1960 Revival of the Blues
Europe in the 1960s saw a massive invasion of blues artists from the past. The purpose of the trip abroad was to rekindle the flame and re-activate the spirit of the Europeans view or the blues and the Americans. Among the first to leave the United States were Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim who were embarking for their tour throughout Europe and the Middle East. Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry along with Eddie Boyd, Curtis Jones and the Champion Jack Dupree were there to give the blues a revival or as the media called it a rebirth.
Slowly, the blues were catching on again, but the new young enthusiast wanted to hear and see in person the older blues performers. So there became a re-discovery of 'Son' Mouse, John Hurt, Mance Lipscomb, Fred McDowell. Robert Pete Williams, Robert Shaw, Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes and others. When they were on tour in Europe, it was always a sold out audience. The bluesmen captured the hearts of the Europeans and managed to keep that momentum going for future blues artists ready to appear on the scene. By the mid-1960s, the Folk Blues Festival brought Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker and 'Sonny Boy' Williamson to Europe where British groups like the Rolling Stones, Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies who fashioned their magic after the bluesrnen of America .
Another important reason why the blacks invaded Europe in the 1960s was because there was work for them in the nightclubs and concert tours. Willie Dixon summed it all up when he told a reporter, "I wouldn't have gone over there in the first place had I been doing all right here, you know." During the American Folk-Blues Festival on tour in Europe, many of the English pop artists took note of the popularity of the blues that was spreading throughout their homeland. It wasn't long before they were recording songs of the black bluesmen. The Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds and other groups were doing Willie Dixon's songs.
England was the center of attraction for blues-rock. Records of B B King or Bobby 'Blue' Bland could be heard on the local radio stations and on the juke boxes in taverns, juke joints and on records. Many white youngsters got acquainted with the blues by listening to Jimi Hendrix, Paul Butterfield and John Mayall's Blues breakers or by listening to soul artists like Aretha Franklin, Jackie Wilson and Jimmy Hughes. Likewise, rock `n' roll fans got a taste of the blues through Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino. Much of the blues records were played on the pop radio stations that had a listening audience of young black and white kids as well as their parents.
