) and Jimi Hendrix
- When he died, 45 women claimed to be married to him!
- “Dust My Broom” (Robert Johnson Cover)
John Lee Hooker
- Detroit Based -Did not record with Chess Records
-Toured with many Chicago Blues Musicians
- “Boom Boom” became a hit with rock group The Animals in 1965.
- Has “break” - where the guitar stops when he sings.
- Was featured in the movie “The Blues Brothers”
-Stopped touring in 1995
Rhythm & Blues
-Rhythm and Blues - aka “Race Music” - A type of rhythmic dance music where the 2nd and 4th beat were emphasized.
Blues = problems of African American lifeRHYTHM & BLUES= Enjoyment of African American life
-Originated in the ghettos
-Performances included swiveling hip & rolling around on the floor while playing!
Rhythm & Blues, continued..
-Was the basis of 1950’s rock and roll.
- Sexual suggestiveness of lyrics spurred the beginning of the backlash against rock and roll.
- Combination of Blues, Gospel and Soul music.
-Recording companies geared this music towards African American audiences
Louis Jordan
- Alto Saxophone player that formed his on band.
- Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five. Known as a “Jump Band”
-Style was known as “Jumpin’ Jive”
-Popular with both Whites and African Americans
-Early Rock and Roll Artist Billy Haley imitated him.
Bo Diddley
- Started playing Violin before switching to Guitar.
-Very Rhythmic Style of Guitar playing
- Many Early 1950’s groups copied his guitar style
-Many 1960’s British Bands did covers of his tunes: Yardbirds, Rolling Stones and The Animals
- “Bo Diddley Beat” - WHO’s “Magic Bus” U2’s “Desire”
Spirituals-Religious folk songs from both whites and African Americans from the mid 18th and early 19th century.
-But eventually was associated to just African American composers.
-Not written down but passed on from singer to singer.
-Leader =improvising Background singers =background
- Sometimes had coded messages that they didn’t want whites to understand.
Fisk Jubilee Singers
- Fisk University in Nashville, TN.
-Performed in the US and Europe
Gospel Music
-Same roots as spirituals and the blues.
Blues = Personal Expression of singer Gospel= shared religious beliefs of a group of worshipers
-Started by going to church with white owners- singing same hymns. After Civil War, African Americans built their own churches.
-Music driven by spiritedness of freedom & Call/response
Soul Stirrers
- Popular Early Gospel Group
- Falsetto ( high) male singing
- From Texas
- Influenced many gospel groups
Mahalia Jackson
- Queen of Gospel
- Influenced by Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith ( secretly listening to them). Her religious family would not have approved.
Doo - Wop
- Secular music that sounded like Gospel.
-EARLY Rock and Roll - 1920’s
-Lead singer with accompaniment by group singing nonsense syllables -Mills Brothers, Ink Spots, Ravens, Crows, Penguins, Cardinals, Flamingo’s and the Orioles (from Baltimore)
The Orioles
Crying in the Chapel-One of the first Doo-Wop tunes to be successful on the charts. 1953
- Covered by Elvis in 1960
Sh-Boom
-African American (The Chords) & White (The Crew Cuts) groups -Would change each other’s sound of the tune The Chords The Crew Cuts
Country Music
- Commercial form of Folk Music (earliest form was called hillbilly - a name for backwoods southerners of British descent)
-Dance music included the jig, the reel, the polka, the waltz, etc.
-Barn dance shows were popular on the radio. (Grand Old Opry)
Western Swing
- Popular in Texas from Fiddle & guitar barn dance bands, which eventually adopted blues and jazz styles.
Texas Playboys “Stay a Little Longer”
Bluegrass
- Music that came from string bands (fiddle/guitar/banjo) that played at barn dances in the 1920’s.
-Influenced many folk rock groups (The Eagles, Charlie Daniels Band, etc.)
Bill Monroe - “Uncle Pen”
Honkeytonk
- Honkey-tonk was a bar or saloon found outside the limits of a “dry” town.
-Boisterous, noisy camaraderie and music needed to be amplified.
-Needed steady/danceable beat.
Jimmy Rodgers
-Father of Country Music
-Performed mainly new songs
-Distinct Vocal Style
-Blue Yodel No. 1
Hank Williams, Sr.
I’ll Never Get Out of this World
-Died at 29 due to dependency on painkillers and alcohol
Johnny Cash
I Walk the Line Was His Crossover hit that was popular on both country
and pop charts
