Blues rock is a fusiongenre and form ofrock music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation ofblues.[3] It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, drums, and sometimes with keyboards and harmonica). From its beginnings in the early to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way it inspired and influencedhard rock,Southern rock, and earlyheavy metal.
Blues rock started with rock musicians in the United Kingdom and the United States performing American blues songs. They typically recreated electricChicago blues songs, such as those byWillie Dixon,Muddy Waters, andJimmy Reed, at faster tempos and with a more aggressive sound common to rock. In the UK, the style was popularized by groups such asthe Rolling Stones,the Yardbirds, andthe Animals, who put several blues songs into the pop charts. In the US,Lonnie Mack, thePaul Butterfield Blues Band, andCanned Heat were among the earliest exponents. Some of these bands also played long, involved improvisations as were then commonplace on jazz records.[4] In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the style became more hard rock-oriented. In the US,Johnny Winter, the earlyAllman Brothers Band, andZZ Top represented a hard rock trend, along withLed Zeppelin,Ten Years After,Chicken Shack, andFoghat in the UK.
Along with hard rock, blues rock songs became the core of the music played onalbum-oriented rock radio in the United States, and later theclassic rock format established there during the 1980s.[5]
The blues gave rock a mother’s unconditional love, nurturing it through its difficult stages and always providing a welcome return no matter how far it strayed from home.
Blues rock can be characterized by bluesyimprovisation, extendedboogiejams typically focused on electric guitar solos, and often a heavier,riff-oriented sound and feel to the songs than found in typicalChicago-style blues. Blues rock bands "borrow[ed] the idea of an instrumental combo and loud amplification from rock & roll".[4] It is also often played at a fast tempo, again distinguishing it from the blues.[4]
One notable difference is the frequent use of a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm instead oftriplets usually found in blues. An example isCream's "Crossroads". Although it was adapted fromRobert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues", the bass "combines with drums to create and continually emphasize continuity in the regular metric drive".[7]
Rock music uses driving rhythms andelectric guitar techniques such asdistortion andpower chords already used by 1950selectric blues guitarists, particularlyMemphis bluesmen such asJoe Hill Louis,Willie Johnson andPat Hare.[8][9] Characteristics that blues rock adopted from electric blues include its dense texture, basic blues band instrumentation,[10] rough declamatory vocal style, heavy guitarriffs, string-bending blues-scale guitar solos, strong beat, thick riff-laden texture, and posturing performances.[11] Precursors to blues rock included theChicago blues musiciansElmore James,Albert King, andFreddie King, who began incorporating rock and roll elements into their blues music during the late 1950s to early 1960s.[12][13][14]
1963 marked the appearance of American rock guitar soloistLonnie Mack, whose idiosyncratic, fast-paced electric blues guitar style[15] came to be identified with the advent of blues rock as a distinct genre. His instrumentals from that period were recognizable as blues orrhythm and blues tunes, but he relied heavily upon fast-picking techniques derived from traditional Americancountry andbluegrass genres. The best-known of these are the 1963Billboard hit singles "Memphis" and "Wham!".[16] Around the same time, thePaul Butterfield Blues Band was formed. Fronted byblues harp player and singerPaul Butterfield, it included two members fromHowlin' Wolf's touring band, bassistJerome Arnold and drummerSam Lay, and later two electric guitarists,Mike Bloomfield andElvin Bishop.[17] In 1965, its debut album,The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was released.AllMusic'sMichael Erlewine commented, "Used to hearing blues covered by groups like the Rolling Stones, that first album had an enormous impact on young (and primarily White) rock players."[16] The second albumEast West (1966) introduced extended soloing – the 13 minute instrumental title track included jazz and Indianraga influences – that served as a model forpsychedelic andacid rock.[16] In 1965, avid blues collectorsBob Hite andAlan Wilson formedCanned Heat. Their early recordings focused heavily on electric versions ofDelta blues songs, but soon began exploring longmusical improvisations ("jams") built aroundJohn Lee Hooker songs.[16] Other popular mid-1960s groups, such asthe Doors andBig Brother and the Holding Company withJanis Joplin, also adapted songs by blues artists to include elements of rock. Butterfield, Canned Heat, and Joplin performed at theMonterey (1967) andWoodstock (1969) festivals.
^Palmer 1980, p. 12: "Black country bluesmen made raw, heavily amplified boogie records of their own, especially in Memphis, where guitarists like Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson (with the early Howlin' Wolf band) and Pat Hare (with Little Junior Parker) played driving rhythms and scorching, distorted solos that might be counted the distant ancestors of heavy metal."
Guterman, Jimmy (1992).The Best Rock 'N' Roll Records of All Time. Carol.ISBN978-0806513256.
Headlam, Dave (1997). "Blues Transformations in the Music of Cream". In Covach, John; Boone, Graeme M. (eds.).Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19510-0051.
