I hate to call out an entire genre: Blues

[Matt Till]

Alright, I know just straight up bashing an entire genre is just asking for trouble, but don't act like it doesn't happen on here all the time. Metal and probably moreso, Emo, catch crap all the time, "It's not music..." etc etc.

Anyways, my question: What makes a Blues song good? By that I mean, what makes a blues song stand out from any other blues song. It's an entire genre built off one very simple, very repetitive structure.

I do like some of the riffier, psychedelic blues rock stuff: The Groundhogs, Cream, etc. They tend to maintain a bluesy feel, while often straying from the blues structure, and I've found the TR00 blues guys tend not to like that.

I'm honestly curious, blues fans, what do you look for in "good blues." What is it about the blues that keeps you interested?

[Stumbo]

Blues is about the feeling. The lyrics. The story. Consider where it started and why it started. It's also the root for all the other rock music that came after.

You might want to check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues

[Eublet]

I like a good blues song...just one though. Two in a row and I start squirming. 3 or more makes me grind my teeth. It's very, very hard to do good blues with that same old and tired structure. It can be done, but 99.9% of it just doesn't appeal to me at all, feeling or not.

[afinalfantasy]

Some blues is good, some is bad, just like any type of music.

Tom Waits would be my favourite bluesy artist.

[neurotictim]

I'd say anything by Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, SRV, Clapton, B.B. King... A whole host of electric blues, I can listen to all day.

I've got loads of respect for the elder statesmen of blues, but I can't honestly listen to it much. I need to have some distortion in the guitar, and a clever bassline to keep it interesting.

[baalroo]

Delta Blues... the Robert Johnson, what-the-hell-time-signature-is-that?, bending and wrangling, is-that-even-a-chord?, I-thought-these-guys-just-played I-IV-V, stuff is worth listening to and not boring. the rest sucks IMO.

[()smoke()]

listen to freddie king, and that boring repetitive pattern sounds pretty darn exciting each time the I rolls back around...

especially if you like cream--you might find something eerily familiar when you hear freddie do it, and then realize he did it first

[nortonrider]

blues for 3 hours straight gets pretty boring to me.

[seanm]

Hound Dog Taylor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RA8NyvzIWk

[scootron]

If you limit yourself to 12-bar blues with a I-IV-V pattern, it will inevitably wind up a little bit boring, no matter how good the players are. But blues are a whole lot more than 12-bar progressions and the old I-IV-V.

Listen to some of the work Freddie King and Leon Russell did together in the early 70's on tunes like "Palace of the King" or "I'd Rather Be Blind". Check out some of the "8-bar blues with a bridge" tunes that BB King turns out.


At the risk of sounding racially insensitive, one of the things I have noticed about white bands playing blues (including my band) is that we seem to be overly wrapped up in keeping to a strict structure. When I go back and listen to Canned Heat playing with John Lee Hooker, I hear a band following a leader who was apt to go anywhere at any time, regardless of whether it was the traditional time for a chord change. But Canned Heat anticipated and stayed with him, just as tight as the Famous Flames stayed with James Brown.

The blues stay as alive as we keep them. They only grow stale if we let them.

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by seanm

Hound Dog Taylor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RA8NyvzIWk

That's pretty much exactly what I'm "bashing" here, that sounds like 90% of the other blues music I've heard. I do appreciate the raw sound certainly moreso than a smooth, polished blues sound. But the structure, that boogie woogie I-IV-V, the typical ending and everything... Eublet's post basically sums up my thoughts in a nutshell.

[Matt Till]

THIS, I dig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81M_fS0UmCE

Bluesy for sure, but rocks the hell out, AND sure, a somewhat typical rock structure... but not the same as every other song of the genre.

[guitfiddle0409]

Blues can be played very antiseptically and be very boring or it can be the most kick ass visceral music you've ever heard. The choice is yours -- both in listening and playing. And for what it's worth the Groundhogs and Cream definitely had a fantastic spin on it. I still get a great vibe whenever I listen to Leslie West playing with Mountain, Peter Green with (very early) Fleetwood Mac, or Kim Simmonds with Savoy Brown. Now that was some kick ass music!

[seanm]

Originally Posted by Matt Till

That's pretty much exactly what I'm "bashing" here, that sounds like 90% of the other blues music I've heard. I do appreciate the raw sound certainly moreso than a smooth, polished blues sound. But the structure, that boogie woogie I-IV-V, the typical ending and everything... Eublet's post basically sums up my thoughts in a nutshell.

Fair enough.... you probably won't like the blues then. It's that simple.

In my twenties I tried hard to like jazz. No matter how much I listened it just never moved me. I came to accept that I just don't like most jazz. You might just have to accept that you don't like most blues.

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by seanm

Fair enough.... you probably won't like the blues then. It's that simple.

In my twenties I tried hard to like jazz. No matter how much I listened it just never moved me. I came to accept that I just don't like most jazz. You might just have to accept that you don't like most blues.

I'm with that, but I still question what it's appeal is to the fans? I mean, I can explain my reasoning behind my liking of my favorite genres: Stumbo's post was: "Blues is about the feeling. The lyrics. The story." Is that a good summary of what the genre's appeal is to the fans? I just have a hard time telling any Blues songs (in the traditional sense) apart. I mean, you can have great feeling and lyrical content without following one solid structure.

guit: I love Mountain and (very early) Fleetwood Mac, I'll have to check out Savory Brown.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by Matt Till

I'm with that, but I still question what it's appeal is to the fans? I mean, I can explain my reasoning behind my liking of my favorite genres: Stumbo's post was: "Blues is about the feeling. The lyrics. The story." Is that a good summary of what the genre's appeal is to the fans? I just have a hard time telling any Blues songs (in the traditional sense) apart. I mean, you can have great feeling and lyrical content without following one solid structure.

guit: I love Mountain and (very early) Fleetwood Mac, I'll have to check out Savory Brown.

Yes, Stumbo's post was a good summary. Blues is all about the feeling. And the playing is all about the feel. You can't think about it with your head.

[jmcgliss]

Blues is a live experience, and I don't mean sitting in a bar listening to it. You'll appreciate the blues more once you've been to funerals of talented young players you shared stages with, and graciously been encouraged by some old timers who can kick your ass.

If that experience is too much trouble, at least spend a few hours sampling tunes on a download site until you find some different styles of blues that stick to your ribs.

[RedSubway]

I'm in a blues band and it's a genre that I absolutely love. It's unfortunate that you don't appreciate it, at least you aren't flat-out bashing it I suppose haha. Good blues songs are good for one primary reason: authenticity. It is a bottom-up musical movement; what I mean is that it is based entirely in an idea that is not about an image and it never was. Blues is about experience and feeling and personality, it is a very genuine form of music. The early blues had none of the qualities that are associated with good songs, from a purely musical standpoint, but their honesty and their character made them some of the best songs ever, and inspired the entire rock movement.
I can understand why maybe you wouldn't enjoy listening to the blues, but I ask that you at least appreciate the blues, it is a movement that certainly deserves that. Musicianship is far from the only thing that makes for good music (and come on, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, BB King, blues has the musicianship factor down anyway).

[Jared Lash]

My ex-fiance is an artist (graphic design, photography, painting) and at an art gallery (if asked) she'd break down styles, technique etc for every piece we'd see. But at the end of the day, a given piece either speaks to you or it doesn't.

Same is true for music, both for individual songs and to a lesser extent genres. I can't "reason" my way into liking a song, album or genre. I listen to what I do (and I cut a huge swath with my tastes in music) because it's the music that perfectly matches (or in some cases even alters) my mood at that time.

But to attempt to answer your question, the blues is like rustic Italian cooking. Not a lot of ingredients or elaborate techniques, just taking the familiar and executing it with care and passion. To me, what makes a particular blues song good is if that passion comes through the speakers especially since musically the chord progressions are well worn. You've got a somewhat rigid framework in which you've got to weave a tale of heartbreak and make it mean something to the listener. The somewhat self imposed limits of the genre mean the focus is all on the performer.

To be fair, my tastes are probably different than most here. I really don't care for guitar solo laden blues. I like blues rock (Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi etc) but I don't like what passes for blues in a lot of bars/clubs today - A I IV V progression as an excuse for wankery. Albert King is about as far as I go in terms of guitar pyrotechnics. My favorite of his is "I'll play the blues for you"

Like any genre, you can go overboard with taxonomy, but simply put, here are some others I like:

Lightnin' Hopkins
John Lee Hooker
Howlin' Wolf
Son House
Muddy Waters

I could name 50 more. But for someone who doesn't like it, it all sounds the same. That's true of every genre (how many times have you heard people dismiss metal, country, hip-hop etc this way) but blues gets this more often because it has a more rigid structure than most. But then again, how many breakbeat songs use the Amen break? Like any form of music, people that dig it will not only hear the differences but explore them.

Probably a lot longer answer than you wanted, but there you are.

[Jared Lash]

As a side note, The I IV V progression is synonymous with blues, but that doesn't mean every blues song utilizes it.