Blues-rock

Blues-rock is a hybrid musical genre combining elements of the blues with rock and roll, with an emphasis on the electric guitar. It began to develop as a particular style in the mid-1960s in England and the United States through the work of bands such as Cream and The Rolling Stones, who experimented with music from the old bluesmen like Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters.^[3]

Characteristics

Blues-rock can be characterized by bluesy improvisation, the 12-bar blues, extended boogie jams typically focused on the electric guitar player, and often a heavier, riff-oriented sound and feel to the songs than might be found in traditional Chicago-style blues. It is also often played at a fast tempo, again distinguishing it from the blues.^[3]

Instrumentation

Central to blues-rock are the electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit. Vocals also typically play a key role, although this is not always true, considering the number of instrumental blues-rock pieces. Keyboard, piano and organ are also occasionally used. Often two guitars are played, one playing the accompaniment and one playing the lead.^[3]

Structure

Minor pentatonic blues scale on A

Blues-rock pieces normally follow the 12-bar blues structure, but often follow a slightly different structure, as seen in the Allman Brothers version of the T-Bone Walker song "Stormy Monday", which follows the general format of a 12-bar blues, but with altered chords, playing:

G⁹ | C⁹ | G⁹ | G⁹ | C⁹ | C⁹ | G⁹ / A minor⁷ | B minor⁷ / B♭⁷ | A minor⁷ | A♭ major⁷ | G⁹ / C⁹ | G⁹ / D augmented

...instead of the expected G | C | G | G | C | C | G | G | D | C | G | G (D) progression. The progression is usually repeated, with only one section of the song, though there are exceptions, some pieces having a "B" section. The key is traditionally major, but can also be minor, a common technique being the use the minor pentatonic scale, with blue notes, over a major chord progression, as employed by Albert King in nearly all of his pieces. The lead guitar typically uses the pentatonic scale, either major or minor, when soloing. A classic example of blues-rock is Cream's "Crossroads", adapted from Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" and "Traveling Riverside Blues"; it fuses some of the lyrical and musical styles of blues with rock-styled tempo and guitar solos.

The first two bars of the guitar part to "Stormy Monday" by the Allman Brothers

History

While rock and blues have historically always been closely linked, blues-rock as a distinctly recognizable genre did not arise until the late 1960s. American guitarist Lonnie Mack has been credited with recording the earliest blues-rock guitar instrumentals, beginning in 1963 with hit singles "Memphis", "Wham!" and "Chicken-Pickin'". However, the genre in its more complete, ensemble form first took shape in Britain, when several noted artists, including Alexis Korner and John Mayall formed blues-oriented groups that acted as a training ground for future stars of the blues-rock genre such as Free, Savoy Brown and the earliest incarnations of Fleetwood Mac. American players like Johnny Winter, Paul Butterfield and the group Canned Heat were also pioneers. The revolutionary electric guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix (a veteran of many American rhythm & blues and soul groups from the early-mid 1960s) and his power trios, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys, has had broad and lasting influence on the development of blues-rock, especially for guitarists.

Eric Clapton was another guitarist with a lasting influence on the genre; his work in the 1960s and 1970s with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds, supergroups Blind Faith, Cream and Derek and the Dominos, and an extensive solo career has been seminal in bringing blues-rock into the mainstream. In the late '60s Jeff Beck a former member of The Yardbirds, revolutionised blues rock into a form of heavy rock, taking the UK and the USA by storm with his band, The Jeff Beck Group. Jimmy Page, a third alumnus of The Yardbirds, went out to form The New Yardbirds which would soon become known as Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin was a huge force in the early 70s blues-rock scene. Other blues-rock musicians influential on the English scene of the 1970s included Rory Gallagher and Robin Trower. Beginning in the early 1970s, American blues-rock grew to include Southern rock and hard rock bands like the Allman Brothers Band, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd while - except for the advent of groups such as Foghat (founded by former Savoy Brown members) - the British scene became focused on heavy metal innovation. Blues-rock had a re-birth in the early 1990s and continues to have lasting influence today, with many artists such as John Mayer, The Black Crowes, The Black Keys, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Silvertide, and Joe Bonamassa performing and releasing albums to enthusiastic fans.

Sample artists

• Allman Brothers Band
• Mike Bloomfield
• Joe Bonamassa
• Canned Heat
• Eric Clapton
• Cream
• Fleetwood Mac
• Rory Gallagher
• Jimi Hendrix
• Led Zeppelin
• Lonnie Mack
• John Mayall
• Gary Moore
• The Rolling Stones
• George Thorogood
• Robin Trower
• Status Quo
• Stevie Ray Vaughan
• Ten Years After
• David Wilcox
• Johnny Winter
• ZZ Top

References