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True Meaning of Rhythm and Blues

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True Meaning of Rhythm and Blues
The True Meaning of Rhythm and Blues
I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart, [sic} Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like [sic] or water.
- Ray Charles
Rhythm and blues has become an original heartbeat of America. People love the sound. The term "rhythm and blues" emerged as the most acceptable designation for the music that had developed during pre-World War II blues styles (Develop 1 of 7). Rhythm and blues comes from the emotions of an artist. People function from the sound of rhythm and blues. The meaning of rhythm of rhythm and blues does not come from the beat of instruments; rhythm and blues comes from the soul of America.
Rhythm and blues was and still is a term used for a number of postwar American music forms. The term is credited to Jerry Wexler in 1947, when he was editing the charts at the trade journal "Billboard" and found that the record companies issuing black music considered the chart names then in use (Harlem Hit Parade, Sepia, Race) to be demeaning (Rhythm and Blues 1of 3). Rhythm and blues replaced the term "race music" which was deemed offensive, and was initially the style of music that developed into "rock and roll" (Original 1 of 3). Rhythm and blues clearly has its origin in the secular folk music of the American black musician - the Blues. The Blues is essentially about emotional expression and is predominantly a vocal medium -although there are many examples of blues instrumentals to refute this assertion, it is the singer who expresses the feelings of the of the blues; and there are a number of vocal techniques which are used to create the desired effects. The Blues has influenced just about everything musically which subsequently developed Rhythm and Blues, such as the way the artists show emotional feelings in their songs (Shade 2 of 6).
Rhythm and blues



Cited: "Blues." Wikipedia- the free encyclopedia. 12 Jan 2006 . "Developed out of Pre-World War II blues styles." Rhythm and Blues. 11 Jan 2006 . "Funk." Wikipedia- the free encyclopedia. 16 Jan 2006 . "Jazz." Wikipedia- the free encyclopedia. 12 Jan 2006 . "Original rhythm and blues." Wikipedia- the free encyclopedia. November 2005. 16 Jan 2006 . "Rhythm and Blues." Encyclopedia Britannica. 18 Jan 2006 . "Shades of Blue." The Rhythm and Blues Music Primer - The R&B History File. 13 Jan 2006 .

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