The 60s blues nobody wants to bury
The blues of the 60s reopens the debate between purists and eclectics. Where does blues end and soul begin? A look at the stylistic boundaries that divide listeners.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The blues that won't give up: from wild roots to soul</b>
The blues has never died, but its definition has become a battlefield. A look at recent discussions about the genre shows that the real debate is not whether it is played or not, but where the blues ends and soul or rhythm & blues begins. While some isolate the "authentically wild blues" of its origins, others widen the mold to include the great geniuses of the late 60s.
The core of the controversy lies in stylistic boundaries. When it comes to mixing styles, rhythm & blues appears as the awkward relative: a fusion that for some is blues under another name, and for others is already something else. The label "soul" emerges as a red line: "This is not blues, it's soul, but whatever," reads the analyses. A resignation that suggests the purity of the genre is almost impossible to maintain.
Attention now turns to the blues of the late 60s, an era of electric experimentation and fusions with rock. Some argue that those years —with figures like B.B. King, Albert King or Buddy Guy— represent the creative peak, while others point out that this moment was already contaminated by soul and funk. The tacit agreement is that, sooner rather than later, the great forgotten ones will have to be revisited.
The disconcerting fact: every time a song is labeled, someone argues. There is no consensus on what is blues, what is soul, or where rhythm & blues fits. The only clear thing is that the genre lives on in the discussion. Will purists and eclectics ever agree, or will the blues remain, as always, a musical battlefield with no winners?
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The blues has never died, but its definition has become a battlefield. A look at recent discussions about the genre shows that the real debate is not whether it is played or not, but where the blues ends and soul or rhythm & blues begins. While some isolate the "authentically wild blues" of its origins, others widen the mold to include the great geniuses of the late 60s.
The core of the controversy lies in stylistic boundaries. When it comes to mixing styles, rhythm & blues appears as the awkward relative: a fusion that for some is blues under another name, and for others is already something else. The label "soul" emerges as a red line: "This is not blues, it's soul, but whatever," reads the analyses. A resignation that suggests the purity of the genre is almost impossible to maintain.
Attention now turns to the blues of the late 60s, an era of electric experimentation and fusions with rock. Some argue that those years —with figures like B.B. King, Albert King or Buddy Guy— represent the creative peak, while others point out that this moment was already contaminated by soul and funk. The tacit agreement is that, sooner rather than later, the great forgotten ones will have to be revisited.
The disconcerting fact: every time a song is labeled, someone argues. There is no consensus on what is blues, what is soul, or where rhythm & blues fits. The only clear thing is that the genre lives on in the discussion. Will purists and eclectics ever agree, or will the blues remain, as always, a musical battlefield with no winners?
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