Dr. Perry
America’s Ethnic Music
6 October 2018
Blues Music
The popular blues music of the 20th century is often confused with jazz. Although there
are many similarities, there is without a doubt many differences that separate the two. The
traditional blues in the United States has a history rich in culture and influence for a rural and
majorly black community. It experienced many changes throughout the decades since its
founding which helped shape it into the folk music we have today (Oliver).
Traditional blues music is a folk music primarily associated with depression and sadness.
The blues were introduced in America after the Civil War as many musicians found a need to
empty ‘the blues’ from their lives. Many jazz musicians were the most popular of the performers
during this era, but overall it was an impromptu style of music that was surfacing all around.
The most popular style of blues was the 12-bar blues which was a three-line stanza that left the
last stanza to be made on the spot by the singer. Blues became part of the African community
after the Civil War ended and segregation was becoming a problem. It wasn’t until the 1920s
when blues really became an organized genre of music and recordings were beginning to be
released. This was mainly happening around cities like Kansas City, Athens, and Knoxville.
Mamie Smith’s Crazy Blues recording brought the mainstream blues to the ears of more people.
The majority of recordings came out of the South with the most notable state as Mississippi.
Charley Patton had a major impact on the blues industry and the artist that followed him. Bessie
Tucker was arguably the most powerful female voice of the blues. She was from Texas and sang
about her experiences in prison.
The 1930s saw Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell rise to popularity. They brought
more southern style to the traditional blues that was becoming so well known. Many more
emotional artists furthered the sound of jazz in urban areas. Chicago was the center with Big Bill
Broonzy leading it. New styles began to emerge from the urban areas. As blues developed it
was soon adopted by white musicians who were mainly country artists. Chris Bouchillon was a
great example of an influential musician to bring blues to a larger white audience. Woody
Guthrie is also a notable figure for ‘talking blues’ in the 1940s. In the 1960s an interest in
preserving and discovering new blues music from the previous decades arose. It is often that
blues is mislabeled under jazz or pop music but listening to the different genres reveals a
drastically different sound. However, blues had a major impact on the expression of a majority
black community who were struggling and used the blues as a release from depressing and sad
thoughts (Oliver).
Mamie Smith’s Crazy Blues is the first ever recorded blues songs. It embodies the
beginning of the rest of blues history and also marks a milestone in African American history as
a song about the struggles of a black woman is recorded for a larger audience to hear. Charley
Patton had one of the most influential impacts on blues and his Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the
Blues is a perfect example of Delta blues. Rhythm is emphasized in these tracks and shows
Patton as creating the beginnings of one of the most popular sections of blues in history. The
widely popular The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King is a song that shows the progression of blues
while also remaining true to its origins (Oliver). It has a sad rhythm and really reaches into one’s
soul. All three of these songs draw emotions out of the listener through beat and rhythm. Blues
is without a doubt the easiest music to release pent up anger and depression. That is what it was
created for and throughout time as it became more widely popular blues became its own genre.
It was a meaningful style of music created by artists and used by others to excite a state of mind
of moving on and getting rid of the ‘blue’ feelings.
Works Cited
Oliver, Paul. “Blues.” Grove Music Online, Jan. 2001,
doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.03311.