William Parker-Gorman

Describe the stylistic features of Im Leavin You by Howlin Wolf which show this piece is Rhythm and Blues from the 1950s.
One of the first indications that Im Leavin You is from the rhythem and blues era of the 1950s is the rasping, earthy and untrained sound of Howlin Wolfs vocals which are a stereotypical feature of music from this era. As the music was designed to be played from the heart the raw and personal feel this lack of musical training gives makes the performance more convincing and engaging. The use of the instruments within the piece also reinforces this feel. The solo on the Harmonica in bars 43-48 are also typical of the blues, hence the Harmonicas alternate name the blues harp. The instrument parts also have an improvised feel to them along with the vocal part. In the vocal part this is shown through microtonal inflections. The lead guitar part improvises to fill in the gaps between the short vocal phrases and helps to reinforce the key. This creates a dialogue between the lead vocal and lead guitar. The rhythm guitar plays a shuffle rhythm with swung quavers, which is another feature of the era and style. This riff is very repetitive and is used in a lot of other blues music by artists such as Status Quo. The comping piano part also hints towards the blues style as the right hand improvises simple melodies and the left hand embellishes the chords. The piece uses a standard twelve bar blues format that, is typical of the blues style and era. The piece has six choruses and four of these start with stop choruses to further emphasize the words and keep the piece driving on despite the laid back feel generated by the shuffle rhythm used. Like most blues music the piece uses modes. The mixolydian and dorian modes are used in this piece and the piece does not modulate. These are all features common in Rhythm and Blues music.