| In the 1920's and 1930's, blues guitar players like Blind | | | | Blues style. T-Bone Walker was born in Dallas, while |
| Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Robert Johnson, and | | | | Hooker was born in Mississippi. The California Blues |
| Lonnie Johnson were the influential performers of the | | | | Style that they helped to forge was smoother than the |
| day. They used a slide which was often made out of | | | | Chicago Blues and is somewhat of a melting pot for |
| a knife blade or the broken or sawed off neck from a | | | | Chicago Blues, jump blues, and some jazz swing. |
| bottle. Most of the music was improvised, and | | | | Starting in the 1960's, Caucasian audiences gained |
| unaccompanied. The form of the songs were loose, | | | | more interest in blues guitar thanks in part to the Paul |
| and were rarely, if ever, played the same way twice. | | | | Butterfield Blues Band and what was later to be called |
| As the 1940's came, the jump blues style | | | | the British Blues Movement. Bands such as Fleetwood |
| characterized by big band music sequestered the | | | | Mac, Cream, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, the |
| guitar to the rhythm section primarily. The primary | | | | Rolling Stone, and the Yardbirds were performing |
| influence of this era on blues guitar is that it heavily | | | | classic blues tunes in addition to their original tunes. |
| influenced the development of what would later be | | | | Many of these artists inspired American blues-rock |
| known as rock and roll, or rhythm and blues. | | | | artists like Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, and Johnny |
| After World War II in the 1950's, blues guitar became | | | | Winter. |
| electrified and amplified. Starting in Chicago, this new | | | | Meanwhile, in Chicago, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and |
| electric blues was characterized by the sounds of | | | | Luther Allison where creating what is called the West |
| Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Jimmy Reed. All of | | | | Side style of Chicago Blues. Their bands were |
| these players grew up in Mississippi, but migrated to | | | | dominated by the amplified electric blues guitar and |
| Chicago. The bands typically had, in addition to the | | | | heavily influenced later artists such as Stevie Ray |
| electric guitar, harmonica and a rhythm section of bass | | | | Vaughan, Johnny Lang, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. |
| and drums. Sometimes there would also be a | | | | Since the early 1980's, the blues has enjoyed quite a |
| saxophone, though it would be relegated to a rhythmic | | | | resurgence in America. The Texas Rock-Blues Style |
| support role. | | | | of Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Fabulous |
| B.B. King and Freddie King were also making names | | | | Thunderbirds brought the blues to American rock radio |
| for themselves at this time. They were somewhat | | | | stations. Eric Clapton, who originally gained his fame |
| unique at the time because they did not make use of | | | | with Cream and John Mayall, continues to make great |
| the slide to play the guitar. B.B. King has long been | | | | blues guitar albums and even recently recorded a set |
| considered one of the greatest blues guitar players of | | | | of old Robert Johnson classics. Many famous, |
| all time. Freddie King has often been called the King of | | | | legendary blues guitar players such as Buddy Guy and |
| the Boogie Woogie guitar. | | | | B.B. King continue to share the stage with the new |
| While Chicago had it's own sound in the 1950's, some | | | | generation of blues guitar players like Robert Cray, Joe |
| other artists such as T-Bone Walker and John Lee | | | | Bonamassa, and Walter Trout. |
| Hooker were creating what some call the California | | | | |