Portal:Blues

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Blues Portal

Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated amongst African-Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African-American culture. The blues form is ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll, and is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale, and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common. Blue notes (or "worried notes"), usually thirds, fifths or sevenths flattened in pitch, are also an essential part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove.

Blues music is characterized by its lyrics, bass lines, and instrumentation. Early traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times. It was only in the first decades of the 20th century that the most common current structure became standard: the AAB pattern, consisting of a line sung over the four first bars, its repetition over the next four, and then a longer concluding line over the last bars. Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often relating the racial discrimination and other challenges experienced by African-Americans.

Many elements, such as the call-and-response format and the use of blue notes, can be traced back to the music of Africa. The origins of the blues are also closely related to the religious music of the African-American community, the spirituals. The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after the ending of slavery, with the development of juke joints occurring later. It is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century. The first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908. Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a wide variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, Delta blues and Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues and West Coast blues. World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hybrid form called blues rock developed, which blended blues styles with rock music. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since the 1870s. It was eventually extended from piano to piano duo and trio, guitar, big band, country and western music, and gospel. While standard blues traditionally expresses a variety of emotions, boogie-woogie is mainly dance music (although not usually played for the competitive dance known as boogie-woogie (dance), a term of convenience in that sport). The genre had a significant influence on rhythm and blues and rock and roll.

Boogie-woogie waned in popularity in the 1930s, but enjoyed a resurgence and its greatest acclaim in the 1940s, reaching audiences around the world. Among its most famous acts was the "Boogie Woogie Trio" of Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, and Meade "Lux" Lewis. Other famous boogie woogie pianists of this peak era were Maurice Rocco and Freddie Slack. There were also many very notable women boogie woogie pianists during this time, including Hadda Brooks, Winifred Atwell, Martha Davis, and Hazel Scott, as well as in later years, such as Katie Webster. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

edit

Selected picture

Buddy Guy performing in Toronto, Canada

More images...

edit

Quotes

“

Blues is really America's finest art form and most dominant art form of the 20th century.

”

— Georgie Fame

“

Blues is a natural fact, something that a fellow lives. If you don't live it, you don't have it.

”

— Big Bill Broonzy

“

The blues is a low-down achin' heart disease
Like consumption killing me by degrees.

”

— Robert Johnson, "Preaching Blues (Up Jumped the Devil)"

“

When you lay down at night, turning from one side of the bed to the other and can't sleep, what's the matter? Blues got you.

”

— Lead Belly

“

The blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll.

”

— Muddy Waters

Selected biography - show another

Wells, Chicago Illinois, c. 1984

Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr.; December 9, 1934 – January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album Hoodoo Man Blues, described by the critic Bill Dahl as "one of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s". Wells himself categorized his music as rhythm and blues.

Wells performed and recorded with various notable blues musicians, including Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and Buddy Guy. He remained a fixture on the blues scene throughout his career and also crossed over to rock audiences while touring with the Rolling Stones. Not long before Wells died, the blues historian Gerard Herzhaft called him "one of the rare active survivors of the 'golden age of the blues'". (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various blues-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Ethel Waters, 1943 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 2Dexter Allen, 2004 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 3Lowell Fulson in Paris, 1980 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 4Curley Weaver (from List of blues musicians)
Image 5John Lee Hooker in Toronto, 1978 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 6Charlie Musselwhite, 2003 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 7Mississippi John Hurt, 1964 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 8Master Kora maker Alieu Suso in the Gambia (from Origins of the blues)
Image 9Jimmy Burns, 2012 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 10Jimmy Rogers, 1991 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 11Paul Butterfield at Woodstock Reunion, 1979 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 12Eric Clapton, 2006 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 13Albert Collins at Long Beach Blues Festival, 1990 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 14Blind Lemon Jefferson (from List of blues musicians)
Image 15B.B. King in Rome, 1984 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 16Alvin Youngblood Hart, 2009 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 17Big Joe Williams, 1971 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 18A watercolor painting of a camp meeting circa 1839 (New Bedford Whaling Museum). (from Origins of the blues)
Image 19Lead Belly (from List of blues musicians)
Image 20Lucky Peterson (from List of blues musicians)
Image 21Jimmy Witherspoon, 1974 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 22Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843 (from Origins of the blues)
Image 23Freddie King in Paris, 1975 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 24Corey Harris, 2006 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 25Susan Tedeschi, 2006 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 26Memphis Minnie, 1930 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 27Buddy Guy, 2008 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 28Mississippi Fred McDowell, 1972 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 29Keb' Mo', 2012 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 30An 1890s photo of the tourist steamer Okahumke'e on the Ocklawaha River, with black guitarists on board (from Origins of the blues)
Image 31Albert King in Paris, 1978 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 32Eddie Clearwater in Montreux, 1978 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 33"Sweet Home Chicago" performed at the White House with Barack Obama joining B.B. King on the chorus (from List of blues standards)
Image 34Jimmy Rushing, 1946 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 35Henry Townsend, 1983 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 36Robert Cray, 2007 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 37Big Joe Turner, 1955 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 38Son House (from List of blues musicians)
Image 39Bobby "Blue" Bland (from List of blues musicians)
Image 40Chris Thomas King, 2005 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 41Hubert Sumlin in Montreux, 1978 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 42Emancipation from Freedmen's viewpoint; illustration from Harper's Weekly 1865 (from Origins of the blues)
Image 43Mamie Smith (from List of blues musicians)
Image 44Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, 1999 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 45Kenny Neal, 2012 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 46Billy Boy Arnold (from List of blues musicians)
Image 47Junior Wells, 1983 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 48Debbie Davies, 2019 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 49Buddy Moss in Georgia prison camp, 1941 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 50Eddie Shaw, 2015 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 51Willie Dixon at Monterey Jazz Festival, 1981 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 52Otis Rush, 1997 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 53Son Seals, 1977 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 54Shemekia Copeland, 2019 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 55Sara Martin and Sylvester Weaver (from List of blues musicians)
Image 56Luther Tucker, 1964 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 57Robert Jr. Lockwood, 1982 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 58Eric Bibb, 2006 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 59Deborah Coleman, 2009 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 60Koko Taylor, 2006 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 61Cedric Burnside, 2018 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 62Pinetop Perkins in Paris, 1976 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 63George "Harmonica" Smith, 1980 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 64Roy Rogers, 2014 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 65RonnieEarl, 1996 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 66Kenny Wayne Shepherd, 2010 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 67Robben Ford, 2007 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 68Jay McShann in Edinburgh, c.1995 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 69Muddy Waters with James Cotton, 1971 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 70Luther Allison (from List of blues musicians)
Image 71Lonnie Johnson, 1941 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 72Louis Jordan in New York City, 1946 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 73Ma Rainey (from List of blues musicians)
Image 74Bessie Smith, 1936 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 75T-Bone Walker at American Folk Blues Festival, Hamburg, 1972 (from List of blues musicians)
Image 76Joe Louis Walker, 2007 (from List of blues musicians)