Art Collage JANG: 114. Blues: 5. 1960s and 1970s, ACJ Music Academy

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This week's lecture is “1960s and 1970s”, the 5th topic of “Blues”, which is a summary of the contents of “114. Blues: 5. 1960s and 1970s” introduced on December 6th (Wed), 2017.

Until the early 1960s, genres influenced by African American music such as rock and roll and soul were only a part of mainstream popular music. Although white musicians such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles introduced African American music to new audiences, the blues wave, led by musicians such as Muddy Waters, had stopped.

Blues musicians such as Big Bill Broonzy and Willie Dixon began to find new markets in Europe, and Dick Waterman and the blues festivals he organized in Europe played an important role in propagating blues music abroad. British bands imitated legendary American blues players, and British blues rock-based bands played an influential role throughout the 1960s.

Big Bill Broonzy

Blues performers like John Lee Hooker continued to perform to audiences, mixing his blues style with rock elements and playing with younger white musicians, and Hooker created a musical style that can be heard on his 1971 album "Endless Boogie".

Cover of John Lee Hooker's album,
"Endless Boogie"

B. B. King's singing and guitar technique earned him the title of "King of the Blues," and in contrast to the Chicago style, King's band used strong brass instruments such as saxophone, trumpet and trombone instead of using slide guitar or harp.

B.B. King

During this period, Freddie King and Albert King had a major influence on those styles of music, playing with rock and soul musicians such as Eric Clapton and Booker T & the MG’s.

Freddie King

The Civil Rights Movement and Free Speech Movement in America revived interest in American roots music and early African American music. Festivals such as the Newport Folk Festival also brought traditional blues to a new audience, helping to revive interest in prewar acoustic blues and performers such as Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and Reverend Gary Davis.

Son House

During the 1960s, interest in the blues of white audiences was increased by the Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band featuring guitarist Michael Bloomfield and singer-songwriter Nick Gravenites, and the British Blues movement.

Paul Butterfield

The British blues style was developed in the UK with musicians such as the Animals, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Cream and the Irish musician Rory Gallagher, when they performed classic blues songs from the Delta or Chicago blues traditions.

The British and blues musicians of the early 1960s inspired many American blues-rock fusion performers, including the Doors, Canned Heat, the early Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, The J. Geils Band, Ry Cooder, and the Allman Brothers Band. One blues rock performer, Jimi Hendrix, was a black man playing psychedelic rock, a rarity in his field at the time. Through these musicians, blues music had a major impact on the development of rock music.

Jimi Hendrix

In the early 1970s, the Texas rock-blues style appeared, which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles. In contrast to the West Side blues, the Texas style is strongly influenced by the British rock blues movement. Main musicians of the Texas style are Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and ZZ Top.