When most people hear "the blues", the first image that probably pops into their mind is a middle aged African American man plucking away at his acoustic guitar on a porch somewhere in Louisiana. While many of the genre's forefathers may have fit that mold, it is a restrictive and inaccurate view of a diverse and rich form of music that is the root for almost all modern music. Those that maintain this stereotypical view of the blues and assume it is "grandpa music" are missing out on a lot.

Since the electrification of the guitar shot it to the forefront of three and four piece bands, music entered an evolutionary time warp not unlike that the quantum leaps in science and technology occurring at the same time.

Some of the pioneers during the 50's were B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. Chuck Berry was among the first to take the blues and kick it up a notch, speeding up the tempo and creating many rock riffs and techniques that are standard vocabulary today.

By the 60's and 70's, the blues had traveled across the pond to Britain. Bands like Cream, the Who, the Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin all traced their roots back to the blues forefathers. Even Angus Young of AC/DC, considered metal by many(the band always maintains that they are a rock band, not metal) has a very bluesy style of playing.

By the 80's, "Blues-Rock" had become indistinguishable from "Hard Rock". It wasn't until artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan came along and took blues back to it's roots.

Some modern bands that have bluesy overtones include the Black Keys and the White Stripes.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Joe Perry

Alright, so for this post, I'm going to cover Joe Perry. Being the guitarist for Aerosmith, he's not exactly an unknown blues guitarist, but I think it's important for folks to appreciate what a good guitar player he is. Aerosmith is a wonderful band, but I don' think it should overshadow Perry's entire career.

Perry was born in 1950 and was influenced by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, so much so that when Aerosmith first hit the stage, they were bruted about as a "Rolling Stones knock-off". It's true that Perry plays in the "rock" side of "blues-rock", but his playing is still rooted in the blues. The bluesiest album they put out was Honkin' on Bobo. Songs like "Back Back Train" conjure up a deep South atmosphere.

After Aerosmith, Perry launched "The Joe Perry Project". Album sales were decent, but they thrived more as a live act.

Perry also published a solo album where he played every instrument except for the drums, leading to favorable reviews.



Here's a Link to
Let the Music Do the Talking
By the Joe Perry Project
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