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, April 16, 2011

Freddie King

Freddie King is one of the premier influences in the Blues area. Nicknamed "The Texas Cannonball", King drew inspiration from Texas blues and Chicago style of playing. King was the first bluesman to have a multi racial backing band an was known for songs such as "Hide Your Love Away" and "Have you ever Loved a Woman". King would later influence such guitarists as Americans Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, as well as being a key influence for the blues revival in the UK for artists like Eric Clapton and Peter Green.

King has a very bright, contiguous sound. While not "sweet", most of his work is pretty upbeat. His tone is pretty clean with a hint of dirt in it to color his playing style. John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers as well as Cream (among others) would later go on to do covers of Kings work.
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