British or Amercian Blues?

[Jimi75]

As a guitar player that is interested in the Blues and indentifies himself with the Blues you will automatically be confronted with two kinds of the Blues.

On the one hand you have the American Blues (BB King, Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, Blind Lemon Jefferson. Leadbelly etc.) on the other hand you have the British Blues (Mayall, Clapton, Page(?), Green, Moore, Beck etc.)

Although the British players are of course influenced by the American players they developped their own style that became populat throughout the whole world.

What is you influence? Can you say that you are influenced by one ot the other of the a.m. "styles"?

I am influenced more by the British players. One reason might be that I grew up in Europe and we had quite a collection of their albums at home. I only later get to know the American players. Both parties fascinated me, but in the long term the British music had a bigger influence on my playing style.

How about you.

[mrmudcat]

Great post!! Wish there were more blues based threads.

Of course my main influence is Delta Blues.:master:

Jimi it gets more complicated than just American blues.The Delta, Chicago,Texas style raunch etc. etc.

There is so much more I feel compelled to say about the Blues and where its at and where its from but Ill reserve it for another day!;) I have a feeling it will be DEEP:rockon:

[snarph]

Initially I would say The British rebirth of the blues really effected me the most
But since then its been a per player phenomena

especially with players like SRV and joe bonamassa

[sunvalleylaw]

I am more a per player guy. I am not a party line voter. But if I had to pick one, I'd have to say that I have been influenced more so far by American blues. As far as sub-parts like Mudcat says, I can't say. I would just be able to name players. I guess the BB King, Albert King line along with Hendrix, SRV, Mayer. But like I can do any of that stuff yet anyways! LOL! I guess influences for where I want to be is more accurate. On the Brit side, I have to say Moore and Clapton.

[sumitomo]

The Blues is why I wanted to learn to play guitar,and still is!.I was influenced by the Brits because at the time for me it was Zep,Grand funk railroad,Foghat,HumblePie ect.here in the U.S.Later I got into The Kings(B.B./Albert/Freddie/BuddyGuy/Muddy)oh yea see Jonny Winter was a rocker then.I like how alot of new artists are carring on the Blues and adding their own flavor.Sumi

[Robert]

For me, it's Jimi (yes he was a blues player in my eyes), Albert King, Albert Collins, Freddie King, Johnny Winter, etc - so I guess it's American Blues for me. The British player I dig the most would be Jeff Beck, although I am not sure I would classify him as a blues player.

[oldguy]

I was more influenced by American blues, at a young age there were so many sub-genres ( even Hank Williams, IMO ), it's hard to isolate one. Later it was Albert King.....answer to the laundromat blues...man I loved that song.
Hendrix, Marino, etc. were later influences. And of course there was probably some Elvis in there somewhere.
After that was when I stared to find Fleetwood Mac (when I still liked them as a blues band), Mayall, etc. Good stuff.
Then Johnny Winter, SRV, ZZ Top (then ZZ Hill, WOW, I dug his music), and so on. I did listen to the "British" blues players, such a Gary Moore, Rory Gallagher (do they still qualify as "British"?), but I was more influenced by American players. Oh, yeah, I don't want to forget Willie Nelson, and an album by a guy named Steve Hunter, who gigged with Lou Reed for awhile.

[marnold]

Actually, by definition there is only American blues. I'm not sure if there is any other musical form (with the possible exception of something like bluegrass) which is uniquely American.

[Jimi75]

Actually, by definition there is only American blues. I'm not sure if there is any other musical form (with the possible exception of something like bluegrass) which is uniquely American.


I guess you know what I meant, but I expected someone at least to write this.

:)

[marnold]

I guess you know what I meant, but I expected someone at least to write this.
Yes, I understood completely, but my inner "ugly American" came out :)

[Spudman]

British for me. There was something about the attitude in the music that I really connected with.

[mrmudcat]

Yes, I understood completely, but my inner "ugly American" came out :)

Check my post somehow I managed to keep mine down there:rotflmao: You know down there ......down in the basement.................where its dark.....................:spank: :smile-us:

To add though young ones over in Britian/Europe although few and in underground clicks started discovering blues and to sum it up americana types of music as an alternative to the "Beatles" thing going on.Sadly, it took promoters taking the genre and some great masters going across the pond and the Britian lads and laddies(Is this right?) that gave the music the kick in the arse it needed over in the states! This was at the expense of these same masters which is the sad part but I digress:thwap:

[Tone2TheBone]

I'd say American for me BUT the Brits definately have their hold on me too as I have an equal balance of guitar heroes from both sides of the pond.

[R_of_G]

i would have to say American as well, particularly Blind Willie Johnson. i def have an appreciation for what the Brits did with the blues, but it's the American players who really do it for me.

[piebaldpython]

Let's see, how to be PC about all this. I'm 51, born/raised/still live in Philly. So, as to BLUES, other than Jimi, it was British as in the late 60's, the guitar Gods were Beck, Clapton, Page, Keith, Mick Taylor, Townshend, etc and if you went avant-garde, then most of these bands were British I guess too; Tull, Procol Harum, Yes, etc.
Then the Allman Bros and ZZ hit the scene and we started to boogie and went American. ahhaha

[player]

When I first got into guitar after several years of classical piano - still living in Chicago.grew up with Jeff Beck,Eric Clapton but later becoming a Blues guitarist in a Blues band.went and dug up the greats like Johnson,BB King,Buddy Guy,etc.Living in a Blues City like that I naturally regularly attended Blues Fests thus turning me toward American Blues as far back as W.C. Handy.even Clapton admitted he was heavily influenced by American Blues artists and it shows from his Yardbird days.after all he is or was last I heard considered a Blues Guitarist mainly as was Hendrix among others.have the Blues albums by both as well as all our American greats.not to say the brits did not influence they did however it al comes back to the states.
America - Yes

[birv2]

Good question!

I grew up in the 60's so my intro to blues was Paul Butterfield. I also loved Cream, Hendrix, and other blues-based stuff.

Now that I'm REALLY getting into the blues, I'm totally hooked on Chicago stuff and other electric blues (the Kings, etc) and I find I'm not so impressed with the "white" blues-rock, both American and British. I enjoy them as rock, but for blues, give me the Originals.

Bob

[warren0728]

Actually, by definition there is only American blues. I'm not sure if there is any other musical form (with the possible exception of something like bluegrass) which is uniquely American.
i was thinking the same thing...the british blues guys got their inspiration from the old time american blues legends... :master:

i love all styles of blues so it would be hard to choose between the us or uk....i love them both ....depends on what mood i'm in!

ww

[just strum]

I just started to recognize I was drawn to the blues about a year ago. I don't know any of the more obscure artist and can't rattle off songs of the better known ones. I just hear something and I realize that I like it. It doesn't matter if it's American or British or whatever. I enjoy the playing I hear here when someone adds to the BT's.

There is truth in saying blues all originate from American blues, but with a variety of American blues to pick from and eventually added a new twist, any blues will become original. Maybe if that theory is to be used, it should be British with some American roots.

You could also apply that to Rock, as many artist, especially in the 60's developed their rock sound from blues music.

[Jimi75]

Well, it wasn't a quesiton of l like this or that Blues better. I just wanted to know what your influence was.

[R_of_G]

influence as far as blues go still american. still blind willie johnson

[tot_Ou_tard]

Actually, by definition there is only American blues. I'm not sure if there is any other musical form (with the possible exception of something like bluegrass) which is uniquely American.
What about jazz? Country?

[marnold]

What about jazz? Country?
Country you might have an argument, although I've always maintained that Country is basically the original white-boy blues. My Jazz history isn't that great, so I'll leave that for others.

From an American blues perspective, if you haven't seen the Kenny Wayne Shepherd "10 Days Out" DVD, you really should check it out. Some awesome stuff on there.

[R_of_G]

jazz is, as far as i know [and i think that is pretty well], is american.

[just strum]

Well, it wasn't a quesiton of l like this or that Blues better. I just wanted to know what your influence was.
Well, since I haven't developed a playing style, I can't answer it that way. I will say my answer still applies to a degree as to what direction I want my studying to take. Make sense?

[birv2]

Well, it wasn't a quesiton of l like this or that Blues better. I just wanted to know what your influence was.

woops.

I'd still have to go with more American than British. Though my taste for blues-rock is definitely British-influenced. I'm just more trying to learn from the American masters at this point.

Bob

[F_BSurfer]

I guess you can say I have gone full circle
Growing up between Chicago and St Louis and being taught guitar by my dad in the 60's it was American blues
in the 70s it was the brit blues mainly Zep, Stones, Winwood, Clapton plus the likes of Hendrix ,Nugent
80's much of the same but throw in SRV
90's did not play much
Now I back to my roots Chicago and St Louis blues I spend alot of time listening to old harp players and laying licks down

[tot_Ou_tard]

Great post!! Wish there were more blues based threads.

Of course my main influence is Delta Blues.:master:

Jimi it gets more complicated than just American blues.The Delta, Chicago,Texas style raunch etc. etc.

There is so much more I feel compelled to say about the Blues and where its at and where its from but Ill reserve it for another day!;) I have a feeling it will be DEEP:rockon:
I'm looking forward to this post!

It's another day ya' know Muddy ;).