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Originally Posted by Glice
I'd argue you don't care enough about the history to see further than the blues as some sort of foundational stone of modern music, which very much undermines any serious point you've got. Like the blues, sure, but any of the music you're talking about takes a bit of this, a bit of that and a bit of the other to form itself. Putting the onus on the blues is just a bit... annoying, frankly.
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But it is the foundational stone to 75% of the music I listen to. Sure, the blues was informed on some level by other forms of music, as it obviously wasn't the very first form of music, but there isn't
much that happened before it to really compare it to. Matter of fact, there is absolutely nothing in the way of recordings at least nothing of which was recorded before the blues came into play. Slight elements of traditional African music, yes, but your digging mighty deep in order to hear it (by the time blues hit, I'd guess the closest thing any African American had heard to traditional African music may have been percussion techniques that had been handed down through the generations, and perhaps, some spiritual vibes). On the other hand, blues is very obvious in a lot of music that came after. Of course, I realize you aren't denying this fact, but for whatever reason you seem to want to challenge my own interest in making these connections. Not only is blues heard in rock (and most variations of rock at that), but also country, folk, in some distant ways hip hop, funk, soul, whatever. Of course there were those that wished to distance themselves from blues, Little Richard being a prime example, but the influence was and is still more than obvious. And definitely, punk rock and metal are two forms of music that have split off into many sub-genres, loads of which embrace little-to-no elements of the blues. But still, I fall under that mindset that likes to embrace the fact that metal likely wouldn't have occurred without Sabbath (at least as we know it)...and it's interesting, because elements of Sabbath can still be occasionally heard in music that seemingly has NO blues influence (doom and in some cases black metal). Which, this last statement alone likely supports much of which you are saying...an "everything had something occur before it so why give blues too much creedance" mentality, + I can honestly appreciate that, but I am saying that blues is one form of music that has exceptionally been able to sustain itself through the years, in both popular and non-mainstream musical worlds alike. I'm not completely sure this can be said about most music that came before blues....at least not in such a way to where whatever given original form is still
obvious.
I'm pretty rooted in rock music, + it's only natural for me to take a solid interest in
it's history. Unless it's necessary for me to believe Elvis, Led Zeppelin, The Stooges, Pere Ubu, The Dolls, MC5, or Johnny Thunders were all pulling strictly new rabbits out of hats, I'll continue to follow my interests in the same way I have been.
And not that this matters, but I'd like to throw out there that blues + rock are definitely not the only sorts of music I listen to, they just happen to be what I tend to study most in my free time. I can talk about them and present valid opinions (yes, still opinions...) that come not only from countless hours of reading, but also listening, watching, and even visiting several actual key locations. I'm a fan, sorry some of you find that so offensive.