There were several ways the blues music of these early players and songwriters came to the forefront of our musical heritage. Probably the most recognizable performer to cover African-American blues music was Elvis Presley. In the mid 1950s, people were not listening to many of the original blues players; but Elvis, because he was white, made it “acceptable” to listen to blues music and Southern gospel music as well.
Of course, there were other white musicians who contributed. And, during the 1960s, interest in Delta Blues music began to take off with people like Paul Butterfield, Charlie Musselwhite, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Mike Bloomfield. Many of these players like Muddy Waters, traveled north during the Great Migration along with many people who were looking for jobs in industrial cities like Chicago. So, the “Chicago Blues” developed much along the lines of the Delta Blues. Butterfield and Bloomfield teamed up to cover many of the Southern migrants’ sounds.
As we were listening to the likes of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, Chubby Checker, Blind Owl Alan Wilson, et. al., and moving from the old Delta Blues to more of a rock ‘n’ roll sound, British musicians like Clapton, Lennon and McCartney, John Mayall and Jagger and Richards were being influenced by our early blues artists. Clapton, in particular, picked up Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads Blues,” and gave it a much more “up-tempo” sound which appealed to a broader audience than did the original.
Chuck Berry
Mike Bloomfield
Leon Russell