Origins and early development
Blues rock is a fusion genre and form of rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It started with rock musicians in the United Kingdom and the United States performing American blues songs, typically recreating electric Chicago blues songs at faster tempos and with a more aggressive sound. In the UK the style was popularized by groups such as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, and the Animals, while in the US Lonnie Mack, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Canned Heat were among the earliest exponents.
Evolution or diversification
From its beginnings in the early to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way it inspired and influenced hard rock, Southern rock, and early heavy metal. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the style became more hard rock-oriented; in the US Johnny Winter, the early Allman Brothers Band, and ZZ Top represented a hard rock trend, along with Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After, Chicken Shack, and Foghat in the UK. Along with hard rock, blues rock songs became the core of the music played on album-oriented rock radio in the United States, and later the classic rock format established there during the 1980s.
Cultural or musical significance
Blues rock can be characterized by bluesy improvisation, extended boogie jams typically focused on electric guitar solos, and often a heavier, riff-oriented sound. It is often played at a fast tempo and frequently uses a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm instead of the triplets usually found in blues. Blues rock songs often follow typical blues structures such as twelve-bar blues and use the I-IV-V progression, and precursors included Chicago blues musicians such as Elmore James, Albert King, and Freddie King.
