Progression of blues throughout a decade is displayed through Blind Blake’s “West Coast Blues,” and Blind Boy Fuller’s “Rag, Mama, Rag.”   There are many similarities in the two compositions, but there are also many differences that show the evolution of the genre as a whole through ten years.  Differences and similarities can be seen in the songs melody, rhythm, vocals, and use of pitch. 

            In “West Coast Blues,” the classic blues guitar melody can be heard in the background.  The melody repeats over and over again until the end of the song.  There is no background rhythm accompaniment, just the guitar lick.  The melody is separated into four different sections, the first one spanning from high-pitched notes to low-pitched notes in the last section.  After the last section the melody repeats from the high pitched section.  The happy, light, and informal melody sounds like it could be heard at the counter of a bar, or in the lobby of a motel.  The singer does sing a long to the pitch or the rhythm of the melody.  Blind Blake almost seems like he’s having a conversation with his audience rather than singing a song.  This adds to the informal feel of the song.  His lyrics are often off beat and unstable, seemingly going off of his own rhythm rather than following the guitar.  The combination of these factors gives the song a ragged, authentic feel to listeners. 

            In “Rag, Mama, Rag,” the refinement of the blues is obvious. Blind Boy Fuller adds rhythm accompaniment in the background of the classical blues guitar.  The rhythmic background sounds like it is coming from a knee slap, and a cranking noise.  The background beat gives the song another dimension that “West Coast Blues” lacked.  The beat allows people to dance or nod their heads to the beat that was lacking in “West Coast Blue’s.”  The rhythm accompaniment also gave “Rag, Mama, Rag,” a whole different textual feel from “West Coast Blues.”  Instead of just singing to the audience without any regard to the beat, Blind Boy Fuller uses the background rhythm accompaniment and melody when he is singing.  The result is a song that flows much better and textually feels more cohesive.  Similar to “West Coast Blues,”   “Rag Mama Rag,” repeats the same melody over and over again until the conclusion of the song.  It has four sections that transition for a high pitch in the first section to a low pitch in the last section.  This stylistic remnant from the earlier made “West Coast Blues” shoes that the roots of blues are still unchanged after ten years.  Although both of the melodies use the same pitch transition, “West Coast Blues’” beat slowly speeds up as the song progresses.  Its speed progression adds to the buildup affect until the end of the song where the rhythm is at a frenetic pace.  Its almost like the increase in speed is like the sprint to the finish line of a race.  The speed change serves to add to the climax of the song and symbolize the end of the song while giving the song yet another dimension that “West Coast Blues” didn’t have. 

            Another technical aspect that Blind Boy Fuller added to his song that “West Coast Blue’s” didn’t have was the instrumental bridge near the end of the song.  There are no lyrics and the cranking noise that accompanied the melody returned.  Throughout the song, the melody had been constant, but during the instrumental bridge the melody is changed up.  This gives the song a different feel than the constant repeat of the melody in “West Coast Blues.”   After the bridge, Blind Boy Fuller attempts to use his voice as an instrument a la Bobby McFerrin in contemporary music.  This is also something that Blind Blake didn’t intertwine into his song.