Introduction
The British Blues Revival (the late 1950s to the early ’70s) helped to re-energize, re-fashion, and take American blues to a whole new audience. The English interpretation, which first felt like British musicians’ love letter to their favorite American bluesmen such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, soon morphed into a formidable band such as The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, or Fleetwood Mac.
Overseas, these British bands were reintroducing American blues to audiences who might not otherwise have paid it much attention. Those listeners were discovering a new sound, and making room again for the blues they’d known only a few decades before.
We could call this process the second US Revival. The global explosion not only helped American blues artists get back home, but it also helped them to be appreciated as artists there, often reviving their careers.
The British bands did not merely take the blues and try to play it like the Americans. They riffed on the blues, but they reshaped it and thereby sparked new genres of popular music — rock and heavy metal, to name just two.
In many instances, the Americans’ sound developed because newly arrived Brits pointed to a different guitar part, beat, or bell sound, and said: ‘What about that?’ West Walker tapped on the glass of his piano, and the students’ fingers went flying over the keys. ‘
Why does it come so easily for a Brit to play like a West African, but not for an American?’ he muttered. The British Blues Revival lives on as a prime example of the vitality of cultural dialogue in popular art, of the creative synergy that occurs when diasporic currents within the musical stream mingle.
The Origins of British Blues
British blues can be traced back to the early 1950s and early ’60s when British musicians became intrigued with the passion and power of the American blues and attempted to emulate and build upon this particular genre. Through records brought back by sailors, radio broadcasts, and the influence of British record collectors and enthusiasts, the artists of the British blues movement first heard what we refer to today as American blues.
With the popularity of American blues, musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Robert Johnson proved especially important as these British musicians looked to emulate what they heard. None played the same riffs – Waters on the electric guitar, Wolf on the slide, and Johnson on a hollow-bodied acoustic guitar – but the soul and melancholy of their laments nevertheless acted as a call for emulation. The result was a boom in blues music, which spread across the UK.
Perhaps the most important British blues ‘godfathers’ are Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, most known for leading the band Blues Incorporated, which became a kind of vassal state for what would later be called the British invasion, and a fount for new blues and rock outfits; together Korner and Davis organized and publicized the blues for a growing young crowd of rock ’n’ roll fans.
Bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds popularised British blues with British fans, while John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers launched the careers of Eric Clapton and Peter Green, who would later form the band Fleetwood Mac. In 1964, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones played ‘Route 66’ in the film Chasing the Blues. The Yardbirds pioneered the use of innovative guitar sounds, launching the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.
Not only did they pay homage to their blues heroes in America, they put them in a new context, and produced a very British variety of blues. The British blues boom prepared the ground for the explosion of British rock in the late 1960s and ’70s. The enduring and transformational legacy of American blues in the music of the world could not be more apparent.
The Key Players in British Blues
Group and individual names listed below are important building blocks in how rock music was created in the 1960s, as part of the 1960s British blues movement.
The Rolling Stones
Formed in London in 1962, The Rolling Stones soon established themselves as one of the most successful bands on the planet. The group embraced the blues music of American artists such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, offering a more aggressive and instantly recognizable version of the style than their counterparts, The Stone songs such as ‘Paint It Black’ and ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ feature Mick Jagger’s rasping vocals and Keith Richards’ groundbreaking guitar playing.
The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds formed in 1963 and experimented with the blues, which flowed through the band at three different times, courtesy of three legendary guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Each guitarist brought a different sound to the band, from Clapton’s pure blues to Beck’s wizardry with soundscapes, to Page’s pioneering hammer-ons which became hallmarks of the group. Their hit ‘For Your Love’ brought together the best of blues and rock.
Fleetwood Mac
Formed in 1967 by the blues-oriented guitarist Peter Green, the early incarnation of Fleetwood Mac – so named because drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie formed the rhythm section of the band – was actually a full-on blues band. Green’s gritty, soulful playing and songwriting on tracks such as ‘Albatross’ and ‘Black Magic Woman’ (later a hit for Santana) earned them bona fide blues credentials, even if, by the early ’70s, their musical direction had moved more towards rock and pop.
Notable Musicians
Eric Clapton/
‘Slowhand’ Eric Clapton played with The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream, and as a solo artist, on both electric and acoustic guitar, putting a lot of blues music in the ears of rock audiences.
John Mayall
Although his group, the Bluesbreakers, included as many as four future rock stars – Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor among them – Mayall was just ‘the Godfather of British Blues’. His Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton album started life in 1966 as an absolute classic.
Alexis Korner
Another early proponent of British Blues, Alexis Korner (who co-founded what would become Blues Incorporated with Cyril Davies in 1957) launched numerous solo careers, including those of several members of The Rolling Stones and Cream.
These bands and musicians made ‘American’ blues their own in Britain and, indeed, created a new, hybrid, and globally exportable music, the legacies of which continue to be heard today in popular music.
The Transatlantic Influence of British Blues
The Transatlantic influence of British blues significantly impacted the American music scene in the 1960s and beyond. British bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and Fleetwood Mac played a crucial role in reintroducing blues music to American audiences, many of whom were unaware of their own country’s rich blues heritage.
British bands brought a fresh perspective and energy to the blues, blending it with rock elements. This new style, often called “blues rock,” resonated with American listeners and musicians alike. The British Invasion, led by bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, paved the way for other blues-influenced British bands to gain popularity in the United States.
Notable collaborations between British and American musicians further cemented this influence. One significant partnership was between Eric Clapton and American blues legend B.B. King. Their 2000 album, “Riding with the King,” showcased the mutual admiration and musical synergy between British and American blues artists. Clapton’s reverence for American blues icons like Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters helped bridge the cultural gap and brought renewed attention to these pioneers.
Tours by British bands across the United States were instrumental in spreading their interpretation of the blues. The Rolling Stones’ 1964 American tour, for instance, was a landmark event. Their performances introduced American audiences to a raw, electrified version of the blues, inspiring countless American musicians. Similarly, The Yardbirds’ tours in the mid-1960s featured future guitar legends like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, who would go on to shape the sound of rock and blues.
In summary, the transatlantic influence of British blues revitalized the American music scene by reintroducing blues music with a modern twist. Through collaborations and extensive tours, British bands helped preserve and popularize the blues, ensuring its legacy endured for future generations. Their impact was profound, creating a lasting cultural exchange between the United Kingdom and the United States that continues to influence musicians worldwide.
British Blues Innovations and Legacy
British blues bands of the early-1960s were crucial in the development of the modern sound. Transforming the traditional blues, they paved the way for a number of innovations. The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds and Cream put blues and rock together, creating a powerful new sound.
The most significant innovation was that, influenced by American blues legends, the British bands amplified their instruments; the nascent, starved growl of the guitar was given an edge. The intensified tonality drove the quiet, acoustic blues into the ear-shattering palette of the electric blues. The distorted sound of the electric Fender Stratocaster or Gibson Les Paul quickly became a hallmark of rock music.
Another innovation was the lengthy instrumental solos. The British bluesmen borrowed the idea from jazz musicians and inserted long, improvised solos in their songs. In contrast to the short, structured solos prevalent in the traditional blues, the extended solos turned to technical and musical freedom, giving the musicians more space for creativity and virtuosity.
British blues bands were experimenting with form and composition, too, as their songs variously incorporated blues, rock, and elements of classical music into complex and exhilarating compositions with multiple sections, often irregular rhythms and different tempos, setting a new template for rock.
British blues bands made a lasting impact on music in the US. Their innovations sparked a new strain of music-making among American musicians. Bands such as The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Led Zeppelin distanced themselves somewhat from the emotional nature of the blues without necessarily parting with its subject matter. With the heavy, amplified sound and the long guitar solos they pioneered, they pioneered a new style of rock music altogether, which is now called the genre of hard rock and heavy metal.
What’s more, British blues bands, in turn, reintroduced American audiences to their own national musical heritage, by playing as well as transcribing and reworking classic blues styles. The influence worked both ways: British cover versions started to renew interest in American bluesmen such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. When the British groups began in the early 1960s to play the blues, it revived the careers of many American bluesmen and put the American genre on America’s playlists.
Over the long term, the British blues invasion ultimately led to the mainstreaming of rock through the range of genres – including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal – that would be directly or indirectly created out of the blues-rock fusion of the late 1960s. It is no coincidence that the descendants of British blues continue to thrive.
In sum, this means that British blues musicians of the 1960s were innovative musical entrepreneurs who changed the sound of contemporary popular music by making it louder, increasing the dynamic contrast between soft and loud, introducing complex song structures featuring new refined instrumental solos, while adding a new feeling of spontaneous intensity to the music that continues to inspire musicians even to this day.
The Cultural Exchange and Impact of British Blues
But that two-way musical traffic has always been culturally vivid. Take the story of British Blues. In the late 1950s and through the 1960s, a UK scene developed around music originating in the southern US. Performers such as The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and The Yardbirds were inspired by Muddy Waters, B B King, and Howlin’ Wolf, the greats of American blues, and rekindled UK interest. But the exchange went further, spawning British R’n’B and a whole new genre, rock ’n’ roll.
On the fashion front, the British Blues boom (the transatlantic creators of a uniquely British style that combined mod tailoring with touches of US blues fashions, skinny ties, tailored suits, and Chelsea boots) had an influence on both sides of the Atlantic. British bands inspired Americans to adopt their fashion, and the British blues look caught on with American kids, aiding the more general metastasis of mod and rock fashions that was one of the hallmarks of the ‘60s style.
Lifestyle and youth culture were also transformed by this cultural exchange. In the UK, the blues scene provided a filter for youth to reject the establishment. Out of this sense of rebellion grew a non-conformist, alternative culture that was engendered by the genre’s gritty honesty and emotional expression. British youth revolted, and the gateway to this movement was an antipathy towards pre-established musical norms. So, the proto-counterculture of the 1950s foreshadowed a more mainstream and globalized cultural revolt a decade later.
In the US, meanwhile, the British Blues invasion made American audiences rediscover something of their own musical heritage once again, establishing the blues as cool, giving new youthful energy to what had been a genre exclusively for old men and singles bars. For a generation, British bands were the ones at the forefront of bringing the blues to those who might not have otherwise found it. Their impact has had a legacy, revitalizing American blues, providing the foundational skills and groundwork by which American rock and roll, and the beginnings of the sound of the next generation, was born.
The British Blues movement stands as an example of how international musical, sartorial, and youth cultural exchange works, largely due to its ability to bring powerful strains of influence from one part of the Atlantic across to another, in a jagged, split-second fashion that transform each society’s musical and costume expression, and brought about new meanings for unified group identities.
Conclusion
One of the major influences on rock music in the 1960s was the British Blues Invasion from British bands that gave new life to American music with a different take on US blues. British bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds and Cream imported US blues to U S audiences because they deeply admired the music of US blues greats such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, and put their own spin on it. The raw, edgy take was a hit with young audiences.
This revival also led directly to the secondary rediscovery of the original contemporary artists, whose work was re-released in the US market and who were given new opportunities to perform. British bands gathered these threads together and merged the blues with rock to generate a hybrid new genre that became a forerunner of modern rock music.
Perhaps the most significant legacy of the British Blues Revival is that blues became, overnight, part of the rock mainstream. That meant musical possibilities and experimentation for a whole new generation of artists and bands, who drew inspiration from the music and antics of the British Blues Revival pioneers and ensured that the blues had an enduring and evolving post-war life. The revival led to many more cross-cultural musical exchanges, which did much to reveal Britain’s extensive involvement in and influence on the development of the US music scene, and has left us with the continuing popularity of blues-tinged rock and the respect with which British musicians refer to their US blues heroes right through to the present day in both the US and the U