We all know the blues, a musical genre that includes a 12-bar verse and chorus. While this is true, in the early 20th century, this style of music had a broader definition. Not all blues songs and pieces were required to have a 12-bar verse and chorus, before the 1920s, it was more of a variation of ragtime. Thankfully, the genre first emerged in the acoustic recording era. Through recording we can very well hear the evolution of this genre.
Before 1900, it is very difficult to determine songs that could fit the antiquated definition, but there certainly were some songs to consider. A good one is the 1898 song “All I Wants is My Chickens” by black songwriter Jack Wilson. Thankfully this song was recorded several times in the era, memorably by Len Spencer and Arthur Collins. The sentiment and themes in the song are similar to other blues songs that would come years later. Many of what people called “blues” songs in those days didn’t include a 12-bar verse or chorus. It was more common to include the blue mood in the lyrics of the song, and to have a few “blue” notes in the accompaniment. People at the time would have assumed that it was a song about struggles, therefore a blues.
Arguably one of the most famous early blue songs was “Coon, Coon, Coon” by Leo Friedman and Gene Jefferson, white men. Usually blues songs in the early days originated with black writers
