Styles: Bar Band Blues (aka Chicago/Electric Blues) 1

In this section bar band blues and Chicago/electric blues are used interchangeably. Also, while club blues is often associated with a more sophisticated venue with moderate to large bands, bar band blues occurred in smaller venues and had smaller bands. Bar band blues primarily centered in Chicago and had its roots in the pre-war acoustic Delta blues tradition. In the late 1930s, the earliest blues bands in Chicago were acoustic-based ensembles that played a style of blues that was much more urbane than that found in the South. That changed in the late 1940s when Chicago bar band musicians, many of whom were recent migrants from the South, plugged their guitars in, added drums and saxophones, and began to amplify via microphones the harmonica, piano, and upright bass. The result was a harsh, macho style of urban blues, rooted in the emotionally charged and instrumentally expressive approach pioneered by pre-war Delta bluesmen such as Tommy Johnson, Son House, and Robert Johnson.