Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Old School Blues Influences Women Rockers of Today

Blues is truly a terrific form of music. Listening to it is a real way to get down to the core of emotion. I know y'all rockers love the hard-core sound of a bit of metal, but the sound of blues ain't so bad. You must be wondering why I'm wasting my breath when this blog is called Girls Rock & Girls Rule? If you think about it, blues made a way for many rockers of today.

Women like Peggy 'Lady Bo' Jones made a strong impact during her time. She was discovered by the great Bo Diddley during the 50s and 60s. He taught her all she knew about the electric guitar. This New Yorker was known as a legend as she was named “Queen Mother of Guitar.” Now I would say that's a hot title coming from a lady of the blues. Another artist of this genre was Barbara Lynn from Beaumont, Texas. She gained the title “Empress of Gulf Coast Soul” as she rocked out the guitar in the early 1960s. Lynn was self-taught of this instrument and she was known to dazzle many with her soulful sounds. And then there was Memphis Minnie. She was a sister of the early 1900s born in Walls, Mississippi. This woman had a knack for playing the kind of guitar that would inspire future musicians. Minnie was a singer and a guitarist who truly made a name for herself in a music world full of men.

You must be asking what do these women have to do with the women rockers of today? They were in a genre dedicated to soothing the emotional sores of many through its riveting entrance to the soul. And they were rocking femmes who revolutionized the idea of women in music. They were the early guitarists of our time; the creators of a much-needed start for women. The blues was a cure for the troubled in hard times, but these ladies may have been some of the innovators for a future of women who rock.


-Tiffany

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