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Blues where you least expect it

2010-06-28

A lot of people do not realize how much of an influence blues has had on many popular artists. Unknown to them, many fans' favorite artists started out playing blues or a mix of blues and other types of music. I have been listening to a lot of unexpected blues and wanted to introduce you to a few artists you may not have known were blues artists at one time or another.

Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones' fifth UK single - a cover of Willie Dixon's "Little Red Rooster" backed by "Off the Hook" (Nanker Phelge) - was released in November 1964 and became their second number-1 hit in the UK - an unprecedented achievement for a blues number. Unfortunately, it was not released as a single in the US.

Even their name - the "Rolling Stones" - was a tribute to Muddy Waters after his song by the same name. The Stones later performed with Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin' Wolf and recorded many blues classics such as "Love in Vain" and "Smokestack Lightning". In 1981, the Stones performed and recorded with with Muddy Waters. Some great videos from that can be found on youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPbGNx4n3zc and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLjqY-6l5gY

Stolen from Wikipedia:

Jagger and Richards shared an admiration of Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters and Little Walter, and their interest influenced Brian Jones, of whom Richards says, "He was more into T-Bone Walker and jazz blues stuff. We'd turn him onto Chuck Berry and say, 'Look, it's all the same shit, man, and you can do it.'" Charlie Watts, a traditional jazz drummer, was also introduced to the blues through his association with the pair. "Keith and Brian turned me on to Jimmy Reed and people like that. I learned that Earl Phillips was playing on those records like a jazz drummer, playing swing, with a straight four..."


Jagger, recalling when he first heard the likes of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Fats Domino and other major American R&B artists, said it "seemed the most real thing" he had heard up to that point. Similarly, Keith Richards, describing the first time he listened to Muddy Waters, said it was the "most powerful music [he had] ever heard...the most expressive." He also stated, "when you think of some dopey, spotty seventeen year old from Dartford, who wants to be Muddy Waters-- and there were a lot of us-- in a way, very pathetic, but in another way, very.. heartwarming".


Take a look at their entire discography, you will find many blues and heavily blues influenced music. You will also find many solo efforts by band members, like Mick Jagger playing on Racketeer Blues and Mick Taylor playing on You Shook Me, both on This is the Blues, released in 2010, though at least Racketeer Blues is already a few years old.

ZZ Top

ZZ Top was founded as a blues-rock trio in 1969. Playing a mix of blues, rock, and blues rock, they have gone on to amazing success, numerous hits, and respect of the music community. Through the late 70s and 80s, they moved away from the blues and more into the rock genre, but returned to blues inspired music with Recycler, in 1990. Most seen clearly in their early and later albums, their blues and blues influenced music continues to entertain fans everywhere.

Check out Blue Jean Blues and Joe Blues off their Chrome Smoke and BBQ CD to hear some truly amazing blues.

The Beatles

Starting out as The Quarrymen in 1957 and changing to the Beatles 1960, The Beatles were one of many skiffle bands trying to make it in England. Skiffle bands are influenced by jazz, blues, rock, and folk. These bands took a simple approach to music and played on semi-professional and even home-made instruments. Examples include Ringo Starr's drum rolls, Paul McCartney's Hofner Bass, John Lennon's harmonica and George Harrison's solos.

Two albums to check out include 'Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962' and 'Live at the BBC.' Both albums show the strong blues influence on the Beatles and how it affected their early style.

Elvis

Presley is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. He had a versatile voice and unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including country, pop ballads, gospel, and blues. Growing up, as a teenager, he would head down to Beale Street, the heart of Memphis's thriving blues scene though was more drawn to gospel, country, and R&B.

His breakout song was a version of a 1946 blues number, Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right". As he gained popularity, his music was a mix of blues, western swing, country, and gospel as well as a new form of music that Presley helped bring to the masses, rockabilly. Many other hits, like Big Mama Throton's Hound Dog, were reworkings of popular blues songs.

Elvis never forgot his blues roots, continually recording blues music or blues inspired throughout his career, seen clearly in the album 'Elvis Is Back!' and in the song "Santa Claus Is Back In Town". In 1984, he posthumously received the W. C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation.

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Document Records and the early blues recordings

2010-06-25

In 1920, Mamie Smith became the first artist to make a vocal blues recording. This was post World War 1, when blues was just getting well known and popular on a national scale. Millions of records were sold, millions of people were exposed to the genre and became fans, and artists and styles emerged throughout the country.

I don't want to get into a whole write up on the history of blues as there are many other articles out there that are well researched and can provide a better history than I can. What I do want to write about is a look at a collection of music from Document Records.

Document Records is a record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres focusing on vintage music from the beginning of the 20th Century through World War 2. Document Records also has exclusive rights to a great deal of unreleased music produced by the Edison Company between 1914 and 1929. The Edison Company (Thomas Edison's recording company) recorded a wide variety of materials between 1914 and 1929, including country, vaudeville sketches, opera, and classical pieces, string bands, blues, jazz dance bands, political speeches, and even the voice of Edison himself.

Document records has searched and remastered materials like this and opened a new window to our musical past. Document Records is also one of the best sources to find recording from the 1920s, when blues started taking over America. You can order Cds through them and through other sources or you can download MP3s through their label site on eMusic (http://www.emusic.com/label/109/109116.html).

There you can find Mamie Smith Vol. 1 (1920-1921), 24 songs, including that first blues one, Crazy Blues. She did record another song first, That Thing Called Love, but it is not considered a blues recording. Other artists from the 1920s that you should check out are:
- Ida Cox
- Victoria Spivey
- Big Bill Broonzy
- Alberta Hunter
- Blind Lemon Jefferson
- Charley Patton
- Leadbelly
- Bessie Smith
- Son House
- Ma Rainey
- Sippie Wallace

This is by no way a complete list, just a start to get a flavor of the era. Also, not all of these artists have stuff only on the Document Records eMusic page. You might find other albums with them throughout eMusic and you also will find that Document Records has more material by them at their home site, http://www.document-records.com. Check them out, it is worth the effort.

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