Boogie-woogie is a popular style of Blues Music.  It is a piano-based style from the early 20^th century.  It has a very strong bass pattern associated with and originally piano players accompanied themselves by playing this strong bass pattern with their left hand.  Then a bass player was added and they would duplicate the piano player’s bass line.  As this style evolved more, the bassist would often play the entire boogie-woogie bass line themselves, and the pianist played entirely different piano parts.

Boogie-woogie became very popular in the 30s and 40s.  It started as solo piano but then grew to three pianos at once, guitar, big band, gospel, and even country and western music.  While the traditional blues usually depicts a variety of emotions, boogie-woogie was mainly associated with dancing.

For the most part boogie-woogie tunes are twelve bar tunes and it’s said to have been created in logging and turpentine camps, and oil boomtowns of Texas, Louisiana, and the Mississippi Delta circa 1900.  The very first boogie-woogie hit was entitled “Pinetop’s Boogie-Woogie” by Pinetop Smith recorded in 1928 and first released in 1929. This was the first boogie-woogie recording to be a commercial hit, and helped establish boogie-woogie as the name of the style.

Boogie-woogie then gained further attention in 1938 and 1939 thanks to several concerts at Carnegie Hall.  And then it became only natural that swing bands began to implement the boogie-woogie beat into some of their music.  Famous dances known as the jitterbug and the Lindy Hop required the boogie-woogie beat.

On the South Side of Chicago, in a neighborhood called Bronzeville, many different blues styles were played alongside each other during the 40s and 50s.  This neighborhood was home to different races and social classes that developed innovations in blues music. “The Harlem of Chicago: The History of Bronzeville” is an exhibition at the Chicago Blues Museum.  This exhibit explores this neighborhood’s musical heritage through photographs and memorabilia.

Many African Americans had moved from the South to larger cities in the North during the Great Migration of the early twentieth century.   Bronzeville was a cultural hub for Chicago’s growing African American population and the blues community.  Nightclubs were opened that entertained with the electrically amplified instruments that had not been available in small southern communities.

The Chicago Blues Museum has collected a large number of artifacts by creating relationships with the families of blues musicians who performed during the 40s and 50s. These families have donated many rare items such as photographs and music. The hope of the museum is to encourage an appreciation for the blues through education programs and performances.  Make sure to visit the museum on your next venture to Chicago.

For over 25 years Chicago has been hosting it’s annual blues festival.  It’s an incredible scene with several stages set up throughout Grant Park.  The admission is free and every year thousands and thousands of blues lovers come together to celebrate this great genre.

The Chicago story came about some 90 years ago as the blacks from the South began moving to the more Northern cities in the early 1900s.  Chicago was a place of promise for them.  It gave them hope for more opportunity and a better life.  Much of what their music was based on.

Many musicians on their journey North stopped at Memphis and spent time there, which is why Memphis today is such an important part of the blues history.  In Chicago, though the players were starting to plug in their guitars, and the blues music became infused with an edgier, more electrified sound.  Roaring vocals and boogie-woogie style became popular across the city’s venues and the Chicago style began to take hold.

The recording industry also made the Chicago scene boom.  Chess Records, Vee-Jay and numerous other small labels were a huge force in this city.  Muddy Waters exemplified the Chicago sound of the 40s and 50s. It was aggressive and electric, and by the late 40s Chicago was a powerhouse for this electric blues.

The blues had it’s own economical and cultural draw.  Blues clubs abounded in the city such as the South Side’s Maxwell Street.  Tourists and locals alike who were huge supporters of the blues, would spend their money in the stores, and on liquor in the clubs.  They would frequent the hairdressers, and clothing stores.  This “heyday” cemented Chicago as the Blues capitol.

In the late 60s and 70s blues began to lose its popularity with black audiences.  Some believe this was due to the increasing popularity of disco, soul and R&B.  Yet the blues did begin to gain more attention from the white audience.  A new collection of clubs began to open on Chicago’s North side because of this interest.

Today, even though Chicago’s South side has drastically changed, the Chicago scene remains alive from the North side’s traditional blues to the south Side’s blues melded with soul.  Chicago’s Blues Fest helps keep this alive.

In the early 1900s is when the Blues as we know it today took shape in this country.  But if you have studied the Blues you know that it’s roots stem back hundreds of years and many miles across the Atlantic Ocean to both Africa and Europe before taking root in the American South.

It was actually the blending and clashing of African and European music where it all started.  Add to that the spice of the American South and you have the Blues as it is today.

The use of flatted notes (the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th) come from the indigenous music of West Africa, therefore the Blues have mostly been influenced by African-American culture.  And interestingly enough the lyrics of Blues stem from the “field hollers” of slaves. The instruments most associated with the Blues are guitar, harmonica, and piano, which are not African in origin but they come from Europe.

Then during the Reconstruction Era in America (post Civil War period), proto-blues music began to develop due to dance halls and bars that were frequented by the rural working class.  These “Juke Joints” began to sprout up all over the South.

The music created and listened to in these joints was made for dancing, and in time a shuffling beat similar to the “ragtime beat” became popular.  This rhythm would soon become well known and associated with the Blues.

As the Reconstruction Era ended, African Americans were faced with much racism and poverty.  They were forced to travel from place to place to find work.  Many of them made an attempt to make a living with their music, and so they traveled with guitar in hand via train.  No wonder trains are such a common symbol in Blues music.  As these musicians traveled, the incredible music and lyrics of the Blues was spread and is now a world wide passion.

The women of blues love life.  They are liberated and, confident, smart, and sexy.  Want to embrace life with less worry and more fun?  Follow these tips of the feminine women of blues, and you’ll soon be adding a little blues flavor to your life!

1. Embrace your problems and quit stressing about all the negative in your life.  The Blues simply glamorizes the negative in a way that turns our problems around.  Recognize that your problems only make you a deeper, more thoughtful person.
2. Improvise. Blues artists are all about improvisation. This helps them to develop an in control frame of mind. Even when the unexpected happes, they know how to improvise and roll with the punches.  Trust yourself to get through any jam you may be in.
3. Dance to your own beat. The women of blues have always been ahead of their time. The earliest artists were sassy, the leaders in their relationships, they weren’t afraid to get into fights. Stay in control but don’t be afraid to stick up for yourself. Do what you feel is right, then you‘ll never need to make apologies. Always be yourself and be honest
4. Be independent. In the early days of blues, the female vocalists often made more money and had more fame than the men in their lives. If you’re in a relationship, only keep a man around if you have good times together, not because you need him for money or for a confidence boost or any other reason.