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Today, usual music has become huge business. More than ever, fear of financial failure, compels musicians to follow current trends, rather than set them.
As there is little room for expressive niche music styles, it would seem that Blues music “had it is day” and is “dying out”.
The truth is that Blues music has always was struggling to survive while it’s fledgling Rock has gone from strength to strength. From the very beginning it has taken the dedication and venture of a few; Keeping the Blues alive.
During the early 1930′s “field” recordings were made in an try to preserve Blues from extinction.
John Lomax’s recordings made for the Archive of American Folk Song, “discovered” Lead Belly who in the long run would record with ARC records. His songs would later be “covered” by the English “skiffle” artisan “Lonnie Donegan” and support transform music and pave the way for the genre saving British Blues phenomenon. Another song recorded by Lomax was “The House of The Rising Son” later exported to The UK thru a version by Josh White and made famous by “The Animals”.
The migration of black humans to Chicago saw blues music manufacture as a means to earn some kind of a living. With little chance of finding work, they would play on street corners for a few coins. This then tardily disseminate into the now illfamed juke Joints of the period.
As the black community started out to establish itself a few Blues musicians started out recording altogether for the African American market. The music was shunned by the white community. When artists like Presley diluted it to a rockabillie style in 1954 with “That’s All Right, Mama” and “My Baby left me” blues songs by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup the originators were not afforded any recognition.
Along with Presley, early Blues recordings by artists like Muddy Waters; Guitar Slim; Josh White made it all over the water to the more accepting British society.
Successful huge band (Jazz) musicians begun sponsoring black Blues artists like Big Bill Broonzy; Otis Span and John Lee Hooker to tour the UK.
Their influence was profound. Former jazz band musician, Alexis Korner got together with harmonica player Cyril Davies and started playing for the duration of the jazz shows intervals. Their jams included some musicians who would become founders of the coming R&B movement.
The effect that all of this had on UK musicians was huge, and lit the fuse that exploded into the British R&B scene.
Bands like the Rolling Stones; The Yardbirds; The Animals and Them, all adopted the format of the blues and gave it the harder edge that found instant appeal with British youth. The UK music industry “boomed” and hundreds of new bands were formed most following the new found “British Blues” style.
In 1963, largely through the encouragement of Korner budding Blues musician John Mayall formed his band “John Mayals’s Bluesbreakers”
From the beginning John adopted a far more traditionalisti approach than his more commercially successful contemporaries, an approach that he has maintained all around his 45 year career. However it was the success of the more mercantile R&B artists that formed the “British Invasion” Taking vantage of the opening invented by the Beatles, firstborn the Rolling Stones and then Cream in particular, were capable to “take the Blues” back to it is birthplace and arouse the white US market to the music that it had forsaken.
The US musicians were quick to be grateful for the music and a whole generation of stylized American blues inspired bands evolved.
Unfortunately big usual success is dependant on being “current” and “trendy” and as with all stylized products, the new music became dated and tardily the blues influence started out to wane.
Of the basi Chicago Blues artists few remain, and with galore trepidation blues fans look to a not too distant future when that founding link is gone.
As the music industry goes into deep decline, it seems likely that the Blues will be forced “underground” and return to it is primary starting point, providing amusement to niche audiences in the innovative equivalent of the “Juke Joint”
However, there is a strong if somewhat neglected body of committed musicians performing blues in it is numerous manifestations, all around the world. And an active society of blues lovers that arrange events and festivals to keep the music alive.
Musicians like Keb Mo; Matt Schofield and Kenny Wayne Shepherd are todays torch bearers of a outstanding music tradition.
American Folk Blues Festival British 1963 1966
AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL:BRITISH – DVD Movie
American Folk Blues Festival British 1963 1966 Photo
American Folk Blues Festival British 1963 1966 Image
American Folk Blues Festival British 1963 1966 Image
American Folk Blues Festival British 1963 1966 Picture
Most helpful client reviews
82 of 83 people found the following review helpful.
 This IS the Real Blues!
By Perry Celestino
This series in the first place came out for the duration of the Year Of The Blues (2003) and provided us with glances of the real originals in this genre. The primary three volumes gave us a lot of fantasti clips of Wolf, Sonny Boy, Memphis Slim, Otis Rush, Muddy, T-Bone, Big Mamma, Lonnie Johnson and so on. The German settings were a bit sterile and ofttimes staged to look like a Juke or with strange back drops of urban America. This set, from 1963-1966, is more like a concert. And it’s great!
The concert format with an appreciative audience is genuinely fantastic and well done for the time. We see Sonny Boy Williamson in three performances with the harp in his mouth sideways and playing with his NOSE! He is cool, no wonder he taught Little Walter (whose only recorded performance is in Vol. 3 of this series!).We likewise see Hubert Sumlin play with Sonny Boy on his second supplying in this show. He turns in one of his most strange solos in “Getting Out Of Town”- very chromatic and almost jazzy! We see Muddy as a stand up singer (no guitar), on “Mojo” and in two bonus performances. He has Matt “Guitar” Murphy playing behind him on this one (who was playing with Memphis Slim at the time). There is a rare look at the outstanding Lonnie Johnson, who plays by himself and shows us why he is one of the introductory inventors of the Urban Blues guitar style. Big Joe Williams gives us a close up view of his widely known and esteemed nine string guitar.
Lightnin’ Hopkins plays his distinguishable Texas-style acoustic blues, with a few tricks on the fretboard as well. Howlin’ Wolf puts in, to me, his best ever filmed performance-it’s worth the price of the whole thing!!! He does an update of “Smokestack Lightning” (without it is famous riff) and “Don’t Laugh At Me” in a “Killing Floor” groove, a song which had just been recorded. And we likewise see a young Hubert Sumlin playing with Wolf and likewise with Sugar Pie Desanto’s female input (these shows always had at least one female performer).
Big Joe Turner does his ordinary big voiced thing and he has Otis Rush on lead guitar, it’s a fantastic performance, one of the best insight’s into Otis’s guitar style we’ve seen. A bonus in this tune is that we see perchance the only existent footage of pianist Little Brother Montgomery who wrote “The First Time I met the Blues” and “I Can’t Keep From Crying”-this is a rarity. Also scarce is film of drummer Fred Below, who gave the beat to Chess Records. Fred plays on this tune and in Junior Well’s section.
Junior Wells is in his James Brown groove (he always did this! In Australia in 1991 when I saw him he led off with “I Feel Good”). He does Ray Charles’”What’D I Say” in a JB style, but we listen no harp! Sister Rosetta Tharpe, one of the original US Blues/Gospel acts to crack the UK, finishes the set with two of the bonus tracks. They are superb as is Muddy Waters’ two bonus tracks staged and filmed at a railway station-very effective. His slide playing (standing up) is another exceedingly rare view of Muddy.
This is one of the most historic releases for urban blues yet available. The sound has been remixed by Eddie Kramer (of Jimi Hendrix fame) and Reelin’ In The Years Productions have done it again! I hope they may find more of these rarities soon. We need the Fillmore Concerts that were on PBS in the late sixities. Get this for your Blues collection and check the price, what a bargain!
22 of 23 persons found the following review helpful.
ENGLAND LOVES THE BLUES
By BILLYBOBUK
Not much to add to Perrys outstanding review,but mention ought to be made of the accompanying 2opage booklet,includes photos of the artists and great memories and facts by the outstanding English blues researcher Mike Rowe.
Sound and imaginativeness on these wondrous performances are as good as you may suppose numerous 40yrs after the events—back in the days when us English boys employed to put on shirt and tie,nice suit and go to the concert.
If you have the former 3 releases in this series,this is a great addition,if you have any interest in blues history, essential.Thank you to every one who put this release together–wonderful!!
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
great outstanding great
By daddyrob999
this whole thing is fantastic. sonny boy, lonnie johnson, muddy…the wolf is unbelievable. the unknown drummer that the package mentions is in fact willie huge eyes smith. It is easy to tell that it is him because of his playing style and he is still around playing great!
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