Rhythm and Blues

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ORIGINS

Jordan Clare | 207 | april 2018

Introduction
Rhythm and blues (or R&B) was instrumental in influencing cultural changes with
a mixture of historic world events and significant artists being vital to its
progression. (Ward, 1998)
Both The label and music that refers to ‘Rhythm and Blues’ has also changed
during the development of the genre, causing some confusion as to what R&B
actually is.

Genre Origins
Rhythm and blues generally refers to post WWII popular black music outside of
religious and jazz traditions. (Ward, 1998)
R&B started out under the label ‘Race music’ around 1920 describing Jazz, Funk,
Blues and Gospel music. Race music referred to music that took influence from
African music styles. (Goosman, 2005)
R&B replaced the term Race music in 1947 when Billboard magazine editor Jerry
Wexler coined the term ‘Rhythm and Blues. This allowed R&B to branch out and
define itself as different from Jazz and Gospel styles, becoming “the Blues, but
nosier.” (Mcnamee, 2013)

Adding electric guitars, saxophone, drum kits and piano to a blues vocal created
the first R&B sound, ‘Electric Blues’ The louder volume let R&B do better in the
city than Blues would, suiting the fast-paced lifestyle of the city and cutting over
the loud music venues. (Cahoon, 2014)

“One way to think of it is that the Blues is essentially a vocal music, while R&B is
more instrumental”- Bibb, 2013

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Societal influences
Before WWII, Race music wasn’t commonly played on radios or recorded, it was
only really heard in the Black communities. This was due to racial segregation and
attitudes towards the black community. (Puryear, 2016)
However after WWII, an increasing push for civil rights started to change feelings
towards racial segregation. After the war, Black soldiers who had learnt technical
skills in the army would move to the cities to find better work, rather than go back
to working on farms in the south. “This movement represented an intensification
of the black migration that began at the turn of the century” (Reinhardt, Ganzel,
2012)
This black migration meant that there was more of an audience for what was
considered ‘Black music’. Inner city hotspots such as Chicago, New York city and
Atlanta became big for R&B and the genre grew in the public eye.

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Pioneers and notable artists
R&B has changed throughout the years with the term referring to a number of
genres and styles, with artists at the time redefining what ‘R&B’ is.
Some artists stood out due to their commercial success or experimental blends of
styles.

Jerry Wexler was a record producer, music executive and journalist for billboard
magazine, he coined the term ‘Rhythm and blues’ and was considered a ‘pioneer of
post war pop’ (Williams, 2008) Jerry had a strong interest in Black music and
played a big role in the recording of many R&B artists of the time such as Ray
Charles.

The Orioles were a 5-piece group of mostly vocalists, founded in 1948 and were
credited with being the first Black vocal group to sing directly for a Black audience
(Thomas, 2013)

The Clovers were one of the most successful R&B bands in the early 50’s, they were
a 4-piece vocal group who formed in 1946. They were signed by Atlantic records
and spent 105 weeks on the top of the charts (Goldberg, 2009)

Ray Charles had a distinct singing style, taking influence from Gospel music, he
blended soul with R&B and Jazz instrumentation and structure, making a form of
‘Black Pop’ (Unterberger, 2013)

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References:
Cahoon, B., 2014 ‘Rhythm and Blues Music: Overview.’ New Georgia
Encyclopedia..< http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-
culture/rhythm-and-blues-music-overview>
-Viewed 19/04/18
Goldberg M, 2009, ‘The clovers part 1‘ ,
http://www.uncamarvy.com/Clovers/clovers1.html
-Viewed 19/04/18
Goosman SL. 2005 ‚‘Group harmony: the black urban roots of Rhythm
and blues.‘ Philadelphia: University of pennsylvania. -viewed 20/04/18
Mcnamee G, ‘Blues vs Rhythm and blues’, 2013<
https://www.vqronline.org/blues-vs-rhythm-and-blues> -viewed
19/04/18
Puryear M, 2016, ‘tell it like it is: a history of Rhythm and blues‘,
<https://folklife.si.edu/talkstory/2016/tell-it-like-it-is-a-history-of-
rhythm-and-blues> -viewed 21/4/18
Reinhardt C, Ganzel B, 2012, ‘Civil rights for minorities’,
<https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/life_18.html> -viewed
19/4/18
Ward B, 1998,‘Just my soul responding, Rhythm and blues, black
consciousness and race relations‘, University of Newcastle.-viewed
27/04/18
Williams R, 2008, ‘Jerry wexler:Pioneer of postwar pop
<https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/15/jerry.wexler>
viewed 24/04/18

Bibliography:

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<https://www.1843magazine.com/culture/the-daily/the-
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Images references
Rock boar, 2011 ‘Rhythm and blues’
<http://www.rockboar.com/categories/Rhythm-and-Blues> -
viewed 7th april 2018

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