Urban blues refers to blues that was performed in cities with significant African American populations, such as Memphis, Detroit, and Chicago, from 1930 to the present. Most urban blues falls into one of three categories. First was a sophisticated version of country blues performed by solo artists, duos and trios, chiefly in Chicago from the late 1920s to World War II and recorded on the Okeh and Bluebird labels (the so-called “Bluebird Beat”). Second was an amplified country (or downhome) blues performed by soloists and small bands from just after World War II, in cities like Memphis, Houston, Los Angeles, Detroit, and most importantly, Chicago. Third was an amplified, jazz-inflected blues performed by medium-sized jazz combos led by singer-guitarists such as Aaron “T-Bone” Walker (who invented it) and Riley “B. B.” King. During this time, Chicago became a center for the production of urban blues boasting numerous blues bars and record labels, such as Chess and Vee-Jay Records, which were at the forefront of blues production, and the kind of amplified country (or downhome) blues performed there in the 1950s by singers such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf had a distinctive sound and came to be known as Chicago blues.

The 1930s sophisticated country blues from Chicago can be heard in Big Bill Broonzy’s “Night Watchman Blues.” Examples of the amplified country (or downhome) blues from the post-World War II era include John Lee Hooker, “Boogie Chillen,” and Howlin Wolf, “Smokestack Lightnin’” (Chicago Blues style), with Willie Dixon on bass. Examples of the jazz-inflected blues style include T-Bone Walker, “Woman You Must Be Crazy” and “Goin’ to Chicago.” This virtuoso guitar style, pioneered by Aaron “T-Bone” Walker and exemplified by Riley “B. B.” King, was copied by many other guitarists leading blues bands, such as Albert King, Freddie King, Lowell Fulson and Otis Rush.

Almost all urban blues songs were vocals with instrumental accompaniment. The majority followed a standard 3-line verse form in which the first line was repeated, or nearly so, in the second and then the thought was completed in a rhyming third line. A minority of verses began with a quatrain (four short phrases) taking up the same amount of time as the first line of the standard 3-line verse, followed by a two-line refrain, to make a quatrain-refrain verse form. Cripple Clarence Lofton’s “Streamline Train,” in the boogie-woogie section, illustrates this quatrain-refrain form. The melodic structure also became standardized, each verse or stanza being sung over a 12-measure accompaniment based on a predictable sequence of tonic, subdominant, and dominant chordal harmonies.

Performed solo, the sophisticated version of country blues performed in Chicago in the 1930s featured a singer backed by a guitar or a piano; the singer in a duo would be accompanied by two guitars, a guitar and piano, or a piano and string bass; the trio instrumentation used the same three instruments in various combinations, occasionally with a harmonica. The music had a more complex harmony and denser texture than in rural blues; instrumental techniques were more complicated and vocal styles were seldom rough and raspy but rather smoother and lighter in timbre and more focused in sound. Guitarists like Lonnie Johnson used flat picks held between the thumb and first finger of the right hand, playing more complicated melodies on the treble strings, as in “Another Night to Cry,” foreshadowing the lead guitar styles in the jazz-inflected urban blues.

“Tim Moore’s Farm”

Yeah, you know it ain’t but the one thing, you know, this Black man done was wrong.

Yeah, you know it ain’t but the one thing, you know, this Black man done was wrong.

Yes, you know I moved my wife and family down on Mister Tim Moore’s farm.

The words to urban blues served as commentaries on the ups and downs of daily life. Most of them protested mistreatment by lovers while others celebrated happier relationships. A small but significant number, such as “Tim Moore’s Farm” by Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins, protested racial discrimination and mistreatment by bosses. A minority protested economic hard times. Some songs were handed down orally, but most were composed in advance with the possibility of recordings in mind. Blues recordings influenced live performances as audiences wanted to hear singers perform their recordings or cover other popular blues. Although instrumental breaks (choruses) often were improvised, lyrics usually were memorized.