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Eight-bar Blues
In music, an eight-bar blues is a common blues chord progression. Music writers have described it as "the second most common blues form" being "common to folk, rock, and jazz forms of the blues". It is often notated in or time with eight bars to the verse. Overview Early examples of eight-bar blues standards include: *" Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Sara Martin, 1922) *" Trouble in Mind" ( Bertha Hill, 1926) *" How Long Blues" (Leroy Carr, 1928) *" Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (Bessie Smith, 1929) *" It Hurts Me Too" (Tampa Red, 1940) *" Key to the Highway" (Big Bill Broonzy, 1941)James, Steve (2001). ''Inside Blues Guitar'', p.18. . *" Worried Life Blues" ( Big Maceo, 1941) One variant using this progression is to couple one eight-bar blues melody with a different eight-bar blues bridge to create a blues variant of the standard 32-bar song: "I Want a Little Girl" ( T-Bone Walker) and " Great Balls of Fire" (Jerry Lee Lewis)( Eight-bar blues progression ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from piano to piano duo and trio, guitar, big band, country and western, and gospel. While standard blues traditionally expresses a variety of emotions, boogie-woogie is mainly dance music (although not usually played for the competitive dance known as boogie-woogie, a term of convenience in that sport). The genre had a significant influence on rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Boogie-woogie waned in popularity in the 1930s, but enjoyed a resurgence and its greatest acclaim in the 1940s, reaching audiences around the world. Among its most famous acts was the "Boogie Woogie Trio" of Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, and Meade "Lux" Lewis. Other famous boogie woogie pianists of this peak era were Maurice Rocco and Freddie Slack. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith was young when her parents died, and she and her six siblings survived by performing on street corners. She began touring and performed in a group that included Ma Rainey, and then went out on her own. Her successful recording career with Columbia Records began in 1923, but her performing career was cut short by a car crash that killed her at the age of 45. Biography Early life The 1900 census indicates that her family reported that Bessie Smith was bor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scale Degree
In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic—the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals and chords and whether an interval is major or minor. In the most general sense, the scale degree is the number given to each step of the scale, usually starting with 1 for tonic. Defining it like this implies that a tonic is specified. For instance, the 7-tone diatonic scale may become the major scale once the proper degree has been chosen as tonic (e.g. the C-major scale C–D–E–F–G–A–B, in which C is the tonic). If the scale has no tonic, the starting degree must be chosen arbitrarily. In set theory, for instance, the 12 degrees of the chromatic scale are usually numbered starting from C=0, the twelve pitch classes being numbered from 0 to 11. In a more specific sense, scale degrees are given names that indicate their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans, Louisiana, and early recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. "Crazy Arms" sold 300,000 copies in the Southern United States, but his 1957 hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" shot Lewis to worldwide fame. He followed this with the major hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless (Jerry Lee Lewis song), Breathless", and "High School Confidential (Jerry Lee Lewis song), High School Confidential". His rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Lewis Williams, Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin. His popularity quickly eroded following the scandal, and with few exceptions, such as a cover of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say", he di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Balls Of Fire
"Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie '' Jamboree''. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th-greatest song ever by ''Rolling Stone''. It is written in AABA form. It sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States, making it one of the best-selling singles at that time. Background and Composition "Great Balls of Fire" is best known for Jerry Lee Lewis's original, which was recorded in the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 8, 1957, using three personnel: Lewis (piano/vocals), Sidney Stokes (bass), and a session drummer, Larry Linn, instead of the usual Sun backups Jimmy Van Eaton (drums) and Roland Janes (guitar). Lewis was quoted in the book ''JLL: His Own Story'' by Rick Bragg, (pg 133), as saying "I knew Sidney Stokes, but I didn't know him that well eith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him number 67 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Biography 1910–1941: early years Aaron Thibeaux Walker was born in Linden, Texas. His parents, Movelia Jimerson and Rance Walker, were both musicians. His stepfather, Marco Washington (a member of the Dallas String Band), taught him to play the guitar, ukulele, banjo, violin, mandolin, and piano. Walker began his career as a teenager in Dallas in the 1920s. His mother and stepfather were musicians, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, a family friend, sometimes came over for dinner. Walker left school at the age of 10, and by 15, he was a professional performer on the blues circuit. Initially, he was Jefferson's protégé and would guide hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thirty-two-bar Form
The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. The song form consists of four sections: an eight-bar A section; a second eight-bar A section (which may have slight changes from the first A section); an eight-bar B section, often with contrasting harmony or "feel"; and a final eight-bar A section. The core melody line is generally retained in each A section, although variations may be added, particularly for the last A section. Examples of 32-bar AABA form songs include "Over the Rainbow", "I Got Rhythm", "What'll I Do", "Make You Feel My Love", "The Man I Love (song), The Man I Love", "Dream River", "Primrose Lane", "Let's Get Away From It All", and "Blue Skies (Irving Berlin song), Blue Skies". Many show tunes that have become jazz standards are 32-bar song forms. Basic song form At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bridge (music)
In music, especially Western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section that prepares for the return of the original material section. It adds a sense of progress within a piece of music and can be used to introduce a source of tension. In a piece in which the original material or melody is referred to as the "A" section, the bridge may be the third eight- bar phrase in a 32-bar form (the B in AABA), or may be used more loosely in verse-chorus form, or, in a compound AABA form, used as a contrast to a full AABA section. The bridge is often used to contrast with and prepare for the return of the verse and the chorus. "The b section of the popular song chorus is often called the ''bridge'' or ''release'' ", or ''boredom-breaker'', . Etymology The term is a calque from a German word for bridge, ''Steg'', used by the Meistersingers of the 15th to the 18th century to describe a transitional section in medieval bar form. The German term became widely known in 1920s Germany ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Maceo
Major "Big Maceo" Merriweather (March 31, 1905 – February 23, 1953) was an American pianist and blues singer. He was mainly active in Chicago through the 1940s. Career Born in Newnan, Georgia, he was a self-taught pianist. In the 1920s, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, to begin his music career. He moved to Chicago in 1941, where he made the acquaintance of Tampa Red. Red introduced him to Lester Melrose of RCA Victor and its subsidiary label Bluebird Records, who signed Merriweather to a recording contract. His first record was "" (1941), which became a blues |
Worried Life Blues
"Worried Life Blues" is a blues standard and one of the most recorded blues songs of all time. Originally recorded by Big Maceo Merriweather in 1941, "Worried Life Blues" was an early blues hit and Maceo's most recognized song. The song was inspired by an earlier track and several artists have had record chart successes with their interpretations of the song. Background "Worried Life Blues" is based on "Someday Baby Blues" recorded by Sleepy John Estes in 1935. Estes' song is performed as a vocal and guitar country blues, whereas Maceo's is a prototypical Chicago blues. The two original songs have lyrical differences, such as in the first few verses: Over the years the differences have become blurred by various cover versions of the songs, which use elements from both songs, often combined with new lyrics and variations in the music. Composition and recording Big Maceo recorded "Worried Life Blues" June 24, 1941, shortly after arriving in Chicago. Lester Melrose produced the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 1930s and 1940s, he navigated a change in style to a more urban blues sound popular with working-class black audiences. In the 1950s, a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star. His long and varied career marks him as one of the key figures in the development of blues music in the 20th century. Broonzy copyrighted more than 300 songs, including adaptations of traditional Folk music, folk songs and original blues songs. As a blues composer, he was unique in writing songs that reflected his rural-to-urban experiences. Life and career Early years Born Lee Conley Bradley, he was one of the 17 children of Frank Broonzy (Bradley) and Mittie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Key To The Highway
"Key to the Highway" is a blues standard that has been performed and recorded by several blues and other artists. Blues pianist Charlie Segar first recorded the song in 1940. Jazz Gillum and Big Bill Broonzy followed with recordings in 1940 and 1941, using an arrangement that has become the standard. When Little Walter updated the song in 1958 in an electric Chicago blues style, it became a success on the R&B record chart. A variety of artists have since interpreted the song, including Eric Clapton, who recorded several versions. Original recordings "Key to the Highway" is usually credited to Charles "Chas" Segar and William "Big Bill" Broonzy. Broonzy explained the song's development: Segar's lyrics are nearly the same as those recorded by Broonzy and Jazz Gillum. The verses use the theme of the itinerant bluesman leaving to travel the highways after breaking up with his lover: Musically, however, there are differences in the recorded versions. Charlie Segar's or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
