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The dominant gene in the DNA of rock ’n’ roll comes from the blues, which is just one reason why many believe it’s the most important musical genre of the last 100 years. Everyone from Chuck Berry to The Beatles to Led Zeppelin has used the basic 12-bar blues chord progression as the underlying structure for their music. Indeed, it’s difficult to imagine much of contemporary music without it.
Cognizant of this fact, the Rock and Roll Museum inducted blues legend Robert Johnson into its Hall of Fame in 1986, the institution’s very first year. The following year it added Johnson acolyte Muddy Waters to its ranks, along with bluesmen B.B. King and Big Joe Turner. In subsequent years, blues artists such as Lead Belly, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, and Willie Dixon, among others, have been inducted into the hallowed hall.
For vinyl record collectors, blues records are particularly appealing because the style spans so many years and formats. For example, collectors of antique 10-inch 78 RPM discs on Okeh and other labels look for Bessie Smith tunes such as “Safety Mama” or “Blind” Lemon Jefferson songs like “How Long, How Long.” In the 1920s, Jefferson’s music was so popular that some of his records enjoyed as many as 750,000 pressings...
The Depression knocked some of the stuffing out of the blues market, and World War II forced many labels to cease operations altogether as raw materials were husbanded for the war effort. But a parallel upheaval was happening in the blues, as artists moved from the Mississippi Delta region in the south to urban areas up north.
In Chicago, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and John Lee Hooker all made their mark, trading their acoustic Martin guitars for electric ones made by Gibson and others (B.B. King’s black ES-335, which he named Lucille, remains one of the most identifiable instruments in music).
One of Chicago’s leading blues artists was Willie Dixon. He performed extensively in the postwar era, but he also wrote a lot of tunes recorded as 45s on Chess Records, by performers from locals Waters and Wolf to England’s Rolling Stones—their 45 single of Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster” was recorded in Chicago for Chess in 1965.
In fact, in the 1960s, rock bands would regularly weave blues numbers by Dixon, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Bo Diddley into their repertoires. First pressings of “East-West” by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band are prized, as are mint mono LPs of the 1966 “Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton” album—the leader of that band, John Mayall, was one of the greatest champions of the U.S. blues in England.
Then there were the Yardbirds, a blues-inspired pop outfit that launched the careers of not only Clapton (good luck finding a seven-inch single of their 1965 hit, “For Your Love”) but also Jeff Beck (the U.K. release of “Roger the Engineer” is much sought after) and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page (look for “Little Games”).
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Recent News: Blues Records
Source: Google News
Tony Sylvester of Turbonegro on American hardcore
Westword (blog), May 20thIt goes back to the Stones and all those guys before them listening to blues records. It's almost like because you're away from it, you have a much more macro view on the whole thing. The last sixty years of British youth culture is really kind of...Read more
Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “All Or Nothin' At All” (1992)
Something Else! Reviews, May 20thAll those old country blues records were steeped in innuendo, which is part of why they're all so great. Did Bruce have to dig all the way down into “squeeze my lemon” territory? Maybe not, but this idea of a woman who can't commit is kind of suburban...Read more
Review: Mark Knopfler at Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena
ChronicleLive, May 20thHe is currently promoting his latest album, Privateering, which was released in September last year; a rootsy Blues records with murmured folk tales and strong country influences. View gallery. " " " " " " " " " " Mark Knopfler at Metro Radio Arena...Read more
The Jim Jones Revue Reveal Dates For October UK Tour & Tickets
Stereoboard.com (blog), May 17thlimited pressing of 7' vinyl from Rough Trade and to download from iTunes. The track is the latest to be taken from the band's third album, 'The Savage Heart', which was released on October 12th 2012 through Punk Rock Blues Records / PIAS Recordings...Read more
Legendary bluesman John Mayall to play SLO Brew
The San Luis Obispo Tribune, May 15th“My father had a few blues records mixed in with his jazz records,” Mayall said. After his discharge from the British army in 1955, Mayall formed his first band, the Powerhouse Four, which he played in while working as a graphic artist at an ad agency...Read more
60 years on Racine's red carpet -- Post Prom memories remain as fresh as a ...
Journal Times, May 11thShe remembers the red carpet and the DJ who spun their favorite rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues records. “We didn't just dance all by ourselves like they do now,” she says. “We swinged — we fast danced but we held each others' hands.” To Price...Read more
Paul Rodgers on Bad Company Tour: 'It's Good to Be Back Together'
Ultimate Classic Rock, May 8thA lot of those old soul and blues records were great because they were so spontaneous. And they might have been recorded in some hotel room with a microphone stuck in front of them, and the quality might not be great, but the spirit of the thing, it...Read more
The Pines bring a quiet, sparse sound
South Bend Tribune, April 25th“We both were big fans of old blues records. That was the catalyst.” Blues is just one part of the equation in the makeup of The Pines' music. It also blends in indie-rock, folk and other forms of American roots music. “I believe the blues is in there...Read more