Swamp rock is a genre of

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...

that originated in the mid-1960s as a fusion of

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became pop ...

with swamp blues,

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

and funk. The genre originated in Louisiana by artists such as

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit " Polk Salad Annie" and for " Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ...

, but was subsequently popularized by California band

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

Characteristics

Swamp rock fuses

and

with swamp blues,

and funk. Swamp blues provided swamp rock with its defining guitar sound, which was low toned and often reverberated. The sound also frequently uses horns, due to its soul influence, although solos are more commonly performed on guitars. Also contributing influence to the sound of swamp rock was the hard, guitar-driven sound of

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...

bands, as well as

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in ...

Cajun music Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem w ...

and New Orleans rhythm and blues. The genre's lyrics are often "dark and menacing", drawing from young Americans' dissatisfaction with the political establishment, as well as

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that s ...

concerns.

History

Dale Hawkins Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins (August 22, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie. Ronnie Hawkins was his cousin. Biography He b ...

' single "Oh! Suzy- Q", credited as being solely written by Hawkins, but predominantly lifted from a song of the same name by

Sonny Boy Williamson I John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He is often regarded as the pioneer of the blues harp as a solo instrument. He played on hundreds of re ...

, was recorded in 1957. It is often cited as the first swamp rock single; although Hawkins' recording was considered

swamp pop Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and wester ...

at the time, it had the hard edge and more powerful guitar sound associated with swamp rock. Swamp rock would not become recognized as a musical trend until the late 1960s and early 1970s.

has been credited as having "invented" swamp rock. Hailing from Louisiana's bayou, White's songs were subsequently recorded by

Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), better known as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960 ...

and

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dra ...

, among other performers, to popular success, most notably with the song " Polk Salad Annie", which has been recorded by a number of other singers. Dr. John the Nightripper (Malcolm John Rebennack Jr.), hailing from New Orleans, also contributed to the swamp rock scene with a distinctive style that fused blues,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

, funk and swamp pop. Rebennack originally created Dr. John as a stage persona drawing from

New Orleans voodoo Louisiana Voodoo (french: Vaudou louisianais, es, Vudú de Luisiana), also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an African diasporic religion which originated in Louisiana, now in the southern United States. It arose through a process of syncretism ...

culture for his friend Ronnie Barron, but when his friend declined the persona, Rebennack ended up adopting the Dr. John persona himself.

have been described as pioneers of swamp rock. The band often utilized lyrics about

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. The ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

, the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

and other elements of

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

iconography, although the band was actually from California.

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...

, formed by musician and songwriter

Lowell George Lowell Thomas George (April 13, 1945 – June 29, 1979) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who was the primary guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and founder/leader for the rock band Little Feat. Ear ...

and also despite hailing from California, helped popularize Southern music in the wider United States with their swamp rock sound which drew from country, folk, blues, soul, swamp pop and R&B. Another California act, Redbone, adopted their name from a Cajun term for a Native American of mixed race, reflecting the band's ancestral heritage, as the members were of Yaqui, Shoshone, Southern Cheyenne, Chippewa and Mexican ancestry. Also part of the early swamp rock scene were

Delaney & Bonnie Delaney & Bonnie were an American duo of singer-songwriters Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Bramlett. In 1969 and 1970, they fronted a rock/soul ensemble, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, whose members at different times included Duane Allman, Gregg A ...

, the Meters,

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", "U.S. Male", " A Thi ...

and

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

. Swamp rock declined in popularity during the disco era. However, the Radiators, who released their first album in 1981, developed a following who they identify as "fish heads", with a swamp rock sound drawing from blues, R&B, funk and soul. In the same decade,

the Batfish Boys The Batfish Boys (later simply called Batfish) were an English rock band from York and Leeds, England, active between 1984 and 1990. They released three albums. History The band was formed by former March Violets vocalist Simon Detroit (b. Sim ...

fused gothic rock and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

with swamp rock to create their sound, which also owed influence to swamp blues. In the 1990s, swamp rock was subjected to a revival in the

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational " jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often ...

scene. Artists that contributed to the revival of swamp rock include

Beasts of Bourbon Beasts of Bourbon were an Australian blues rock band formed in August 1983, with James Baker on drums (ex- Hoodoo Gurus, The Scientists), Spencer P. Jones on