What Are Chicago Blues?
Chicago Blues grew out of the more classic Delta blues in the 1940s after millions of African-Americans left the southern United States in what was termed the Great Migration. At the time, the South was still plagued by intense racial segregation and discrimination. Many of those African-Americans ended up in cities in the northeast, midwest and west.
The Chicago Blues sound was developed by blues musicians who settled in Chicago, and became popular during the 1950s and 1960s. It was really the foundation for rock and roll and modern electric blues.
The unique sound developed in Chicago differed from the earlier classic Delta style blues in that it had a more gritty, urban feel. It was defined by the use of the electric guitars, amplified harps (harmonicas), electric bass, piano, and occasionally other instruments like saxophone. It used loud and often overdriven amplifiers. In contrast, the earlier classic or Delta style blues was acoustic in nature.
The lyrics of the Chicago sound also tended to reflect the struggles of life in the city as opposed to life in the country.
Chicago Blues Musicians
The Inspiration for Rock and Roll
Record labels like Chess Records and Vee-Jay Records helped spread blues music around the world. Early Chicago Blues musicians like Muddy Waters, Willy Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf were influential for the later development of rock and roll musicians such as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly in the United States.
In Europe, Chicago Blues musicians similarly influenced bands and musicians like The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Peter Green and others. In fact, the Rolling Stones got their band name from Muddy Waters’ recording of the song “Rollin’ Stone.”
Many of the Rolling Stones chart hits were actually covers of Chicago Blues songs like “Little Red Rooster“, “I Just Want to Make Love to You” and “I want to be Loved.”
More contemporary blues players like Robben Ford also took a lot of their inspiration from the scene that was happening in Chicago. For example, in this youtube video, Robben Ford talks about the huge impact the Chicago sound had on his playing in the 1960s, especially The Butterfield Blues Band.
Blues Guitar by Yourself: Electric & Acoustic Guitar Course w/Corey Congelio
Who this is for:
- Guitar players interested in playing blues guitar.
- Guitar players interested in self-accompaniment.
- Guitar players looking to sharpen their blues vocabulary in both rhythm and lead.
- Guitar players stuck in a rut.
Photos
- “Muddy Waters 1979” by Kevin Dooley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
- “1979 Willie Dixon-010” by Len Carlson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
- “Howlin’ Wolf – Howling in the Moonlight” by comunicon.es is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
- “Buddy Guy @ Beale Street Music Festival” by ConcertTour is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
- “elmore james” by third uncle is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
- “Luther Allison” by Christopher Losberger is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
- “Charlie Musselwhite” by Bill Gracey is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
