Styles: Urban Blues

In Urban Blues (1966), Charles Keil has noted that several changes happened in music as blues culture moved from a rural to an urban context. These included a tendency to increase the number and type of instruments; their specialization in terms of function, volume, and density; increased use of electric amplification; clearer diction; and a wider range of tempos and experimentation with structure. Additionally, there was a broader range of styles, more overlap in call-and-response between voices and instruments, and lyrics tended to be more original and linearly cohesive. In addition, post-war urban rhythm and blues performers also tended to adopt more of the platform graces of professional musicians concerning dress and onstage deportment. Thus, as they met more sophisticated audiences, they projected the degree of sophistication necessary for a star with a greater sense of what it meant to market themselves as professional musicians attempting to build a long-term career.