Blues-rock

The Blues and the British Boom Many of the most popular and best-selling musicians of the twentieth century were part of a movement called the British Invasion. The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones, most notably, are all household names to those with any interest in popular music since the 1960s. Past the initial Invasion, artists such as Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd also had immense success after traveling across the pond to perform in the United States. Even with the…

These songs are not about the same old things that most rock ‘n’ roll songs are about, such as love and sex. Dylan instead focuses on make political statements about the society of the time. These political statements are sometimes veiled in almost surrealistic statements, which seem to come out of left field at first listen. One such example is the line “The sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken” from the song “Tombstone Blues”. At first this seems like a completely nonsensical line, but when…

Empress of The Blues The 1920s were an exciting time to be alive, the economy was flourishing, everyone was throwing extravagant parties and the music industry was booming. There weren't many black singers of the time period but those who were, made their presence known. One of the best blues singers of the 1920s or maybe even of all time, Bessie Smith. She has set the stage for not only African-American singers but female black singers who came after her. Although Bessie Smith may have…

Eric Clapton: The Blues Legend. Eric Clapton’s music and his musical style have had a great impact on our world today. He was a small village boy who transformed into the blues and rock giant that we know him as today. This transformation was not easy, and it was not quick either. It involved many bad decisions, many good decisions, and lots of hard work. Many of these consequences had a great impact on his life today. He got through this with the support of family and friends. All of these had…

music industry. The blues that we know now used to be known as “race music.” (Rockin’ out textbook – page 30) This type of music was sung by mostly whites but in 1920, African American singers were introduced into the blues music. (Rockin’ out textbook – page 30) A lady named Mamie Smith was a woman that was well known for her singing during the blues music era. “Crazy Blues” sold 8,000 copies a week! (Rockin’ out textbook…

The colors present on the album are very dull and quite sobering. These colors were intended to represent the emotions of Szymon himself. On the cover he is depicted atop a grey rocky surface, surrounded by a beige border, in front of a robin’s egg blue square. All of these colors fail to catch the eye and do not garner our attention whatsoever due to their general lifelessness. This lack of vibrance of the album artwork shows Szymon’s view of the world during the time he created this album. He…

culture in of itself. Blues and Jazz roots run deep into American History, clear back in 1600-1800’s; when slavery was a customary thing. African Americans working all day in the fields singing spiritual hymns with heavily syncopated rhythms, creating a style of music that was initially disliked called Ragtime. There laid the foundations for Blues and Jazz.…

Blues is a simple and timeless American music. It is a folk music that collided with new media and commercialization. Blues influenced the development of many other styles of music, such as jazz, rock and roll, and soul. The roots of blues stem from Africa but this music was born in the United States. In 1865, the American Civil War freed American slaves and by 1900 the blues appeared in the south. Many of the newly freed slaves came from different tribes, but the blues gave them a new language…

The blues, like any music genre, is a representation of emotion. Most of the time the emotion that is associated with the blues is well feeling blue. When a person gets laid off or someone close dies, they feel blue. If one starts to listen to some of the artist of the blues genre; however, one can see quickly that there are other emotions that can be associated with the blues. One can view that the blues is also about overcoming those hard times or letting go of those emotions that are making…

Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” is written in 4/4 time with 60 beats per minute and the key signature is F Major (Styles et al. 2017). Sign of the Times follows a verse-chorus format. What is unique about this song, is the near minute long outro including dynamic instrumentals and vocals. Monophony is tied in at the beginning and end of the song through the use of the piano. The beginning of the song’s monophony sets the tone for the chord progression the listener will hear throughout the rest…