The Chicago blues is a form of blues music indigenous to Chicago, Illinois. Chicago blues is a type of urban blues. Urban blues evolved from classic blues following the Great Migration of black people from the southern United States to the industrial cities of the north, such as Chicago.[1] Chicago blues is based around the sound of the electric guitar and the harmonica, with the harmonica played through a PA system or guitar amplifier.
Urban blues started in Chicago and St. Louis, as music created by part-time musicians playing as street musicians, at rent parties, and other events in the black community. For example, bottleneck guitarist Kokomo Arnold was a steelworker and had a moonshine business that was far more profitable than his music.[2]
One of the most important early incubators for Chicago blues was the open air-market on Maxwell Street, one of the largest open-air markets in the nation. Residents of the black community would frequent it to buy and sell just about anything. It was a natural location for blues musicians to perform. The standard path for blues musicians was to start out as street musicians and at house parties and eventually make their way to blues clubs. The first blues clubs in Chicago were mostly in predominantly black neighborhoods on the South Side, with a few in the smaller black neighborhoods on the West Side. One of the most famous was Ruby Lee Gatewood’s Tavern, known by patrons as “The Gates”. During the 1930s virtually every big-name artist played there.[3]
What drove the blues to international influence was the promotion of record companies such as Paramount Records, RCA Victor, and Columbia Records.[4] Through such record companies Chicago blues became a commercial enterprise. The new style of music eventually reached Europe and the United Kingdom. In the 1960s, young British musicians were highly influenced by Chicago blues resulting in the British blues movement. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Here are some of my favorites!
- Billy Flynn – Blues Crawled in My Bed
- James Cotton – Dealing With The Devil
- Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Billie Stepney – Five Long Years
- Jimmy Dawkins – Back Street Blues
- Alberta Adams and RJ’s Blues – Remember Me
- Alberta Adams and RJ’s Blues – He May Be Your Man
- Linsey Alexander – Bad Man
- Linsey Alexander – Booze and Blues
- Linsey Alexander – Going Up On The Roof
- Luther Allison – Blues With A Feeling
- BarrelHouse Chuck – Blues For Pinetop Perkins
- BarrelHouse Chuck and Kim Wilson’s Blues Allstairs – SHe’s Got A Thing Going On
- Carey Bell – Carey Bell’s Blues Harp
- Carey Bell – I’m Ready
- Big Mama Thornton, Eddie Boyd, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Lee Robinson & Fred Below – Hound Dog
- Buddy Guy, Jimmie Lee Robinson & Fred Below – First Time I Met The Blues
- Mike Bloomfield – I’ve Got My Mojo Working
- Mike BloomField & Paul Butterfield – Born in Chicago
- Eddie Boyd – Blues For My Baby
- Billy Branch & Sons Of The Blues – As The Years go Passing By
- Billy Branch Feat Lurrie Bell & The Sons of The Blues – Help Me
- John Brim – Can’t Hold Out Much Longer
- John Brim – Lonesome Man Blues
- Lonnie Brooks – Voodoo Daddy
- Lonnie Brooks – Sweet Home Chicago
- Big Bill Broonzy – I Know She Will
- Big Bill Broonzy – Willie Mae Blues
- Wild Child Butler & Howlin’ Wolf Band – Spoonful George
- Muddy Waters – Hoochie Coochie Man
- Eddie C. Campbell – Still A Fool
- Eddie C. Campbell & Lurrie Bell – All My Life