Electrified Blues and the Rise of Chicago Rhythm and Blues

The Great Migration and the Origins of Urban Blues

Contextual Driving Forces: Starting around $1930$ (though the date is flexible), a significant number of African Americans migrated from the Southern United States to Northern cities, such as Chicago.
Primary Motivations for Migration: - Escaping the systemic racism of the South. - Escaping extreme poverty. - Evading the ball weevil parasite (a worm that infested cotton crops in Mississippi during the first two decades of the $20^{th}$ century).
Great Migration Documentation: Sociologists and historians refer to this movement as the Great Migration. Key literature includes Isabel Wilkerson’s book, The Warmth of Other Suns.
Cultural Impact of the Ball Weevil: The parasite is referenced in hundreds of blues song versions, commonly titled the “ball weevil blues.”
Demographic Statistics regarding Chicago: - In $1910$ , the African American population of Chicago was approximately $40,000$ . - By $1930$ , the population increased to $234,000$ , representing a significant differential in only $20$ years.

The Transition to Electrified Rhythm and Blues

The Birth of Electric Blues: When country blues singers moved to large cities, they played in much larger clubs. To compete with the ambient noise and crowd volume, they utilized new technology to amplify guitars and speakers.
Historical Significance: Many scholars consider the electrification of Delta blues as the true birth of rock and roll.
Early Practitioners: - Muddy Waters: One of the first to define this new electrified style. - Howlin' Wolf: A Chicago-based contemporary of Muddy Waters. - John Lee Booker: A major rhythm and blues practitioner based in Detroit. - Mead Lux Lewis: A famous boogie woogie piano player.
Boogie Woogie Piano Style: - Characterized as a fast, virtuosic style rooted in the blues. - Built upon a $12$ -bar blues form. - Described as a vestige of ragtime or stride piano. - Influenced early rock and roll artists like Jerry Lee Lewis and Lil Richard.

Terminology and the Music Industry

Evolution of Terms: Around $1949$ , the music industry began using the term ’Rhythm and Blues’ (R&B).
Replacement of ‘Race Music’: ‘Race music’ was a label invented in the mid- $1920s$ to market music made by Black artists to a predominantly white audience. By $1949$ , cultural sensitivity led to the adoption of ‘rhythm and blues’ to avoid ‘othering’ Black creators.
Jerry Wexler: A producer of soul music in the $1960s$ who is credited with coining the phrase ‘rhythm and blues’ while working at Billboard Magazine.
Musical Form: Approximately $95\%$ of this music consists of the $12$ -bar blues form, offering limited harmonic variety.
Notable Stars of the Era: - Memphis Mini - Blind Boy Fuller - Sunny Boy Williamson - Lightning Hopkins - Babyface Legally (credited with the “ball weevil” reissue)

Differences Between Country Blues and Chicago Rhythm and Blues

Instrumentation: Performed by a full band instead of a solo acoustic artist.
Tempo and Purpose: Upscale and upbeat; specifically intended for dancers.
Electronic Elements: Electric guitars and amplifiers replaced acoustic instruments.
Musical Construction: Based on Riffs, which are repeated melodic phrases that allow other musicians to learn the tune quickly and play along.

Chess Records and the Chicago Sound

Founding: Established in $1950$ by Leonard and Phil Chess, who were sons of Polish immigrants.
The Chess Sound: Defined as powerful and raw; it became the definitive sound of Chicago R&B.
Standard Instrumentation: - Distorted electric guitar (a proto-rock and roll element). - Electric bass and acoustic bass. - Drums, piano, and harmonica. - Lead vocals delivered with a rough, scratchy tone (contrasting the ‘crooning’ style of artists like Frank Sinatra).
2120 South Michigan Avenue: The primary location of Chess Studios, described by Buddy Guy as a place of learning and pilgrimage. Barry Dolan, a festival producer, referred to it as a ‘Mecca’ for British musicians in the summer of $1964$ . The Rolling Stones recorded an instrumental titled “2120 South Michigan” there.
Studio Architecture and Alchemy: - Receptionist Minnie Ripertich was also a notable singer. - Designed by Jack Weiner at age $21$ , despite having no prior experience building studios. - Design features: No parallel walls; the ceiling was tented and walls were canted at different angles to prevent sound from bouncing off parallel surfaces. - Regarded by culture historian Tim Sammage as an ‘inadvertent Stradivarius’ of studios due to its remarkable sound.

Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield)

Background: Born in Mississippi; moved north to Chicago. His name ‘Muddy Waters’ was chosen as a professional blues pseudonym.
Cultural Resonance: His songs about the Mississippi Delta appealed to recent Southern immigrants experiencing nostalgia in Chicago clubs.
Relationship with Alan Lomax: In $1941$ , musicologist Alan Lomax searched the South for Robert Johnson (who had been dead since $1938$ ). Lomax eventually discovered Muddy Waters, who played in a similar style, and featured him in a Carnegie Hall concert in $1941$ .
Equipment: He received his first electric guitar in $1945$ , four years after his Carnegie Hall performance.
Vocal Style: Described as shouting or spitting rather than traditional singing.
Signature Hits: - ‘Got My Mojo Working’: ‘Mojo’ was slang for sexual potency. - ‘Rollin’ Stone’: The Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger and Keith Richards) allegedly named their band after this track after meeting in a London record shop looking for Chess records.

Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett)

Background: Born in Mississippi. Changed his name from Chester Burnett to Howlin' Wolf.
Nickname Origin: He admired white singer Jimmy Rogers (known for blue yodels). Howlin' Wolf stated, ‘I couldn’t do no yodeling, so I howled.’
Musical and Performance Style: - Thick, rich vibrato and raw, fuzzy guitar sound. - Intense showmanship: He would climb and slide down stage curtains, acting as a proto-rock and roll explorer of stage ecstasy.
Famous Tracks: - ‘Moaning at Midnight’ (utilized for years in Viagra advertisements). - ‘How Many More Years’ - ‘Smokestack Lightning’ - ‘Backdoor Man’

B.B. King (Riley b King)

Background: Born in Mississippi; worked as a disc jockey in Memphis where he earned the name ‘Blues Boy King’ (later B.B. King).
Style Differentiation: Unlike Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, King signed with Modern Records, a competitor of Chess.
Guitar Innovation: Combined Delta blues with effects like vibrato, note-bending, and jazzy single-note lines.
Influences: Charlie Christian (guitarist for Benny Goodman) and Django Reinhardt (French guitarist from the Hot Club quintet).
Notable Recording: ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ ( $1969$ ).

Bo Diddley (Elias McDaniel)

Background: Born in Mississippi. Referred to himself as the ‘Originator of Rock and Roll.’
Guitar Style: Driven, rhythmic, and percussive. He treated the guitar like a drum, utilizing thick, harsh, dissonant chords.
Technical Innovation: Used special effects like auto-tremolo (electronically manipulated sound), reverb, echo, distortion, and string scratching.
The Ed Sullivan Show Appearance: The first Black musician to appear on the show. He was instructed to sing the gospel tune ‘16 tons’ but played his own music instead, leading to a permanent ban from the program.
The Bo Diddley Beat (Hambone): - A rhythmic treatment of a riff. - Historically traced to the West African Juba dance, brought to America by enslaved people. - Involves stomping and slapping different parts of the body (arms, legs, chest, cheeks). - Used in many songs: ‘Bo Diddley’, ‘Who Do You Love’, ‘Willie and the Handjob’ (by John Notice), ‘Not Fade Away’ (Buddy Holly), ‘I Want Candy’, ‘Faith’ (George Michael), ‘Desire’ (U2), and ‘Love is a Battlefield’ (Pat Benatar).
Visual Style: Known for plaid suits with bow ties and a unique rectangular guitar.

Fats Domino and the Crossover Era

Background: From New Orleans. Likely the best-selling African American singer of the $1950s$ and early $1960s$ .
Success Statistics: Sold over $110,000,000$ records.
Musical Style: Combination of boogie woogie, blues, and pop on piano.
Crossover Appeal: Transitioned from the ‘race record’ market to the mainstream white market. His sunny, unthreatening personality made him appealing to middle-class white Americans.
Performance Techniques: - Used Stop time: A technique where the band drops out to emphasize a vocal line, originating in $1920s$ jazz. - Performed directly to the camera, a novel concept in the $1950s$ .
Legacy: Rescued in a shelter after Hurricane Katrina; passed away recently (approx. $3$ years prior to the lecture).

Industry Response and ‘Cleaned Up’ Covers

Monetization Attempts: The music industry tried to figure out how to sell R&B to white audiences by using white performers.
Pat Boone: A famous example of this trend. He was dressed similarly to Frank Sinatra and performed ‘cleaned up cover versions’ of Black R&B songs.
Modification of Content: Cover versions frequently stripped away sexual references and the raw energy of the original African American recordings to make them more ‘palatable’ and marketable to white consumers.