The Influence of Blues Singers on Modern Rock N' Roll

Ever since the rumors first spread of Robert Leroy Johnson's fabled Faust-like pact with the dark side, the blues seized the attention of society with personal lyrics, touching emotional intensity, and compelling pentatonic chord progressions. However, the howls, growls, and moans of blues singers have influenced vocalists from subsequent genres inside the tradition of rock music.

Blues Music Introduced the Scream to Rock N' Roll

Screaming vocals have become the newest cutting edge in rock music. Kids love the angry, anxious, or frustrated screams of new artists. Bands from genres as diverse as hardcore, punk, metal, and modern rock use varying degrees of harshness in their voice to display raw emotion.

What would Kurt Cobain's vocals have sounded like without the scratchy drawl of B.B. King? Would Marilyn Manson have emerged without the shock-rock antics of Screamin' Jay Hawkins? A brief glance at the history of blues music shows the blueprint for what eventually became rock music.

Bending Notes Chromatically to Build Tension

Bending notes in blues style has become a mainstream tactic on guitar. However, so many singers rely on this same technique. Start on a consonant low note and bend up to the highest point in the key to fill the room with energy. This was a technique first made mainstream by blues vocalists, and it made it all the way into modern rock, soul, and funk vocals.

The use of these chromatic differentiations from the pentatonic rule set almost shows a kinship between blues and jazz. Both styles existed in the underground of pop culture in the first half of the 20th century. Some musicians drifted between the two, and both styles have had significant influence on modern rock as well. Chromatic note relationships can create a sense of anxiety that is relieved when the note lands on more consonant footing.

Emotionally Pure Performances Began with Blues Singers and Continue with Rock Vocalists Today

Iggy Pop flails about like a man possessed. Punk singers wail and beat their chests like people suffering from the loss of a loved one. These intense, dramatic emotional live performance styles draw heavily from the blues singers of yesteryear.

Purity of emotion is often considered the primary benchmark of a rock vocalist's stage presence. In the early 20th century, blues singers were thought to be possessed by evil spirits when their bodies seized up with the awesome power of the blues. Teary eyes and scratchy voices conveyed the truth about the world around them in ways previously disallowed by pop culture.

Rock music took this same spirit and supercharged it. High energy emotional displays incorporated more than just sadness; rage, happiness, and anxiety might be palpable in a live performance by a rock vocalist. The steady back beat still remains in place. This telling ghost of blues' dark past still lurks on stage when any rock singer grabs the microphone.

To perfect modern rock vocal technique, it is important to understand its legacy in the context of its relationship to the blues. We owe much to our forefathers who wailed against oppression from the dark and muddy deltas of the American South.

Mike Barry from Gazzmic writes articles about new media technology, music theory, and the music industry. For individuals interested in investigating the latest in online technology for bands and musicians, please visit: http://www.gazzmic.com

Gazzmic is a revolutionary new content management system for bands that seeks to reinvent the music industry entirely. Gazzmic is currently seeking artists to participate in an invitation-only closed beta program. Participants will be given the opportunity to promote their music over a free custom mobile app platform for the iPhone and Android Market. Musicians can apply for the closed beta by contacting Gazzmic on the company's website.

Rock and Roll Guitar - Was It A Mixture of Blues, And Country Music?

It's difficult to really define what Rock and Roll music is, or where it really started, but Rock and Roll is definitely when guitar playing as we now know it started.

Elvis Presley must be given some of the credit for it, with his hips swinging and the raunchiness of the songs, although he did not really play guitar well at the time. He did however start the craze of screaming girls at his shows, it was all about sex really, and in fact that is how it got the name Rock & Roll.

The roots of Rock & Roll go back to the late 40's, and were influenced by blues and gospel music later the big band swing, and rhythm and blues; it was also influenced by country guitar music.

Some of the artist's of the time such as Elvis Presley with "That's Alright Mama" and Bill Hayley's "Rock Around The Clock", at the time the piano was the main instrument in the band, until Chuck Berry turned up with songs like "Johnny Be Good" with that famous Guitar Riff, which we still hear today.

I had the pleasure of seeing Chuck Berry playing live in Leicester, England; he was 64 years old then, but still Rocking, a great show.

England's answer to Elvis Presley was Cliff Richards and the Shadows, (which were basically an electric guitar band) with "Living Doll", unfortunately Cliff didn't make it big in America, but he is still going strong in England at the ripe age of 80 and has just released his latest album.

In the early 60?s we saw the start of what was to be called "The Swinging 60's" or sometimes "The Golden Age of Rock and Roll", the biggest Band was The Beatles who when they played could not even hear themselves because of the screaming girls, and poor P.A. systems.

The Beatles were the first British artist's to make it big in the U.S.A.; they were unique then as they wrote most of the song's that they performed, and in fact they changed music, and the rules of the music we hear today.

They also wrote "I Wanna Be Your Man" which became the first hit record for the Rolling Stones, who also made it in the United States, and they still perform sellout concerts to this day, even at their age, so there's hope for us all yet.

In the late 60's-early 70's we had the Glam Rock and the psychedelic era, and saw bands such as Jefferson Airplane, T Rex, Mud, and Wizard as well as Jimmy Hendrix and David Bowie, the style of guitar playing became more aggressive with a rise into Hard Rock and Heavy metal, we saw AC/DC, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin.

It is my belief that Rock and Roll music will be with us in some form or another for a long time yet, and people will still be influenced by it, and will continue to buy records and learn to play guitar, whichever style of music they choose to play, it is all related anyway.

I hope that you can see now how Rock and Roll Guitar was a mixture of Blues, Country Guitar music, as well as Swing and Rhythm and blues.

I hope that you have found this article of interest, it has been written out of my love of this type of music, and in particular my love of good guitar playing.

Please feel free to comment on it, and to share it with others.

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Meet the Kills - Delta Blues and Rock & Roll Filtered through Punk that is as Dark as Night

Back in 2002 after some encouragement from one of my college friends I finally checked out the band of the hour: The White Stripes. I was immediately hooked and more interested in the underground punk blues movement that was apparently taking place under my nose while I was listening to alternative metal and things called nu- something or other.

I never looked back and I found a number of good bands through the White Stripes like the Soledad Brothers, the Detroit Cobras, Mr. Airplane Man and the subject of this article: The Kills.

Made up of two very unique characters called "W" aka Alison Mosshart, and "Hotel" aka Jamie Hince, they are a duo much like the White Stripes in that one is male and one is female, their sound is stripped down and they play an interpretation of the blues. Listening to the two bands back to back though, they sound as different as day and night.

Formed after an exchange of tapes between Florida and London, the Kills definitely embody a minimalist form of music. Created using single guitar tracks drum loops and rough edged vocals, their tracks have an intensity, a realism and an authenticity that is almost scary and is awfully depressing. At times they sound like stripped down delta blues and other times like the Stooges resurrected, both from a pretty bleak viewpoint. With two albums and a third on the way, The Kills definitely represent a side of rock and blues that has not seen the light of the mainstream or even the light of day in a while.

The first song I ever heard by the Kills was a very punk influenced rocker called "Superstition" off their debut album Keep on Your Mean Side. It reminded me of the Stooges meets the Velvet Underground meets meets blues. Whatever that means. It has a very catchy, repetitive and aggressive guitar riff that builds up to a screeching primal scream chorus. My favorite song of their first album is a dark blues number called "Black Rooster." With a Son House-like intensity the pair let their gruff voices grind into the blues stomp guitar riffs and make for a great song. There second album, No Wow, has a similar feel to the first, but doesn't sound nearly as rough as the first to me. At the same time it feels far more sparse minimal and dark. There is also a slight 80s rock feel that comes from the drum machines and there is less blues on this album but that is not necessarily a bad thing My favorite song of the second album is a slow piano piece called "Ticket Man." A simple song with pretty simple lyrics that hints at blues and piano folk, but it is the intensity that makes it great.

Few if any of their songs are probably radio friendly but they're definitely catchy, raw and rough. They create a very thick sound with minimal tracks and instrumentation and I like the rough soulful edge on W's voice. Lyrically its about as dark as the blues can get but have an honesty and authenticity that sounds like its coming right out of a dirty flat (maybe in London). The kind lit only by bare light bulbs, and so filled up with cigarette smoke that looking in through the unwashed windows you can barely see the glimmer of lights on. These are definitely not happy songs and at times even border on depressing, but they are very gritty and real.

The only thing that bothers me about The Kills is their use of drum machine. I understand that it might be a necessity and it is certainly used in a way that fits the minimalist feel, but personally, I wish they'd ditch it for real drums. This may be why I find there first album to be my favorite as it has a slightly less electronic feel. My favorite song they do though is "Ticket Man" from their second album, so go figure.

The Kills are definitely not for everyone as their sound can be a little inaccessible if you're used to more polished or happier records. It took me a few listens before I could really wrap my brain around what these two were doing. It's almost like when I first listened to blues great Robert Johnson. The music is just so stripped down, bare, raw and honest that it is a little scary. At the same time The Kills are not really a blues band in the traditional sense and the punk side of things might also get in the way for some people.

Then again, if you're like me and you have Son House on the same shelf as the Stooges in your music collection, and the White Stripes on the next shelf down, check out the Kills. This band is a perfect example that music doesn't have to be complicated, polished or happy to be full of emotion and that often time those rough edges add the most character.

Here's a link to their website: http:/www.thekills.tv Keep an eye out for a new album soon as well and I'm going to see if I can send them an email with a request to post a media player so you can listen to the tracks I've mentioned.

References include: www.allmusic.com and my personal music collection.

D.A.N (Dave Nuzzo), is the Owner/Editor of The Soul of Rock 'n' Roll a music and rock 'n' roll oriented blog. The Soul of Rock 'n' Roll was design to promote the music that he likes, listens to and is passionate about. He discusses everything from Folk to Heavy Metal with the emphasis on Classic Rock, but also talks about the impact rock 'n' roll has on society, unknown bands, and playing music.