How Blues Gave Birth to Rock and Roll

BB King, Albert King and Bobby Bland maxin' and relaxin'

While the term ‘blue’ doesn’t get thrown around a whole lot these days, I think it’s fair to say that it’s usage is specific to a certain kind of sadness. Coined in the 1300’s, the term reemerged in musical reference at the dawn of the 20th century when Hart Wand's Dallas Blues became the first copyrighted blues composition. To be described as ‘blue,’ often suggested a state of depression or agitation, which came to be represented with twelve bars, slide guitars, and a walking bass line. There’s just something about melancholy that gives rise to music, man.

The blues’ call-and-response format that some of us may be familiar with is actually based off of African-American work songs, which address themes of poverty, mysticism, floods and drought. Early blues was often anecdotal, confronting the personal struggles of African-Americans transitioning from slavery to freedom. Topics such as love lost, oppression, and hard times are also typical in blues music. In short, there was a lot of racial injustice at the turn of the 20th century, and blues became a way of challenging this oppressive bullshit.

By the 1920s, the genre began to gain momentum, branching off into various subgenres, including Memphis and Delta blues, which subsequently reached white and black audiences alike. Transcending the genre’s improviso roots, theatres and nightclubs began hosting blues performers. Record companies such as American Record Corporation, Okeh Records, and Paramount Records also began to take notice of the growing popularity of blues, recording a great deal more African-American music. With the 13th Amendment having been passed in the United States roughly 60 years prior, this was, reasonably a big deal for people of colour, and music in general.

When many of us think of blues, we often envision the late and great B.B. King, bending Lucille’s strings with ease and mastery. While King held court like no other in the world of blues, I think it’s important to realize that even the king stood on the shoulders of giants. Individuals such as Tampa Red, Big Joe Turner, and T-Bone Walker, to name a few, helped to pave the way for later forms of blues music.

It was in the 1950s that blues music really began to hit its stride, with the dawn of electrical blues giving way to the likes of Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed, to name a few. Blues’ influence on mainstream music became apparent in the 50s with musicians like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry’s furious playing styles departing from the wistful pathos of earlier blues. In essence, the genre got a boost o’ boogie.

What’s perhaps most interesting about blues is its trajectory into the mainstream. By the 60s and 70s, blues had undergone yet another powerful transition...this time, combining elements of rock, sparking even more interest among white listeners. Blues veterans, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters continued to captivate audiences, inspiring new artists like Taj Mahal to blend blues and rock, producing musical symbiosis.

The blues marked the musical awakening of multitudes of musicians, steadily driving blues rock into the mainstream. Bands from both sides of the pond found their musical voice in blues, with The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Canned Heat, Cream, and earlier Fleetwood Mac to name a few. Led Zeppelin, who have often been criticized for their blatant musical plagiarism, also borrowed heavily from blues music, famously covering Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie’s When The Levee Breaks in 1971.

The musical impact of blues continues to have a hold on today’s music. Don’t believe me? Check out Radio Moscow for a tasty blend of blues/psychedelic rock. If the history of the genre isn’t enough to blow your mind, I encourage you to go down the rabbit hole and listen to some of the artists I’ve mentioned. That, or at least watch The Blues Brothers.

Until next time, stay groovy.

-A