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The Blues is a relatively African-American genre, where the music and lyrics present a depressed mood. Today if we say someone is “feeling blue”; it means they may be upset or sad. The Blues trace back to the 1800s where sharecroppers and field hands would sing as they toiled over the farms as the blazing Southern Sun peppered their backs. The Blues had not always been a depressed form of music. It emerged from the gospel spirituals of the past, and later on developed a more lamenting style. The Blues spread low and wide as African Americans continued to live under stressful and turbulent times. The music ranged from Chicago Blues, which represented the city’s 1920s Jazz movement and flapper favorites. It also touched the Black of the Piedmont and expressed those living on the Eastern seaboard. The Blues were the birth child of the Gospel spirituals of the south and the country westerns of the Negros in the West, added with the Jazz flavor of the East Coast. With all these influences it spoke the same sad song. Lamenting a lost love, being broke, or frankly being Black in the early 20th century was something to have the Blues about. However the despite the agony of that period, many opportunities were born out of the crossover appeal and success of early Blues artists. As is true with many music genres Black Americans create, white contemporary artists found ways to make bank off their creations. In spite of this history still holds true to the work laid down by Blues artists like Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Chuck Berry, and B.B. King. |
