Country Blues And Spiritual Music Analysis

During the 1900’s there were many slaveholding plantations and camps in the American South. Within these slaveholding nations there was an emergence of African American music that helped pave and shape the musical style of early blues and spirituals. When listening to early slave era music you can hear certain elements or Africanisms that make connections to early blues and spiritual music such as the call-and-response style. Songs like “Daniel,” performed by Georgia Sea Island Singers (Week 1 Lecture pg. 17) depict the call-and-response and polyrhythmic pattern of hand clapping that is very common in ring shouts and slave songs. Another key element that shares this connection is the use of “blue notes” in combination with the adaptation of the vocal timbre. These two elements together really paint out the emotion of the vocal storyteller allowing you to feel what …show more content…
Both share common traits but at the same time have their dissimilarities. Some of the contrasting elements that are apparent between the two are the origin in which each genre was brought up. The genre of country blues was developed amongst the rural areas of the deep south. There were many individual artists that had spanned over the Mississippi delta of New Orleans creating a style of country blues called delta blues. Some of the more well-known artists include Robert Johnson who recorded “Cross Road Blues” in 1936 (Week 1 Lecture pg. 22), and Son House who was known for his slide guitar playing and the stirring emotions he poured out when playing a song. In terms of commercial success of country blues, it’s important to realize that majority of the artists were either singing for themselves to remedy the blues or singing in front of a small crowd or group of friends. Even so it’s hard to argue the influence country blues has had on later styles of the blues and