A Guide to the Chicago Blues in America

As more and more blacks grew tired of the segregation and oppression of the South and migrated north, so too the music changed. The sounds of the country were traded for the rush and upbeat tempo of the cities. After World War Two Chicago became an important setting for the evolution of the blues in electric sound. John Lee Hooker bean to make a name for himself around this time and no one had heard a guitar do that before.

Muddy Waters was much influenced by Hooker and he became one of the first to make the blues into a big band affair. With electric guitars and amplified harmonicas the blues stepped up a gear and began to reach a wider audience. Muddy Waters allowed many up and coming musicians to front his band and rise to prominence. Instances include the devastating harmonica player, Little Walter, perhaps the first to really explore amplified harp; Otis Spann, a classic Chicago piano player; Jimmy Rogers, an almost telepathic guitarist; and, of course, Willie Dixon, a bass player and song writer who underpinned much of the Chicago blues boom.

“_Gypsy woman told my mother_
before I was born,
You got a boy child coming,
Gonna be a rolling stone.”

Chess Records were responsible for recording much of the blues artists at this time and the white owners had no prejudice in making a buck off the back of black artists. Yet however many musicians were ripped off during this period by white promoters, it cannot be denied that Chess in particular brought the blues to the world.

At the same time down south artists like Elmore James and in particular, B.B King were exploring smoother styles of electric blues guitar that would also earn them their place in blues history.

“_The thrill is gone, thrill is gone away_,
You done me wrong and you gonna be sorry some day.”

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