Blues Music By Oluwasemilore Oni

1. Blues Music By Oluwasemilore Oni • There are two types of blues; • Country blues and • City blues

2. The Slaves Freedom When Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election on a ticket of no new slave states, the South finally broke away to form the Confederacy. This marked the start of the Civil War, which caused a huge disruption of Southern life, with many slaves either escaping or being liberated by the Union armies. The war effectively ended slavery, before the Thirteenth Amendment (December 1865) formally outlawed the institution throughout the United States. Freedom was the worst thing that happened to them. It was worse than slavery for many of the black Americans because they were held down by appalling poverty. They couldn’t get jobs because no one would hire them so therefore they didn’t have enough money to eat or rent an apartment or even drink anything. As the West opened up, the Southern states believed they needed to keep a balance between the numbers of slave and free states, in order to maintain a balance of power in Congress. They also called the people who were not slaves anymore free negro or free black. This term was used before the independence of the thirteen colonies. Not all African Americans came to America as slaves. A few came even in the 17th century as free men, sailors working on ships. In the early years, some Africans came as servants, as did most of the immigrants from the British Isles. Such servants became free when they completed their legal agreement. they were also eligible for head rights for land in the new colony in the Chesapeake Bay region, where indentured servants were more common. As early as 1619, a class of free black people existed in North America.

3. The Blues Music Robert Johnson was a passionate singer and brilliant guitarist whose recording have inspired many blues guitarist ever since. Bessie Smith was one of the best singers. Her version of ‘St. Louis Blues’ was delivered in a powerful emotionally charged manner. Muddy Waters achieved early success with the hit ‘I Can’t Be Satisfied’. John Lee Hooker reached the charts in 1962 with his hollering sound ‘Boom Boom’. Eric Clapton mixed traditional songs and his own pounding numbers such as ‘Layla’.

4. What were the instruments they used? They used drums and other instruments that made a good sound. They also danced around the fire together. Subjects covered with blues singers. Some of the subjects covered by blues singers are love, sex and characters in trouble. Those were the only inspiration they could get.

5. The two types of blues. • Country blues: The country blues is distinguished by the use of acoustic guitar. It might be fingerpicked or played in a bottleneck or slide style. Country blues artists were usually men. The different record labels sent agents from the south to find country blues singers and then sent them north to the studios or to the larger southern cities where they had studios set up. The first county blues artist recorded was Ed Andrews and the first that achieved any type of commercial success was Papa Charlie Jackson. Blind Lemon Jefferson was discovered in Dallas and was well-known in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He reorded “Long Lonesome Blues.” It was the first of a series of hits. Blind Blake was a street musician from Florida living in Chicago. He recorded “West Coast Blues” and “Early Morning Blues.” This was the beginning of a prolific career.

6. City blues: • Kansas City did not enter into blues history until the 1940s. Kansas City blues artists Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner recorded a style of music called jump blues, which later provided the foundation for rhythm and blues, and later rock and roll. Charlie Parker dabbled in the blues in the late 1940s with his release of the hit "Now's the Time", a be-bop jazz number that gave a nod to the popularity of the blues in Kansas City, by using the familiar blues pentatonic scale and blue notes. • The blues scene in Kansas City produced Jay McShann, Sonny Kenner, Little Hatch and Cotton Candy and the blues was popular in small nightclubs and after-hours jam sessions. Many Kansas City musicians would finish their "paying" gigs at weddings, jazz clubs etc. and then pack up and head to the 18th and Vine-Downtown East, Kansas City district to participate in all-night parties that would sometimes continue well into daylight. The 18th & Vine jam sessions continue today at Kansas City's Musician's Foundation. The Musician's Foundation has immunity from liquor laws, and has not changed its outlook since the 1940s.