Rhythm and Blues today

An excerpt from Otis Clay’s recent soul and rhythm and blues show at Fitzerald’s in Chicago. He’s in fine voice, and friends Lonnie Brooks and Cicero Blake join in the fun. … soul rhythm and blues otis clay lonnie brooks cicero blake

it again today. You know, my temperatures risin And the jukebox blows a fuse. My hearts beatin rhythm And my soul keeps on singin the blues. Roll over beethoven and tell tschaikowsky the news. I got the rockin pneumonia, I need a shot of rhythm and blues. I think Im rollin arthiritis Sittin down by the rhythm review. Roll over beethoven rockin in two by two. Well, if you feel you like it Go get your lover, then reel and rock it. Roll it over and move on up just A trifle further and reel …

There has been many attempts to place the first rock and roll song, but rock historians are widely in disagreement with that one song. There are many songs in the running, but before we get to that, what exactly constitutes a rock and roll song?

Black rhythm and blues is well known to be the cradle of rock and roll. It is distinguished by it’s 4/4 time, an up tempo beat, and an emphasis on the saxophone to carry the solo on the middle eight bars. Rock and roll is barely discernable from rhythm and blues, except rock and roll uses the guitar to play the middle eight solo rather than the saxophone. At least that’s my definition. Rock and roll is responsible for the emergence of the electric guitar.

If you read any of the histories of rock and roll, the distinguished first song of rock and roll falls to one of the following: Wynonie Harris, with “Good Rocking At Midnight”(1953), “Sh Boom’, by The Chords, (1954), (the first “race” record to break the white top 10); and “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the Comets (1954).

While these are all ground breaking songs, in one way or the other; they do not measure up to be the first rock and roll song. First of all, they all use the saxophone to carry the middle eight, and secondly, they post date the song I believe to be the “first” rock and roll song.

This song is “Saturday Night Fish Fry” pts. 1 and 2, by Louis Jordan (1949). Louis Jordan, was probably the first black man to gain wide acceptance by the white public. While mostly known as a black rhythm and blues star in the forties, he was the first to use the guitar as a solo instrument. His song repeatedly uses the phrase “it was rockin”, and it was a huge hit, in the top ten juke box singles for the year.

For the first Rockabilly song ever, I nominate “We’re Going To Roll and Rock”by Eddie Zack and his cousin Ritchie in 1953. If there is an older rockabilly song, I am not aware of it.

I am proud to state that I own 78rpm copies of both of these songs. (“We’re Going To Roll and Rock” is very rare.)

If you have a different opinion, please leave a comment.



By: Michael Muehleisen

In their fancy cars and their limousines Been high in the Rockies under the evergreens But I know what I’m needing And I don’t want to waste more time I’m in a New York state of mind It was so easy living day by day Out of touch with the rhythm and blues But now I need a little give and take The New York Times, The Daily News It comes down to reality And it’s fine with me ’cause I’ve let it slide Don’t care if it’s Chinatown or on Riverside I don’t have any reasons I’ve left them all behind …

If you decide to begin with an acoustic model, by the time your fingers have hardened sufficiently on the softer strings, you well be well on the road to knowing your chords and many other aspects of playing needed. It is vital not to touch any of the adjacent strings as this will not produce the sound you are aiming for. At some point, you are bound to get tired of playing only riffs. After school, there would be ample time to discover all the chords and enjoy the resounding flavor of notes that are emitted from a bass. There are tons of chords to learn; some simple and some complex. Intervals are an important part of playing songs.

Everything is based on major intervals. And use the intervals between the strings that give the perfect fourths except in the interval between the B (second) and G (third) strings. To have at least an overall view on everything on intervals the need to learn the intervals is necessary. Things to look for while finding a good guitarist the guitar is an incredibly versatile instrument, and like the piano, it can play melodies, solos, or help to gel a group. Get lessons, a songbook, and download from several sites online. Playing the solo starts with learning the rhythm part of the blues. As you go along, make sure you are absorbing the blues chords dictionary, including visualizing the arrangements.

Know the basics, practice and prepare, then go learn those blues. Set an hour or two for added lessons in blues. Playing blues is often demonstrated online to give you an idea how it is played. There are several reliable blues and lessons online and offline. A beginner should be able to memorize the chords and practice playing until he is comfortable. Playing offer endless possibilities of combinations of notes. When you have mastered the blues, you will eventually develop flexibility and style. If you want a better sound when you playing blues, use big strings. Some tips for better blues learning the blues intervals is learning how all these work together.

Assuming you already have a background on tablature, you will be introduced to blues. Improvisation on the blues can lead to other genres like rock, jazz, and rock `n roll. Learning the blues include a knowledge of the blues scales, blues runs, major third note, and other important fundamentals of the blues . The Blues Jam is the venue to show off your talent, and this all begins with the blues. To make the most of your free licks, get a guitar dictionary. To make the learning process easier, there are sites that have video demonstrations explaining the function of each part, intervals and techniques.

Cool guitarists have a way with playing, style and ease. With the continuing craze about playing, from rhythm and blues to rock there is a huge demand. Still, you have to consistently practice with free guitar chords to perfect your craft. Getting arranged according to basic patterns. Learning to read the diagrams and guitar tablature will guarantee your enjoyment, which you can download anytime from online sites. With a regular guitar you have to worry about which scales to play and when. If you apply yourself properly and dedicate your time to learning in different ways then you will soon be on your way to a more professional sounding guitar and much better techniques than you ever had before.



By: Ronald Firquain

It was the early 1950s. American music hadn’t changed significantly in many years. The big band era had gone the way of the dinosaur and the musical vacuum was expanding everyday. There were no artists for young people to identify with – no distinctive sound they could claim as their own. The time was ripe for something spectacular to happen – and in those early 1950s, it did.

The world of rock ‘n roll burst on the scene with incomparable flamboyance. The birth of any great historical trend is difficult to pin down, and rock ‘n roll is no exception. The early years are as full of claims and counter-claims and as brimming with controversy as the music itself has been over the years.

Bill Haley had said that he and his group were the originators of rock ‘n roll. Little Richard made a similar claim. Bo Diddley had said that he was at the beginning, and everything grew up around him. And, of course, there’s Fats Domino, who was playing rock ‘n roll as far back as the 1940s, although it wasn’t called that then.

The generation that grew up in the mid fifties gives credit to Elvis – and later generations think the style began with four young men from Liverpool.

Each of these artists and many more were major contributors in the genesis of rock. And Elvis in particular was the symbol around which it made its greatest rally. But it was Bill Haley who brought rock from its rhythm and blues origins into the spotlight in 1954 with the smash hit from the film Blackboard Jungle, Rock Around the Clock.

Rock ‘n roll – even the name itself has created more than its share of controversy. It’s been said to have come from disc jockeys, dances, old blues songs and a dozen other sources. In an interview I had with him many years ago, Bill Haley put in his claim.

“I wrote a song for the Esquire Boys and it was recorded by them – this was before we hit – and also by the Treniers, and later recorded it myself, Rock a Beatin’ Boogie. The word rock had been used many, many times in many songs. So I just sat down one night and wrote a tune that went, ‘Rock, rock, rock everybody…’ and I couldn’t think of another word, so I just wrote, ‘Roll, roll, roll everybody…’ and that is where the name came from.”

Early rock ‘n roll was a marriage of several musical elements. The two most prominent of these were country and rhythm and blues. Bill Haley brought these building blocks together and struck out in new directions. He had been doing country since he was 7 years old, but always loved rhythm and blues music. He spent some time traveling with a medicine show that passed through New Orleans. It was there that he learned some of the early rhythm and blues songs. Bill Haley honestly pointed out that he didn’t invent the music, the music had been played for many years, in the form of boogie-woogie and what was called race music in the pre rock ‘n roll days.

Haley also pointed out that rock ‘n roll is a combination of country and rhythm and blues music. He went on to say that he was the first country singer to dare, shall we say, to sing rhythm and blues songs, it just wasn’t accepted at the time. He took a country band, added a saxophone and sang songs like We’re Gonna Rock This Joint Tonight, and everybody said, hey, what is it? They wouldn’t play it on the radio yet, but the kids loved it, the juke boxes loved it, and from that came rock ‘n roll music.

Copyright 2008 Jim Nettleton



By: Jim Nettleton

Rhythm and blues (or R&B) was coined as a musical marketing term in the United States in 1949 by Jerry Wexler at Billboard magazine, and was used to designate upbeat popular music performed by African American artists that combined jazz, gospel, and blues. It replaced the term race music, which was deemed offensive, as well as the Billboard category name “Harlem Hit Parade,” in June of 1949, and was initially used to identify the rocking style of music that combined the 12 bar blues format and boogie woogie with a backbeat, later known as rock and roll. In 1948, RCA Victor was marketing black music under the name “Blues and Rhythm,” but the words were reversed by Wexler of Atlantic Records, the most aggressive and most dominant label in the R&B field in the early years. By the 1970s, rhythm and blues was being used as a blanket term to describe soul and funk as well. Today, the acronym “R&B” is almost always used instead of “rhythm and blues”, and defines the modern version of the soul and funk influenced African-American pop music that originated with the demise of disco in 1980.

Original rhythm and blues
In its first manifestation, rhythm and blues was a predecessor to rock and roll. It was strongly influenced by jazz and jump music as well as black gospel music, and influenced jazz in return (hard bop was the product of the influence of rhythm and blues, blues, and gospel music on bebop) and African tribal beats.

The first rock and roll consisted of rhythm and blues songs like “Rocket 88″ and “Shake, Rattle and Roll” making an appearance on the popular music charts as well as the R&B charts. “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”, the first hit by Jerry Lee Lewis was an R&B cover song that made #1 on pop, R&B and country and western charts.

Musicians paid little attention to the distinction between jazz and rhythm and blues, and frequently recorded in both genres. Numerous swing bands (for example, Jay McShann’s, Tiny Bradshaw’s, and Johnny Otis’s) also recorded rhythm and blues. Count Basie had a weekly live rhythm and blues broadcast from Harlem. Even a bebop icon like arranger Tadd Dameron also arranged for Bull Moose Jackson and spent two years as Jackson’s pianist after establishing himself in bebop. Most of the studio musicians in R&B were jazz musicians. And it worked in the other direction as well. Many of the musicians on Charlie Mingus’s breakthrough jazz recordings were R&B veterans. Lionel Hampton’s big band of the early 1940s, which produced the classic recording “Flying Home” (tenor sax solo by Illinois Jacquet) was the breeding ground for many of the bebop legends of the 1950s. Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson was a one-man fusion, a bebop saxophonist and a blues shouter.

The 1950s was the premier decade for classic rhythm and blues. Overlapping with other genres such as jazz and rock and roll, R&B also developed regional variations. A strong, distinct style straddling the border with blues came out of New Orleans and was based on a rolling piano style first made famous by Professor Longhair. In the late 1950s, Fats Domino hit the national charts with “Blueberry Hill” and “Ain’t That a Shame”. Other artists who popularized this Louisiana flavor of R&B included Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Frankie Ford, Irma Thomas, The Neville Brothers, and Dr. John.

At the start of their career, The Rolling Stones were essentially an R&B band.

Contemporary R&B

It was not until the 1980s that the term “R&B” regained ordinary usage. During that time, the soul music of James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone had adapted elements from psychedelic music and other styles through the work of performers like George Clinton. Funk also became a major part of disco, a kind of dance pop electronic music. By the early 1980s, however, funk and soul had become sultry and sexually-charged with the work of Prince and others. At that time, the modern style of contemporary R&B came to be a major part of American popular music.

R&B today defines a style of African-American music, originating after the demise of disco in 1980, that combines elements of soul music, funk music, pop music, and (after 1986) hip hop in the form known as contemporary R&B. In this context only the abbreviation “R&B” is used, not the full expression.

Sometimes referred to as “urban contemporary” (the name of the radio format that plays hip hop and R&B music) or “urban pop”, contemporary R&B is distinguished by a slick, electronic record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, and a smooth, lush style of vocal arrangement. Uses of hip hop inspired beats are typical, although the roughness and grit inherent in hip hop are usually reduced and smoothed out.

History

Contemporary R&B singer Mary J. Blige performs on the National Mall during the “NFL Kickoff Live 2003” Concert.With the transition from soul to R&B in the early to mid 1980s, solo singer Luther Vandross and new stars like Prince (Purple Rain) and Michael Jackson (Off the Wall, Thriller) took over, and dominated the primary schools throughout the 1980s. Jackson’s Thriller, which repopularized black music with pop audiences after a post-disco backlash among United States mainstream audiences, is the best-selling album of all time worldwide.

Female R&B singers like Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson gained great popularity during the last half of the decade; and Tina Turner, then in her 50s, came back with a series of hits with crossover appeal. Also popular was New Edition, a group of teenagers who served as the prototype for later boy bands such as the New Kids on the Block, The Backstreet Boys, and others.

In 1986, Teddy Riley began producing R&B recordings that included influences from the increasingly popular genre of hip hop music. This combination of R&B style and hip-hop rhythms was termed new jack swing, and artists such as Keith Sweat, Guy, Jodeci, and BellBivDeVoe (featuring former members of New Edition). Another popular, but short-lived group, with more pronounced R&B roots was Levert, whose lead singer, Gerald Levert, was the son of O’Jays lead vocalist Eddie Levert.

In the early 1990s, R&B group Boyz II Men repopularized classic-soul inspired vocal harmony, and several similar groups (among them Shai, Soul for Real, and Dru Hill) would follow in their footsteps. Boyz II Men, and several of their competitors, benefited from lush ballads from producers such as Babyface and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who brought Michael Jackson’s sister Janet Jackson to fame during the late 1980s and early 1990s. As a solo artist, Babyface and contemporaries such as Brian McKnight eschewed prominent hip hop influences, and recorded in a smooth, soft style of R&B termed quiet storm.

In the early 1990s, alternative rock, adult contemporary, and gangsta rap ruled the charts, and R&B artists began adding even more of a rap/hip hop sound to their work. New jack swing had its synthesizer-heavy rhythm tracks replaced by grittier East Coast hip hop inspired backing tracks, resulting in a genre labeled “hip hop soul” by Sean “Puffy” Combs, producer for Mary J. Blige. Blige and other hip hop soul artists such as R. Kelly, Montell Jordan, Brandy, and Aaliyah, more than their slicker new jack swing predecessors, brought hip hop slang, style, and attitudes to R&B music. The subgenre also includes a heavy gospel influence with vocal inflections and sounds. The style became less popular by the end of the 1990s, but later experienced a resurgence. The hip hop soul sound continues to be heard in the work of artists such as Jaheim, Ashanti, Amerie, and Keyshia Cole.

During the mid-1990s, highly successful artists such as Mariah Carey, girl group TLC and the aforementioned Boyz II Men brought contemporary R&B to the mainstream. Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey recorded several Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, including “One Sweet Day”, a collaboration between both acts which became the longest-running number-one hit in Hot 100 history. In addition, both Boyz II Men and TLC released albums in 1994, II and CrazySexyCool, respectively, that sold over ten million copies, earning them diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Other top-selling R&B artists from this era included singer Toni Braxton, singer/songwriter/producer R. Kelly, and girl group En Vogue.

During the later part of the decade, neo soul, which added a 1970s soul music influence to the hip hop soul blend, arose, led by artists such as D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell. Several artists, most notably Missy Elliott, further blurred the line between R&B and hip hop by recording in both genres simultaneously.

During the late-1990s and early 2000s, the influence of pop on R&B could be heard in the work of several pop musicians, most notably Jennifer Lopez and the later recordings of *NSYNC and the early recordings of 98 Degrees. *NSYNC’s lead singer Justin Timberlake went on to make several solo recordings that showed heavy influences from both R&B and hip hop music. Other pop stars who perform heavily R&B influenced pop music (sometimes referred to as “dirty pop”,”urban pop”, or a modern definition of “hip pop”) include Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, and Pink.

In the United Kingdom, R&B found its way into the UK garage subgenre of 2Step, typified by R&B-style singing accompanied by breakbeat/jungle rhythms. Among the most notable 2Step artists is Craig David, who crossed over to American R&B audiences in the early 2000s.

Present day
By the 2000s, the cross-pollination between R&B and hip hop had increased to the point where, in most cases, the only prominent difference between a record being a hip hop record or an R&B record is whether its vocals are rapped or sung. Mainstream modern R&B has a sound more based on rhythm than hip hop soul had, and lacks the hardcore and soulful urban “grinding” feel on which hip-hop soul relied. That rhythmic element descends from new jack swing. R&B began to focus more on solo artists rather than groups as the 2000s progressed. As of 2005, the most prominent R&B artists include Usher, Beyoncé (formerly of Destiny’s Child), and Mariah Carey whose music often blurs the line between contemporary R&B and pop.

Soulful R&B continues to be popular, with artists such as Alicia Keys,John Legend, Toni Braxton and American Idol winner Fantasia showcasing classic influences in their work. Some R&B singers have used elements of Caribbean music in their work, especially dancehall and reggaeton.

Quiet storm, while still existent, is no longer a dominant presence on the pop charts, and is generally confined to urban adult contemporary radio. Most of the prominent quiet storm artists, including Babyface and Gerald Levert, began their careers in the 1980s and 1990s, although newer artists such as Kem also record in the quiet storm style. Its influence can still be seen in singles such as Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together”.

In addition, several producers have developed specialized styles of song production. Timbaland, for example, became notable for his hip hop and jungle based syncopated productions in the late-1990s, during which time he produced R&B hits for Aaliyah, Ginuwine, and singer/rapper Missy Elliott. By the end of the decade, Timbaland’s influences had shifted R&B songs towards a sound that approximated his own, with slightly less of a hip hop feel. Lil’ Jon became famous for a style he termed “crunk & B”, deriving its influences from the Southern hip hop subclassification of crunk music. Jon gave his main R&B artist, Ciara, the title of “The First Lady of Crunk & B”, and Brooke Valentine and Usher have also recorded R&B songs with strong crunk influences.

Contemporary R&B subgenres
These are the major subgenres of contemporary R&B, roughly in chronological order of popularity.

Quiet storm

Quiet storm is a broad category of R&B and jazz-based music that is mellow, laid-back and often romantic. Its name comes from an innovative radio show that originated at WHUR at Howard University in the mid-1970s, named after Smokey Robinson’s hit 1975 single “Quiet Storm”. Unlike contemporary R&B, quiet storm shows little influence from hip hop, and generally plays to the urban adult contemporary crowd. The genre achieved great mainstream success during the 1980s with artists like Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, and Sade. Among other notable quiet storm musicians are Lionel Richie, Gerald Levert, Joe, and Brian McKnight.

New jack swing
A fusion of hip hop music and R&B, new jack swing was distinguished by significant use of rapped choruses or bridges and prominent use of drum machines such as the Roland TR-808. Teddy Riley and his group Guy are credited with being the inventor of the genre; other notable figures include Bobby Brown, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Jodeci, and Boyz II Men. A female alternative, new jill swing, was championed by acts such as Janet Jackson, Total, Shanice, TLC, and SWV.

Hip hop soul
Essentially new jack swing for the 1990s, hip hop soul took the style further towards a pure hip hop sound, usually accompanied by a nervy, gangsta rap-esque image. The sound was remenescent of funk with the inclusion of relatively darker baselines with elongated groove notes. Among its most notable figures were Montell Jordan, BLACKstreet, Groove Theory, and the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul”, Mary J. Blige.

Neo soul
Neo soul blends a hip hop influenced R&B sound with the classic soul of the 1970s. True neo soul is characterized by an earthy feel, accented by soul-styled harmonies, and accompanied by alternative hip hop beats. It generally has a much less mainstream sound than general R&B music. Some artists of this genre include Van Hunt, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Angie Stone, Maxwell, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Alicia Keys, and Jill Scott.



By: Clarence Harrell

Gomez – Rhythm And Blues Alibi Virgin UK (P) 1999 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Virgin Records Ltd

‘Nobody’ – Great Welsh Rhythm and Blues from Geraint Watkins And The Dominators 1979. … Rhythm Blues Boogie Piano