How are you?
This week's lecture is “Musical
impact”, the 7th and last topic of “Blues”, which is a summary of the contents of “116. Blues: 7. Musical
impact” introduced on December 23rd, 2017.
The style, form, melody of blues music and the blues scale have influenced many other genres of music, such as rock and roll, jazz, and popular music. The blues scale is also frequently used in popular songs like Harold Arlen's "Blues in the Night", blues ballads such as "Since I Fell for You" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love", and even in orchestral pieces such as George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue".
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| Harold Arlen |
The blues scale can also be found in many places in modern popular music, and the blues forms are used in the theme to teen idol Fabian Forte's hit, "Turn Me Loose", country music star Jimmie Rodgers' music and guitarist and vocalist Tracy Chapman's hit "Give Me One Reason".
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| Fabian Forte |
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| Jimmie Rodgers |
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| Tracy Chapman |
In the 1950s, soul
music by Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and James Brown used elements of gospel and
blues, and in the 1960s and 1970s gospel and blues were merged in soul blues
music. Funk music of the 1970s was influenced by soul, and funk can be seen as
a precursor to hip-hop and contemporary R&B, and R&B music can be
traced back to spirituals and blues.
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| Sam Cooke |
Although the boundary
between blues and jazz wasn't clear before World War II, the jump blues of the
1940s mixed both styles. After World War II, blues had a significant influence
on jazz, and bebop classics such as Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time"
used the blues form.
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| Charlie Parker |
Bebop brought a major change in the role of jazz, from a popular music style for dancing to a high art, less-accessible musician's music. As a result, the audience of both blues and jazz split and the boundary between the two genres became clearer.
Blues
also had a major influence on rock and roll music, where "Hound Dog"
is a blues song adapted into a rock and roll song, and Jerry Lee Lewis' rock
and roll style was heavily influenced by the blues and its derivative
boogie-woogie.
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| Jerry Lee Lewis |
Many early rock and roll songs such as "That's All Right Mama", "Johnny B. Goode", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", "Shake, Rattle, and Roll", and "Long Tall Sally" are based on blues.
The 12-bar blues structure is also found in novelty pop
songs such as Bob Dylan's "Obviously Five Believers" and Esther &
Abi Ofarim's "Cinderella Rockefella".
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| Bob Dylan |
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| Esther & Abi Ofarim |
Early country music was infused with blues. Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe and Hank Williams all described themselves as blues singers. In the 1970s, many of "outlaw" country music by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings also borrowed from the blues.
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| Willie Nelson |
With the end of today's lecture, “ACJ Music Academy” for over 3 years, started from the first lecture of "Russian Romance" on June 15, 2019, will end. From the next time, I will see you again with a new topic, “Interesting Music Stories,” introducing the stories of music and musicians of various music genres. I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has watched my lectures with interest.
Thank you.
