GOT THOSE SUMMERTIME BLUES?

TRY THESE BLUES . . .

Blues Tour . . .

Blues is the cornerstone of jazz - usually telling a story of sad or hard times (field hollers / work songs), but can be happy/sad or fast/slow. It is most recognized by bends, slides and out-of-tuneness called "blue notes".

Blues comes in many styles. Here are a few listings from the All-Music Guide as well as some suggested artists:

Classic Female Blues: late 1800's - early 1900's

• Bessie Smith
• Ma Rainey

Delta: early 1900's -Mississippi blues, the earliest guitar-dominated music to make it onto record

• Robert Johnson

Country: embraced all regional styles and variations

• Leadbelly
• Blind Blake
• Mississippi John Hurt

Memphis: "jug band" was a humorous, jazz-style played on homemade instruments, there was a beginning to assign parts to guitarists

• early recordings of B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf

Texas: more relaxed, swinging style

• Clarence Brown
• T-Bone Walker

Chicago: mid 30's to late 40s -guitar driven, fully amplified sound in a small band context

• Muddy Waters
• Elmore James
• Jimmy Redd
• Otis Rush
• Buddy Guy

Jump: uptempo, features singer with a large horn-driven orchestra

• Johnny Otis
• Roy Brown

New Orleans: primarily piano and horn-driven, enlivened by Caribbean rhythms and party atmosphere

• Professor Longhair

West Coast: definite piano based and jazz influence

• Charles Brown
• Percy Mayfield

Piano Blues: throughout the blues history including ragtime, barrelhouse, boogie-woogie, smooth west Coast style and hard-rocking Chicago style

• Leroy Carr

Louisiana: looser, more laid back version of the amplified Chicago small band, use of "echo" recording to give a "doomy" feel

• Lazy Lester

R&B / Soul Blues: fuses elements of Black popular music

Modern Acoustic Blues: revival of more country-derived styles

• John Hammond
• Rory Block
• early Bonnie Raitt
• Taj Mahal

Modern Electric Blues: mid 60's to present - replicates older urban blues with contemporary fashion

• Stevie Ray Vaugahn
• Fabulous Thunderbirds
• Robert Cray

British Blues: geographic only - replications of American genres

• John Mayall
• early Fleetwood Mac
• early Rolling Stones

NOTE: end of WWII - The Rise of Live Blues Radio with "Biscuit Time" on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas in 1941.

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