The Blues, Episode 9: Blues Rock

Reporting locale: San Francisco

While America was listening to re-constituted country blues in the early ‘60s and England was experimenting with its own versions of electric blues, it wasn’t long before both camps came together and greatly influenced the sound of rock in the late ‘60s, capping off a decade of unprecedented blues popularity with whites.  The list of blues rock bands that rise to prominence during the late ‘60s blues rock period is impressive, to say the least.  Led Zeppelin, Cream, Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, the Stones, the Jeff Beck Group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Foghat from the British scene merge with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Blues Project, the Electric Flag, the Allman Brothers Band, the Steve Miller Band, Taj Mahal, Janis Joplin, and Johnny Winter to create a blues-rock sound of timeless power and guitar virtuosity.  Much of the great music being made in San Francisco during its acid rock heyday was blues-based, as blues jams went deep into the night at the Fillmore Auditorium and Avalon Ballroom.  Interviews with Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Bob Weir, Stevie Nicks, Greg Allman, and Johnny Winter bring back to life this most exciting period in blues history.  Steve Miller demonstrates how the blues permeated all of rock music at the time.