Blues Progressions

Karl Sorochinski
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Music History
  • Updated Biweekly

Blues Progressions: Where every note tells a story 🎵 Welcome to Blues Progressions, the podcast that delves deep into the heart and soul of one of the most influential genres in music history: the blues. I’m your host, Karl Sorochinski and together, we’ll embark on a rhythmic journey through time. So, whether you’re a seasoned blues aficionado or a curious listener, join us on Blues Progressions. Let’s groove, reflect, and celebrate the heartbeat of American music. 🎶🔵 Remember to subscribe, rate, and share the blues love!

  1. 1d ago

    Episode 1 - Les Paul: The Studio as an Instrument (Series Opener)

    A guitar made out of a four-by-four fence post, laughed out of Gibson as "a broomstick with pickups" — and the same man in his garage stacking his own guitar eight times over. The tinkerer who gave rock its guitar and its studio. Series setup: rock was built by a network of builders, not one inventor — six episodes, six architects (the previous series was the instruments; this one is who made them possible) The question: how did the guitar become a rock instrument? The player first: Waukesha, Wisconsin; the harmonica holder; a phonograph needle wired to a guitar; country as "Rhubarb Red" by day, jazz as Les Paul by night The railroad rail experiment — why a solid body means sustain and no feedback The Log (built after hours at the Epiphone factory) and the sawed-in-half archtop "wings"; Gibson's rejection An honest look at the contested "firsts": the Frying Pan, Bigsby and Merle Travis — Les Paul as one of the pioneers The Hollywood garage: acetate-disc overdubbing, half-speed guitars, and "Lover"; W. C. Fields and the "octopus" The 1948 crash and the arm set in the shape of playing; Mary Ford Bing Crosby's Ampex, the extra playback head, and sound on sound The eight-track "Octopus" — Les Paul's idea, Ross Snyder and Ampex's machine The Gibson Les Paul: 1952 goldtop, the humbucker, the sunburst that flopped, the 1961 redesign Listening Spine: "Lover," "How High the Moon," "Vaya con Dios," plus the Beano album, "East-West," and "Layla" Blues Progression: Freddie King and Hubert Sumlin → Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Peter Green, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman — the blues rescues the guitar; and the studio-as-instrument idea that leads to Tom Dowd

  2. Oct 2

    Episode 6 - Drums: The Groove that Moves It

    Clap on the two and the four — that push you just felt is the backbeat, the heartbeat of rock and roll. The finale: the instrument that turns a lonely blues into a whole band and decides if a room catches fire. The blues started without drums (solo Delta guitar + foot stomps); the drum kit is a 20th-century American invention out of New Orleans The jug-band percussion tradition; the humble hi-hat The backbeat (emphasis on 2 & 4) — rooted in African polyrhythm and gospel hand-claps — the heartbeat of rock The groove defined: kick + snare + cymbal = one person playing bass, backbeat, and pulse The shuffle (triplet swing; Fred Below's Chicago shuffle; the half-time "Purdie shuffle") vs the straight-eighth rock drive (Earl Palmer, the Bo Diddley beat) — the line where blues becomes blues rock Playing ahead/behind the beat; the pocket The drummers: Ginger Baker, John Bonham ("When the Levee Breaks"), Charlie Watts, Mitch Mitchell; Al Jackson Jr. the "Human Timekeeper"; the two-drummer Allman Brothers (Butch Trucks & Jaimoe) and the long-form jam Tone Recipe: kick/snare/hi-hat/ride/toms, sticks vs brushes; ghost notes, fills, hi-hat→ride; tone is in the hands Progression Spotlight: the drummer narrates the 12-bar (fills at the turnaround, crash on the "one") and conducts the dynamics of a jam Series wrap-up: all six instruments — cry, roar, answer, roll, ground, pulse — as one conversation

  3. Sep 25

    Episode 5 - Bass Guitar: The Hidden Engine

    Drop your attention to the very bottom of a song — that low, round thing you feel in your chest more than you hear. Almost nobody notices it, and it's holding the whole song together. The hidden engine. The bass's unique job: the hinge between rhythm and harmony — root notes define the chords, the kick-lock ("the pocket") drives the groove Why bass is felt: the physics of low frequencies working on your body Where it came from: piano left hand, upright/washtub bass, rockabilly slap → Leo Fender's Precision Bass (1951) The rhythm section: bass + drums as one four-limbed instrument The players: Willie Dixon (Chess bassist AND songwriter of the blues canon); jazz walking (Ray Brown); James Jamerson's melodic revolution Blues-rock heroes: Jack Bruce (Cream) & Paul McCartney make bass a voice; Bill Wyman, John Paul Jones; Berry Oakley (Allmans' "third guitar," "Whipping Post"); Duck Dunn & Tommy Shannon (the pocket); Andy Fraser's use of space; Geezer Butler & Roger Glover go heavy Tone Recipe: P-bass vs J-bass, fingers vs pick, flat vs roundwound; power through clarity, not just boom Progression Spotlight: rooting, walking, and riffing the 12-bar; octaves, slides, connecting runs; tension & release as forward motion

  4. Sep 18

    Episode 4 - Piano: Barrelhouse to Boogie

    One beat-up upright, one player, and a left hand rolling like a freight train — and suddenly one person is the whole band. The most underappreciated instrument in blues rock: the piano. The barrelhouse: rough sawmill/turpentine joints where one pianist was the entire band The two-hand division of labor: left hand = bass + drums, right hand = bluesy melody Boogie-woogie: the relentless rolling left-hand ostinato — a direct ancestor of the rock beat; Pinetop Smith; the 1938 Carnegie Hall "Spirituals to Swing" craze (Ammons, Johnson, Lewis) The masters: Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slim, Champion Jack Dupree; Otis Spann as Muddy Waters' soulful heart Crossover to rock and roll: Professor Longhair/Dr. John (New Orleans), Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis; Johnnie Johnson's piano behind Chuck Berry's riffs Gospel fusion: Ray Charles ("What'd I Say") invents soul; the church piano teaches rock to reach the heavens The Hammond B3 & Leslie: Booker T, Al Kooper, Deep Purple, Procol Harum; Gregg Allman & Chuck Leavell; Ian Stewart, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins Tone Recipe: acoustic piano vs Hammond+Leslie vs Wurlitzer/Rhodes; the blue-note "crush"; comping Progression Spotlight: 12-bar in full view — dominant-seventh harmony, turnarounds, the left hand as bass + roadmap, gospel passing chords

  5. Sep 11

    Episode 3 - Harmonica: The Pocket Orchestra

    A few bucks, fits in your pocket, no strings or keys — and in the right hands, cupped around a mic, it moans like a sax and cuts through a whole band like a siren. The biggest small instrument in the blues. What a harmonica actually is: free reeds, the ten-hole diatonic, cheap Hohner Marine Band, the "Mississippi saxophone" The two magic tricks: bending (shaping the note inside your throat) and cross harp / second position Early voices: DeFord Bailey's train pieces, Sonny Terry, Sonny Boy Williamson I making it a lead instrument The big bang: Little Walter cups a bullet mic + amp, cuts "Juke" (#1 R&B, 1952) — a new instrument Sonny Boy Williamson II (King Biscuit Time, "Help Me"); Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells & Buddy Guy; Howlin' Wolf The swampy side: Jimmy Reed & Slim Harpo → the Rolling Stones Into blues rock: the Stones, Yardbirds, Paul Butterfield, Charlie Musselwhite, Magic Dick, John Popper; the harp rack & folk-rock Tone Recipe: a harp in every key, cross harp, tongue-blocking, bending, hand-wah & throat vibrato, bullet mic + tube amp Progression Spotlight: call-and-response over 12-bar, the IV-chord draw chord "freight-train" chug, melody + rhythm at once

  6. Sep 4

    Episode 2 - Electric Guitar: From Delta to Arena

    The problem amplification solved: guitar from background rhythm to lead voice Pickups, sustain, grit — why an electric guitar is a new instrument, not a loud acoustic Charlie Christian invents the guitar solo; T-Bone Walker invents electric blues lead ("Stormy Monday") Muddy Waters' Delta muscle; jump blues; Chuck Berry as the blues→rock-and-roll hinge The solidbody revolution: Fender Telecaster/Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul The voice takes over: B.B. King's vibrato & Lucille, Albert King's bends, Freddie King; Buddy Guy's fire Blues becomes blues rock: Clapton's "Beano" Les Paul-into-Marshall, Cream; Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page; Hendrix reinvents everything; SRV carries it on; the Southern-rock twin-guitar branch Tone Recipe: solidbody + cranked tube amp, single-coils vs humbuckers, bending & vibrato, wah/fuzz — and why tone is in the fingers Progression Spotlight: 12-bar, shuffle vs straight-eighths, the pentatonic box, question-and-answer phrasing, double-stops & hammer-ons

  7. Aug 28

    Episode 1 - Slide Guitar: The Crying Voice

    There's a sound in the blues that doesn't play notes so much as it cries them. That's slide guitar — the instrument that sounds most like a human voice weeping and singing at once. We start the series here. Why slide sounds like a voice: gliding between pitches, no frets, the notes between the notes Delta roots: W.C. Handy's Tutwiler train-station encounter, the diddley bow, Hawaiian steel, resonator guitars, gospel slide Open tunings (open G/D/E) — how one bar of glass plays the whole 12-bar The players: Son House, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Tampa Red, Blind Willie McTell → Muddy Waters & Robert Nighthawk electrify it in Chicago → Elmore James turns it into a rock riff ("Dust My Broom") → Duane Allman makes it soar (At Fillmore East, "Statesboro Blues," "Layla") → Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Bonnie Raitt carry it on Tone Recipe: glass vs metal slide, open tunings, light touch + heavy muting + vibrato, tube-amp sustain Progression Spotlight: the 12-bar blues, I–IV–V, turnarounds, minor-key variation, blue notes

  8. Aug 21

    Episode 6 - Blues Rock Now (Series Finale)

    The finale brings it home to right now. Joe Bonamassa as the model for the modern DIY blues-rock empire (and his Royal Albert Hall night with Clapton); Gary Clark Jr. fusing the blues with everything modern ("This Land"); Kingfish carrying it straight out of Clarksdale, mentored by Buddy Guy — the living, unbroken chain. The 2000s garage-blues wave (White Stripes, Black Keys) that snuck the blues back onto the radio; Marcus King at the blues/Southern-rock crossroads; Larkin Poe and Samantha Fish leading a more open genre; the global scene; and streaming putting the whole 100-year history in your pocket. Then the close: six episodes recapped as one unbroken, hand-to-hand river — and the host's parting gift, handing the listener the thread, with a promise that Blues Progressions keeps going.

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About

Blues Progressions: Where every note tells a story 🎵 Welcome to Blues Progressions, the podcast that delves deep into the heart and soul of one of the most influential genres in music history: the blues. I’m your host, Karl Sorochinski and together, we’ll embark on a rhythmic journey through time. So, whether you’re a seasoned blues aficionado or a curious listener, join us on Blues Progressions. Let’s groove, reflect, and celebrate the heartbeat of American music. 🎶🔵 Remember to subscribe, rate, and share the blues love!

Information

  • Creator
    Karl Sorochinski
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved. Intro Music used in Season 1 via public domain license. Check it out here: Electric Blues 65 - https://pixabay.com/users/darockart-17132017/
  • Show Website
    Blues Progressions