For the emotional state, see Depression (mood).

Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which emerged in the African-American community of the United States. Blues evolved from West African spirituals, work songs, shouts and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. Blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music, finding expression in ragtime, jazz, big bands, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and country music, as well as conventional pop songs and even modern classical music. The 1941 edition of the Columbia Encyclopedia defined blues as "characteristic Negro secular songs with an underlying strain of melancholy and self-pity". A spiritual is an African American song, usually with a Christian religious text. ... A work song is a typically acoustic rhythmic song sung by persons who are working in likely mundane conditions. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... To the natives of the state of Mississippi the Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state, generally between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. ... A musical instrument is a device that has been constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... The classical guitar typically has 3 nylon and 3 nickel-wound strings. ... This article is about the modern musical instrument. ... A harmonica A harmonica is a free reed musical wind instrument (also known, among other things, as a mouth organ, french harp, simply harp, or Mississippi saxophone), having multiple, variably-tuned brass or bronze reeds, each secured at one end over an airway slot of like dimension into which it... Bass guitar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... Saxophones of different sizes play in different registers. ... Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ... Rhythm and blues (or R&B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Soul Music is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1994. ... ? ... Blues can be categorized into a number of genres. ... Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, or downhome blues) refers to all the acoustic, guitar-driven forms of the blues. ... The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. ... Jazz blues is a musical style that combines jazz and blues. ... The jump blues is a type of blues music, characterized by a jazzy, saxophone (or other horn instruments) sound, driving rhythms and shouted vocals. ... Piano blues refers to a variety of blues styles, sharing only the characteristic that they use the piano as the primary musical instrument. ... Boogie woogie has two different meanings: a piano based music style, boogie woogie (music) a dance that imitates the rocknroll of the 50s, boogie woogie (dance) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Blues Rock or Blues-rock is a fusion genre of music which combines elements of the blues with rock and roll. ... Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the early late 1960s and 1970s and combining eliments of soul music and urban contemporary music. ... The British blues is a type of blues music that originated in the late 1950s. ... The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago by adding electricity, drums, piano, bass guitar and sometimes saxophone to the basic string/harmonica Delta blues. ... Detroit blues is blues music played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 50s. ... The Louisiana blues is a type of blues music that is characterized by plodding rhythms that make the sound dark and tense. ... The Memphis Blues is the title of a tune and song published by W.C. Handy in 1912. ... The Piedmont blues is a type of blues music characterized by a unique fingerpicking method on the guitar in which a regular, alternating-thumb bass pattern supports a melody using treble strings. ... The St. ... The swamp blues is a form of blues music that is highly evolved and specialized. ... Texas blues is a subgenre of the blues. ... The West Coast blues is a type of blues music characterized by jazz and jump blues influences, strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos (which originated from Texas blues players relocated to California). ... Performers in the blues style range from primitive, one-chord Delta players to big bands to country music to rock and roll to classical music. ... In music, a pentatonic scale is a notes per octave. ... In everyday language depression refers to any downturn in mood, which may be relatively transitory and perhaps due to something trivial. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans, Black Americans, or blacks, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to West Africa. ... West African refers to: West Africa An airline: West African Airlines [1] This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A spiritual is an African American song, usually with a Christian religious text. ... A work song is a typically acoustic rhythmic song sung by persons who are working in likely mundane conditions. ... A chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, either on a single pitch or with a simple notes and often including a great deal of repetition or statis. ... West Africa is the region of western Africa generally considered to include these countries: Benin Burkina Faso Cameroon Côte dIvoire (Ivory Coast) Equatorial Guinea Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) Senegal Sierra Leone Togo Chad, Mauritania, and... Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and mostly distributed commercially. ... Ragtime is an American musical genre, enjoying its peak popularity around the years 1900–1918. ... Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ... A big band, also known as a jazz orchestra, is a large musical ensemble that plays jazz music, especially swing. ... Rhythm and blues (or R&B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Country music, formerly called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ... Depending on context, pop music is either an abbreviation of popular music or, more recently, a term for a sub-genre of it. ... The Classical Spectacular showcases many of the greatest classical pieces compose, such as the Swan Lake finale, Zadok the priest, Blue Danube and the William Tell Overture Classical music is music considered classical, as sophisticated and refined, in a regional tradition. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Columbia Encyclopedia is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and sold by the Gale Group. ... Negro means the color black in both Spanish and Portuguese languages, being derived from the Latin word niger of the same meaning. ...

Characteristics and early history

Early forms of the blues evolved in and around the Mississippi Delta in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, using instruments such as acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica, also known as the "blues harp". Songs had many different forms of structure, although the twelve-, eight-bar, or four-bar structure based on tonic, subdominant and dominant chords became predominant. Melodically, blues music is marked by the use of the lowered third and dominant seventh (so-called blue notes) of the associated major scale. The use of blue notes, as well as the prominence of call-and-response patterns in the music and lyrics, are indicative of the blues' West African pedigree. To the natives of the state of Mississippi the Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state, generally between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. ... The U.S. Southern states or the South, also known colloquially as Dixie, constitute a distinctive region covering a large portion of the United States, with its own unique heritage, historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... An acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the Classical guitar, but generally strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. ... This article is about the modern musical instrument. ... A harmonica A harmonica is a free reed musical wind instrument (also known, among other things, as a mouth organ, french harp, simply harp, or Mississippi saxophone), having multiple, variably-tuned brass or bronze reeds, each secured at one end over an airway slot of like dimension into which it... Harp Attack! blues harp album cover Blues harp or cross harp is a technique of playing an ordinary harmonica which originated in the blues, not a type of harp or harmonica. ... Twelve bar blues is a typical blues chord progression, taking twelve 4/4 bars to the verse. ... An eight bar blues is a typical blues chord progression, taking eight 4/4 bars to the verse. ... The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and in the tonal method of music composition it is extremely important. ... In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth degree of the scale. ... In music, the dominant is the fifth degree of the scale. ... In jazz and blues notes added to the major scale for expressive quality, loosely defined by musicians to be an alteration to a scale or chord that makes it sound like the blues. ... In music theory, the major scale is one of the diatonic scales. ... In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. ...

The blues scale frequently is found in non-blues musical forms, such as popular songs like Harold Arlen's "Blues in the Night", blues ballads like "Since I Fell for You" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love", and even orchestral works like George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F. Indeed, the blues scale is ubiquitous in modern popular music and informs many modal frames, especially the ladder of thirds as in A Hard Day's Night. In music, a pentatonic scale is a notes per octave. ... Popular music, sometimes abbreviated pop music, is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are broadly popular. ... Harold Arlen, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1960 Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 - April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music. ... The blues ballad synthesizes blues feeling and attitudes (using the blues scale and chord progressions) with the conventional 32-bar popular song from Tin Pan Alley. ... George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... In music a melodic mode (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... A ladder of thirds is similar to the circle of fifths, though ladders of thirds differ in being composed of thirds, major or minor, and may or may not circle back to its starting note and thus may or may not be an interval cycle. ... A Hard Days Night sold over one million copies within just five weeks of its release as a single in the United States. ...

What is now recognizable as the standard 12-bar blues form with A A1 B form is documented from oral history and sheet music as appearing in African-American communities throughout the region along the lower Mississippi River during the decade of 1900s (and performed by white bands in New Orleans at least since 1908). One of these early sites of blues evolution was along Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. One legendary blues man is Robert Johnson, The King of the Mississippi Delta Blues. He is generally held responsible for the standardization of the 12-bar blues. Oral history is an account of something passed down by word of mouth from one generation to another. ... Sheet music is written representation of music. ... Length 6,270 km Elevation of the source 450 m Average discharge Saint Louis¹: 5,500 m³/s Vicksburg²: 16,800 m³/s Baton Rouge³: 12,800 m³/s Area watershed 2,980,000 km² Origin Lake Itasca Mouth Gulf of Mexico Basin countries United States (98. ... Events and Trends Technology Lawrence Hargrave makes the first stable wing design for a heavier-than-air aircraft Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first documented flight in a powered heavier-than-air aircraft Mass production of automobile Wide popularity of home phonograph Panama Canal is built by the United... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Beale Street is a street in Memphis, Tennessee and a significant location in black history and the history of the blues. ... City nickname: The River City or The Bluff City Location in the state of Tennessee County Shelby County, Tennessee Area  - Total  - Water 763. ... Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is probably the most famous Delta blues singer and guitarist in history. ...

Lyrically, verses of early blues songs consist usually of a single line of four-bars repeated twice, with a third rhyming line, such as:

Woke up this morning with the blues all in my bed

Yes, I woke up this morning with the blues all in my bed

Fixed my breakfast, the blues was all in my bread

In addition to the conventional 12-bar blues, there are many blues in 8-bar form, such as "How Long Blues", ten-bar blues, like Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway", and even 16-bars, as in Ray Charles's instrumental, "Sweet 16 Bars". Big Bill Broonzy (1893 or 1898-1958) was a prolific United States composer, recorder and performer of blues songs. ... Ray Charles at the piano. ...

Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often with the singer reciting his or her many misfortunes. Many of the oldest blues records contain gritty, realistic lyrics, in contrast to much of the music being recorded at the time. One of the more extreme examples, "Down In The Alley" by Memphis Minnie, is about a prostitute having sex with men in an alley. Music such as this was called "gut-bucket" blues. The term refers to chitterlings (chitlins), a soul food dish prepared from pig intestines and associated with slavery, deprivation and hard times. Gut-bucket blues and the rowdy juke-joint venues where it often was played, earned early blues an unsavory reputation. Proper, church-going people shunned it, and preachers railed against it as sinful. And because it often treated the hardships and injustices of life, the blues gained an association in some quarters with misery and oppression, however it was some of America's first socially aware music. But the blues was about more than hard times; it could be humorous and raunchy as well. In the song Down In The Alley, Memphis Minnie sings verses about meeting various men who, for example, ask to pal up with her and she says yes, take me down in the alley, which is where she can get his business fixed all right. Towards the end its... Memphis Minnie McCoy (born June 3, 1897 - died August 6, 1973) was an American Blues musician. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services, such as oral sex or sexual intercourse, for money. ... Chitterlings (pronounced CHIT-lins and sometimes spelled chitlins) are the small intestines of a pig that have been prepared as food. ... Soul food is an ethnic cuisine, food traditionally eaten by African Americans of the Southern United States. ...

Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me,

Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me,

It may be sending you baby, but it's worrying the hell out of me.

In the early twentieth century, W.C. Handy took blues across the tracks and made it respectable, even "high-toned." The formally trained musician, composer and arranger was a key popularizer of blues. Self-named as Father of the Blues, Handy was one of the first to transcribe and then orchestrate blues in an almost symphonic style, with bands and singers. Extremely prolific over his long life, Handy's signature work was the St. Louis Blues. The Blues Foundation [1] gives an annual award in his name to musicians. W.C. Handy photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1941 William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 - March 28, 1958) was an African American blues composer, often known as The Father of the Blues. ... This article is about the song. ... The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee that is affiliated with more than 135 Blues organizations, and with a membership spanning some twenty countries. ...

Jazz bands often recorded blues tunes from 1917 on. In the 1920s, the blues became a major element of American popular music. With the rise of the recording industry, there was increased popularity of country blues singers and guitarists like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake, who recorded for Paramount Records, and Lonnie Johnson who recorded for OKeh Records. Son House, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Mississippi John Hurt are a handful of musicians who greatly influenced the blues and many later rock artists. These recordings came to be known as "race" records, since they were targeted almost exclusively to an African-American audience. In addition, women blues singers were extremely popular in the 1920s, among them Mamie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Victoria Spivey. Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly... Steve Howe playing lead guitar for Yes in 1977 A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. ... Blind Lemon Jefferson (September, 1893 – December, 1929) was an influential blues singer and guitarist from Texas. ... Blind Blake (born: unknown, cira 1893, Jacksonville, Florida; died: unknown, circa 1933) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. ... Paramount Records was a United States based record label, best known for its recordings of African-American jazz and blues. ... Alfonzo Lonnie Johnson (February 8, 1894 - June 6, 1970) was a pioneering blues and jazz musician born in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918; from the late 1920s on was a subsidiary of Columbia Records. ... Son House, circa 1965 Eddie James House, Jr. ... Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is probably the most famous Delta blues singer and guitarist in history. ... Charley Patton Charley Patton (May 1, 1891–April 28, 1934) was an American delta blues musician, and one of the first mainstream stars of the genre. ... Mississippi John Smith Hurt (July 3, 1893, Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly... Mamie Smith on the sleeve of volume 1 of the Complete Recorded Works reissue collection Mamie Smith (May 26, 1883 - September 16, 1946) was a vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress, and appeared in several motion pictures late in her career. ... Gertrude Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886 - December 22, 1939) was a classic female blues singer, the earliest known professional blues singer3, and one of the first generation of blues singers to record. ... Bessie Smith photographed by Carl Van Vechten Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA was the most popular and successful blues singer of 1920s and 30s, and a huge influence on the singers who followed her. ... Victoria Spivey (died 1976) was an American female blues singer. ...

History of modern blues

In the 1940s and 1950s, increased urbanization and the use of amplification led to electric blues music, popular in cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Kansas City and exemplified by such artists as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon Little Walter, T-Bone Walker and John Lee Hooker. Electric blues eventually gave rise to rock and roll. // Events and trends The 1940s were dominated by World War II, the most destructive armed conflict in history. ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... Chicago, colloquially known as the Second City and the Windy City, is the third-largest city in population in the United States and the largest inland city in the country. ... This article refers to the largest city of Michigan. ... Kansas City generally refers to the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, including: Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Kansas Other Kansas City areas include: Kansas City, Oregon Kansas City, Tennessee In computing, the term Kansas City standard refers to a standard for storage of data on audio cassettes. ... Howlin Wolf album cover Howlin Wolf (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976) was an African American blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player. ... McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1915 – April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered the father of Chicago blues. ... Jimmy Reed (September 6, 1925 - August 29, 1976) was a United States blues singer, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. ... Willie Dixons style of blues was one of the inspirations for a new generation of music, rock and roll. ... Little Walter (born Walter Jacobs) (May 1, 1930 - February 15, 1968) was a blues singer and harmonica player. ... Aaron Thibeaux Walker or T-Bone Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the most influential musicians of the early 20th century. ... John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an influential American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

The appeal of blues remained strong in later decades. The music of the Civil Rights and Free Speech movements in the U.S. prompted a resurgence of interest in American roots music in general and in early African-American music, specifically. But what made blues really come across to the young white audiences in the early 1960s, in addition to a few American bands like The Butterfield Blues Band, was the blues crusade that developed in England, when dozens of bands such as Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and Cream took to covering the classic blues numbers from either Delta Blues (early southern forms) or Chicago Blues (electric forms) traditions. These musicians would ultimately influence white blues (and rock) acts of America including Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, The J. Geils Band and others, who at first discovered the form by listening to the British performers, but in turn went on to explore the home made African American music on their own. Of course Jimi Hendrix had all the tradition in his blood, but he went farther, and took the blues to heights that had never been explored before. Through these artists and others both earlier and later, blues music has been strongly influential in the development of rock and roll. The civil rights movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all citizens of United States. ... The Free Speech Movement was a student protest which began on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in 1964 under the informal leadership of student Mario Savio and others. ... the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, 1966 Paul Butterfield (December 17, 1942 - May 4, 1987) was an American blues musician, and one of the most innovative harmonica players of the electric blues Chicago-originated style. ... Fleetwood Mac during their 1970s commericial heyday. ... John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers was a pioneering British blues band that included such luminaries as: Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce (both later in Cream), Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood (later all in Fleetwood Mac), Mick Taylor (later in The Rolling Stones), Don Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor (Canned... The Rolling Stones, mid-60s. ... Yardbirds album cover The Yardbirds were an early British rock band, noted for spawning the careers of several of rock musics most famous guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. ... Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of raw milk before homogenization. ... The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. ... The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago by adding electricity, drums, piano, bass guitar and sometimes saxophone to the basic string/harmonica Delta blues. ... Canned Heat album cover Canned Heat is a blues-rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1965. ... Janis Joplin on the cover of her posthumously-released live album In Concert Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American blues-influenced rock, R&B, and soul singer and occasional songwriter with a distinctive voice. ... Johnny Winter (born February 23, 1944) is an American blues guitarist and singer, well known for being an albino. ... The J. Geils Band was a very popular rock and roll band, playing to large arena crowds in the United States in the 1970s before moving towards a more pop-influenced sound in the 1980s. ... Jimi Hendrix James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, widely considered to be the most important electric guitarist in the history of popular music. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

Blues masters like John Lee Hooker, Albert King, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters continued to perform to enthusiastic audiences, inspiring new artists steeped in traditional blues, such as New York born Taj Mahal. Mahal's music was featured prominently in Sounder, a 1972 Hollywood Oscar-nominated movie set in rural Louisiana in the 1930s. Sounder did much to revive interest in old-school, acoustic blues. Eight years later, the film The Blues Brothers helped increase awareness of mid-20th century-style urban blues among a younger audience. Albert King Albert King (April 25, 1923 - December 21, 1992) was an influential American Blues guitarist and singer. ... Riley B. King aka B. B. King (b. ... Buddy Guy Buddy Guy (born George Guy, July 30, 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana) is an American blues music and rock music guitarist, as well as a singer. ... Taj Mahal (born May 17, 1942) is a United States blues musician. ... Sounder is a book by William H. Armstrong, which won the Newbery medal in 1970, and in 1972 was made into a film. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... State nickname: Pelican State Other U.S. States Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) Official languages None; English and French de facto Area 134,382 km² (31st)  - Land 112,927 km²  - Water 21,455 km² (16%) Population (2000)  - Population 4,468,976 (22nd)  - Density 39. ... // Events and trends The 1930s were spent struggling for a solution to the global depression. ... The Blues Brothers: Dan Aykroyd (left) and the late John Belushi The Blues Brothers is the name of a rhythm and blues band fronted, incognito, by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Since 1980, blues has continued to thrive in both traditional and new forms through the continuing work of Taj Mahal and the music of Robert Cray, Albert Collins, Bonnie Raitt, Keb' Mo', Stevie Ray Vaughan and others. Around this time blues publications such as Living Blues and Blues Review began appearing at newstands, major cities began forming blues societies and outdoor blues festivals became more common. More nightclubs and venues such as Manny's Car Wash, the Slippery Noodle Inn and the Zoo Bar emerged. In the 1990s and today blues performers are found touching elements from almost every musical genre. Young performers such as Alvin Hart, Jonny Lang, Anson Funderburgh, Susan Tedeschi, Corey Harris and Anthony Gomes keep blues alive, fresh and innovative. Please see List of blues musicians for more information. 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Robert Cray (born August 9, 1953 in Columbus, Georgia) is a blues musician, guitarist and singer. ... Albert Collins album cover Albert Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993) was a blues guitarist, singer and musician. ... Bonnie Raitt on the cover of her album Silver Lining Bonnie Raitt, (born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitar virtuoso who was born in Burbank, California, the daughter of Broadway musical star John Raitt. ... Keb Mo is a noted blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. ... Stevie Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 in Dallas, Texas – August 27, 1990) was an American blues guitar legend, known as one of the most influential electric blues musicians in history. ... A nightclub (often dance club or club, particularly in the UK) is an entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. ... The Slippery Noodle Inn is a large blues bar and restaurant with two performance stages in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. ... The Zoo Bar is a blues music venue and nightclub located in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Alvin Youngblood Hart (born 1965) is an American blues musician who also experiments with ragtime and dixieland. ... Jonny Lang (born January 29, 1981) is an American blues guitarist, originally from Fargo, North Dakota. ... Anson Funderburgh (born November 15, 1954 in Plano, Texas) is a blues guitar player and band leader. ... Susan Tedeschi American blues artist. ... Anthony Gomes (born in 1975) is a Canadian blues and blues-rock guitar player and singer. ... Performers in the blues style range from primitive, one-chord Delta players to big bands to country music to rock and roll to classical music. ...

And blues forms turn up in some surprising places. The theme to the televised Batman was blues, as was teen idol Fabian's first hit, "Turn Me Loose". Likewise, many jazz classics, such as Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time", also use the blues form without lyrics. The first great country music star Jimmie Rodgers was a blues performer. Batman was the title of an exceptionally popular TV series based on the comic-book character Batman that aired on ABC TV for 2 1/2 seasons from 12 January 1966 to 14 March 1968. ... A teen idol is a famous person who generates attention from large numbers of teenagers. ... Fabian (born February 6, 1943) was an American teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. ... Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ... Charlie Parker Charles Parker, Jr (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. ... Country music, formerly called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ... James Charles Jimmie Rodgers (September 8, 1897 -– May 26, 1933) was the first country music superstar. ...

Blues dancing

Blues is sometimes danced as an informal type of swing dancing with no fixed patterns and a heavy focus on connection, sensuality and improvisation, often with body contact. However, most Blues dance moves are inspired by traditional Blues dancing. Although usually done to blues music, it can be done to any slow tempoed 4/4 music, including "club" music. Swing is a group of related street dances, that evolved from Lindy Hop. ... Connection is essential to all partner dancing. ... Improvisation is the act of making something up as it is performed. ... Body contact is a style of closed position in partner dancing. ...

See also

• List of genres of the blues
• List of blues musicians

Blues can be categorized into a number of genres. ... Performers in the blues style range from primitive, one-chord Delta players to big bands to country music to rock and roll to classical music. ...

Samples

• Download recording - “Don’t You Grieve” blues mourning song from the Library of Congress' John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip; performed by Aunt Mollie McDonald on May 27, 1939, at her family home near Livingston, Alabama
• Download sample Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
• Download sample Robert Johnson's "Crossroads Blues"
• Download recording - "Clemens Rag" instrumental blues guitar song from the Library of Congress' John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip; performed by Ace Johnson and L.W. Gooden on AApril 15, 1939, at Clemens State Farm near Brazoria, Texas
• Download recording - "Train" instrumental blues harmonica song from the Library of Congress' John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip; performed by Ace Johnson on April 16, 1939, at Clemens State Farm near Brazoria, Texas
• Download recording “Hesitation Blues” blues song from the Library of Congress' Gordon Collection; performed by Bascam Lamar Lunsford in the Asheville, North Carolina area on October 19, 1925
• Download recording - "Po’ Gal" East Coast blues from the Library of Congress' Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections; performed by Zora Neale Hurston on June 18, 1939, in Jacksonville, Florida

Livingston is a city located in Sumter County, Alabama. ... Leadbelly, circa 1942; shown with an accordion, though he typically played guitar Leadbelly (January 29, 1885 – December 6, 1949) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. ... Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is probably the most famous Delta blues singer and guitarist in history. ... Brazoria is a city located in Brazoria County, Texas. ... A harmonica A harmonica is a free reed musical wind instrument (also known, among other things, as a mouth organ, french harp, simply harp, or Mississippi saxophone), having multiple, variably-tuned brass or bronze reeds, each secured at one end over an airway slot of like dimension into which it... Brazoria is a city located in Brazoria County, Texas. ... Asheville City Hall. ... Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891–January 28, 1960) was an African-American folklorist and author. ... The Jacksonville skyline and the Acosta Bridge. ...

External links

• The mother of all blueslinks collection
• The colourful tale of a typical although fictional blues musician
• Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues from PBS.com
• Muslim roots of the Blues