Blues artists almost never enjoyed the same popularity as the kings of pop music, and not only in our country, but also in the USA, the homeland of this style. The complicated sound, minor melody and peculiar vocals often repel the mass listener, accustomed to simpler rhythms.
The musicians who adapted this music of the black South and created its more accessible derivatives (rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie and rock and roll) became very famous. Many superstars (Little Richard, Chuck Bury, Ray Charles and others) began their career as blues performers and repeatedly returned to the roots.
Blues is not just music, it is a style and lifestyle. Any narcissism and thoughtless optimism are alien to him - features inherent in pop music. The name of the style is formed from the phrase blue devils, meaning literally "blue devils." It is these bad inhabitants of the underworld that torment the soul of a person who has everything wrong in this life. But the energy of music demonstrates a reluctance to obey difficult circumstances and expresses full determination to deal with them.
Folk music, stylistically formed throughout the 19th century, became known to the mass listener in the twenties of the next century. Huddy Ledbetter and Lemon Jefferson, the first popular blues performers, in a sense broke the monolithic cultural picture of the “age of jazz” and diluted the dominance of big bands with a new sound. Mamie Smith recorded the album Crazy Blues, which suddenly became very popular among the white and color populations.
The thirties and forties of the 20th century became the era of boogie-woogie. This new direction was characterized by an increase in the role of percussion instruments, the use of electric guitars and organs, a faster pace and increased vocal expressiveness. The overall harmony remained the same, but the sound came as close as possible to the tastes and preferences of the mass listener. The famous blues performers of the mid and late forties - Joe Turner, Jimmy Rushing, Robert Johnson - created the basis for what will be called rock and roll in a few years, with all the characteristic features of this style (a powerful rich sound, created, as a rule, by four musicians , dance rhythm and extremely exalted stage manner).
The blues artists of the early forties and sixties, such as BBC, Sonya Boy Williamson, Ruth Brown, Muddy Waters, Besie Smith and many others, created masterpieces that enriched the treasury of world music, as well as works almost unknown to the modern listener. Only a few lovers who know, value and collect records of their favorite artists enjoy this music.
The genre is popularized by many modern blues artists. Foreign musicians, such as Eric Clapton and Chris Rea, perform compositions and sometimes record joint albums with older classics, who have made a huge contribution to the formation of style.
Russian blues players (Chizh & Co, Road to the Mississippi, Blues League, etc.) went their own way. They create their own compositions, in which, in addition to the characteristic minor melody, ironic texts play an important role, expressing the same disobedience and dignity of a good person who is bad ...