Sociology

Blues music is oftentimes attributed to older folks. In earlier years, blues came to be associated with the devils music, specifically because of its distinct sound and partly because of the stigma attached to African Americans during those times. A large part of the development of blues music has something to do with the cultural practices prevalent then and now. In the past, blues music was closely associated with the people called by then as negroes. The music has been stereotyped back then as the devils music, particularly because the genre owes its roots to the religious beliefs of the Africans. As a result, these people living in America as slaves have to play the music away from the prying ears and eyes of the white population. This isolationist characteristic of blues music contributed to the fact that earlier blues musicians oftentimes find themselves playing their music either in bars that are far from the general population or in places owned by their fellow men and women that only cater to negroes.

In fact, there is one famous legend that immediately comes to mind when one speaks of the blues. It is the legend pertaining to how Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads just to master the blues. Regardless of whether Robert Johnson indeed sold his soul to the devil, it cannot be doubted that he has been and continues to be a major influence among blues musicians of today. The legend itself is testament to the power of culture in shaping the course of blues music and vice versa. In other words, blues songs and blues artists have helped defined blues culture as we know it today. Similarly, the cultural representations of the blues have likewise helped shape how younger blues musicians perceive and understand the genre. To a certain extent, the culture of the music and the music of the culture reinforce one another.

Today, blues music has gained a wider recognition and, consequently, a bigger audience. Much of it has a lot to do with the social events that transpired during the era of the Civil Rights Movement. While there may still be residues, so to speak, of previous racist attitudes in America, African American blues musicians are now able to freely play their music more than ever. In fact, there are now prominent white Americans who are blues musicians. Contemporary blues music also has a larger following composed of individuals from a wide variety of ethnic or cultural backgrounds.

There was a period when blues music seemed to have reached its peak. Although the precise year is debatable, it can be maintained that period between the early 60s to the late 70s was the time when blues soared to great heights. Blues musicians benefited from an outburst of interest for the blues. They obtained relatively more stable financial rewards in contrast to other musicians. Their rise to fame also gave them the opportunity to live the life akin to that of the modern perception of a rock star. That is, some, if not most, of the popular blues musicians during the rise to popularity of the blues engaged themselves in materialistic pursuits as well as in the desire for sensory pleasures, sex being chief of them. In a way, there came a point when blues became a culture on its own, a time when blues musicians sing about the women or men in their lives, broken relationships, and almost everything else that only the famous can ever experience. Of course, that is not to say that the ordinary blues enthusiast do not experience some of the themes in blues songs. It is just that there are portions of the blues culture which do not immediately ring a bell to them, so to speak.

Blues music began roughly a century ago, continues to be a part of the larger culture of music and will remain a significant part of the musical culture in the coming decades. Blues is so socially relevant, to the extent that it cannot be disposed of without disposing off of music altogether. To let the blues continue to thrive, however, there should be an appreciation for blues music from the people in the first place. To do so is to give the blues the place in the society it rightfully deserves.