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Mississippi Delta Blues

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Stretching from Memphis South to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and bordered by the Mississippi River to the West and the Yazoo River to the East, the Mississippi Delta has been commonly known as the birthplace of the blues following the civil war. Although blessed with fertile soil, the Mississippi Delta was a region of extreme poverty and the blues were a tribute to the area and time in history. The blues were primarily played on guitars and harmonicas and were only recorded by memory and relayed live.

Influenced by African roots, field hollers, ballads, church music and dance tunes called jump-ups, the music evolved into call-and-response songs where the guitar would answer to a sung line.

The Mississippi Delta has produced more blues singer/musicians than all the other southern states combined. Mississippi counts among it's celebrated blues artists such great names as Son House, Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Bukka White,Muddy Waters, Skip James, John Lee Hooker and B.B. King to name only a few.

The blues have strongly influenced almost all popular music including jazz, country, and rock and roll and still influences the shape of today's music worldwide.

The legendary CROSSROADS is where highways U.S. 61 and U.S. 49 intersect in Clarksdale, Mississippi. It is here where many believe that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical genius. Other historians claim it was in Rosedale, Mississippi. Still others believe it was where Dockery Road crossed old highway 8 between Cleveland and Ruleville, Mississippi.

Robert Johnson, the blues singer who died in 1938 after drinking poisoned whiskey,was considered by the God-fearing, church-going folk of rural Mississippi as Lucifer's right-hand man. Even a young Muddy Waters, growing up in the Delta in the 1930's, believed the stories after hearing Johnson wailing "Hellhound on My Trail" on a phonograph record. One day when Muddy Waters was a teenager, he spotted the legendary Robert Johnson playing and singing on a small town street corner but because people said that the devil had taught Johnson to play the blues, he was afraid to get too close. Nevertheless, Johnson was one of Muddy Waters' biggest influences.

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Robert Johnson--Crossroad

Robert Johnson- Crossroad: by Coredump | video info

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Robert Johnson on iTunes

Track	Artist	Album
Cross Road Blues	Robert Johnson	Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings	$ 0.99 Preview
Me and the Devil Blues	Robert Johnson	Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings	$ 0.99 Preview
Sweet Home Chicago	Robert Johnson	Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings	$ 0.99 Preview
Hellhound On My Trail	Robert Johnson	Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings	$ 0.99 Preview
Traveling Riverside Blues	Robert Johnson	Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings	$ 0.99 Preview

A Brief History of the Blues

Somewhere around 1911 through 1914 the blues was first made popular by composer, W.C. Handy. However, the poetic and musical form of the blues materialized around 1910. Handy's "Instrumental Blues," "Memphis Blues," (originally known as "Boss Crump's Blues," and "St. Louis Blues" helped to increase its popularity.

By the 1920's, the blues had become a national craze. The first vocal blues song recorded was "Crazy Blues," by Mamie Smith in 1920. The influence that blues had on jazz inspired blues singers like Essie Smith, and later Billie Holliday.

The Great Depression forced many businesses along Beale Street to close, never to be opened again. As more and more businesses closed, the blues migrated North to Chicago, where the blues became electrified.

In Chicago and Detroit during the late 1940's and early 1950's artists such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James played what was typically Mississippi Delta blues backed by base, drums, piano, and harmonica. These artists began scoring national hits with blues songs.

During this same time, T-Bone Walker and B.B. King were pioneering a new style of guitar playing, combining jazz techniques with blues. It was B.B. King back in Memphis who in invented the concept of lead guitar now used by rock bands today. At the same time Son House, Leadbelly, and Bukka White were creating sounds of traditional unamplified blues.

It wasn't until the 1960's that the urban blues man was discovered by young white American and European musicians. Many blues based bands such as The Rolling Stones, Cream, Canned Heat, The Yardbirds, and Fleetwood Mac brought the blues to young white audiences.

Since the 1960's rock has undergone several blues revivals. Guitarists Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix spin-off styles were strongly influenced by the blues.

Continuing a great blues tradition today, are Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, and Eric Clapton among others.