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236 Part IV: Sounding Like the Masters: Blues Styles through the Ages TEAM LinG
Other ’50s and early ’60s rockers who mixed blues into their rock stew
included bass-string riffer Link Wray (sometimes called the Godfather of
Heavy Metal, for his aggressive style) and Lonnie Mack. On Mack’s legendary
1963 album, The Wham of That Memphis Man, you can hear one of the earliest
examples of Chicago-style blues bends in a rock context. Listen to his hit singles
“Wham” and his cover of Chuck Berry’s “Memphis” for proof.
The Brits Invade the Blues
Blues rock took a huge leap forward in the mid-’60s, thanks to a few key bands
from England: The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and Fleetwood Mac,
all of whom brought Chicago-style blues into the distorted and high energy
world of 1960s rock ’n’ roll. At the time, Britain’s skiffle fad — a type of folk
music with jazz and blues influence that used instruments such as washboards,
kazoos, combs, paper, and so on to make music — triggered fresh interest in
black American music, such as ragtime, Dixieland jazz, and especially the
blues.
These distant sounds appealed to young Brits and that generation became
passionate lovers of traditional American blues music, both acoustic and
electric. These young artists are covered in the following sections.
Clapton and Green, early blues icons
After a stint with the Yardbirds, Eric “Slowhand” Clapton joined John Mayall’s
Bluesbreakers later in 1965 and started gigging all over London. His fiery
playing was such a sensation that the phrase “Clapton is God” was scrawled
all over London’s subway walls. As if to prove it, the 21-year-old guitarist displayed
a mastery of electric blues styles well beyond his years. He had a
deep knowledge of traditional blues licks; he had an evolved vibrato; he paid
respectful homage to the blues greats — all showcased on the following
year’s Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton album.
On key cuts like “Hide Away” (made famous by Freddie King six years before),
“Steppin’ Out,” and the epic slow blues “Have You Heard,” Clapton can be
heard literally inventing the modern rock-guitar solo.
However, another Clapton vacancy occurred when the guitar hero left
Mayall’s band to form the supergroup Cream. He was replaced by another
British blues whiz, Peter Green. Green’s claim to fame was the minor blues —
a sad, haunting sound that became his trademark. It’s still a I-IV-V 12-bar