The U.S. and Canada–The Blues (Overview)

“The Blues” is a globally-rooted, American-born genre of music that, while it has developed a very particular set of musical parameters and technical requirements, ultimately it is about how that song you’re singing makes you feel.

Let’s explore:

EARLY BLUES:

W.C. Handy | Bessie Smith | Ma Rainey | Tampa Red

COUNTRY BLUES:

Jimmie Rodgers | Blind Blake

MISSISSIPPI (DELTA) BLUES:

Robert Johnson | Charley Patton

PIEDMONT BLUES:

Blind Willie McTell | Blind Boy Fuller | Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee

MEMPHIS BLUES:

Memphis Jug Band | Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers | Memphis Minnie | B.B. King

BOOGIE WOOGIE:

Clarence “Pine Top” Smith | Jimmy Yancey | (guitar boogie: John Lee Hooker)

BIG BAND BLUES/JUMP BLUES:

Jimmy Rushing | Lionel Hampton | Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

CHICAGO BLUES:

Muddy Waters | Willie Dixon | Howlin’ Wolfe | Sonny Boy Williamson

ELECTRIC BLUES:

T-Bone Walker | Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry

SWAMP BLUES:

Lightnin’ Slim

SKIFFLE:

Lonnie Donegan | A very young Jimmy Page

LATIN BLUES:

Carlos Santana (performing with Buddy Guy)

TULSA BLUES:

J.J. Cale

TEXAS ROCK-BLUES:

Stevie Ray Vaughn

EARLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL:

Elvis Presley | Little Richard | Buddy Holly | The Big Bopper | Ritchie Valens

SOUL:

Etta James | Ray Charles | Otis Redding | Sam Cooke | Mavis
Staples | The Staple Singers | Aretha Franklin | Solomon Burke

The Supremes | Smokey Robinson & The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips | Stevie Wonder

Curtis Mayfield | Earth, Wind & Fire | The Commodores

FUNK:

The JBs | James Brown | Sly & the Family Stone | Parliament/Funkadelic