2. Blues
Blues in the 50’s came from the roots of Africa. The war
had ended in 1945 which meant that the stop of slavery
was only five years into becoming accepted in society. This
meant that a lot of blues artists would write songs
influenced by the bitter and tragic events of slavery.
When working out in cotton fields in order to pass the
time the slaves used to sing about the things making them
blue, and this was the beginning of the era of blues
singers.
“The blue is an expression of anger against shame and
humiliation” – B.B King
3. Blues – Magic Sam
Samuel “Magic Sam” Gene Maghett was a Chicago blues
musician.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jckT0EgUPU (All Your
Love)
Structure: Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle
eighth, solo, chorus.
Double bass, steel guitar, drums and vocals.
The music fits together well, but at times the guitar will
tend to go off the rail and sound as if he’s improving over
the top.
4. Blues – John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues musician from
Mississippi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X70VMrH3yBg (Boom
Boom)
His song is very much similar to All Your Love by Magic
Sam. It follows a near identical structure pattern if not the
same.
The instruments used are drums, vocals, double bass,
acoustic guitar.
The song jells well together, however there are – very
much like All Your Love – hints of improvisation from the
guitar.
5. Rhythm and Blues
At the time segregation was still in place, so that meant there
was a division between black and white people. This meant
things like toilets were separate (white people having much
better ones) and even black people were punished for so
much as talking to white people.
The exploitation of black people was ignored, and this then led
to boycotting.
Dances in those times were separated too with music; the
white people listened to Rock and Roll and black people
listened to RnB, it was when Rockabilly came in that they
started to merge.
6. RnB – Bob Williams
Bob Williams is an American RnB singer from the 1950’s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFv7SjvdETg (My
Goose Is Cooked)
The structure of the song is: Intro, chorus, verse, chorus,
verse, middle eighth, small solo from saxophone, bridge
and chorus.
The instruments used are saxophone, drums, vocals,
guitar and double bass.
The song fits together and when there are abrupt pauses
when the voice fills the silence, the instruments are in
good time.
7. RnB – Ray Charles
Ray Charles is an American RnB singer-song writer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3pBeESf3K8 (Just About To
Lose Your Clown)
The structure of the song is almost identical to Bob Williams.
Intro, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle eighth,
chorus. (No distinctive solo)
The song uses drums, various brass instruments, vocals and
bass.
All instruments in the song fit together and jell nicely together,
and the abrupt pauses all fit well together.
8. The Difference?
Blues is a style of music that evolved from Southern
African-American irreligious songs and it’s usually
distinguished by a 4/4 rhythm, flatted thirds and sevenths
or a 12 bar structure.
RnB was developed by African American Artists. The
various styles were based on a associating of European
influences with jazz rhythms and tonal variations,
particularly syncopation and the flatted blues chords.
