CHORDS, RIFFS, TABS AND TURN-AROUNDS

Gospel, Jazz, Folk, Country, Rock, Soul, B-Bop, Funk, Rhythm & Blues, Punk and Pop, it all came "Out of the Blues".

On the Focus Music page we aim to take a look at the journey popular music has made through the decades with links to influential artists of each era. Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and original Blues men including Robert Johnson, Edward Son House, Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt made their way north from the American deep South and brought the "Blues" to a wider American audience. This in turn lead to the birth of "Rock and Roll" in the 50s with artists such as Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

"The Beatles" were inspired by the great guitar riffs of Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Little Richard's soulful sound and "Rhythm and Blues" burst onto the UK music scene in the 60s spawning the "Mersey Beat Sound" and "Beatlemania" and the rest they say is History! America's British Invasion may have included The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the Animals but in return the UK embraced Soul and Motown music with brilliant artistes like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Picket, Otis Reading, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Ike and Tina Turner, Percy Sledge, Jimi Ruthin, Aretha Franklyn, Otis Reading, The Temptations. The Soul Train had arrived and we loved the ride. 2009 marked the 50th Anniversary of Motown. Motown 50 (3CD). 

Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five continued the Motown tradition as Soul music lead the way to Funk, Reggae, Ska, Soul/RnB, Hip Hop and Rap. Keeping the "Soul Train" on the tracks is fledgling songstress Dionne Bromfield who at 13 years of age brought some of that 60s Motown style to a new generation. London-born soul singer Dionne Bromfield, whose sensational debut TV performance on Strictly Come Dancing 2010 introduced her as an exciting new talent. The single, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was taken from her debut album "Introducing Dionne Bromfield".

We are updating and will be adding more Focus Music Notes soon, in the meantime check out the archive of blog posts and media releases on this blog.