ElPatanico
Dad Rockin Man
Another documentary worth looking up is from the "Metal Evolution" series where they interview old British musicians about the music of the lates 60s and early 70s.
How did the emerging bands of 60s get influenced by blues musicians in America??
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Big Ears
Music Lover
At the beginning, some British musicians, like Tony McPhee, did faithfully copy the American blues musicians. At the outset, Eric Clapton was quite faithful, but he tended to play loud. I heard him say, in an interview, that he decided to put the blues in a 'modern context'. I think he was talking about Crossroads. Cream still had a definite jazz influence, with Baker and Bruce from Graham Bond.
The Kinks also began as faithful copies, but thankfully played on their Englishness.
Jagger and Wyman were good at imitating and, unlike the blues-rock bands, had no intention of cranking-up the blues. I'm not sure what happened with them. They sounded like disco to me at one point.
Like Clapton and Jeff Beck (now there's a jazz man), Led Zeppelin took the slow blues and belted it out! Most heavy rock bands took their cue from Led Zeppelin.
What happened is that the British musicians tended to be brought up in the middle-class suburbs of the capital, not the cottonfileds of the deep south. While postwar Britain was far from easy, they could not fully relate to the background of the black American musicians.
Trad jazz was popular in England in the early sixties and Pete Townshend, among others, said it was an influence. Church music would have had a profound effect and so too did Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.
The Kinks also began as faithful copies, but thankfully played on their Englishness.
Jagger and Wyman were good at imitating and, unlike the blues-rock bands, had no intention of cranking-up the blues. I'm not sure what happened with them. They sounded like disco to me at one point.
Like Clapton and Jeff Beck (now there's a jazz man), Led Zeppelin took the slow blues and belted it out! Most heavy rock bands took their cue from Led Zeppelin.
What happened is that the British musicians tended to be brought up in the middle-class suburbs of the capital, not the cottonfileds of the deep south. While postwar Britain was far from easy, they could not fully relate to the background of the black American musicians.
Trad jazz was popular in England in the early sixties and Pete Townshend, among others, said it was an influence. Church music would have had a profound effect and so too did Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.
Nololob
Long Live Wock 'n' Woll
The only bad thing about Metal Evolution is it's very biased.
Pretty much what Big Ears already said. There is a solid evolution from Jazz and Blues (not really Glen Miller type stuff but more the back country American scene) through early rock and into what the British and some American bands were doing in the sixties. Some of the songs were almost directly copied but just preformed with electrified instrumentation and a prevailing electric rythum section.
I'm so very glad the blues took off in England. The list of mind blowing bands from that era seems endless.
I'm so very glad the blues took off in England. The list of mind blowing bands from that era seems endless.
Big Ears
Music Lover
I'm often very grateful that America gave us (not just England, but the rest of the world) jazz, the blues and rock 'n' roll. I could not imagine life without The Beatles and progressive & heavy rock, the origins of which came from the US. Other non-rock 'n' roll forms of music from the US were and remain very influential here, including country, rockabilly, swing and Broadway & Hollywood musicals. Frankie Laine was part of a genre (I think called 'exciters'?) and Paul McCartney has said he was a source of inspiriation too.
