There are 3 articles on this title. You are reading the article ranked and rated #2 by Helium's members.
unexpected and more than I imagined; an enjoyable adventure into the real roots of rock and roll. "Let's look under that rock."(Bonnie Raitt)
From its first blaring guitar chord, it seemed rock and roll was associated with youth, rebellion, and anti-establishment activities. This newfound ability to defy the societal concepts of normality with music, added even more appeal. The rock genre conspired to convey new ideas; concepts emerging on political, religious, moral and scientific issues were the order of the day. Music came to both mirror society and to change it. Rock music was new and unique, kind of.
As a teenager during the nineteen seventies, rock became my favorite kind of music. Man, those songs must have been written with me in mind, ya know? At the time, I never dreamed that Montrose's Good Rockin' Tonight (Sammy Hagar-vocals), or Foghat's rendition of I Just Wanna' Make Love to You, and countless others, were old Black Man's Blues'. In my mind, the two were worlds apart.
The origins of blues are not unlike the origins of life. For many years it was recorded, passed on, and relayed only live and in person.
The word rocking believed to been first used by gospel singers in the South; it was a slang term for spiritual rapture. However, evidenced in blues artist Roy Brown's song (1947) Good Rocking Tonight, was another obvious new implication. Brown was a blues musician who brought a soul singing style, from gospel music, to the emerging genre of rock and roll. His application of the word, which he claimed was about dancing, came to be a synonym for sex. This style of rock music was limited to jukeboxes and racially mixed clubs.
Though usage of the phrase, blues, in Black American music may be older, it is attributed to W.C. Handy, in Memphis, Tennessee with a tune known as Memphis Blues since 1912.
Handy is known as "the Father of the Blues", however, he acknowledged that he did not invent the blues but merely enlivened the emotion of the sound and presented it to a larger audience. He was instrumental in the introduction a new style of music to the world.
By the 1950s and '60s, the blues had crossed the Atlantic and young audiences and musicians in Great Britain launched a blues revival with their reverent admiration of American blues music. The blues blended into rock, and as rock and roll took center stage on the global popular music scene, the blues faded into the background for decades.
Artist like The Jimi Hendrix Experience and others migrated from
Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:
by Peter Burton
The Evolution from Country Blues to Rock and Roll
Pre-War
The American sheet music publishing industry produced a great deal
by -buck.
There are those who maintain that an exhibition, meant only to entertain, is art. It may be, but I prefer an artist to a
Introduction:
Countr y Blues is suspect to many names such as folk blues, rural blues or downhome blues and has arguably had
Add your voice
Know something about The blues had a baby and they called it rock-n-roll?
We want to hear your view.
Write now!
Cast your vote!
Click for your side.
Featured Partner
The Overbrook Foundation has partnered with Helium, giving you the chance to write for a cause. Browse Overbrook...more
hide