The Blues

The Blues as a genre of contemporary music has been with us since the turn of the 20th Century, and before this in terms of specific locations, like the Mississippi Delta region of the southern United States, and other concentrations where African/American people tended to settle.

However, the history of The Blues is one that is not easily charted, but definitely in terms of the commercial deployment of Blues it was the phenomenon of the so-called ‘British Invasion’ that boosted interest and wide adoption of Blues music among the middle class white populations of both America & the U.K and European countries.

It is not my intention to provide an exhaustive history of Blues here, for this would demand months of research and the production of a book, if not a series of books!

What I would like to do is recognise that Blues music has never gone away, that it has provided a vast cultural energy which has spawned all kinds of offshoots, and variants that all draw directly on the distinctive emotional approach, and observations of life that Blues has provided to us.

There are many musical analysts who make the claim that ‘Rock’ itself is a significant progeny of Blues, and we can see familiar aspects of Hip Hop, and Rap that draw strongly on the commentary and narrative style of Blues music.

 Jazz also has a strong link and relationship with Blues, the extended improvisations over chord progressions grew out of the I/IV/V ramblings, with variations and extensions being added.

That first crop of remarkable Blues exponents from Britain are now in their 70’s and 80’s or indeed passed away, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, John Mayall, Paul Kossoff (RIP), Peter Green (RIP), Gary Moore (RIP), Snowy White, Jimmy Page…and really many more; it seems the old saying that philosophers are never recognised in their own country also applies to cultural movements and art forms, people often do not value that which is produced in their own society, perhaps they are just too close up to it, and cannot see the full picture, or is it familiarity breeding contempt?

Whatever the reason, and of course racial inequality must figure in this, Americans simply did not recognise Blues music as being valuable until ‘foreigners’ brought it to them, packaged up in the form of long haired British boys playing in guitar bands.

B.B King always said that he learned something from Eric Clapton and Keith Richards about presenting Blues, he did not specify just what this was but you can be sure he did not mean ‘chops’, he was referring to self respect and bringing a degree of mystique to your playing.

The white guys who saw the authentic depth of Blues music knew how to bring an entrepreneurial flair, and sense of celebration, showmanship that the original players seemed to lack; B.B King was astute enough to recognise this and gratefully absorbed the lesson.