MUSC 200 Lecture 8 Outline of Current Lecture I Chicago Blues a Timbre b Muddy Waters c Howlin Wolf II Rhythm Blues with a Gospel Influence a Gospel Proper b Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet Current Lecture Chicago Blues Used electric guitar huge part of Chicago Blues sound o Not to be confused w Guitar Oriented Electric Blues Band o Electric guitar only plays 1 piece Chicago Blues o No brass or reed section No substitute for these sections either Guitar harmonica slide guitar guitar player takes a cylindrical hard nonporous material i e glass use that material to strum On a slide guitar ANY PLACE you touch it on the neck stops the string you can get all the notes tone tambour of the guitar changes sounding brighter glassier very distinctive sound Not about virtuoso on guitar about a certain expressive sound Did NOT have a big impact on Rock Rollers of the 1950 s but it DID have an influence on BRITISH Rock in the 1960 s 1970 s Each feature of the Chicago Blues is grounded in other blues forms esp Mississippi Delta Some 12 Bar Blues but mostly built on riffs 1 2 chord changes were common o You could have an entire song w a single chord Often emphasized extremely rough vocal timbres o Timbre those elements of sound that are NOT pitch NOT dynamics NOT rhythm tone color or tone quality in simple terms there are many fine grain details of timbre Clear difference in the quality of sound smooth rough strident dark light Timbre is a fundamental feature of music different emphasis on timbre in different cultures Chicago Blues focused on a RASPY TIMBRE o Departure from the smoothness of Jazz o Took the Rural Blues ensemble slightly updated it Male singer guitar usually electric Bass drums piano harmonica Goodbye brass reed section o Used heterophonic polyphonic ensemble textures Presence of 2 or more independent melodies at the same time 1 melody becomes fractured polyphonic Several different instruments play a different variation of the same melody at the same time heterophonic The line between these 2 is blurred A heavy rhythmic feel is important in Chicago Blues Chess Records movement toward independent records o Muddy Waters was recorded on Chess Muddy Waters helped to define this sound o Started by 2 Polish men fresh eyes in the music industry saw an untapped market with an established audience I Just Wanna Make Love to You by Muddy Waters 2 chord changes o 1 chord riff Complicated rhythmic texture produces the main riff in this song Texture refers to the relationship between different parts of an ensemble how parts are organized relative to each other in a piece Little bit of call response between the instruments the riff everybody playing together for the heavy plodding part of the song Static harmonic context Lots of empty space in the song Rhythmic HEAVINESS is a new feature greatly emphasized in the Chicago Blues Raspy vocals Very blunt lyrics he JUST wants to have sex with this woman Long Distance Haul by Muddy Waters Slide guitar glassy smooth timbre o Harmonica vocal little drum kit Small ensemble o Despite this the track sounds very busy Rich texture Hoochie Coochie Man by Muddy Waters Spare busy texture Rich complicated texture o The bass adds a LOT to the feel of this song heavy intense rhythm Lyrics focus on an African American supernatural belief Smokestack Lightning by Howlin Wolf part of Chess Records SUPER raspy timbre o Wolf s vocal style emphasizes many different timbre colors uses falsetto full voice influence of Jimmie Rodgers at work here Rhythm of the vocal part has declamatory speech like phrasing o Sounds like someone is giving an impassioned speech instead of singing a song o Music directly corresponds to individual pulses Spoonful by Howlin Wolf Raspy rough timbre Song built on a single riff Spoonful is likely a drug reference subtle but direct o Certainly about some form of people s attachment o A meditation on addiction not necessarily about drugs more of a metaphor for the bigger message This style was seen as exactly what TPA was NOT it was about the ugly parts of life not a watered down chirpy tune Rhythm Blues with a Gospel Influence More like a strain within the Blues not so much an actual genre Precursors Ink Spots Mills Brothers 4 Vagabonds o Experimented with in the 1930 s style REALLY emerges in the 1950 s This style was viewed as a transgression religion Blues were kept separate in the African American community at the time Gospel music was developed richly across the span of the 20th Century Gospel Proper had 2 branches o 4 acapella male singers o Female singers backed by choirs bands Golden Gate Gospel Train by Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet 4 male vocalists no instruments Wide range of timbres other musical devices Railroad image carried forward in the music driving rhythm moving forward faster faster like a train Whistle like arrangement Texture changes