Blues • Significance

– 1930s culture/society– Enduring musical influence

• Definition?– 12 bar progression– 1-4-5 pattern– 7ths, flat 5ths, flat 3rds– Blue notes

• Origins– Slave Hollers, Spirituals– Africa/Europe– “Blues” – Hart Wand “Dallas Blues” (1912)

• Term - 18th century– 12 bar form by mid 1920s– Piano/Guitar/Harmonica/Banjo

• Blues Styles – to early 1930s– Classic/Urban, Piedmont, Hill Country, Delta– Classic/Urban

• Ma Rainey (b. 1886)• Bessie Smith (b. 1892/1894)

– Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1927)– St. Louis Blues (1929)

• Tampa Red (b. 1904), Leroy Carr (b. 1905)– Piedmont/Ragtime

• Mississippi John Hurt (b. 1892?)– Here I am, Oh Lord, Send Me – Lonesome Valley

• Reverend Gary Davis (b. 1896)– Cincinnati Flow Rag

• Elizabeth Cotten (b. 1895)– Freight Train

– Hill Country Blues• R.L. Burnside

– Poor Black Mattie

• Fred McDowell (b. 1904)– Goin’ Down to the River

– Shake ‘Em On Down

– Delta Blues• Map

• Charley Patton (b. 1887/1891)– Pony Blues (1929)– Pony Blues (Alvin Youngblood Hart – Contemporary)

• Son House (b. 1902?)– Death Letter (1930 - first recorded, this is later version)

– Willie Brown (b.1900)• Future Blues (1930)

– Robert Johnson (b. 1911)• Cross Road Blues (1936)

• Terraplane Blues (1937) – Mississippi Blues Trail - Delta

• Cultural Context– Juke Joints– Discrimination/Lack of Opportunity– Harlem Renaissance– Recording Industry– Promoters– Major events/developments

• From Spirituals to Swing (1938)• Electrification/Chicago (1940s-50s)• Folk Revival (1960s)• King of the Delta Blues Singers (1961)• British Invasion/Classic Rock

– Rolling Stones– Eric Clapton– Jimi Hendrix