Assignment: Blues Music History Essay

Answer four of the following six essay questions using NO MORE than 300 words (2-4 paragraphs) for each.

You must refer to at least one assigned reading and use at least one specific song example in each essay. (Reading files are in the attachments).

Questions (answer 4 of the following 6 questions):

1. Why did young British musicians in the early 1960s find it compelling to imitate American electric blues, and how did they turn this hybrid style into "rock" by the late 1960s?

2. How did American electric blues in the 1960s (Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Albert King, Butterfield Blues Band) differ from British blues rock of that same period (Rolling Stones, Cream, Yardbirds, Hendrix)?

3. Describe the process by which gospel music morphed into "soul" in the 1950s and 1960s, and what elements of the blues contributed to the success of that transformation?

4. How did electric Chicago blues of the mid-1950s differ from early rock 'n' roll from that same period?

5. Early rock 'n' roll (Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Elvis Presley) borrowed heavily from the blues, particularly the rhythm and blues style of the 1940s. In what specific ways did early rock 'n' roll borrow from blues, and in what ways did it differ?

6. Why did many white, college-age Americans in the early 1960s consider blues to be a style of folk music, rather than popular music, and which musical elements of the blues were important to this transition?