Country blues(alsofolk blues,rural blues,backwoods blues,ordownhome blues) is one of the earliest forms ofbluesmusic. The mainly solo vocal with acousticfingerstyle guitaraccompaniment developed in the ruralSouthern United Statesin the early 20th century.[1]It stands in contrast primarily to theurban bluesstyle, especially in the pre-war era.
| Country blues | |
|---|---|
| Other names |
|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early 20th century,American South |
| Subgenres | |
History
editArtists such asBlind Lemon Jefferson(Texas),Charley Patton(Mississippi),Blind Willie McTell(Georgia) were among the first to record blues songs in the 1920s. Country blues ran parallel tourban blues,which was popular in cities.[2]
Historian Elijah Wald notes many similarities between blues,bluegrass,andcountry & westernstyles with roots in the American south.[3]Record labels in the 1920s and 1930s carefully segregated musicians and defined styles for racially targeted audiences.[4]Over time, the rural black and rural white music evolved into different styles, with artists such asBobby Bland,Ray Charles,andWillie Nelsonlamenting the divide.[3]
FolkloristAlan Lomaxwas one of the first to use the term and applied it to afield recordinghe made ofMuddy Watersat theStovall Plantation, Mississippi,in 1941.[2]In 1959, music historianSamuel CharterswroteThe Country Blues,an influential scholarly work on the subject.[5]He also produced an album, also titledThe Country Blues,with early recordings by Jefferson, McTell,Sleepy John Estes,Bukka White,andRobert Johnson.[6]
Charters's works helped to introduce the then-nearly forgotten music to theAmerican folk music revivalof the late 1950s and 1960s.[5]The acoustic roots-focused movement also gave rise to the terms "folk blues" and "acoustic blues", especially being applied to performances and recordings made around this period.[1]"Country blues" has also been used to describe regional acoustic styles, such asDelta blues,Piedmont blues,or the earliestChicago,Texas,andMemphisblues.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit
- ^abcGordon, Reverend Keith A. (May 23, 2019)."Country Blues Style Characteristics and Artists".Liveaboutdotcom.Archived fromthe originalon August 7, 2011.RetrievedJuly 15,2019.
- ^ab Gordon, Robert (2002).Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters.New York City:Little, Brown.pp. 38–39.ISBN0-316-32849-9.
- ^abWald 2010,pp. 1589.
- ^Wald 2010,pp. 1391.
- ^ab Gioia, Ted(2008).Delta Blues(Norton Paperback 2009 ed.). New York City:W. W. Norton.pp.351–352.ISBN978-0-393-33750-1.
- ^Christensen, Thor (November 19, 2011)."Dallas Church Preserving the Legacy of Robert Johnson".Nytimes.Retrieved12 August2022.
- Wald, Elijah(2010).The Blues. A Very Short Introduction(Kindle ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-539893-9.