O is for… Origins

The ugly truth is that blues in its earliest form was brought to America by African slaves. Even after they were freed, life was a daily grind of working the fields for little reward.

To help lift their spirits they would sing while they worked. These 'field hollers', prison and work songs would eventually form the backbone of blues music. The music was officially born as a genre with the publication of sheet music for the Dallas Blues by Hart A Wand in 1912. It was the first published 12-bar blues.

O is also for… Overdrive

The sound of electric blues, dating back to the mid-'60s British boom at least, is creamy overdrive. Whether the sound is achieved by whacking up the volume on a valve amp or by using a pedal, dial in the neck pickup, head above the twelfth fret and make it sing.