Guitar Blues
tagStarted late 1940sPeak 1950s–1970sLast big hit still active
Guitar blues foregrounds the lead guitarist as the main emotional narrator. Signature traits include bent thirds, stinging vibrato, short-answer fills behind the vocal, economical single-note solos, and tones that range from glassy and clean to biting and slightly overdriven.
History
Electric blues made guitar the most visible solo voice in the idiom, and a line runs from T-Bone Walker’s poised jazz-influenced phrasing to B.B. King’s vibrato, the three Kings’ distinct lead styles, Otis Rush’s emotional minor-key attack, and Buddy Guy’s explosive modernism. This guitarist-centered line also became the seedbed for blues-rock and almost every post-1960 rock hero who ever overbent a note for dramatic effect.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Britannica on electric-blues pioneers
- Chess Records history
- The Blues Foundation on traditional and contemporary blues categories.