Music appearing in this episode:

Little Walter Jacobs - "Juke" (1952)

Muddy Waters - "Standing Around Crying" (1952)

The Osborne Brothers - "Ruby" (1957)

Elizabeth Cotten - "Freight Train" (1958) (I say that it’s in C, but the guitar is tuned down a whole step, so while she’s playing in C, it sounds in Bb)

Charles Mingus - "Better Git It In Your Soul" (1959)

The Beatles - "A Hard Day's Night" (1964)

Sam and Dave - "I Thank You" (1968)

BB King - "The Thrill Is Gone" (1969)

Nina Simone - "Nobody's Fault But Mine" (1969)

Jackson 5 - "ABC" (1970)

Al Green - "Love and Happiness" (1972)

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - "I Love Rock n Roll" (1981)

Prince - "7" (1992)

Dawn Penn - "You Don't Love Me (No No No)" (1994)

Tikar Woman - "Grinding Song" (1995)

Napoleon Strickland - "Key to the Bushes (Jitterbug Version)" (1995)

Panos Charalampidis’ video tutorial on blues pitch zones is a must-watch.

Gerhard Kubik lays out his theory that blue notes originate in West African tuning systems in his book Africa and the Blues. I also recommend this interview he did with Afropop Worldwide.

Jeff Titon’s book Early Downhome Blues is one of the best musicological analyses of the blues.

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Africa and the Blues

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