Compare And Contrast Walking Blues Vs Kentucky

Walking Blues vs. Blue Moon of Kentucky
As time progressed, music had to continue to evolve to keep up with the ever-changing styles. Blues slowly began to morph into Rock and Roll to engage people of a new era. While many changes occurred in creating Rock and Roll, it continued to carry undertones of the Blues. This can be heard while comparing Son House’s, “Walking Blues” and Elvis Presley’s, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” These two songs show many similarities, while also having their own identities.
There are two main similarities that can be heard while listening to “Walking Blues” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” The first is that they are both in 12 bar blues form. One characteristic of 12 bar blues is repeating the first line. Both songs incorporate this feature. In “Walking Blues” the first few lines are:
Well I go up this morning, feeling ‘round for my shoes
Know about that, I got the walkin’ blues
I said I got up this morning, I was feeling ‘round for my shoes

I said you know about that now, I got the walkin’ blues. (Soul House)
Repetition of lyrics can also be heard in the beginning lines of “Blue Moon of Kentucky”:
Blue moon, blue moon, blue moon
Keep shining bright
Blue moon, keep on shining bright
You’re gonna bring me back my baby tonight
Blue moon, keep shining bright.

(Elvis Presley)
The second characteristic of 12 bar blues, that both of these songs obtain is rhymed couplets. Song lyrics like chill and will, blues and shoes, and blue and you are all examples of this element in “Walking Blues”. Elvis also rhymes with words such as bright and tonight and high and bye. 12 bar blues is not the only similarity that this duo has, though.
While listening to “Walking Blues” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” similar instruments can be heard in the background. Both of these songs feature guitars. Son House, while singing, is playing his guitar with bent notes. He also used his notable slide technique to create a unique sound. In “Blue Moon of Kentucky” Presley featured Scotty Moore on the Electric Guitar and Bill Black on the Bass. The instrumentals in this song helped create an upbeat tempo that would lead to sucess. While there are many similarities there are also a number of

differences.
The first difference that can be heard is the tempo of the music. When Elvis redid “Blue Moon of Kentucky” he took the methodical tempo of before and sped it up. This is where it contrasts with Son House’s, “Walking Blues”. “Walking Blues” while still upbeat, had a more laid-back approach. This is very representative of the times that these pieces were sung. Another difference between these songs was the way that the lyrics were sung. Delivery of lyrics is important. When Son House sang he did so in a lower octave and drew out his words. He also sang almost as if he were talking. Elvis differed in that he used the echo effect, slapback. This was very common of songs that were recorded by Sam Phillips.
With all of the changes that have occurred in music it easy to overlook the influence that the blues had. By examining “Walking Blues” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” traces of blues can be found in Rock and Roll. Differences can also be found while listening. This shows that Blues really did have a great impact on Rock and Roll.