by Brian Lynch
You hear it everyday, but you’d never even notice it existed – until somebody opens your ears. It’s rooted deep in American culture, has influenced countless musicians worldwide, and for many still alive, it’s the core of their life. You can hear it in the psychedelic jam-band works of The Grateful Dead and Phish, the hard rock of Pearl Jam and Guns ‘N Roses, and even the bone-crushing metal of Pantera, as well as movies, commercials, and even our everyday vocabulary. I’m talking about a true born-and-bred American musical juggernaut – the blues.
To briefly sum up the beginnings of blues music, it started in the traditions of the field hollers and hymns sung by slaves in the fields, and, years after they were freed, evolved and created complexities with the addition of European instruments like the fiddle and the guitar to distinctly African beats and instruments like the banjo. From this start, two traditions were born – jazz music, which came from the larger multi-section African-American bands, and the blues, which took a simple pattern and gave storytellers and singers a way to pass their story on and get people on their feet in small bars and “juke joints.”
The guitar-based blues was a favorite of traveling musicians because popular songs in the style were easy to learn, were open enough to allow each musician to add their own flavor to it, and all you needed was a guitar and a street corner to make some money.
One such “bluesman” was Robert Johnson – a relatively young player who had an amazing musical memory for songs, a wild lifestyle, and had mysteriously gone from ineptitude to blues master in six months, leading to mounting superstition about his unnatural increase in talent. Shortly before he died, he recorded a series of sessions, leaving a musical legacy that influenced a lot of the first blues players to use electric guitars, such as Albert King, Muddy Waters and Lightnin’ Hopkins.
In the meantime, blues broke into the mainstream by fusing with country and jazz to create Rock ‘N Roll and Rockabilly, with early releases by Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley bringing the blues flavor to a new medium. However, rock began to give itself over to a string of one-hit wonder bands with little substance. Elvis’s rough and tumble stage image gave way to the sequined balladeer of the ’60s and the ’70s, and the torch of the American Blues was passed on to an unlikely group – the British.
During the Second World War, a great deal of American G.I.’s left their blues records in shops in Britain, and as interest in these recordings increased, so did their influence and sales. In the mid 60’s, the British teens influenced by these recordings made their musical mark in the United States as bands like Cream and The Rolling Stones bombarded their record collections with music unlike any rock and roll ever heard before. At the same time, Americans took a new interest in blues-based music, and groups like The Allman Brothers Band and Jimi Hendrix were able to take advantage of this with their incendiary blues-rock sound.
The blues and blues-rock artists persisted in the 70s, but were slowly getting edged out by Motown, R’B and dance music as they headed towards the 80s. Newer blues-rooted outfits like Aerosmith, ZZ Top and Led Zeppelin lost major battles – Aerosmith started playing pop rock, Led Zeppelin broke up after their drummer, John “Bonzo” Bonham died to an alcohol binge of epic proportions, and ZZ Top started playing guitars covered by pink fuzzy stuff.
Then, out of the heart of Texas, came one man and four syllables that would change blues-rock forever – Stevie Ray Vaughan. A mixture of old-school blues, new-school virtuosity, catchy, honest songwriting, and guitar tone to die for, Vaughan made a massive commercial impact with the blues – landing several records in the mainstream Top 40, an unheard-of accomplishment for a blues artist. In true rock star fashion, he died in his prime in a helicopter crash in 1990, merely a day after an all-star blues jam with the top bluesmen of the day.
Today, the blues enjoys moderate success and massive influence. Recent releases by Aerosmith and Eric Clapton pay tribute and regain their blues heritage (But Eric still has to regain his dignity – anybody remember his stuff from the 80s, or better yet, T.D.F, his foray into trance and house music?), while newer artists like Fairfield County’s very own John Mayer and Los Lonely Boys wear their blues influences as a badge of pride.
So before you blast your stereo and piss your neighbors off with anything that has an awesome beat and loud guitars, give some silent thanks to the numerous musicians that helped continue a tradition. Then crank it to eleven; it’s the American way.
Leave a Reply