Call It Stormy Monday

In a Los Angeles studio in 1947, T-Bone Walker helped define the modern electric blues guitar language. On "Call It Stormy Monday" (originally titled "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)"), Walker played a sophisticated, jazz-inflected chord progression perfectly suited to the West Coast club scene. But it was his lead work that had a major impact. Using a fluid, singing tone with delicate string bends, he made his hollow-body electric guitar sound as expressive as a horn section. This single recording became a foundational blueprint for electric blues players who followed, notably B.B. King.