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Blues influence on rock and roll? |
What are some aspectas of early frock and roll that came from the blues, and what are some rock groups and specific pieces of music that were influenced greatly by the blues? Mainly focusing on the aspects of the blues that influenced rock and roll. What characteristics of rock and roll came directly from the blues? The AABA example was a good one! Thanks for that.....any others? Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. What do they have in common? They both took their style of playing from listening to the old blues greats. Like I have always said, in order to keep things from going the way of disco you have to go back to the well of roots music and bring some of that old but sweet water back to what you are playing now. Listening to the early days of rock you can hear exactly what I am talking about. Cream, Zeppelin, Sabbath, even the Stones took their early music seriously enough to call it blues. Some of the most influential blues guitarists of all time are still influencing people's playing today. Freddie King, Albert King, BB King, even Robert Johnson are listed among many bands' influences. Freddie King inspired Eric Clapton who later inspired Eddie Van Halen who has been immitated and emulated for years. This is one example of an indirect influence. The use of electric guitars through tube amps is a signature sound of many blues and rock musicians alike. Of course blues guitarists got them first. The main thing I see a difference in blues and rock is the use of tone in blues. Rock musicians seem to want the loudest noise they can get and play as fast as they possibly can, no matter what it sounds like whereas a true blues musician will get the best sound out of an amp and pour his or her heart into the music. As for other influences on rock, blues drummers brought a different and distinct sound to the stage. Drummers like John Bonnam and Ginger Baker have influenced literally thousands if not millions of drummers around the world. The bass guitar also found a new sound. No longer used in the acoustic form the electric bass guitar is another signature sound of the blues/rock days. One of the most notable bass players of this day was Jack Bruce. If you want to understand the simple yet profound influence of the blues on early rock and roll simply look at Cream. With Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and Eric Clapton's screaming guitar it is no wonder the blues made such an impact on not only early rock, but today's music as well. Rock and roll evolved directly from the blues. A lot of the early rock has the same pattern - AABA: a phrase is played, repeated, changed, and then repeted again. It's really interesting that the bands that come to miond when I think about a blues influence are mostly British, and the blues is an American art form. Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, and John Mayall all started their careers as blues musicians. You can hear a lot of blues influence in The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, LYnyrd Skynyrd, and many many others. elvis presley and jerry lee lewis were greatly influenced by blues. many early rock n roll artists such as little richard and bo diddley started out as blues acts. Chuck Berry definately was influenced. Every early rock n'roll icon I can think of was. The name change was the big thing. Some early rock bands were blues but added some jazz and folk to their music. Billy Haley and the Comets started to use the word rock and also there is much debate on if certain songs reallly were rock n roll or not. Many artists were playing rock before the term was even used. Some of the best rock ever is the blues. Early Led Zeppelin,the Yardbirds,Jeff Beck,Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix were like pumped up tribute bands who played the blues like it was before but just harder. The thing is you have bands influenced by blues and rock bands who are the blues. It is funny how much Led Zeppelin and many other 60s bands stayed true to the blues. If you listen to the covers they did they are not much different other than a few distorted guitar noises and psychedelic sounds in between. Artists of the blues now borrow from both. Blues is still the greatest music around. Rock is horrible today is is all punk garbage with no talent. No blues influence on todays rock that I can think of. Robert Johnson. It is very interesting when I listen to him because you can hear elements of the White Stripes. The music seems totally different but it is exactly the same, just with an electric guitar and amp crackling at the mercy of a Big Muff stomp box and a Digitech Octave pedal. Heres some rock bands that were influenced by the blues: The use of pentatonic scales, especially the minor, blues and rock share that in leads, the heart of both styles of music. early elvis, and I mean early, before colonel Parker and all that fancy studio commercial stuff, get the Sun records collection of not only Elvis, but all the artist of that little record company in Memphis tennesee. there is Carl Perkins, roy Orbison, and Johniie Cash, as well as many very good excellent examples of blues influence on rock and roll, it developed into what was to be known as the bad boy of rock and roll, called rock a billy, wit hlegends of blues and rock and roll, like jerry lee lewis and Carl Perkins and yes early elvis beore the Army days and those dull beach songs in those cheap movies. to learn of the blues on rock and roll you have to go back to memphis, which is home of the blues, and see what was going on at sun records, that was the seeds of all blues influenced rock and roll in the US, and it was those little yellow records from mephis that made there way to England, and british future rock legends, such as george harrison, Eric clapton, Eric Burden, Jimmie Page, Jeff Beck, etc etc, learn to play as they listen to them rockabilly tunes. muddy waters had a song called the blues had a baby and they named it rock n roll dont get no simpler than that they say led zeplin was one of the greatest groups ever but a big part of there playing came from blues song writer willie dixon and blues star muddy waters you can hear it in the lyrics also little richard once said the rock n roll is nothing but the blues pumping through those loud amps with the volume up eric clapton owes his whole career to robert johnson and he will admit that listen to the 1st zepplin album that is the blues rock style Eric Burden and the Animals and The Rolling Stones Most of the early rock and roll used the 12 bar blues stanza and the same chord structure that the blues use. The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin used many blues songs in their repertoire. So did Cream (and Eric Clapton in his solo career), the Allman Brothers and the Yardbirds.. This subject could fill a book. Use of the electric guitar, use of an overdriven tube amp, stage antics, pouring your heart out, a rock solid beat, faster tempos, the use of distortion (overdriven tube amps), the use of special effects (Hendrix!)... and on and on. If you take what is called the classic rock format on FM and satelite radio more than 90 percent of those acts have blues |
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