Talk:List of blues genres

Untitled

Rhythm and Blues and Contemporary R n' b ? =

I don't know what these two styles are doing here. That's simple: they're not Blues. I know that Rythm and Blues has been influenced by Blues but it doesn't mean that it's a Blues style. Contemporary R n'b is also a style of Rhythm and Blues. It's like saying Rock and Heavy Metal are Country styles. All the other styles are Blues except these two strangers.

I've been trying to find a complete list of music styles that fall under the umbrella of the blues. Considering your comment; the search for a complete list is difficult to find as everyone seems to have their own interpretation of what the music is about.

Having said that, I saw a poster some time ago about the evolution of music with blues at its roots. From there all kinds of music styles have evolved which naturally, to me, include Rhythm and Blues. I found a similar poster online "The History Of Rhythm & Blues 1900-1964" which claims "For a comprehensive pictorial account of the history of blues in all its glory, there's nothing better than the history of rhythm and blues wall poster".

Louis Jordan has been credited for having pioneered this style in the 40s and many of the songs he played are still being played today by artist calling themselves blues musicians.

If R&B can't be in this list, then I don't see how Acid Blues fits. I had never heard this term before and by its description; I considered this, up until now, to be plain old folk music from the 60's. Even this music is being reinterpreted by present day blues artists.

If this list is to include music styles that evolved from the blues like Acid Blues, then Zydeco should be up there as well as Rockabilly, which was influenced by all those that stemmed from blues.

What is the blues? A contentious question at best.

Having once asked this question to an Indiana blues artist, Southside Denny (Snyder), his reply was;

"Where I come from has one of the richest blues heritages on the planet. Not wanting to sound like a know-it-all, I can only say I grew up in it and with it and here's what I think it is: The blues is about being yourself and expressing that into music and lyrics. It's not about how you dress or look, or who you sound like. It's honest and straight up, comes from the gut. It's you, you are your blues. If it ain't real, there ain't no blues in there! The blues has always existed because it has always grown and changed, and always influences modern culture and pop music, and shouldn't be held back. It's the essence of musical expression, not repression. Musically there are the nuances, scales, chord forms and progressions, or in other words the language that keep it the same. Buddy Guy is still using the same language that Charlie Patton did (albeit a hell of a lot louder!).

From what we know as the beginning of blues, it has been nothing other than constant change, a living tradition. Son House was different than Charlie Patton. Muddy Waters was different than Big Joe Williams, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Skip James, Reverend Gary Davis, they were all different and all set new standards. I'm sure when Muddy invented electricity and set the standard for the modern electric blues band (with Otis Spann, Little Walter, Willie Dixon Jimmie Rogers and Fred Below) there were lots of people that complained that it wasn't blues.

After that generation there were big changes in blues with Jimmy Hendrix, Buddy Guy and Luther Allison, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Otis Rush, Magic Sam and a ton of others. Sugar Blue is a lot different from Little Walter, Keb Mo has also added another dimension to blues. And how about all the Brits in the 60's? Another different thing, but it's still blues because it all came from the soul, not because they wore a certain kind of hat, suit or hairdo or replicated the sounds of their elders. They were and are all themselves."

With blues music so well rooted in history, going through so much evolution; it makes it quite difficult to define as there are too many or no people to credit it to really...

Personally, I'd like to see the blues defined as an umbrella sheltering styles from Acid Blues to Zydeco!

Irene007Irene007 (talk) 01:15, 21 September 2010 (UTC)