Rhythm and Blues (R&B)..."Rhythm" too? I'm not so sure about this...

First of all, see if you recognize the following names.

1. Little Richard
2. James Brown
3. Sam Cooke
4. Elvis Presley

I didn't know the last one either. How about these:

1. Michael Jackson
2. Luther Vandross
3. Whitney Houston
4. R. Kelly
5. Boyz II Men

Well, if you're under 8 years old, you should be in school. But I have some names for you too:
1. Alicia Keys
2. Beyonce
3. Usher
4. Ne-Yo
5. Chris Brown

The lists above are all names of artists that have elements of R&B in their music. You may be wondering, "What is this thing called 'R&B?'" R&B stands for "rhythm and blues," meaning there is blues integrated with rhythm. In fact, many blues artists were the first to play R&B music, around the 1940s. Since the 1950s, however, R&B has taken on a different meaning. Now, R&B can mean blues music, but it is most often referred to gospel, funk, and soul sounds. That's why R&B artists like Usher, Beyonce, Ne-Yo, etc. are commonly called "contemporary R&B" artists. To me, they are not really blues musicians, although I'd say Alicia Keys would probably be the closest because she frequently plays the piano and just has a bluesier sound than the rest (remember 2001's "Fallin'"? Kind of like blues...).

Could be worse.

I really haven't talked a lot about female blues artists. While the majority of blues singers and musicians are male, there are many that are female. In fact, there was a subgroup of blues music called "classic female blues." The music form was very popular in the 1920s, thanks to singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. They were instrumental in spreading the word of the blues and making the genre become popular among music listeners. By 1929, however, the classic female blues genre slowly declined. I've got some songs from my grandparents' good 'ol days. Here they are:

Ma Rainey (1886-1939)

Bessie Smith (1894-1937)

Ethel Waters (1900-1977)

Victoria Spivey (1906-1976)

Have to add Aretha Franklin too.



In other news, I was watching Family Guy last night and there was a clip of Muddy Waters that I thought was hilarious. I have all the respect in the world for Mr. Waters, but this is too good to not post.

Have a bad day full of blues!

(sarcasm)