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a pioneer in the innovative use of distortion and feedback in his music. Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of rock music.

In the late 1960s, the West Side style blues emerged in Chicago with Magic Sam, Magic Slim and Otis Rush. West Side style has strong rhythmic support from a rhythm guitar, bass electric guitar, and drums. Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Luther Allison had a West Side style that was dominated by amplified electric lead guitar.

Blues Incorporated was a British R&B band in the early 1960s, which was led by Alexis Korner and which featured at various times such musicians as Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Danny Thompson, Graham Bond, Cyril Davies, Malcolm Cecil and Dick Heckstall-Smith. Although never very successful commercially, it was extremely influential on the development of British rock music in the 1960s and later.

In 1962, Korner and Davies established a regular "Rhythm and Blues Night" at the Ealing Jazz Club. This brought together many more fans of blues and R&B music, including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Rod Stewart, Paul Jones, John Mayall, Zoot Money and Jimmy Page, some of whom would occasionally sit in on Blues Incorporated performances.

Blues Incorporated was conceived as an informal 'band'; its membership was intended to be fluid. Watts left the group around this time, and successfully suggested Ginger Baker as his replacement. Korners' Ealing club and the American Folk Blues Festivals in Britain and Europe were a magnet to blues / rock musicians , combining to ensure strong and pervasive links between blues and early rock and roll music.

Since the early 1970's, The Texas rock-blues style emerged which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles. In contrast with the West Side blues, the Texas style is strongly influenced by the British rock-blues movement. Major artists of the Texas style are Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and ZZ Top. These artists all began their musical journey in the 1970's, but they wouldn't achieve major international success until the next decade.

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