Widely recognized as the "Father of Rock and Roll", Blues music is one of America's great contributions to the world. It was created in the days of slavery in America, when a black person was still an African in America, not an African-American. It emerged from under the great weight and strain of years of oppression and cruelty as a shining pearl and testiment to the intelligence and creativity of this race of people.
Forced to labor long and hard on the plantations against their will, African slaves would sing and chant in their native tongues as they worked. They would take turns 'calling out' in song, to which the other workers would 'respond' in unison. This call and response technique in their songs, known as field hollers, would sadly tell of the loss of their homelands and families they would never see again. They would also use these songs to communicate information about escaping, as the slave owners could not understand the slaves' language.
With the Civil War came the freedom of slaves in America. During this time a new style of singing and playing acoustic guitar become popular. Named Delta Blues, after the Mississippi Delta region where the majority of blacks in America lived on plantations, it was some of the first blues to ever be recorded. Pioneers such as Charley Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, and Mississippi Fred McDowell helped to create a unique and powerful sound that is still popular today.
Often using a penknife or the neck of a bottle to slide on the strings, they individually plucked, not strummed the strings to play in the bottleneck style. The alternating bass notes, repeating chord structures, and call and response style lyrics owed much to their African roots. The lyrical content, which usually told of hard times, was often emphasized by the use of the flatted fifth note of the major scale. The sad, or "blue" sound of this note accurately reflected the feelings of these early songwriters, and is where the Blues got it's name.
Some Delta Bluesmen soon moved to the industrialized North in search of work, and brought their music with them. One such person was Muddy Waters. Finding that he could not be heard over the larger and rowdier Chicago audiences, he traded his acoustic guitar for a louder electric guitar. This led to the popular, if exaggerated, claim that "Muddy Waters invented electricity". Before long, he had a full band of amplified instruments, including piano, harmonica, bass, drums, and another electric guitar. This raw new sound became known as Chicago Blues. Other Chicago Bluesmen who helped to define this style are: Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Howlin' Wolf, and Guitar Slim.
It could be argued that if there had been no Blues, there could not have been Rock and Roll Music. Muddy Waters said it best with his song, "The Blues Had A Baby, And They Named It Rock and Roll" . Rock and Roll has always borrowed heavily from the Blues. So heavily that some Blues artists have even successfully sued in court, and won damages for songs they have written that were unfairly made into Rock and Roll songs without their knowledge or permission. Two such cases are Chuck Berry's, "Sweet Little Sixteen", and Howlin' Wolf's, "Killing Floor".
Other variations of Blues music include: Peidmont fingerstyle, Westcoast Blues, Texas Blues, Rhythm and Blues (R & B), and BluesRock.
To learn more about Blues, visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum.
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