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 26, 2011

The Yardbirds

Another influential British rock band, th Yardbirds started the careers of three famous guitarists, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. They pioneered guitar effects such as fuzz tone, backwards echo, feedback, and distortion. Clapton was the first lead guitarist in the band, but left over creative differences. Clapton was a blues purist and the Yardbirds were straying into pop territory. Page was propositioned next, but unsure about leaving a lucrative life as a studio guitarist, recommended Jeff Beck who got the job, Page was eventually taken on as well and became lead guitarist after Beck was fired. Page brought in his own style of playing that included the use of a wah pedal and occasionally a cello bow. The Break-up came when the rest of the band wanted to pursue folk and classically inspired music while Page wanted to continue a "harder" style of rock, a la Cream and Jimi Hendix. The Yardbirds where the father of what would Later become Led Zeppelin.
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