Blues Genres

Boogie-Woogie Blues

This piano-based style was a natural evolution from the early 1900s style of stride piano. Our great grandparents no doubt got down to the boogie-woogie blues during the World War I years and onward with artists like Big Joe Turner and Pinetop Perkins.

Delta Blues

Credited as one of the earliest genres of blues, this Mississippi original features plenty of guitar and harmonica. James Cotton and Sonny Boy Williamson are some of the biggest legends to come out of the delta.

Chicago Blues

Chicago blues features a lot of high-energy guitar. It’s often said to be like delta blues but more amplified. Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, and Magic Sam are all prime examples of this style.

Jump Blues

In the 1940s, jump blues became the new thing. With it’s up-tempo swing style and sax paired to rowdy vocals, it was an instant hit. Cab Calloway and Sam Taylor are definite mainstays of this category.

Soul Blues

Often called R&B for rhythm and blues, the late 1960s and early 1970s were where this style began. It’s a cool combo of soul music and modern urban music. Among the most legendary of the soul blues artists is Ray Charles.

Texas Blues

Deep in the heart of Texas, the blues come full force with a hard swing and repetitive riffs. Slide guitar and different blues and jazz melodies thrust in by none other than Stevie Ray Vaughn to give Texas a whole twang of its own. The Fabulous Thunderbirds and T-Bone Walker are other Texas blues notables.

New Orleans Blues

It’s a little bit smokey, a little bit Cajun, a little bit Creole and full of flavor. New Orleans blues has a little something for everyone with a Latin rhumba melded with a zydeco style beat. It swings, it marches, and it really gets you going. Think Little Richard, James Booker, Guitar Slim, and Fats Domino.

Blues Rock

Blues Rock is a type of music which mixes blues with rock and roll, and uses mostly electric guitar as a main instrument. It began in the mid 1960s in England and the United States with bands such as Cream and The Rolling Stones, who experimented with music from the older bluesmen like Elmore James, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley.

Examples of Blues Rock Artists

Allman Brothers Band

Mike Bloomfield

Joe Bonamassa

Eric Clapton

Fleetwood Mac

Rory Gallagher

Jimi Hendrix

John Mayall

The Rolling Stones

Carlos Santana

Lynyrd Skynyrd

George Thorogood

Status Quo

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Johnny Winter

ZZ Top

British Blues

One of the most important things of British blues was the reexport of blues to the USA. The success of bands like the Rolling Stones woke the interest of many white young people in the USA in blues music.

The Animals

Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation

Long John Baldry

Jeff Beck

Duster Bennett

The Blues Band

Chicken Shack

Graham Bond Organization

Jack Bruce

Eric Clapton

Rory Gallagher

Cream

Cyril Davies

John Dummer Band

Fleetwood Mac

Keef Hartley Band

Humble Pie

John Mayall

Peter Green

Jethro Tull

Jo Ann Kelly

Alexis Korner

Led Zeppelin

Manfred Mann

Steve Marriott

Jimmy Page

The Rolling Stones

Savoy Brown

Jeremy Spencer

Taste (Irish Blues Band)

Ten Years After

Them

The Yardbirds

The Pretty Things

Chris Youlden