Blues Electric

Probably the blues, like jazz , began to intensify in the late 1930s. ^[1] T-Bone Walker , who was born in Texas but moved to Los Angeles in the early 1940s to record a mix of blues with R&B and jazz elements during his long and fruitful career, is generally recognized as the first electric blues star. . ^[1] After World War II, enhanced blues sound became popular in American cities like Chicago , ^[2] Memphis , ^[3] Detroit ^{[4] [5],} and St. Louis , where a large number of African Americans migrate. The initial impulse was to be heard on the streets of the city. ^[6] Electric blues performers united in smaller groups compared to more numerous jazz bands, thus providing a standard template for blues and later rock performers. ^[6] In the early stages of the electric blues, as a rule, amplified electric guitars, double bass (which was actively replaced by a bass guitar), drums and harmonica sounded through a loudspeaker or guitar amplifier were used. ^[6]

John Lee Hooker created his own style of electric blues.

Detroit’s John Lee Hooker performed a unique electric blues form based on his crudely sounding vocals, accompanied by just an electric guitar. Despite the fact that his music is not strongly influenced by boogie-woogie , his style is sometimes called “guitar boogie”. The first hit " Boogie Chillen " reached number one on the R&B charts in 1949. ^[7] He continued to play and record until his death in 2001. ^[eight]

Chicago Blues

Towards the end of the 1940s, several Chicago blues artists began using amplifiers, including John Lee Williamson and Johnny Shines . The earliest recordings of electric blues were made in 1947-1948. musicians like Johnny Young , Floyd Jones and Snooky Pryor . The subgenre was enhanced by Muddy Waters , which introduced a strong rhythm section and powerful harmonics. His hit " I Can't Be Satisfied " (1948) was followed by a series of groundbreaking recordings. ^[9] Chicago blues relies heavily on delta blues because many performers migrated from the Mississippi . Howlin 'Wolf , Muddy Waters , Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed were born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago during the Great Migration . Artists such as JT Brown , who played in the band Elmore James , or JB Lenoir , also added saxophone, in addition to typical instruments, mainly as an auxiliary instrument. Little Walter , Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) and Big Walter Horton were among the most famous harmonica performers of the early Chicago blues, and the sound of electric instruments and harmonics is often seen as the main characteristic of the Chicago electric blues. ^[10] Most Chicago blues musicians recorded on the Chicago label Chess Records and Checker Records , and there were also small blues labels Vee-Jay Records and JOB Records in that era. ^[eleven]

Memphis Blues

Memphis, with its thriving Bill Street acoustic scene, also designed his electric blues in the early 1950s. Sam Phillips, a company called Sun Records, has recorded a number of musicians, including Howlin 'Wolf (before his departure for Chicago), Willie Nix , Ike Turner and BBKing . ^[12] Other Memphis blues artists with Sun Records include Joe Hill Louis , Willie Johnson, and Pat Hare , who used distortion and power chords for the first time, thus incorporating heavy metal elements. ^{[13] [14]} They had a strong influence on later rock and roll and rockabilly artists , many of whom were also recorded on Sun Records. After the opening of Elvis Presley in 1954, Sun Records switched to the fast-growing white rock and roll audience. ^[15] Booker T. & the MG's have been playing electric blues since the 1960s.

New Orleans Blues

Musician Guitar Slim from New Orleans recorded the song “ The Things That I Used to Do ” (1953), in which he soloed on an electric guitar with distortion effect, which became an R&B hit in 1954. ^[16] She was included in the list of “500 songs that formed rock” of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ^[17] and contributed to the development of soul music . ^[18]

The British blues originated from skiffle and folk clubs in the late 1950s, mainly in London, and was a performance of American acoustic blues. The turning point was the visit of Muddy Waters ' and in 1958, when he shocked the British audience with the performance of an amplified electric blues and subsequently received many rave reviews. ^[19] This inspired guitarists Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner to create the fundamental British blues band Blues Incorporated , which in 1962 released the first British blues album R&B from the Marquee . ^[19] Future founders of the Rolling Stones ( Mick Jagger , Charlie Watts and Brian Jones ) and Cream ( Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker ), along with Graham Bond and Long John Baldry, attended Blues Incorporated. ^[nineteen]

Another key British blues figure is John Mayall , who moved to London in the early 1960s and formed the Bluesbreakers group, which at various times included Jack Bruce , Aynsley Dunbar and Mick Taylor . ^[19] Of particular importance is the 1966 album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Beano) , which is considered one of the founding recordings of British blues. ^[20] The album is notable for the fast style of guitarist Eric Clapton combined with the distortion of the Gibson Les Paul guitar and the Marshall amp, which became a classic combination for British blues, and later rock music in general. ^[21]

Distinguishing electric blues from blues rock is very difficult, while the main difference is that blues rock is performed mainly by white musicians. Blues rock was not distinguished from rock music until the advent of the British bands Fleetwood Mac , Free , Savoy Brown , The Rolling Stones , The Animals , The Yardbirds , Cream , Blind Faith , Derek and the Dominos , The Jeff Beck Group and Led Zeppelin . British musicians, in turn, inspired American blues-rock artists such as Paul Butterfield , Canned Heat , Jefferson Airplane , Janis Joplin , Johnny Winter , The J. Geils Band and Ry Cooder .

The blues-rock bands Allman Brothers Band , Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top from the southern states of America, incorporating elements of country music, developed rock rock . The lingering jazz improvisations of Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience pushed blues rock to psychedelia . The heavy sounds of the bands Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, based on riffs, led to the formation of hard rock . 1970s performers George Thorogood , Pat Travers , Status Quo and Foghat formed boogie rock .

Since the late 1960s, the popularity of electric blues has begun to decline, but many followers remain in the United States, Great Britain and other countries among artists who began their career in the early 1950s and continue to perform and publish recordings. ^[22] In the 1970s and 1980s, the electric blues absorbed a number of different influences, in particular rock music and soul . ^[22] Stevie Ray Vaughan became a big celebrity; his blues-rock music paved the way for guitarists such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang . ^[23] Soul-influenced electric blues was performed by Joe Louis Walker and the more successful Robert Cray , whose album Strong Persuader (1986) includes a major hit in this style. ^[22]

Bonnie Raitt , starting with the breakthrough album Nick of Time (1989), becomes one of the leading performers of acoustic and electric blues. ^[24] The Healer (1989) renews interest in John Lee Hooker. ^[25] In the early 1990s, several famous artists returned to electric blues, including Gary Moore with Still Got the Blues (1990) ^[26] and Eric Clapton with From the Cradle (1994). ^[27] Many new artists have also appeared, including Clarence Spady ^[28] The White Stripes , ^[29] The Black Crowes , ^[30] The Black Keys , ^[31] Jeff Healey , ^[32] Clutch , ^[33] The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion , ^[34] and Joe Bonamassa . ^[35]