The Blues – A History of the 20th Century’s Most Influential Folk Music NEW

The Blues was a form of regional Black folk music composed of African rhythms, the musical structure of the English/ Scottish song, the acoustic guitar and the Black version of the English language. It is generally, but not exclusively associated with the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta’s cotton plantation workers, those who built the levees along the Mississippi, the stevedores and the convicts from the

penitentiaries.

We'll discuss how the Blues first came to notice and who noticed it. We'll focus on the rapid rise of the Blues starting in 1912 thanks to Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith, Bessie Smith and others (mainly women); the extension of music recorders into the Delta and thus the true source of the country Blues;  the roles played by W. C. Handy and Louis Armstrong and their relationship to the original Blues troubadours such as Charlie Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, “Son” House and Robert Johnson; the Great Migration of Black populations to Northern industrial cities, of which Chicago was the most prominent, which led directly to post-World War II Blues and the embrace of electric instruments and appeal to a new urban black audience and thereafter to white and international audiences. We'll also chart the rise of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker and their influence on the next generation of rock and rollers including Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran and others. We'll also touch on the musical genre's direct influence on the "British invaders" like The Beatles, the Rolling Stones,  the Who and a legion of European admirers.