Editing Blues (section)

==History==
===Origin===
{{Main|Origins of the blues}}
[[Hart Wand]]'s "[[Dallas Blues]]" was published in 1912; [[W.C. Handy]]'s "[[The Memphis Blues]]" followed in the same year. The first recording by an African-American singer was [[Mamie Smith]]'s 1920 rendition of [[Perry Bradford]]'s "[[Crazy Blues]]". But the origins of the blues were some decades earlier, probably around 1890.<ref>Evans, David. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 33</ref> This music is poorly documented, partly because of racial discrimination in U.S. society, including academic circles,<ref name="Kunzler, pg. 130">Kunzler, p. 130</ref> and partly because of the low rate of literacy among rural African Americans at the time.<ref>Bastin, Bruce. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 206</ref>

Reports of blues music in [[southern Texas]] and the [[Deep South]] were written at the dawn of the 20th century. Charles Peabody mentioned the appearance of blues music at [[Clarksdale, Mississippi]], and Gate Thomas reported similar songs in southern Texas around 1901–1902. These observations coincide more or less with the recollections of [[Jelly Roll Morton]], who said he first heard blues music in [[New Orleans]] in 1902; [[Ma Rainey]], who remembered first hearing the blues in the same year in [[Missouri]]; and [[W.C. Handy]], who first heard the blues in [[Tutwiler, Mississippi]], in 1903. The first extensive research in the field was performed by [[Howard W. Odum]], who published an [[anthology]] of folk songs from [[Lafayette County, Mississippi]], and [[Newton County, Georgia]], between 1905 and 1908.<ref>Evans, David. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. pp. 33–35</ref> The first non-commercial recordings of blues music, termed ''proto-blues'' by [[Paul Oliver]], were made by Odum for research purposes at the beginning of the 20th century. They are now lost.<ref>Cowley, John H. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 265</ref>

[[File:John-avery-lomax1 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Musicologist [[John Lomax]] (left) shaking hands with musician [[Rich Brown (blues musician)|"Uncle" Rich Brown]] in [[Sumterville, Alabama]] ]]

Other recordings that are still available were made in 1924 by [[Lawrence Gellert]]. Later, several recordings were made by [[Robert Winslow Gordon|Robert W. Gordon]], who became head of the [[Archive of Folk Culture|Archive of American Folk Songs]] of the [[Library of Congress]]. Gordon's successor at the library was [[John Lomax]]. In the 1930s, Lomax and his son [[Alan Lomax|Alan]] made a large number of non-commercial blues recordings that testify to the huge variety of proto-blues styles, such as [[field holler]]s and [[ring shout]]s.<ref>Cowley, John H. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. pp. 268–269</ref> A record of blues music as it existed before 1920 can also be found in the recordings of artists such as [[Lead Belly]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leadbelly.org/re-homepage.html|title=Lead Belly Foundation|access-date=September 26, 2008|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123193411/http://www.leadbelly.org/re-homepage.html|archive-date=January 23, 2010}}</ref> and [[Henry Thomas (blues musician)|Henry Thomas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fthxc|title=Henry Thomas|author=Oliphant, Dave|work=The Handbook of Texas Online|access-date=September 26, 2008}}</ref> All these sources show the existence of many different structures distinct from [[12 bar blues|twelve-]], [[eight-bar blues|eight-]], or [[16 bar blues|sixteen-bar]].<ref>Garofalo, pp. 46–47</ref><ref>Oliver, p. 3</ref>
The social and economic reasons for the appearance of the blues are not fully known.<ref>Bohlman, Philip V. (1999). "Immigrant, Folk, and Regional Music in the Twentieth Century". ''The Cambridge History of American Music''. David Nicholls, ed. [[Cambridge University Press]]. p. 285. {{ISBN|978-0-521-45429-2}}</ref> The first appearance of the blues is usually dated after the [[Emancipation Proclamation|Emancipation Act of 1863]],<ref name="Kunzler, pg. 130"/> between 1860s and 1890s,<ref name=:0/> a period that coincides with post-[[Abolitionism in the United States|emancipation]] and later, the establishment of [[juke joint]]s as places where African Americans went to listen to music, dance, or gamble after a hard day's work.<ref name=bluescommentary>{{cite book|last=Oliver|first=Paul|title=Blues Off the Record:Thirty Years of Blues Commentary|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=1984|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bluesoffrecordth00oliv/page/45 45–47]|isbn=978-0-306-80321-5|url=https://archive.org/details/bluesoffrecordth00oliv/page/45}}</ref> This period corresponds to the transition from slavery to sharecropping, small-scale agricultural production, and the expansion of railroads in the southern United States. Several scholars characterize the development of blues music in the early 1900s as a move from group performance to individualized performance. They argue that the development of the blues is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the enslaved people.<ref name="Lawrence W. Levine 1977, pg. 223">Levine, Lawrence W. (1977). ''Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom''. [[Oxford University Press]]. p. 223. {{ISBN|978-0-19-502374-9}}</ref>

According to Lawrence Levine, "there was a direct relationship between the national ideological emphasis upon the individual, the popularity of Booker T. Washington's teachings, and the rise of the blues." Levine stated that "psychologically, socially, and economically, African-Americans were being acculturated in a way that would have been impossible during slavery, and it is hardly surprising that their secular music reflected this as much as their religious music did."<ref name="Lawrence W. Levine 1977, pg. 223"/>

There are few characteristics common to all blues music, because the genre took its shape from the idiosyncrasies of individual performers.<ref>Southern, p. 333</ref> However, there are some characteristics that were present long before the creation of the modern blues. Call-and-response shouts were an early form of blues-like music; they were a "functional expression ... style without accompaniment or harmony and unbounded by the formality of any particular musical structure".<ref>Garofalo, p. 44</ref> A form of this pre-blues was heard in slave [[ring shout]]s and [[field holler]]s, expanded into "simple solo songs laden with emotional content".<ref>Ferris, p. 229</ref>

Blues has evolved from the unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves imported from West Africa and Black Americans in rural areas into a wide variety of styles and subgenres, with regional variations across the United States. Although blues (as it is now known) can be seen as a musical style based on both European [[harmony|harmonic structure]] and the African call-and-response tradition that transformed into an interplay of voice and guitar,<ref>Morales, p. 276. Morales attributed this claim to [[John Storm Roberts]] in ''Black Music of Two Worlds'', beginning his discussion with a quote from Roberts: "There does not seem to be the same African quality in blues forms as there clearly is in much Caribbean music."</ref><ref name="Call and Response in Blues">{{cite web|title=Call and Response in Blues|publisher=How to Play Blues Guitar|access-date=August 11, 2008|url=http://how-to-play-blues-guitar.com/blues-concepts/call-and-response/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010154112/http://how-to-play-blues-guitar.com/blues-concepts/call-and-response/|archive-date=October 10, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> the blues form itself bears no resemblance to the melodic styles of the West African [[griot]]s.<ref>[[Samuel Charters|Charters, Samuel]]. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 25</ref><ref>Oliver, p. 4</ref>  Additionally, there are theories that the four-beats-per-measure structure of the blues might have its origins in the Native American tradition of [[pow wow]] drumming.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanindiannews.org/2009/09/music-exploring-native-american-influence-on-the-blues |title=MUSIC: Exploring Native American influence on the blues |date=Sep 17, 2009 |access-date=October 15, 2014 |archive-date=Dec 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224000913/http://www.americanindiannews.org:80/2009/09/music-exploring-native-american-influence-on-the-blues/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some scholars identify strong influences on the blues from the melodic structures of certain West African musical styles of the savanna and sahel. [[Lucy Durran]] finds similarities with the melodies of the [[Bambara people]], and to a lesser degree, the [[Soninke people]] and [[Wolof people]], but not as much of the [[Mandinka people]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.academia.edu/34636259 | title=POYI! Bamana jeli music, Mali and the blues | journal=Journal of African Cultural Studies | year=2013 | volume=25 | issue=2 | pages=211–246 | last1=Durán | first1=Lucy | doi=10.1080/13696815.2013.792725 | s2cid=191563534  | issn = 1369-6815}}</ref> [[Gerard Kubik]] finds similarities to the melodic styles of both the west African savanna and central Africa, both of which were sources of enslaved people.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://afropop.org/articles/africa-and-the-blues-an-interview-with-gerhard-kubik | title=Afropop Worldwide &#124; Africa and the Blues: An Interview with Gerhard Kubik|website=Afropop.org }}</ref>

No specific African musical form can be identified as the single direct ancestor of the blues.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Curious Listener's Guide to the Blues|author1=Vierwo, Barbara|author2=Trudeau, Andy|year=2005|publisher=Stone Press|isbn=978-0-399-53072-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/nprcuriouslisten00evan/page/15 15]|url=https://archive.org/details/nprcuriouslisten00evan/page/15}}</ref> However the call-and-response format can be traced back to the [[music of Africa]]. That blue notes predate their use in blues and have an African origin is attested to by "A Negro Love Song", by the English composer [[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor]], from his ''African Suite for Piano'', written in 1898, which contains [[minor third|blue third]] and [[seventh chord|seventh notes]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott, Derek B.|title=From the Erotic to the Demonic: On Critical Musicology.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|page=182|quote=A blues idiom is hinted at in "A Negro Love-Song", a pentatonic melody with blue third and seventh in Coleridge-Taylor's ''African Suite'' of 1898, before the first blues publications.|author-mask=Scott}}</ref>

The [[Diddley bow]] (a homemade one-stringed instrument found in parts of the [[American South]] sometimes referred to as a ''jitterbug'' or a ''one-string'' in the early twentieth century) and the [[banjo]] are African-derived instruments that may have helped in the transfer of African performance techniques into the early blues instrumental vocabulary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1902/Steber/Steber.html |title=African-American Music from the Mississippi Hill Country: "They Say Drums Was a-Calling" |publisher=APF Reporter |author=Steper, Bill |year=1999 |access-date=October 27, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906141616/http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1902/Steber/Steber.html |archive-date=September 6, 2008 }}</ref> The banjo seems to be directly imported from West African music. It is similar to the musical instrument that griots and other Africans such as the [[Igbo people|Igbo]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia|first=Douglas B.|last=Chambers|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|page=180|year=2009|isbn=978-1-60473-246-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqpoxEl_0_4C&pg=PA180}}</ref> played (called [[Xalam|halam]] or [[akonting]] by African peoples such as the [[Wolof people|Wolof]], [[Fula people|Fula]] and [[Mandinka people|Mandinka]]).<ref>[[Samuel Charters|Charters, Samuel]]. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. pp. 14–15</ref> However, in the 1920s, when country blues began to be recorded, the use of the banjo in blues music was quite marginal and limited to individuals such as [[Papa Charlie Jackson]] and later [[Gus Cannon]].<ref>Charters, Samuel. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 16</ref>

Blues music also adopted elements from the "Ethiopian airs", [[minstrel show]]s and [[Negro spiritual]]s, including instrumental and harmonic accompaniment.<ref>Garofalo, p. 44. "Gradually, instrumental and harmonic accompaniment were added, reflecting increasing cross-cultural contact." Garofalo cited other authors who also mention the "Ethiopian airs" and "Negro spirituals".</ref> The style also was closely related to [[ragtime]], which developed at about the same time, though the blues better preserved "the original melodic patterns of African music".<ref>Schuller, cited in Garofalo, p. 27</ref>

The musical forms and styles that are now considered the blues as well as modern [[country music]] arose in the same regions of the southern United States during the 19th century. Recorded blues and country music can be found as far back as the 1920s, when the record industry created the marketing categories "[[race music]]" and "[[hillbilly music]]" to sell music by blacks for blacks and by whites for whites, respectively. At the time, there was no clear musical division between "blues" and "country", except for the ethnicity of the performer, and even that was sometimes documented incorrectly by record companies.<ref>Garofalo, pp. 44–47: "As marketing categories, designations like race and [[hillbilly]] intentionally separated artists along racial lines and conveyed the impression that their music came from mutually exclusive sources. Nothing could have been further from the truth... In cultural terms, blues and country were more equal than they were separate." Garofalo claimed that "artists were sometimes listed in the wrong racial category in record company catalogues."</ref><ref>Wolfe, Charles. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. pp. 233–263</ref>

Though musicologists can now attempt to define the blues narrowly in terms of certain chord structures and lyric forms thought to have originated in West Africa, audiences originally heard the music in a far more general way: it was simply the music of the rural South, notably the [[Mississippi Delta]]. Black and white musicians shared the same repertoire and thought of themselves as "[[songsters]]" rather than blues musicians. The notion of blues as a separate genre arose during the [[Great Migration (African American)|black migration]] from the countryside to urban areas in the 1920s and the simultaneous development of the recording industry. ''Blues'' became a code word for a record designed to sell to black listeners.<ref>{{cite web|last=Golding|first=Barrett|title=The Rise of the Country Blues|publisher=NPR|url=http://www.honkytonks.org/showpages/countryblues.htm|access-date=December 27, 2008}}</ref>

The origins of the blues are closely related to the religious music of Afro-American community, the [[spiritual (music)|spirituals]]. The origins of spirituals go back much further than the blues, usually dating back to the middle of the 18th century, when the slaves were Christianized and began to sing and play Christian [[hymn]]s, in particular those of [[Isaac Watts]], which were very popular.<ref>Humphrey, Mark A. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 110</ref> Before the blues gained its formal definition in terms of chord progressions, it was defined as the secular counterpart of spirituals. It was the low-down music played by rural blacks.<ref name="ReferenceA">Humphrey, Mark A. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. pp. 107–149</ref>

Depending on the religious community a musician belonged to, it was more or less considered a sin to play this low-down music: blues was the devil's music. Musicians were therefore segregated into two categories: gospel singers and blues singers, guitar preachers and songsters. However, when rural black music began to be recorded in the 1920s, both categories of musicians used similar techniques: call-and-response patterns, blue notes, and slide guitars. Gospel music was nevertheless using musical forms that were compatible with Christian hymns and therefore less marked by the blues form than its secular counterpart.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Pre-war blues===
The American [[sheet music]] publishing industry produced a great deal of [[ragtime]] music. By 1912, the sheet music industry had published three popular blues-like compositions, precipitating the [[Tin Pan Alley]] adoption of blues elements: "Baby Seals' Blues", by [[Baby Franklin Seals]] (arranged by [[Artie Matthews]]); "Dallas Blues", by [[Hart Wand]]; and "[[The Memphis Blues]]", by [[W.C. Handy]].<ref>Garofalo, p. 27. Garofalo cited Barlow in "Handy's sudden success demonstrated [the] commercial potential of [the blues], which in turn made the genre attractive to the Tin Pan Alley hacks, who wasted little time in turning out a deluge of imitations." (Parentheticals in Garofalo.)</ref>

[[File:W. C. Handy - The "St. Louis Blues" - First page.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Sheet music from "[[Saint Louis Blues (song)|Saint Louis Blues]]" (1914)]]
Handy was a formally trained musician, composer, and arranger who helped to popularize the blues by transcribing and orchestrating blues in an almost symphonic style, with bands and singers. He became a popular and prolific composer, and billed himself as the "Father of the Blues"; however, his compositions can be described as a fusion of blues with ragtime and jazz, a merger facilitated using the Cuban [[habanera (music)|habanera]] rhythm that had long been a part of ragtime;<ref name="cgkmik"/><ref name="trkeja">Garofalo, p. 27</ref> Handy's signature work was the "[[Saint Louis Blues (song)|Saint Louis Blues]]".

In the 1920s, the blues became a major element of African-American and American popular music, also reaching white audiences via Handy's arrangements and the classic female blues performers.  These female performers became perhaps the first African-American "superstars", and their recording sales demonstrated "a huge appetite for records made by and for black people."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lynskey |first=Dorian |date=2021-02-16 |title=The forgotten story of America's first black superstars |language=en |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210216-the-forgotten-story-of-americas-first-black-superstars |website=Bbc.co.uk|access-date=2022-02-22}}</ref>  The blues evolved from informal performances in bars to entertainment in theaters. Blues performances were organized by the [[Theater Owners Booking Association]] in [[nightclub]]s such as the [[Cotton Club]] and [[juke joint]]s such as the bars along [[Beale Street]] in Memphis. Several record companies, such as the [[American Record Corporation]], [[Okeh Records]], and [[Paramount Records]], began to record African-American music.

As the recording industry grew, [[country blues]] performers like [[Bo Carter]], [[Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]], [[Blind Lemon Jefferson]], [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]], [[Tampa Red]], and [[Blind Blake]] became more popular in the African-American community. Kentucky-born [[Sylvester Weaver (musician)|Sylvester Weaver]] was in 1923 the first to record the [[slide guitar]] style, in which a guitar is fretted with a knife blade or the sawed-off neck of a bottle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.aye.net/~kbsblues/awards.htm#Weaver|title=Kentuckiana Blues Society|website=Members.aye.net|access-date=September 26, 2008}}</ref> The slide guitar became an important part of the [[Delta blues]].<ref name="bkihns">Clarke, p. 138</ref> The first blues recordings from the 1920s are categorized as a traditional, rural country blues and a more polished city or urban blues.

Country blues performers often improvised, either without accompaniment or with only a banjo or guitar. Regional styles of country blues varied widely in the early 20th century. The (Mississippi) Delta blues was a rootsy sparse style with passionate vocals accompanied by slide guitar. The little-recorded [[Robert Johnson (musician)|Robert Johnson]]<ref>Clarke, p. 141</ref> combined elements of urban and rural blues. In addition to Robert Johnson, influential performers of this style included his predecessors [[Charley Patton]] and [[Son House]]. Singers such as [[Blind Willie McTell]] and [[Blind Boy Fuller]] performed in the southeastern "delicate and lyrical" [[Piedmont blues]] tradition, which used an elaborate ragtime-based [[fingerpicking]] guitar technique. Georgia also had an early slide tradition,<ref>Clarke, p. 139</ref> with [[Curley Weaver]], [[Tampa Red]], [[Barbecue Bob|"Barbecue Bob" Hicks]] and [[Kokomo Arnold|James "Kokomo" Arnold]] as representatives of this style.<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=The Georgia Blues 1927–1933|last1=Calt|first1=Stephen|last2=Perls|first2=Nick|last3=Stewart|first3=Michael|publisher=[[Yazoo Records]]|id=L-1012|location=New York|type=LP back cover notes|url=http://www.wirz.de/music/yazoo/grafik/1012b4.jpg}}</ref>

The lively [[Memphis blues]] style, which developed in the 1920s and 1930s near [[Memphis, Tennessee]], was influenced by [[jug band]]s such as the [[Memphis Jug Band]] or the [[Gus Cannon|Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers]]. Performers such as [[Frank Stokes (musician)|Frank Stokes]], [[Sleepy John Estes]], [[Robert Wilkins]], [[Kansas Joe McCoy]], [[Casey Bill Weldon]], and [[Memphis Minnie]] used a variety of unusual instruments such as [[washboard (musical instrument)|washboard]], [[Musical styles (violin)#Fiddle|fiddle]], [[kazoo]] or [[mandolin]]. Memphis Minnie was famous for her [[virtuoso]] guitar style. Pianist [[Memphis Slim]] began his career in Memphis, but his distinct style was smoother and had some swing elements. Many blues musicians based in Memphis moved to Chicago in the late 1930s or early 1940s and became part of the urban blues movement.<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=10 Years In Memphis 1927–1937|last=Kent|first=Don|author-link=Don Kent (collector)|publisher=[[Yazoo Records]]|id=L-1002|year=1968|location=New York|type=vinyl back cover|url=http://www.wirz.de/music/yazoo/grafik/1002b4.jpg}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Memphis Jamboree 1927–1936|last1=Calt|first1=Stephen|last2=Perls|first2=Nick|last3=Stewart|first3=Michael|publisher=[[Yazoo Records]]|id=L-1021|year=1970|location=New York|type=vinyl back cover
|url=http://www.wirz.de/music/yazoo/grafik/1021b4.jpg}}</ref>

[[File:Bessie Smith (1936) by Carl Van Vechten.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Bessie Smith]], an early blues singer, known for her powerful voice]]

====Urban blues====
City or urban blues styles were more codified and elaborate, as a performer was no longer within their local, immediate community, and had to adapt to a larger, more varied audience's aesthetic.<ref name="qzdblv">Garofalo, p. 47</ref> [[classic female blues|Classic female urban]] and [[vaudeville]] blues singers were popular in the 1920s, among them "the big three"—[[Ma Rainey|Gertrude "Ma" Rainey]], [[Bessie Smith]], and [[Lucille Bogan]]. [[Mamie Smith]], more a vaudeville performer than a blues artist, was the first African American to record a blues song, in 1920; her second record, "Crazy Blues", sold 75,000 copies in its first month.<ref>{{cite web|author=Hawkeye Herman |title=Blues Foundation homepage |publisher=Blues Foundation |url=http://www.blues.org/blues/essays.php4?Id=3 |access-date=October 15, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210013210/http://www.blues.org/blues/essays.php4?Id=3 |archive-date=December 10, 2008 }}</ref> Ma Rainey, the "Mother of Blues", and Bessie Smith each "[sang] around center tones, perhaps in order to project her voice more easily to the back of a room". Smith would "sing a song in an unusual key, and her artistry in bending and stretching notes with her beautiful, powerful contralto to accommodate her own interpretation was unsurpassed".<ref>Clarke, p. 137</ref>

In 1920, the vaudeville singer [[Lucille Hegamin]] became the second black woman to record blues when she recorded "The Jazz Me Blues",<ref>Stewart-Baxter, Derrick (1970). ''Ma Rainey and the Classic Blues Singers''. New York: Stein & Day. p. 16</ref> and [[Victoria Spivey]], sometimes called Queen Victoria or Za Zu Girl, had a recording career that began in 1926 and spanned forty years. These recordings were typically labeled "[[race records]]" to distinguish them from records sold to white audiences. Nonetheless, the recordings of some of the classic female blues singers were purchased by white buyers as well.<ref>Steinberg, Jesse R.; Fairweather, Abrol (eds.) (2011). ''Blues: Thinking Deep About Feeling Low''. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. p. 159</ref> These blueswomen's contributions to the genre included "increased improvisation on melodic lines, unusual phrasing which altered the emphasis and impact of the lyrics, and vocal dramatics using shouts, groans, moans, and wails. The blues women thus effected changes in other types of popular singing that had spin-offs in jazz, [[Broadway musical]]s, [[torch song]]s of the 1930s and 1940s, [[gospel music|gospel]], [[rhythm and blues]], and eventually [[rock and roll]]."<ref>Harrison, Daphne Duval (1988). ''Black Pearls: Blues Queens of the '20s''. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. p. 8</ref>

Urban male performers included popular black musicians of the era, such as [[Tampa Red]], [[Big Bill Broonzy]] and [[Leroy Carr]]. An important label of this era was the Chicago-based [[Bluebird Records]]. Before World War II, Tampa Red was sometimes referred to as "the Guitar Wizard". Carr accompanied himself on the piano with [[Scrapper Blackwell]] on guitar, a format that continued well into the 1950s with artists such as [[Charles Brown (musician)|Charles Brown]] and even [[Nat "King" Cole]].<ref name="bkihns"/>

[[File:Boogie-woogie-bassline.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|A typical boogie-woogie bass line {{audio|"Texarkana and Northern" Boogie-woogie bassline.mid|Play}}]]

[[boogie-woogie (music)|Boogie-woogie]] was another important style of 1930s and early 1940s urban blues. While the style is often associated with solo piano, boogie-woogie was also used to accompany singers and, as a solo part, in bands and small combos. Boogie-woogie style was characterized by a regular bass figure, an [[ostinato]] or [[riff]] and [[shift of level|shifts of level]] in the left hand, elaborating each chord and trills and decorations in the right hand. Boogie-woogie was pioneered by the Chicago-based [[Jimmy Yancey]] and the Boogie-Woogie Trio ([[Albert Ammons]], [[Pete Johnson (musician)|Pete Johnson]] and [[Meade Lux Lewis]]).<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Boogie Woogie Trio|last=Oliver|first=Paul|publisher=Storyville|id=SLP 184|location=Copenhagen|type=vinyl back cover}}</ref> Chicago boogie-woogie performers included [[Pinetop Smith|Clarence "Pine Top" Smith]] and [[Earl Hines]], who "linked the propulsive left-hand rhythms of the ragtime pianists with melodic figures similar to those of Armstrong's trumpet in the right hand".<ref name="qzdblv"/> The smooth Louisiana style of [[Professor Longhair]] and, more recently, [[Dr. John]] blends classic rhythm and blues with blues styles.

Another development in this period was [[big band]] blues. The "[[territory band]]s" operating out of [[Kansas City metropolitan area|Kansas City]], the [[Bennie Moten]] orchestra, [[Jay McShann]], and the [[Count Basie Orchestra]] were also concentrating on the blues, with 12-bar blues instrumentals such as Basie's "[[One O'Clock Jump]]" and "[[Jumpin' at the Woodside]]" and boisterous "[[blues shouter|blues shouting]]" by [[Jimmy Rushing]] on songs such as "Going to Chicago" and "[[Sent for You Yesterday]]". A well-known big band blues tune is [[Glenn Miller]]'s "[[In the Mood]]". In the 1940s, the [[jump blues]] style developed. Jump blues grew up from the boogie-woogie wave and was strongly influenced by big band music. It uses [[saxophone]] or other [[brass instrument]]s and the guitar in the rhythm section to create a jazzy, up-tempo sound with declamatory vocals. Jump blues tunes by [[Louis Jordan]] and [[Big Joe Turner]], based in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], influenced the development of later styles such as rock and roll and rhythm and blues.<ref>Garofalo, p. 76</ref> Dallas-born [[T-Bone Walker]], who is often associated with the [[West Coast blues|California blues]] style,<ref>Komara, p. 120</ref> performed a successful transition from the early urban blues à la [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]] and Leroy Carr to the jump blues style and dominated the blues-jazz scene at Los Angeles during the 1940s.<ref>Humphrey, Mark A. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. pp. 175–177</ref>

===1950s===
The transition from country blues to urban blues that began in the 1920s was driven by the successive waves of economic crisis and booms that led many rural blacks to move to urban areas, in a movement known as the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]]. The long [[post–World War II economic expansion|boom following World War II]] induced another massive migration of the African-American population, the [[Second Great Migration (African American)|Second Great Migration]], which was accompanied by a significant increase of the real income of the urban blacks. The new migrants constituted a new market for the music industry. The term ''[[race record]]'', initially used by the [[music industry]] for [[African-American]] music, was replaced by the term ''[[rhythm and blues]]''. This rapidly evolving market was mirrored by ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine's [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Rhythm & Blues chart]]. This marketing strategy reinforced trends in urban blues music such as the use of electric instruments and [[instrument amplifier|amplification]] and the generalization of the blues beat, the [[blues shuffle]], which became ubiquitous in rhythm and blues (R&B). This commercial stream had important consequences for blues music, which, together with [[jazz]] and [[gospel music]], became a component of R&B.<ref>Pearson, Barry. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. pp. 313–314</ref>

[[File:JohnLeeHooker1997.jpg|thumb|[[John Lee Hooker]]]]

After World War II, new styles of [[electric blues]] became popular in cities such as [[Chicago]],<ref>Komara, p. 118</ref> [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]],<ref>Humphrey, Mark. A. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 179</ref> [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]]<ref name="Herzhaft, pg. 53">Herzhaft, p. 53</ref><ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Detroit Ghetto Blues 1948 to 1954|last=Pierson|first=Leroy|publisher=[[Nighthawk Records]]|id=104|year=1976|location=St. Louis|type=LP back cover notes|url=http://www.wirz.de/music/nighthaw/grafik/104b4.jpg}}</ref> and [[St. Louis]]. Electric blues used [[electric guitar]]s, [[double bass]] (gradually replaced by [[bass guitar]]), [[drum kit|drums]], and [[harmonica]] (or "blues harp") played through a microphone and a [[Public address|PA system]] or an [[Distortion (music)|overdriven]] [[guitar amplifier]]. Chicago became a center for electric blues from 1948 on, when [[Muddy Waters]] recorded his first success, "I Can't Be Satisfied".<ref>Humphrey, Mark A. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 180</ref> [[Chicago blues]] is influenced to a large extent by [[Delta blues]], because many performers had migrated from the [[Mississippi]] region.

[[Howlin' Wolf]], Muddy Waters, [[Willie Dixon]] and [[Jimmy Reed]] were all born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago during the Great Migration. Their style is characterized by the use of electric guitar, sometimes slide guitar, harmonica, and a rhythm section of bass and drums.<ref name=pc4>{{Pop Chronicles|4| |Howlin' Wolf & Jimmy Reed}}</ref> The saxophonist [[J. T. Brown (musician)|J. T. Brown]] played in bands led by [[Elmore James]] and by [[J. B. Lenoir]], but the [[saxophone]] was used as a backing instrument for rhythmic support more than as a lead instrument.

[[Little Walter]], [[Sonny Boy Williamson II|Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller)]] and [[Sonny Terry]] are well known harmonica (called "[[Harmonica techniques#Blues harp (2nd position)|harp]]" by blues musicians) players of the early Chicago blues scene. Other harp players such as [[Big Walter Horton]] were also influential. Muddy Waters and Elmore James were known for their innovative use of slide electric guitar. Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters were known for their deep, "gravelly" voices.

The bassist and prolific songwriter and composer [[Willie Dixon]] played a major role on the Chicago blues scene. He composed and wrote many [[blues standard|standard blues]] songs of the period, such as "[[Hoochie Coochie Man]]", "[[I Just Want to Make Love to You]]" (both penned for Muddy Waters), and "[[Wang Dang Doodle]]" and "[[Back Door Man]]" for Howlin' Wolf. Most artists of the Chicago blues style recorded for the Chicago-based [[Chess Records]] and [[Checker Records]] labels. Smaller blues labels of this era included [[Vee-Jay Records]] and [[J.O.B. Records]]. During the early 1950s, the dominating Chicago labels were challenged by [[Sam Phillips]]' [[Sun Records]] company in Memphis, which recorded [[B. B. King]] and Howlin' Wolf before he moved to Chicago in 1960.<ref>Humphrey, Mark A. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 187</ref> After Phillips discovered [[Elvis Presley]] in 1954, the Sun label turned to the rapidly expanding white audience and started recording mostly [[Rock and roll|rock 'n' roll]].<ref>Pearson, Barry. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 342</ref>

In the 1950s, blues had a huge influence on mainstream American [[popular music]]. While popular musicians like [[Bo Diddley]]<ref name="Herzhaft, pg. 53"/> and [[Chuck Berry]],<ref>Herzhaft, p. 11</ref> both recording for Chess, were influenced by the Chicago blues, their enthusiastic playing styles departed from the melancholy aspects of blues. Chicago blues also influenced [[Louisiana]]'s [[zydeco]] music,<ref>Herzhaft, p. 236</ref> with [[Clifton Chenier]]<ref>Herzhaft, p. 35</ref> using blues accents. Zydeco musicians used electric solo guitar and [[cajun]] arrangements of blues standards.

[[File:KeithR2.JPG|thumb|right|250px|[[Keith Richards]] guitarist for [[The Rolling Stones]], Richards was instrumental in bringing blues to the forefront of rock music. Inspired by American bluesmen like [[Muddy Waters]]]]

In England, electric blues took root there during a much acclaimed Muddy Waters tour in 1958. Waters, unsuspecting of his audience's tendency towards [[skiffle]], an acoustic, softer brand of blues, turned up his amp and started to play his Chicago brand of electric blues. Although the audience was largely jolted by the performance, the performance influenced local musicians such as [[Alexis Korner]] and [[Cyril Davies]] to emulate this louder style, inspiring the [[British Invasion]] of the [[Rolling Stones]] and the [[Yardbirds]].<ref>Palmer (1981), pp. 257–259</ref>

In the late 1950s, a new blues style emerged on Chicago's [[West Side, Chicago|West Side]] pioneered by [[Magic Sam]], [[Buddy Guy]], and [[Otis Rush]] on [[Cobra Records]].<ref>Komara, p. 49</ref> The "West Side sound" had strong rhythmic support from a rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and drums and as perfected by Guy, [[Freddie King]], [[Magic Slim]], and [[Luther Allison]], was dominated by amplified electric lead guitar.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/151.html|title=Blues|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago|access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=West Side Chicago Blues|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=11835|work=All About Jazz|author=Bailey, C. Michael|date=October 4, 2003|access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref> Expressive [[guitar solo]]s were a key feature of this music.

Other blues artists, such as [[John Lee Hooker]], had influences not directly related to the Chicago style. John Lee Hooker's blues is more "personal", based on Hooker's deep rough voice accompanied by a single electric guitar. Though not directly influenced by boogie-woogie, his "groovy" style is sometimes called "guitar boogie". His first hit, "[[Boogie Chillen]]", reached number 1 on the R&B charts in 1949.<ref>Bjorn, Lars (2001). ''Before Motown''. University of Michigan Press. p. 175. {{ISBN|978-0-472-06765-7}}</ref>

By the late 1950s, the [[swamp blues]] genre developed near [[Baton Rouge]], with performers such as [[Lightnin' Slim]],<ref>Herzhaft, p. 116</ref> [[Slim Harpo]],<ref>Herzhaft, p. 188</ref> [[Sam Myers]] and [[Jerry McCain]] around the producer [[J. D. "Jay" Miller]] and the [[Excello Records|Excello]] label. Strongly influenced by [[Jimmy Reed]], swamp blues has a slower pace and a simpler use of the harmonica than the Chicago blues style performers such as Little Walter or Muddy Waters. Songs from this genre include "Scratch my Back," "She's Tough," and "[[I'm a King Bee]]". [[Alan Lomax]]'s recordings of [[Mississippi Fred McDowell]] would eventually bring him wider attention on both the blues and [[Folk music|folk]] circuit, with McDowell's droning style influencing [[North Mississippi hill country blues]] musicians.<ref name="msbluestrail1">{{cite web|url=http://www.msbluestrail.org/_webapp_1964090/Hill_Country_Blues|title=Hill Country Blues|publisher=Msbluestrail.org|access-date=September 13, 2011}}</ref>

===1960s and 1970s===
[[File:B.B. King, 2006-06-26.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Blues legend [[B.B. King]] with his guitar, "[[Lucille (guitar)|Lucille]]"]]

By the beginning of the 1960s, genres influenced by [[African American music]] such as [[rock and roll]] and [[soul music|soul]] were part of mainstream popular music. White performers such as [[the Rolling Stones]] and [[the Beatles]] had brought African-American music to new audiences,  within the U.S. and abroad. However, the blues wave that brought artists such as Muddy Waters to the foreground had stopped. Bluesmen such as [[Big Bill Broonzy]] and [[Willie Dixon]] started looking for new markets in Europe. [[Dick Waterman]] and the blues festivals he organized in Europe played a major role in propagating blues music abroad. In the UK, bands emulated U.S. blues legends, and UK blues rock-based bands had an influential role throughout the 1960s.<ref>O'Neal, Jim. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. pp. 347–387</ref>

Blues performers such as [[John Lee Hooker]] and [[Muddy Waters]] continued to perform to enthusiastic audiences, inspiring new artists steeped in traditional blues, such as New York–born [[Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal]]. [[John Lee Hooker]] blended his blues style with rock elements and playing with younger white musicians, creating a musical style that can be heard on the 1971 album ''[[Endless Boogie]]''. [[B. B. King]]'s singing and virtuoso guitar technique earned him the eponymous title "king of the blues". King introduced a sophisticated style of [[guitar solo]]ing based on fluid [[string bending]] and shimmering [[vibrato]] that influenced many later electric blues guitarists.<ref>Komara, Edward M. (2006). ''Encyclopedia of the Blues''. Routledge. p. 385</ref> In contrast to the Chicago style, King's band used strong brass support from a saxophone, trumpet, and trombone, instead of using slide guitar or harp. [[Tennessee]]-born [[Bobby Bland|Bobby "Blue" Bland]], like B. B. King, also straddled the blues and R&B genres. During this period, [[Freddie King]] and [[Albert King]] often played with rock and [[Soul music|soul]] musicians ([[Eric Clapton]] and [[Booker T & the MGs]]) and had a major influence on those styles of music.

[[File:KokoTaylor2006.jpg|thumb|right|230px|[[Koko Taylor]], known as the "Queen of the Blues," was renowned for her powerful, soulful voice and commanding presence.]]

The music of the [[civil rights movement]]<ref name="Koroma, pg. 122">Komara, p. 122</ref> and [[Free Speech Movement]] in the U.S. prompted a [[American folk music revival|resurgence of interest in American roots music and early African-American music]]. As well, festivals such as the [[Newport Folk Festival]]<ref>Komara, p. 388</ref> brought traditional blues to a new audience, which helped to revive interest in prewar acoustic blues and performers such as [[Son House]], [[Mississippi John Hurt]], [[Skip James]], and [[Reverend Gary Davis]].<ref name="Koroma, pg. 122"/> Many compilations of classic prewar blues were republished by the [[Yazoo Records]]. [[J. B. Lenoir]] from the Chicago blues movement in the 1950s recorded several LPs using acoustic guitar, sometimes accompanied by [[Willie Dixon]] on the acoustic bass or drums. His songs, originally distributed only in Europe,<ref>O'Neal, Jim. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 380</ref> commented on political issues such as [[racism]] or [[Vietnam War]] issues, which was unusual for this period. His album ''Alabama Blues'' contained a song with the following lyric:
{{poemquote|I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me,
I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me.
You know they killed my sister and my brother
and the whole world let them peoples go down there free}}[[File:Stevie Ray Vaughan Live 1983.jpg|thumb|upright|Texas blues guitarist [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]], 1983]]
White audiences' interest in the blues during the 1960s increased due to the Chicago-based [[Paul Butterfield|Paul Butterfield Blues Band]], featuring guitarist [[Mike Bloomfield|Michael Bloomfield]] and singer/songwriter [[Nick Gravenites]], and the [[British blues]] movement. The style of [[British blues]] developed in the UK, when musicians such as  [[Cyril Davies]], [[Alexis Korner]]'s Blues Incorporated, [[Fleetwood Mac]], [[John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers]], the [[The Rolling Stones|Rolling Stones]], [[The Animals|Animals]], the [[The Yardbirds|Yardbirds]], [[Aynsley Dunbar]] Retaliation,<ref>[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-aynsley-dunbar-retaliation-mn0001224502  Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation], ''[[AllMusic]]'', Retrieved 9 November 2022</ref> [[Chicken Shack]],<ref>[http://www.stanwebb.co.uk/index.php?view=article&catid=10%3Ahistory&id=35%3Abeginnings&option=com_content&Itemid=46  Stan Webb's Chickenshack Beginnings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719185459/http://www.stanwebb.co.uk/index.php?view=article&catid=10:history&id=35:beginnings&option=com_content&Itemid=46 |date=July 19, 2011 }}, ''Stanwebb.co.uk''. Retrieved 4 November 2022</ref> early [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]], [[Cream (band)|Cream]], and the Irish musician [[Rory Gallagher]] performed classic blues songs from the [[Delta blues|Delta]] or [[Chicago blues]] traditions.

In 1963, [[Amiri Baraka]], then known as LeRoi Jones, was the first to write a book on the social history of the blues in ''Blues People: The Negro Music in White America''. The British and blues musicians of the early 1960s inspired a number of American [[blues rock]] performers, including [[Canned Heat]], [[Janis Joplin]], [[Johnny Winter]], [[the J. Geils Band]], [[Ry Cooder]], and the [[Allman Brothers Band]]. One blues rock performer, [[Jimi Hendrix]], was a rarity in his field at the time: a Black man who played [[psychedelic rock]]. Hendrix was a skilled guitarist, and a pioneer in the innovative use of [[distortion]] and [[audio feedback]] in his music.<ref>Garofalo, pp. 224–225</ref> Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of [[rock music]]. Later in the 1960s, British singer [[Jo Ann Kelly]] started her recording career. In the US, from the 1970s, female singers [[Bonnie Raitt]] and [[Phoebe Snow]] performed blues.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/san-francisco-bay-blues-mt0009236274|title=Phoebe Snow San Francisco Bay Blues|publisher=AllMusic| access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref>

In the early 1970s, the [[Texas blues|Texas rock-blues style]] emerged, which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles. In contrast with the West Side blues, the Texas style is strongly influenced by the British rock-blues movement. Major artists of the Texas style are [[Johnny Winter]], [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]], the [[The Fabulous Thunderbirds|Fabulous Thunderbirds]] (led by [[harmonica]] player and singer-songwriter [[Kim Wilson]]), and [[ZZ Top]]. These artists all began their musical careers in the 1970s but they did not achieve international success until the next decade.<ref>Komara, p. 50</ref>

===1980s to the present===
[[File:Zucchero 01 trim.jpg|thumb|left|Italian singer [[Zucchero Fornaciari|Zucchero]] is credited as the "Father of Italian Blues", and is among the few European blues artists who still enjoy international success.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dicaire |first=David |date=2001 |title=More Blues Singers: Biographies of 50 Artists from the Later 20th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPvhCgAAQBAJ |publisher=McFarland |pages=232–248 |isbn=9780786410354}}</ref>]]
Since the 1980s, there has been a resurgence of interest in the blues among a certain part of the African-American population, particularly around [[Jackson, Mississippi]], and other [[deep South]] regions. Often termed "[[soul blues]]" or "[[Southern soul]]", the music at the heart of this movement was given new life by the unexpected success of two particular recordings on the Jackson-based [[Malaco Records|Malaco]] label:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitmississippi.org/press_news/Malaco%20Blues%20Marker%20April%208.pdf |title=Malaco Records to be honored with blues trail marker |author=Martin, Stephen |publisher=Mississippi Development Authority |date=April 3, 2008 |access-date=August 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910032302/http://www.visitmississippi.org/press_news/Malaco%20Blues%20Marker%20April%208.pdf |archive-date=September 10, 2008 }}</ref> [[Z. Z. Hill]]'s ''Down Home Blues'' (1982) and [[Little Milton]]'s ''The Blues is Alright'' (1984). Contemporary African-American performers who work in this style of the blues include [[Bobby Rush (musician)|Bobby Rush]], [[Denise LaSalle]], [[Sir Charles Jones]], [[Bettye LaVette]], [[Marvin Sease]], [[Peggy Scott-Adams]], [[Clarence Carter]], [[Charles Bradley (singer)|Charles Bradley]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecharlesbradley.com/#bio|title=Charles Bradley Bio|website=Thecharlesbradley.com|date=February 19, 2024 | access-date=13 January 2025}}</ref> [[Trudy Lynn]], [[Roy C]], [[Barbara Carr]], [[Willie Clayton]], and [[Shirley Brown]], among others.

[[File:Eric Clapton 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|[[Eric Clapton]] performing at Hyde Park, London, in June 2008]]

During the 1980s, blues also continued in both traditional and new forms. In 1986, the album ''[[Strong Persuader]]'' announced [[Robert Cray]] as a major blues artist. The first [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]] recording ''[[Texas Flood]]'' was released in 1983, and the Texas-based guitarist exploded onto the international stage. [[John Lee Hooker]]'s popularity was revived with the album ''[[The Healer (John Lee Hooker album)|The Healer]]'' in 1989. [[Eric Clapton]], known for his performances with [[John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers|the Blues Breakers]] and [[Cream (band)|Cream]], made a comeback in the 1990s with his album ''[[Unplugged (Eric Clapton album)|Unplugged]]'', in which he played some standard blues numbers on acoustic guitar.

However, beginning in the 1990s, [[digital recording|digital multi-track recording]] and other technological advances and new marketing strategies, including [[Music video|video clip]] production, increased costs, challenging the spontaneity and improvisation that are an important component of blues music.<ref>Aldin, Mary Katherine. In ''Nothing but the Blues''. p. 130</ref> In the 1980s and 1990s, blues publications such as ''[[Living Blues]]'' and ''Blues Revue'' were launched, major cities began forming blues societies, outdoor blues festivals became more common, and [[Tedeschi Trucks Band]] and [[Gov't Mule]] released blues rock albums. Female blues singers such as [[Bonnie Raitt]], [[Susan Tedeschi]], [[Sue Foley]], and [[Shannon Curfman]] also recorded albums.

[[File:ETTA JAMES.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Etta James]] career spanned multiple decades, and she continued to impact the blues world into the 1990s with her powerful voice and ability to blend blues with soul, gospel, and R&B.]]

In the 1990s, the largely ignored [[hill country blues]] gained minor recognition in both blues and [[alternative rock]] music circles with northern Mississippi artists [[R. L. Burnside]] and [[Junior Kimbrough]].<ref name="msbluestrail1"/> Blues performers explored a range of musical genres, for example, from the broad array of nominees of the yearly [[Blues Music Award]]s (previously named [[W.C. Handy]] Awards)<ref>{{cite web|title=Blues Music Awards information |url=http://www.blues.org/bluesmusicawards/ |access-date=November 25, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429073938/http://www.blues.org/bluesmusicawards/ |archive-date=April 29, 2006}}</ref> or of the [[Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album|Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary]] and [[Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album|Traditional Blues Album]]. The ''Billboard'' Blues Album chart provides an overview of current blues hits. Contemporary blues music is nurtured by several blues labels such as [[Alligator Records]], [[Ruf Records]], [[Severn Records]], [[Chess Records]] ([[Music Corporation of America|MCA]]), [[Delmark Records]], [[NorthernBlues Music]], [[Fat Possum Records]], and [[Vanguard Records]] (Artemis Records). Some labels are famous for rediscovering and remastering blues rarities, including [[Arhoolie Records]], [[Smithsonian Folkways Recordings]] (heir of [[Folkways Records]]), and [[Yazoo Records]] ([[Shanachie Records]]).