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Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated amongst African-Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African-American culture. The blues form is ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll, and is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale, and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common. Blue notes, usually thirds, fifths or sevenths flattened in pitch, are also an essential part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove.
McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters was an American blues singer, songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".
Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and blues pianist and singer.
Trixie Smith, was an American blues singer and film actress. She made four dozen recordings and appeared in five films.
Freddie King was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar". Mostly known for his soulful and powerful voice and distinctive guitar playing, King had a major influence on electric blues music and on many later blues guitarists.
Leroy Carr was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist who developed a laid-back, crooning technique and whose popularity and style influenced such artists as Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. Music historian Elijah Wald has called him "the most influential male blues singer and songwriter of the first half of the 20th century". He first became famous for "How Long, How Long Blues", his debut recording released by Vocalion Records in 1928.
Hudson Whittaker, known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician.
"Cross Road Blues" is a song written by the American blues artist Robert Johnson. He performed it solo with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for musical genius. This is based largely on folklore of the American South that identifies a crossroads as the site where Faustian bargains can be made, as the lyrics do not contain any references to Satan.
Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music—a song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make humorous, sexual innuendos. This trope goes back to early dirty blues recordings, enjoyed huge commercial success in the 1920s and 1930s, and is used from time to time in modern American blues and blues rock.
Isaac L. "Banjo Ikey" Robinson was an American banjoist and vocalist.
William "Casey Bill" Weldon was an American country blues musician.
"Come On in My Kitchen" is a blues song by Robert Johnson. Music writer Elijah Wald has described it as "a hypnotic lament" and "his first unquestionable masterpiece".
"Hide Away" or "Hideaway" is a blues guitar instrumental that has become "a standard for countless blues and rock musicians performing today". First recorded in 1960 by Freddie King, the song became a hit on the record charts. It has been interpreted and recorded by numerous blues and other musicians and has been recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame.
"Hellhound on My Trail" is a blues song recorded by Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson in June 1937 and released as a 78 rpm single on Vocalion Records that September. It was inspired by earlier blues songs and blues historian Ted Gioia describes it as one of Johnson's "best known and most admired performances—many would say it is his greatest".
Alex Hill was an American jazz pianist.
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"Crosscut Saw", or "Cross Cut Saw Blues" as it was first called, is a hokum-style song "that must have belonged to the general repertoire of the Delta blues". Mississippi bluesman Tommy McClennan's recording of the song was released in 1941 and has since been interpreted by many blues artists. "Crosscut Saw" became an early R&B chart hit for Albert King, "who made it one of the necessary pieces of modern blues".
Mozelle Alderson was an American classic female blues singer. She recorded a small number of tracks for Black Patti Records in 1927 and for Brunswick Records In 1930. Her most regular pianist was Judson Brown. She was a one-time vocalist for the Famous Hokum Boys in 1930 and toured and recorded as a backing vocalist for other blues artists. Alderson used a number of aliases, possibly including Kansas City Kitty, Hannah May, Thelma Holmes, Mae Belle Lee, and Jane Lucas.
"It's Tight Like That" is a hokum or dirty blues song, recorded by Tampa Red and Georgia Tom on October 24, 1928. Vocalion Records issued it on the then standard 10-inch 78 rpm shellac record in December 1928. It became successful and eventually sold over seven million copies.
"Shake That Thing" is a song recorded by Papa Charlie Jackson in 1925, one of the earliest blues standards and a forerunner of hokum. Paramount Records issued it on the B-side of the then standard 10-inch 78 rpm shellac record on July 11, 1925. The song is also known as a first hit record where the male singer accompanies himself. The title of the song contains double entendre: at the time "shake it" was a vulgar euphemism for coitus.
References
- ↑ Wald 2010, p. 43.
- ↑ Calt 2010, p. 125.
- 1 2 Larkin 2013.
- ↑ Hansen 2000, p. 60.
- 1 2 O'Neal & Singel 2013, p. 18.
