Major musicians of the 1930s included Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Little Brother Mongomery, Leon Carr and Scrapper Blackwell, Lonnie Johnson, and Memphis Minnie.Īfter World War II, the use of electrified instruments became inevitable. Combos incorporating piano, guitar, and percussion developed, although the country, “downhome” origins of the musicians were still evident in the music. Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Boy Fuller, and Robert Johnson were country blues musicians.īeginning in the 1930s, blues musicians fell under the influence of urban culture, including popular music and jazz.
Country blues was usually recorded by a single male singer, self-accompanied on the guitar or piano, with perhaps an accompanying harmonica or simple percussion. There are several regional styles of country blues, including delta blues from the Mississippi Delta, Texas blues, and Piedmont blues from the Southeast. The “country blues,” usually considered an earlier form of the genre, was actually recorded in the mid-1920s. These singers were often accompanied by pianists, guitarists, or even small jazz combos. The first blues songs to be recorded, often called “classic blues,” were jazz-influenced songs in a vaudeville style, sung by the great blueswomen: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and others. Many of the earliest black American recording stars were blues singers. Historically, the popularity of blues coincides with the rise of the commercial recording industry, the introduction of “race” records aimed at black record-buyers after 1920, and the emigration of black Americans from the rural South to the urban North.
Central to the idea of blues performance is the concept that, by performing or listening to the blues, one is able to overcome sadness and lose the blues.Īmong the formal, identifying musical traits of the blues are the familiar “blue notes,” a three-line AAB verse form, and a characteristic use of the familiar blues chord progression. But blues is also a raucous dance music that celebrates pleasure and success. “Feeling blue” is expressed in songs whose verses lament injustice or express longing for a better life and lost loves, jobs, and money. A Brief discussion of the definition of blues musicīlues is an African-American music that traverses a wide range of emotions and musical styles.
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