Urban Blues
The development of Urban blues is associated with the movement of Black people escaping from the sharecropping South to the industrial cities of the North. Many found themselves in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and New York due to this large mass migration northbound. As the Black population moved North, so did musicians who found themselves playing for better pay in bars and other venues than they would be under the sharecropping system (Meyer D.C. 2003, 60). As Donald C. Meyer further points out:
Since the bars were larger and noisier in Chicago, most musicians found they had to be amplified in order to be heard. The electric guitar-invented in the mid-1930s-became the defining sound of this new breed of blues after World War II, later augmented by amplified blues harp, bass, and drums. Just as with classic blues, records soon spread this new music across the country."
Meyer D.C. 2003, 60-61
You can hear a classic example of this new sound in Muddy Waters's " Hoochie Coochie Man. After reading through the material, please answer two or three of the following questions in preparation for class discussion and further listening of blues composition:
Stylistic Qualities of the Urban blues:
- Saxophone and electric guitars
- Music notated
- Vocal line in shouting style</li
When Muddy Waters recorded this work in 1954, he was on the R&B national charts for several hits; however, he also pioneered a more upbeat lively blues style such as "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (written by Willie Dixon); this livelier style attracted a younger audience. More on Muddy Waters can be found in a later lesson along with performers such as Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walker, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, and others.
