Skip to main content

Link to Smithsonian homepage

Smithsonian Music

Main menu

  • Calendar
  • Listen
  • Learn
    • Ask Smithsonian
    • Collections Spotlights
    • Music Stories
  • Watch
  • Blog

The Blues

One of the most influential styles of American music, the Blues is a living tradition with multiple regional styles. Have a listen with the Sounds of the American Blues and The Roots of Rhythm & Blues playlists from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and explore our blues-related collection items.

  • B.B. King - Symphony Hall, Boston, Mass. - 1969
  • Tears don't fall no more sound recording : blues and ballads / Lonnie Johnson
  • B.B. King - Symphony Hall, Boston, Mass. - 1969
  • Junior Wells
  • B.B. King - Symphony Hall, Boston, Mass. - 1969
  • Ray Charles
  • Muddy Waters
  • Jimi Hendrix
  • The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins, sound recording
  • Libba Cotten
  • Aretha Franklin, SCLC convention, Club Paradise, Memphis, TN
  • Mississippi John Hurt
  • Jimi Hendrix
  • Handwritten lyrics to "You Need Love" by Willie Dixon, signed by Ron Wood

Link to Smithsonian homepage

  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
Back to Top