Jews with the Blues: A Cultural Look at our Place in the World of the Blues

By Corey Abramson
Temple University

"It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues." – Michael Bloomfield, Jewish Blues Guitarist

When we think of famous Jewish musicians, the usual big names come to mind. Among our tribe dwell The Beastie Boys, Lenny Kravitz, Matisyahu, Joey Ramone, Sammy Davis Jr, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan and Art Garfunkel. These, among many, many others, make up a hearty, generation-spanning collective of Jewish singers, instrumentalists, band members and managers. While it is certainly no secret that Jewish culture and African-American culture often go hand in hand, most will find it a bit of a surprise that Jewish musicians are a major force in the world of the blues.

Blues music stems from late 19^th century spirituals, gospels and work songs that were sung by African-American field workers and slaves in the United States. The music is based on a repetitive twelve bar progression that allows (much like the work songs) for a call and response and serves the purpose of motivation and storytelling. Since the structure often included repetition, the songs were easily memorized and spread rapidly throughout the south.

In that respect, the blues itself tells the story of a people – the good times, the bad times and the steps in between. In the same way that music, literature and artwork came out of the years of the Holocaust, the blues were a way to keep people motivated and informed, serving as way to get the stress of persecution and injustice off peoples' chests and into the public dialogue.

Around the turn of the 19^th century, Jewish people were migrating from Eastern Europe to the United States just as slaves were making their way up north to escape slavery and start independent lives. Due to the poverty of poorer classes of immigrants, Jews and African-Americans (among other newcomers to the country) were living in close quarters and had no choice but to interact culturally, musically and creatively. When the blues moved north from the Delta and into big cities like the famous blues capital of Chicago, Jewish people started to join in.

The Jews from the Pale of Settlement (the one section of Imperial Russia that allowed for a Jewish lifestyle) brought Klezmer music to the table and the former slaves brought their blues and distinct rhythms. Jazz was all the rage at the time, so talented musicians looking to earn a living from both groups started studying and learning the genre; this meshing of musical culture brought them even closer together. If you leave two musicians in a room together from totally opposite ends of the spectrum for any period of time, they're going to jam… and jam they did.

Going ahead a few decades, we begin to encounter a few more familiar names in the Jewish-Blues world. 1965 saw the Paul Butterfield Blues band release a self-titled album after the addition of blues hotshot Mike Bloomfield. Bloomfield grew up on Chicago's North Side and chose his bar mitzvah present (a guitar) over his family's catering business. "They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about," said Al Kooper, a famous mover and shifter in the world of music. Bloomfield would gain support early on from established blues greats such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy, who are considered the founding fathers of modern blues. Years later, fellow Jewish guitarist Robert Allen Zimmerman, better known as Bob Dylan would take Michael on as a sessions guitarist. Michael's sound had a huge impact on Dylan's change into the world of electric music.

John Mayall and the Blues Breakers were a blues-rock group that great Eric Clapton (of Crossroads and Cream fame) played for. While Slowhand (Clapton's bluesy nickname) was not Jewish, his replacement Peter Greenbaum certainly was. His stint with the Blues Breakers, though short, was quite successful, until he broke off and formed Fleetwood Mac - but not before working with then little known Rod Stewart. Fleetwood Mac, with Greenbaum, would go on to write the song "Black Magic Woman" – later made famous by guitar virtuoso Santana.

Greenbaum and Bloomfield are only two examples of the huge world of Jewish blues musicians. The best part about blues music is its long, rich history, crossover to and from other genres (from country, jazz, punk and everything in between) and constant revival by new, younger musicians. Each song has as much of a story as it tells and if you do your homework, you might find that the writers and performers of such songs share a lot more in common with you than you'd previously thought.

Corey Abramson is a junior majoring in communications at Temple University in Philadelphia. Currently, Corey hosts a bi-weekly student radio show with a heavy focus on blues music, serves as the Vice President for Temple's Singer-Songwriter and Musicians group and plays harmonica and guitar in his free time. This coming school year, Corey will be teaching a Hebrew High class on Jews in the Media.

[Posted 7/21/09]