Rhythm & Blues

1. Rhythm & Blues

2. Precursors • The migration of African Americans to the urban industrial centers of Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere in the 1930s created a new market for jazz, blues, and related genres of music, often performed by full-time musicians, either working alone or in small groups. • .

3. Precursors • The precursors of rhythm and blues came from jazz and blues, which overlapped in the 1930s through the work of musicians such as The Harlem Hamfats, with their 1936 hit "Oh Red", as well as Leroy Carr, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and T-Bone Walker.

4. Precursors • There was also increasing emphasis on the electric guitar as a lead instrument, as well as the piano and saxophone.

5. New Instruments in R&B • Electric Guitar: T Bone Walker brought the guitar to R&B from Jazz and the Blues. The rhythms and chords were very simple.

6. New Instruments in R&B Piano: The piano was a driving force in R&B. Many of the early artist played the piano such as Little Richard and fats Domino. It was the primary instrument and put R&B on the map. Many people had never heard a piano played like these musicians could make it sound.

7. New Instruments in R&B Saxophone: It was taken from the Big Band scene of the jazz era. It was used as a Rhythm section. Except for Louis Jordan.

8. Late 1940’s • In 1949, the term "Rhythm and Blues" replaced the Billboard category Harlem Hit Parade. • Also in that year, "The Huckle-Buck", recorded by band leader and saxophonist Paul Williams, was the #1 R&B tune, remaining on top of the charts for nearly the entire year. http://youtu.be/Du6Y7umZRH8 • Written by musician and arranger Andy Gibson, the song was described as a "dirty boogie" because it was risqué and raunchy. • Also in 1949, a new version of a 1920s blues song, "Ain't Nobody's Business" was a #4 hit for Jimmy Witherspoon, and Louis Jordan

9. Louis Jordan • In 1948, RCA Victor was marketing black music under the name "Blues and Rhythm". In that year, Louis Jordan dominated the top five listings of the R&B charts with three songs, and two of the top five songs were based on the boogie-woogie rhythms that had come to prominence during the 1940s. • Jordan's band, the Tympany Five (formed in 1938), consisted of him on saxophone and vocals, along with musicians on trumpet, tenor saxophone, piano, bass and drums. • Louis Jordan is one of the pioneers of R&B. He started his carrier as a jazz musician. At the point in time when R&B started to emerge Louis was a popular jazz musician. Which he used his popularity from jazz to help bring R&B to the main stream. His first release was "Saturday Night Fish Fry". http://youtu.be/b1QfXQakX2w

10. Recording companies • There are two big recording companies that come from the 1940’s. • The first is King recordings. It was originally a country recording label. It is responsible for releasing some big R&B name such as James Brown and Roy Brown. The other thing that made them important is they were the group responsible for merging R&B and Rockabilly.

11. Recording companies • The second label is Atlantic. Atlantic records is one of the most popular recording labels of all time. It is responsible for many great artist in many different genres such as Rock, R&B, Jazz, and Blues. The label is the only one from this era that is still signing and releasing artist.

12. Extra audio clips • Sonny Thompson - Long Gone • http://youtu.be/ji8NI2-0zqc • Wynonie Harris - Good Rockin' Tonight • http://youtu.be/SHebMwznM5c