Read about It and Listen to It -- A Brief Overview of the Blues and Its Influence on Early Rock (Part 1)
A Brief Overview of the Blues and Its Influence on Early Rock -- Part 1
While I was browsing YouTube for interesting or fun music videos, I came across something I thought was impossible. Somebody accurately (at least it seems so) transcribed the lyrics to the immortal rock classic, “Louie, Louie” by the Kingsmen (1963). While looking at the lyrics and listening to the song, something amazing happened. For the first time, the lyrics became intelligible. I listened with great anticipation, hoping these mystical and previously indecipherable lyrics held some lofty truths or insights. I was wrong. Instead, they sounded as banal and trite as most pop song lyrics. At least this example proves that lyrics alone do not sell a song. The other thing that occurred to me is the obvious influence the blues had on American rock, especially in the early years (ca. late 1950s through early 1960s). One hears it instantly in the three-chord guitar solo at the very beginning of “Louie, Louie.” Have a listen to it
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Blues Chords and Early Rock
A chord consists of three notes played together at the same time. In a rock band, such as the Kingsmen or the Beatles, the rhythm guitar plays the chords as part of the harmony for the song. Those three chords--musicians refer to them as the I, IV and V chords--come directly from the blues tradition, which precedes rock by roughly 60 years. In other words, early blues songs traditionally use this chord sequence. The blues chord progression and playing style spawned the birth of rock and roll in the late 1950s and inspired Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and the Comets, and several other early rock innovators. If you boil down basic origins in the development of early rock, most point directly to the blues (especially the I-IV-V chord progression). However, when white musicians, such as Elvis, borrowed and adapted the blues, crafty entrepreneur's changed the name to rock and roll and marketed the new phenomenon for a white audience. The rest is history.
Blues Chords and Early Rock
A chord consists of three notes played together at the same time. In a rock band, such as the Kingsmen or the Beatles, the rhythm guitar plays the chords as part of the harmony for the song. Those three chords--musicians refer to them as the I, IV and V chords--come directly from the blues tradition, which precedes rock by roughly 60 years. In other words, early blues songs traditionally use this chord sequence. The blues chord progression and playing style spawned the birth of rock and roll in the late 1950s and inspired Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and the Comets, and several other early rock innovators. If you boil down basic origins in the development of early rock, most point directly to the blues (especially the I-IV-V chord progression). However, when white musicians, such as Elvis, borrowed and adapted the blues, crafty entrepreneur's changed the name to rock and roll and marketed the new phenomenon for a white audience. The rest is history.
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The Blues Message
Another notable cornerstone of the blues, which accounts for its ongoing popularity and dramatic influence on American popular music, is the message conveyed by the lyrics. The message is universal. Sadness, loss, tragedy, and so forth, affects everyone. The blues offers a degree of comfort to the listener, knowing that others have shared these feelings. Somehow, the blues lets the listener know that one is not alone when the world turns troubling. Listeners can also gain tips for handling such occurrences in life and for the emotions of sadness that result. After all, the early blues originate in the 1890s among southern, former black slaves who faced racism, lack of education, poverty, and joblessness. They lived what they sang. These blues pioneers knew the ups and downs of life, dealt with them (not always in constructive ways) and often tried to find a silver lining somewhere along the way.
The Blues Style
The style of the early blues during this time can be characterized as a single male vocalist accompanying himself on guitar. Most historians point to the Mississippi Delta region as the birthplace of the blues. Singers sang in the park, on street corners, benches, jailhouses, train stations, and at small gatherings or parties. From there the blues spread to the cities and influenced jazz. It further evolved into rhythm and blues, which incorporates saxophones, drums, electric guitars (B.B. King) and other instruments.
Your text looks at the rich and diverse folk and religious music of America, focusing a good deal on the blues. You will also have additional readings in Angel that look more into the history of the blues as well as the form of the blues; that is, how the blues are structured internally. Once you understand the blues form, you will write your own blues stanza (3 lines), which observes many of the characteristics of the blues lyrical form.
The style of the early blues during this time can be characterized as a single male vocalist accompanying himself on guitar. Most historians point to the Mississippi Delta region as the birthplace of the blues. Singers sang in the park, on street corners, benches, jailhouses, train stations, and at small gatherings or parties. From there the blues spread to the cities and influenced jazz. It further evolved into rhythm and blues, which incorporates saxophones, drums, electric guitars (B.B. King) and other instruments.
Your text looks at the rich and diverse folk and religious music of America, focusing a good deal on the blues. You will also have additional readings in Angel that look more into the history of the blues as well as the form of the blues; that is, how the blues are structured internally. Once you understand the blues form, you will write your own blues stanza (3 lines), which observes many of the characteristics of the blues lyrical form.
The Early Blues as Folk Music
The early blues generally are considered folk music. There are no fast and hard rules in defining what folk music is or who are the so-called folks that sing it. Generally, speaking it is safe to say that folk music is music that is learned orally; that is, not from sheet music. Someone learns a song by watching and listening to someone else. Second, the music is traditional. It gets passed down from generation to generation. Third, it is communal in the sense that the music reflects the values, attitudes and expectations of the people that sing and listen to a particular type of folk music.
Trivia Question: Why are the Blues Not Yellows? Yellow connotes the sun--bright, cheery, warm. The blues as a descriptive stylistic term connotes darkness, melancholy, introspection, night. Blues lyrics touch on things in life that go bad--losing a job, losing a girlfriend, someone dying, having no money, and so forth. Everyone on the planet experiences these emotions, which makes the blues in that sense universal. However, the blues are not fatalistic. In other words, though times are tough, blues lyrics often add a touch of hope and optimism, such as, "things will get better one day."