Blues
"The blues had a baby and they called it Rock & Roll." - Muddy Waters
When we think of rock and roll, we think electric guitars, amplified sounds, and intricate styles of play, but what if I were to tell you rock and roll would not have existed without simple 12-bar forms, antiphonic textures, or walking bass lines used in blues music? Blues music is one of the most influential characteristics that gave birth to rock and roll. Beginning in the Mississippi Delta region with African slave work songs and expanding to areas of Chicago and Dallas, blues went on to inspire rock legends such as: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix.
Multiple elements in rock and roll provide evidence of common blues qualities. Rock and roll was influenced by elements of blues instrumentation, rhythm, and purpose. Both rock and blues are composed of drums, guitars, and vocals. As blues was becoming increasingly popular throughout the 1950s, manipulation of notes and amplifying instruments occurred. Muddy Waters, for example, began experimenting with increasing the dynamics of guitars and bending the notes of the guitars to give it a “cry” sound.
As blues music developed, it pushed the emergence of rock and roll more and more. Early rock and roll followed a similar rhythm to blues music as well. As it progressed, rock and roll would end up integrating more intense rhythmic elements with an accentuated backbeat, but the foundation was the same. The purpose behind the music, produced by blues and rock and roll, is designed from the same perspective. The goal of both these genres of music is to create music with raw emotion. The blues emotion-driven style of music inspired the same pattern to be followed by rock and roll.
Many famous rock and roll bands were influenced by similar popular blues artists such as: Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, and Little Richard. Blues, along with the artists that produced it, was significant in the inspiration of the Beatles. The Beatles had a great deal of respect for Chuck Berry and what he did for music. Lennon once said, “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’.” The Beatles credited Berry for being an important piece for creating rock and roll. Chuck Berry also influenced the Beatles with the lyrical content within his songs. The Beatles performed and recorded multiple covers of Berry’s songs like: “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Carol,” “I Got to Find My Baby,” “Too Much Monkey Business,” “Johnny B Goode” etc. It is easy to see that blues had an impact on rock and roll and by the 1950s, it was here to stay.
Rock and roll borrowed so many different blues aspects and put them into its music and performances. Integrated blues aspects range from instrumentation to the story told behind the music. Whether influenced by blues music or blues musicians, the fact remains that blues had a monumental impact on the birth of rock and roll.
Robert Johnson, Me and the Devil Blues:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYsnRc09csQ
Willie Walker, Dupress Blues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Qa2ICfu5M
Son House, Death Letter Blues (example of Delta Blues and the use of bottleneck):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdgrQoZHnNY
B.B. King, 3 O'Clock Blues original 1950:
