BBC Blues Sessions - 2002-07 (Bootleg) (@320)

1960s and 1970s
By the beginning of the 1960s, genres influenced by African American music such as rock and roll and soul were part of mainstream popular music. White performers had brought African-American music to new audiences, both within the US and abroad. However, the blues wave that brought artists such as Muddy Waters to the foreground had stopped. Bluesmen such as Big Bill Broonzy and Willie Dixon started looking for new markets in Europe. Dick Waterman and the blues festivals he organized in Europe played a major role in propagating blues music abroad. In the UK, bands emulated US blues legends, and UK blues-rock-based bands had an influential role throughout the 1960s.

Blues legend B.B. King with his guitar, "Lucille".Blues performers such as John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters continued to perform to enthusiastic audiences, inspiring new artists steeped in traditional blues, such as New York–born Taj Mahal. John Lee Hooker blended his blues style with rock elements and playing with younger white musicians, creating a musical style that can be heard on the 1971 album Endless Boogie. B. B. King's virtuoso guitar technique earned him the eponymous title "king of the blues". In contrast to the Chicago style, King's band used strong brass support from a saxophone, trumpet, and trombone, instead of using slide guitar or harp. Tennessee-born Bobby "Blue" Bland, like B. B. King, also straddled the blues and R&B genres. During this period, Freddie King and Albert King often played with rock and soul musicians (Eric Clapton, Booker T & the MGs) and had a major influence on those styles of music.

The music of the Civil Rights and Free Speech movements in the US prompted a resurgence of interest in American roots music and early African American music. As well as Jimmi Bass Music festivals such as the Newport Folk Festival[108] brought traditional blues to a new audience, which helped to revive interest in prewar acoustic blues and performers such as Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and Reverend Gary Davis.[107] Many compilations of classic prewar blues were republished by the Yazoo Records. J. B. Lenoir from the Chicago blues movement in the 1950s recorded several LPs using acoustic guitar, sometimes accompanied by Willie Dixon on the acoustic bass or drums. His songs, originally distributed in Europe only, commented on political issues such as racism or Vietnam War issues, which was unusual for this period. His Alabama Blues recording had a song that stated:

""I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me (2x)
You know they killed my sister and my brother,
and the whole world let them peoples go down there free""

White audiences' interest in the blues during the 1960s increased due to the Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the British blues movement. The style of British blues developed in the UK, when bands such as The Animals, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and Cream and Irish musician Rory Gallagher performed classic blues songs from the Delta or Chicago blues traditions. Many of Led Zeppelin's earlier hits were renditions of traditional blues songs.

The British and blues musicians of the early 1960s inspired a number of American blues rock fusion performers, including Canned Heat, the early Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, The J. Geils Band, Ry Cooder, and The Allman Brothers Band. One blues rock performer, Jimi Hendrix, was a rarity in his field at the time: a black man who played psychedelic rock. Hendrix was a skilled guitarist, and a pioneer in the innovative use of distortion and feedback in his music. Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of rock music.

Santana, which was originally called the Carlos Santana Blues Band, also experimented with Latin-influenced blues and blues-rock music around this time.

In the early 1970s, The Texas rock-blues style emerged, which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles. In contrast with the West Side blues, the Texas style is strongly influenced by the British rock-blues movement. Major artists of the Texas style are Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and ZZ Top. These artists all began their musical journey in the 1970s, but they did not achieve major international success until the next decade.

1980s to the 2000s
Since the 1980s, there has been a resurgence of interest in the blues among a certain part of the African-American population, particularly around Jackson, Mississippi and other deep South regions. Often termed "soul blues" or "Southern soul", the music at the heart of this movement was given new life by the unexpected success of two particular recordings on the Jackson-based Malaco label: Z. Z. Hill's Down Home Blues (1982) and Little Milton's The Blues is Alright (1984). Contemporary African-American performers who work this vein of the blues include Bobby Rush, Denise LaSalle, Sir Charles Jones, Bettye LaVette, Marvin Sease and Peggy Scott-Adams.

During the 1980s, blues also continued in both traditional and new forms. In 1986, the album Strong Persuader revealed Robert Cray as a major blues artist.[115] The first Stevie Ray Vaughan recording, Texas Flood, was released in 1983, and the Texas-based guitarist exploded onto the international stage. 1989 saw a revival of John Lee Hooker's popularity with the album The Healer. Eric Clapton, known for his performances with the Blues Breakers and Cream, made a comeback in the 1990s with his album Unplugged, in which he played some standard blues numbers on acoustic guitar. However, beginning in the 1990s, digital multitrack recording and other technological advances and new marketing strategies that include video clip production have increased costs, and challenge the spontaneity and improvisation that are an important component of blues music.

In the 1980s and 1990s, blues publications such as Living Blues and Blues Revue began to be distributed, major cities began forming blues societies, outdoor blues festivals became more common, and more nightclubs and venues for blues emerged.

In the 1990s, blues performers explored a range of musical genres, as can be seen, for example, from the broad array of nominees of the yearly Blues Music Awards, previously named W. C. Handy Awards or of the Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary and Traditional Blues Album. Contemporary blues music is nurtured by several blues labels such as: Alligator Records, Ruf Records, Chess Records (MCA), Delmark Records, NorthernBlues Music, and Vanguard Records (Artemis Records). Some labels are famous for their rediscovering and remastering of blues rarities such as Arhoolie Records, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (heir of Folkways Records) and Yazoo Records (Shanachie Records).

Young blues artists today are exploring all aspects of the blues, from classic delta to more rock-oriented blues, artists born after 1970 such as John Mayer, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Sean Costello, Shannon Curfman, Anthony Gomes, Shemekia Copeland, Jonny Lang, Corey Harris, Susan Tedeschi, JW-Jones, Joe Bonamassa, Michelle Malone, North Mississippi Allstars, Everlast, The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Bob Log III, Jose P and Hillstomp developing their own styles. Memphis, Texas-based William Daniel McFalls, also known as "Blues Boy Willie" is a performer of traditional blues.

Musical impact
Blues musical styles, forms (12-bar blues), melodies, and the blues scale have influenced many other genres of music, such as rock and roll, jazz, and popular music.[121] Prominent jazz, folk or rock performers, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Bob Dylan have performed significant blues recordings. The blues scale is often used in popular songs like Harold Arlen's "Blues in the Night", blues ballads like "Since I Fell for You" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love", and even in orchestral works such as George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Concerto in F". Gershwin's second "Prelude" for solo piano is an interesting example of a classical blues, maintaining the form with academic strictness. The blues scale is ubiquitous in modern popular music and informs many modal frames, especially the ladder of thirds used in rock music (e.g., in "A Hard Day's Night"). Blues forms are used in the theme to the televised Batman, teen idol Fabian's hit, "Turn Me Loose", country music star Jimmie Rodgers' music, and guitarist/vocalist Tracy Chapman's hit "Give Me One Reason".

R&B music can be traced back to spirituals and blues. Musically, spirituals were a descendant of New England choral traditions, and in particular of Isaac Watts's hymns, mixed with African rhythms and call-and-response forms. Spirituals or religious chants in the African-American community are much better documented than the "low-down" blues. Spiritual singing developed because African-American communities could gather for mass or worship gatherings, which were called camp meetings.

Early country bluesmen such as Skip James, Charley Patton, Georgia Tom Dorsey played country and urban blues and had influences from spiritual singing. Dorsey helped to popularize Gospel music. Gospel music developed in the 1930s, with the Golden Gate Quartet. In the 1950s, soul music by Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and James Brown used gospel and blues music elements. In the 1960s and 1970s, gospel and blues were these merged in soul blues music. Funk music of the 1970s was influenced by soul; funk can be seen as an antecedent of hip-hop and contemporary R&B.

Before World War II, the boundaries between blues and jazz were less clear. Usually jazz had harmonic structures stemming from brass bands, whereas blues had blues forms such as the 12-bar blues. However, the jump blues of the 1940s mixed both styles. After WWII, blues had a substantial influence on jazz. Bebop classics, such as Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time", used the blues form with the pentatonic scale and blue notes. Bebop marked a major shift in the role of jazz, from a popular style of music for dancing, to a "high-art," less-accessible, cerebral "musician's music". The audience for both blues and jazz split, and the border between blues and jazz became more defined. Artists straddling the boundary between jazz and blues are categorized into the jazz blues sub-genre.

The blues' twelve-bar structure and the blues scale was a major influence on rock and roll music. Rock and roll has been called "blues with a backbeat"; Carl Perkins called rockabilly "blues with a country beat". Rockabillies were also said to be twelve-bar blues played with a bluegrass beat. "Hound Dog", with its unmodified twelve-bar structure (in both harmony and lyrics) and a melody centered on flatted third of the tonic (and flatted seventh of the subdominant), is a blues song transformed into a rock and roll song. Jerry Lee Lewis's style of rock and roll was heavily influenced by the blues and its derivative boogie woogie. His style of music was not exactly rockabilly but it has been often called real rock and roll (this is a label he shares with several African American rock and roll performers).

Early country music was infused with the blues. Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe and Hank Williams have all described themselves as blues singers and their music has a blues feel that is different to the country pop of Eddy Arnold. A lot of the 1970s-era "outlaw" country music by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings also borrowed from the blues. When Jerry Lee Lewis returned to country after the decline of 1950s style rock and roll, he sang his country with a blues feel and often included blues standards on his albums. Many early rock and roll songs are based on blues: "That's All Right Mama", "Johnny B. Goode", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", "Shake, Rattle, and Roll", and "Long Tall Sally". The early African American rock musicians retained the sexual themes and innuendos of blues music: "Got a gal named Sue, knows just what to do" ("Tutti Frutti", Little Richard) or "See the girl with the red dress on, She can do the Birdland all night long" ("What'd I Say", Ray Charles). The twelve-bar blues structure can be found even in novelty pop songs, such as Bob Dylan's "Obviously Five Believers" and Esther and Abi Ofarim's "Cinderella Rockefella".

BBC Blues Sessions

Volume 1

Disc 1
DR FEELGOOD
01. All Through the City - 4th May 2006
02. She's A Wind Up - 4th May 2006
03. Too Much Trouble - 4th May 2006
04. Instinct To Survive - 21st September 2006

CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
05. Sundown - 15th June 2006
06. Blues For Yesterday - 15th June 2006

THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND
07. Crow Jane - 29th June 2006
08. All I Do - 29th June 2006
09. I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free) - 29th June 2006

NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS
10. Teasin' Brown - 6th July 2006
11. Bang Bang Lulu - 6th July 2006
12. Mississippi Boll Weevil - 6th July 2006

FRUTELAND JACKSON
13. Highway Blues > Key To The Highway - 13th July 2006
14. A Gambler's View - 13th July 2006
15. How Long - 13th July 2006
16. I Don't Want You No More - 13th July 2006

OTIS TAYLOR
17. Back Pocket - 20th July 2006
18. If You Wore Blue - 20th July 2006
19. Mexican Cowboy - 20th July 2006


Volume 2

MICHAEL MESSER
01. Take Me Back - 3rd August 2006
02. Sunflower River - 3rd August 2006
03. Lucky Charms - 3rd August 2006
04. Son House - 5th October 2006

JAMES HUNTER
05. People Gonna Talk - 31st August 2006
06. I'll Walk Away - 31st August 2006
07. Talkin' 'Bout My Love - 31st August 2006
08. No Smoke Without Fire - 3rd September 2006 - From Andy Kershaw Show on BBC Radio 3
09. Watch & Chain - 3rd September 2006 - From Andy Kershaw Show on BBC Radio 3
10. Kick It Around - 12th October 2006 (Paul Jones Show)

MARCIA BALL
11. Sparkle Paradise - Live At Cambridge Folk Festival 2006 - From BBC Cambridge FF Broadcast 3rd August 2006
12. Mobile - Live At Cambridge Folk Festival 2006 (Paul Jones Show Broadcast 7th Sept 2006)
13. Louisiana 1927 - Live At Cambridge Folk Festival 2006 (Paul Jones Show Broadcast 7th Sept 2006)
14. That's Enough Of That Stuff - Live At Cambridge Folk Festival 2006 (Paul Jones Show Broadcast 7th Sept 2006)

MARY FLOWER
15. River Of Joy - 12th October 2006
16. The Backwater Blues - 4th January 2007


Volume 3

JOHNNY JONES WITH MO' INDIGO
01. The Blues Is In The House - 27th July 2006
02. I Was Raised On The Blues - 27th July 2006
03. Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong - 27th July 2006

TERRY CALLIER
04. Lookin' Out - 14th September 2006
05. Midnight Mile - 14th September 2006
06. Blues For Billie Holliday - 14th September 2006

TONY JOE WHITE
07. Not One Bad Thought - 21st September 2006 (Paul Jones Show)
08. Keeper Of The Fire - 21st September 2006 (Paul Jones Show)
9. Did Domebody Make A Fool Out Of You - 21st September 2006 (Paul Jones Show)
10. Who You Gonna Hoo-Doo Now - From Mark Lamarr Show 30th September 2006
11. Scratch My Back (shortened Version) - From Mark Lamarr Show 30th September 2006
12. Do You Have A Garter Belt - From Mark Lamarr Show 30th September 2006

SEAN WEBSTER
13. Last Night - 28th September 2006
14. So Rare - 28th September 2006
15. Missing You - 28th September 2006


Volume 4

WALTER TROUT & THE RADICALS
01. Workin' Overtime - 5th October 2006
02. Can't Help Falling Apart (feat. Paul Jones) - 5th October 2006
03. She Takes More Than She Gives - 5th October 2006
04. Love So Deep - Live At Cardiff Coal Exchange 11th October 2001
05. Go The Distance - Live At Cardiff Coal Exchange 11th October 2001
06. Walkin' In The Rain (Cut) - Live At Cardiff Coal Exchange 11th October 2006

JOE BONAMASSA
07. Woke Up Dreaming - 19th October 2006
08. Walk In My Shadow > So Many Roads > Bridge To Better Days - 19th October 2006 (16 Mins)
09. Just Got Paid > Dazed & Confused instrumental section - 23rd November 2006 (9 mins)

ROLLO MARKEE & THE TAILSHAKERS
10. Woop Yes We Are - 26th October 2006
11. Julius Junior - 26th October 2006
12. Everybody - 26th October 2006