British Blues Rock
tagStarted early 1960sPeak 1965–1971Last big hit late 1970s
British blues rock is blues filtered through London-club electric urgency: loud tube amps, aggressive lead guitar, straighter backbeats than American shuffle bands, and a fascination with Chicago blues riffs and guitar heroism. The tone is often sharper and more distorted than U.S. electric blues, with more pop-song compression and rock swagger.
History
Britannica describes British blues as an early-to-mid-1960s London-club movement led by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, and that scene fed a wave of electric bands. John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Savoy Brown, Free, and Ten Years After transformed imported American blues records into a new rock dialect that later fed hard rock and heavy metal.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Britannica on British blues
- the Blues Foundation on rock-blues
- Rock Hall on Clapton’s blues-rooted guitar.