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Rock Roots 3:

Blues and Country Music. Rock Roots 3:. Blues. Most influential form to emerge from matrix of 19th c. American music Foundation for nearly all popular music in the U.S. Ancestors of the Blues. Work songs strongly rhythmic often call and response :

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Rock Roots 3:

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  1. Blues and Country Music Rock Roots 3:

  2. Blues • Most influential form to emerge from matrix of 19th c. American music • Foundation for nearly all popular music in the U.S.

  3. Ancestors of the Blues • Work songs • strongly rhythmic • often call and response: • one person sings phrase, “answered” by group • Spirituals • African-American adaptation of European hymn singing • include blue notes, more rhythmic vitality • Ballads • Syncopated dance music

  4. Early blues • Classic Blues • Country Blues

  5. Early blues • Classic Blues • Earliest popular blues • Formally composed, commercial music • Accompanied by small jazz combo or jazz pianist • Performed by female singers from vaudeville tradition • Ex. Bessie Smith, Back Water Blues

  6. Bessie Smith (1895-1937) • “Empress of the Blues” • Straddled line between vaudeville and the blues • Extremely expressive • Chose appropriate vocal tone for material • Nuanced phrasing and timing

  7. Bessie Smith, Back Water Blues • 12-bar blues • rough, “gritty” vocal style • conversational style • short instrumental breaks at end of each line • typical of blues • like call and response with instrument

  8. Country Blues • Mainly male solo performers • Improvised, not composed • Performers accompany themselves on guitar or piano • Guitar style: • rhythmic strumming • plucked melody • slide guitar: sliding between notes = blue notes

  9. Bottleneck or Slide Guitar • Probably Hawaiian origin! • Common in blues, hillbilly, Western swing, honky-tonk

  10. Robert Johnson • “King of the Delta Blues” • Sophisticated guitar technique • Single string soloing • Extensive use of slide • Major influence on lead guitar styles in rock • Especially blues rock of 1960s • Ex. 1 Cross Road Blues

  11. Robert Johnson, Come On In My Kitchen • blues verse/chorus form • 12 bar blues progression, but abc lyrics • Last line functions as chorus • Number of spoken phrases, vocalizations, dropped or slurred words • Johnson plays both melody and harmony; melody mirrors vocal line

  12. In cities country blues develops into….. • Hokum blues • Boogie Woogie • Chicago blues • Rhythm and blues

  13. Hokum blues • Novelty blues • Combination of jazz, country blues, Classic blues, and popular music • Some of jazz “bounce” • Singer with guitar or piano accompaniment • Silly lyrics, or filled with double-entendres

  14. Tampa Red and Georgia Tom, Tight Like That • Verse and refrain, with weight on refrain • “Naughty good humor” • “walking” guitar riffs • Expanded rhythm section • stop time - instruments stop playing abruptly, vocals continue

  15. Boogie-Woogie • Piano blues • Country blues + ragtime • Shuffle rhythm established in left hand • Riffs in right hand build up blues-inflected melody • Eight-beat rhythm • Ex. Pinetop Smith, Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie

  16. Boogie-Woogie • Boogie-woogie at fast tempos = eight-beat rock rhythm • Ex: Roll ‘Em Pete - Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner

  17. Country Music • Anglo-American folk music from Britain influenced by African-American music • Fiddle, banjo, guitar preferred instruments • High, nasal singing style • Called “old-time” music • Emerges from matrix of influences at undetermined time • Commercial version = country music

  18. Country music • Two broad, early categories: • Mountain tradition = Carter family • Hillbilly • Heavily influenced by popular music, African-American folk music, jazz and blues • Ex. Jimmie Rodgers

  19. Carter Family - Wildwood Flower • Nasal vocal tone • Strophic form • Two-beat style beat • “Thumb-brush” guitar style • melody played on lower strings • chords played on upper strings • influenced folk, country guitarists

  20. Country vocal harmonies • Both country styles share vocal harmony “sound” • Harmony singing with lines a 3rd apart • Influenced by Sacred Harp or shape note singing method • Called tight vocal harmonies • Ex. Bailes Brothers, You Can't Go Halfway (and Get In)

  21. Jimmie Rodgers - Waiting for a Train • Sparse, chordal accompaniment • Blues inflected vocal tone • Blue yodel • Definite influences from popular music, country music, jazz, and blues

  22. Western Swing • Hybrid of cowboy music, dance music, jazz, blues • Strong dance beat • Heavy two-beat style, but with accent on backbeat • Jazz instrumental ensemble, including drums • Ex. Bob Wills, Steel Guitar Rag

  23. Honky-tonk • Fusion of hillbilly and Western • Emerges in years after World War II • Primarily played in beer joints, aka honky-tonks • In response to loud environment, electric AND acoustic guitars used

  24. Pedal Steel Guitar

  25. Honky-tonk • “Country two-beat” • Emotional singing style, with blues inflections • Emotional content expressed in direct language • Ex. Hank Williams, Your Cheatin’ Heart

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