by Tim Higgins

Created on: March 16, 2009   Last Updated: March 17, 2009

Is the blues doomed? The fact that it might be would only provide the thousands of artists making a good living from this genre something else to write and sing about!

Is classical music dead? As a period (1750-1825) it died pretty much the same time as Beethoven , giving way to the Romantic period. But is it dead, or doomed? I would say not. In fact, thanks to the internet and use on countless film scores, it may just be at the height of it's popularity.

But back to the blues. Yes, the original masters and founders of th genre are long gone (Robert Johnson, the 'father' of modern blues, died in 1938) and of the 'second wave' of blues legends, those who brought us the electric blues, very few remain. Those who do, primarily BB King and Buddy Guy, continue to tour for two thirds of every year, taking their music all over the world.

But will blues music die with them, once they join Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker at that great gig in the sky? I doubt it.

If ever there was a time when blues music was in serious danger of disappearing without a trace, forgotten and largely undiscovered, it would have been in the US during the forties and fifties. Rock'n'Roll had taken the basic elements of the style, while at the same time emphasising the 'happy element' making it jive or party music. Don't get me wrong, the blues is about suffering, but it is NOT about being miserable. If you want to hear about everyone dying or leaving each other, listen to Country & Western tunes, because the blues, first and foremost, is about HOPE. Overcoming the suffering with determination, or even humour.

Listen to most blues songs. Yeah, they start with 'woke up this morning' and all the bad stuff happens - the man keeps them down, their woman plays around, but listen to the last verse or line, for example, in Redhouse Blues:

"And if she still won't love me, Lord knows, her sister will" - humour and optimism!

Just as black or African-Americans have overcome so many obstacles in the last two hundred years, so the blues overcame the possibility of being forgotten about by the American masses: stand up, Great Britian.

Since the Second World War, the youth of Britian had been exposed to imported records from the US, and a string of bands and performers sprang up in the sixties based around this music. These in turn, became the 'British Boom',following the sucess of the Beatles, the US lapped up albums by (and this REALLY is just the tip of the iceburg here) The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck. Their influence on the next generation of bands has ensured a place for the blues in Rock history and Rock future.

Luckily, after hearing and loving these artists, audiences on both sides of the Atlantic delved deeper, and discovered the roots of their style. BB King. Muddy Waters, et al have never been more popular. New artists like Joe Bonamassa and Jonny Lang take over where neo-blues hero Stevie Ray Vaughn left off. Ladies and Gentleman, the blues is not dead.

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