swamp blues
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{short description|Music genre; form of Louisiana blues}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name = Swamp blues
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|Blues|Cajun music|Creole music|country blues|Louisiana blues|zydeco}}
| cultural_origins = 1950s, Louisiana, U.S.
| derivatives = {{Hlist|Swamp pop|swamp rock{{cite web |url=https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-swamp-rock-2522008 |title=What Is Swamp Rock? A look at this Southern mix of country, funk, and soul |last=Fontenot |first=Robert |date=February 24, 2019 |publisher=Liveabout |access-date=November 9, 2022}}}}
}}
Swamp blues is a type of Louisiana blues that developed in the Black communities of Southwest Louisiana in the 1950s.Malone, Evelyn Levingston, "Swamp Blues: Race And Vinyl From Southwest Louisiana" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2457. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2457 It incorporates influences from other genres, particularly zydeco and Cajun. Its most successful proponents include Slim Harpo and Lightnin' Slim, who enjoyed national rhythm and blues hits.
Characteristics
File:Lazy Lester in 2004.jpg in 2004]]
Swamp blues has a laid-back, slow tempo, and generally is a more rhythmic variation of Louisiana blues, incorporating influences from New Orleans blues, zydeco, soul music and Cajun music.Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music. Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 161. {{ISBN|1-904041-96-5}}. It is characterized by simple but effective guitar work and is influenced by the boogie patterns used on Jimmy Reed records and the work of Lightnin' Hopkins and Muddy Waters.{{Cite web | first = Cub | last = Koda | author-link = Cub Koda | title = Swamp blues | work = AllMusic | url = http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/swamp-blues-d3242 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20101018163455/http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/swamp-blues-d3242| url-status = live| archive-date =October 18, 2010}}. The sound of swamp blues was characterized by "eerie echo, shuffle beats, tremolo guitars, searing harmonica and sparse percussion".R. Unterberger, S. Hicks and J. Dempsey, Music USA: the Rough Guide (London: Rough Guides, 1999), {{ISBN|1-85828-421-X}}, p. 175.
History
Swamp blues originated in the Black communities of Southwest Louisiana in the 1950sMalone, Evelyn Levingston, "Swamp Blues: Race And Vinyl From Southwest Louisiana" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2457. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2457 and was particularly associated with record producer J. D. "Jay" Miller. In the 1950s, Miller recorded many blues artists around the city, distributing their recordings through Excello Records in Nashville, Tennessee.G. Herzhaft, Encyclopedia of the Blues, trans B. Debord (University of Arkansas Press, 2nd ed., 1997), {{ISBN|1-55728-452-0}}, pp. 140–4. The most successful and influential artist with whom he worked was guitarist and harmonica player Slim Harpo.{{cite book
| first= Paul
| last= Du Noyer
| year= 2003
| title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music
| edition= 1st
| publisher= Flame Tree Publishing
| location= Fulham, London
| isbn= 1-904041-96-5
| page= 162}} Other major artists included Lightnin' Slim, Lazy Lester, Silas Hogan, Lonesome Sundown, and piano player Katie Webster. A number of their songs, particularly those of Slim Harpo, were covered by British Invasion bands, including the Rolling Stones, The Kinks and the Yardbirds.R. Unterberger, "Louisiana blues", in V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine, eds., All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd ed., 2003), {{ISBN|0-87930-736-6}}, pp. 687–8. The popularity of the genre faded in the 1970s, with many swamp bluesmen turning to zydeco which remained popular with black audiences.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{blues}}
{{Louisianarootsmusic}}