03-0105_ETF_02

ANUARY 2003 E NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM

THE

Blues

musicians

The following profiles describe the

lives and music of some of the most

influential blues musicians. Their lives

were often reflected in their songs.

BESSIE SMITH Bessie Smith was known as the “Empress

of the Blues,” and with her warm vibrato and impassioned delivery,

she deserves this title. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1894, she

grew up singing gospel music in church. Throughout her career, her

famous blues renditions reflected this powerful musical influence. As

the new industry of recorded music grew in the 1920s, she began

recording. In 1923, her hit song “Down Hearted Blues” sold over two

million records. In 1925, she recorded “Careless Love Blues,” which

featured a young Louis Armstrong on cornet. In this song, Bessie

sings a line and Armstrong answers her with a soulful phrase from

his horn, in the old call-and-response pattern. Bessie Smith died on

Sept. 26, 1937 after a car accident in northern Mississippi. She had

been refused admittance to the first hospital she was taken to

because of her race.

03-0105_ETF_46_56 2/13/03 2:15 PM Page 50

NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM

ANUARY 2003

One night, I was layin’ down, I heard

Mama and Papa talkin, I heard Papa tell

Mama: Let that boy boogie woogie,

cause it’s in him and it got to come out!

—from “Boogie Chillen,” J OHN L

EE H OOKER

MODERN RECORDS, NOV., 1948

JOHN LEE HOOKER Over his long career, John Lee Hooker

brought a unique “boogie” style to the blues. Born in 1917 in Clarksdale, Mississip-

pi, Hooker’s early influences came from his father, a gospel preacher, and his step-

father, who gave him his first guitar. Like many other southern blacks, he eventu-

ally left the rural South for the northern cities. He moved to Detroit in 1943, where

he worked in auto and steel factories. In his first year of recording, 1948, he had a

hit with “Boogie Chillen” and topped the charts again in 1951 with “I’m In the

Mood.” From Detroit he went to Chicago, where he recorded more hit songs. In

1970, he moved to California, where he hooked up with young rock musicians and

played blues for a new generation of listeners. In 1990, Hooker won a Grammy

award for “The Healer,” a record that included guest musicians Carlos Santana,

Keith Richards, and Bonnie Raitt among others. He also recorded several times with

the Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Hooker died in 2001.

MUDDY WATERS The originator of modern electric blues,

Muddy Waters was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi in 1915. He learned to play

the guitar while working as a tractor driver, began recording acoustic blues in

1941, and moved to Chicago in 1943. By 1950 Muddy had put together his arche-

typal blues band, featuring Little Walter Jacobs on amplified harmonica and

himself on electric guitar. Almost every Chicago blues musician of note played in

Muddy’s band over the years, and many of his tunes, such as “Hoochie Coochie

Man” and “Mannish Boy” are considered blues classics. He continued to give

strong performances on both vocals and guitar until his death in 1983.

ROBERT JOHNSON The “King of the Delta Blues Singers,”

Robert Johnson was also a master Delta blues guitarist. Born in Hazlehurst,

Mississippi in 1911, he spent much of his short career playing at plantation

dances and small bars in the Delta area of northwestern Mississippi. Johnson’s

clever lyrics and deft guitar playing distinguish his work. He died in 1938.

Some people believe he was poisoned by an angry lover, but the exact circum-

stances of his death are still hazy. Johnson influenced many guitarists, includ-

ing Elmore James and Muddy Waters, who took the Delta “bottleneck” slide

style to the city and amplified it. Some of Johnson’s songs, such as “Crossroads”

and “Love in Vain,” were recorded later by rock bands.

MMUUDDDDYY WWAATTEERRSS

JJOOHHNN LLEEEE HHOOOOKKEERR

03-0105_ETF_46_56 2/13/03 2:15 PM Page 51

NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM

ANUARY 2003

I bought you a new car, and you said, “I want a Cadillac.”

Bought you a ten-dollar dinner, and you said, “Thanks for the snack.”

I let you live in my penthouse, you said it was a shack.

I gave you seven children, and now you want to give ‘em back

HOW BLUE C AN YOU GET

•

B. B. King

Some people never see their

lies as lies,

They just see the truth, the

truth in disguise…

I’ve been told that lying

is wrong,

It’s alright with me if it

saves your life or your home.

VERYBODY LIES A LITTLE SOMETIMES

•

B. B. King

T HE K

ING OF THE

Blues

The best known blues musician today is B.B.King,

and this gentleman’s fame is well-deserved. Born in

Indianola, Mississippi in 1925, he earned the nickname

“B. B.” (“blues boy”) while playing on radio programs

in Memphis, Tennessee, where, like many other Missis-

sippi Delta blacks, he moved during World War II.

From the 1940s through the 1960s, he played mostly

in clubs in the South that, due to segregation, had

only black audiences. In 1948, he had a hit record

with “Three A.M. Blues” and toured steadily thereafter.

His fame spread as he played at blues festivals, concert

halls, universities, and on television shows across the

country. No other blues artist has worked harder than

B. B. King in his many years of playing over three hun-

dred shows a year.

By the late 1960s, B. B. had perfected his famous

guitar style of vibrating the fingers of his left hand as

he played and bending notes to achieve the blue notes

that are such an integral part of blues music. This

singing guitar sound, coupled with his expressive tenor

voice, brought King great success in 1969 with his

recording of “The Thrill Is Gone.” The song broke

through the limited sales of the blues market to achieve

mainstream success and brought B. B. a Grammy award.

B. B.’s songs display a wide range of emotions,

in addition to the sadness so fundamental to blues music. In the lyrics

above, we hear his sense of humor in “How Blue Can You Get.” He

combines humor with a keen understanding of human nature in

“Everybody Lies a Little Sometimes.”

King’s long and distinguished career includes many musical

collaborations. Young rock musicians, in particular, appreciate his

contributions to their genre. In 1988 B.B. played guitar and sang on

the hit song “When Love Comes to Town” by the Irish band U2. In

2001 he recorded an award-winning record with Eric Clapton called

“Riding With the King.” King’s guitar work has had a strong influence

on thousands of guitar soloists and, to this day, he remains the blues’

greatest ambassador.

B.B. King at the Montreux Jazz Festival (above)

‘Mister Blues’ B.B. King enjoys a playful moment with blues fans at the 32nd Montreux

Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland in 1998.

03-0105_ETF_46_56 2/13/03 2:15 PM Page 55