Delta Blues by Ted Gioia

The blues grew out of the plantations and prisons, the swampy marshes and fertile cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. With original research and keen insights, Ted Gioia, the author of a landmark study of West Coast jazz and the critically acclaimed The History of Jazz brings to life the stirring music of the Delta, evoking the legendary figures who shaped its sound and ethos: Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and others. Tracing the history of the Delta blues from the field hollers and plantation music of the nineteenth century to the exploits of modern-day musicians in the Delta tradition, Delta Blues tells the full story of this timeless and unforgettable music. No cultural force boasts such humble origins or such world-conquering reverberations. In this evocative rags-to-riches tale, Gioia shows how the sounds of the Delta altered the course of popular music in America and in the world beyond.

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[yakomuto]

How about Lady Gaga, .... but that's not really fair as she doesnt really make music...

[TheGurizes]

I have the SAME question, Dry.

Is it something about the culture of north american slaves?

Becouse, in south america, the culture is much different.

Here, we get samba, capoeira, bossa nova, etc.

In North America, you got the blues, the jazz, soul, funk.

And all of them(slaves) derive from africa.

Is it about weather?

Sorry about the du_mb question, but im curious.

Just love the blues.

[EMCEMITCH]

I would love to see movie bios on jelly roll morton---who could be played by snoop dog, memphis minnie, and howling wolf

[Odin029]

I have to disagree with a couple of things. First, Black people mostly don't care about our own musical history, except maybe for old gospel tunes. If you asked 10 young people who Muddy Waters was, it would be the long haired emo guitar playing white kid who would know, most young black people would have no idea. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is. 2nd, there are white people who can play authentic blues. I'd mention more, but Dr. John is as real as my grandmother's gumbo.

[revnasteewaters57]

@HoodaThunket That was a good message you wrote about the blues. I agree with you 100 percent. Even when I hear white people trying to play and sing the blues it seem like something is missing. Only black people can do the blues the right way. I hope I don't sound racist saying this. But it's a truth.

[revnasteewaters57]

@Odin029 To black people in America the blues has alway's been around. It was nothing new to us. The first blues was song on the slave ship's. This kind of music facinated white people so they took it from us. We didn't understand what the hype was all about because we lived the blues. But it is the greatest music that has ever been created. Even if white folks hand't discoverd our music it wouldn't have died. White folk music would be less entertaining without it.

[burrussw]

You are right he was hired to collect the stuff, he also used Leadbelly to communicate "the kind of music" he was looking for. Leadbelly would do the talking and lomax the recording but Leadbelly was under Lomax' direction. There are a few books that explore this topic. Sadly they have been dismissed as nonsense. From my reading there is an element of truth in the perspective that what we get as "traditional country blues" is really what was selected by a choosen few.

[Odin029]

@burrussw I don't really understand what you mean. The Library of Congress wanted musical styles cataloged. Not just the blues, but all the different folk arts from around the country, so Alan Lomax even went to prisons and recorded murderers. He wasn't a music producer trying to find a song to sell. He was more like an archeologist trying to preserve these art forms for future generations.

[burrussw]

I made the mistake of buying this book, very wordy, not a lot of new information, lots of speculation but written as if factual. Read it but check it out from the library. If they don’t have it, don’t bother.

[burrussw]

@Odin029 You are right it was mostly “whites” that collected, recorded and catalogued this music. It only follows that the music selected was filtered through what the “whites” thought was authentic rural, country or Negro blues. So in reality what we have is what some educated elite whites thought black music should sound like.

[jbpink]

@Odin029 The main guy who did most of the recording & documenting, name unknown to me, worked for the Library of Congress & he was assigned to travel throughout the south recording as many "negro" artists as he could find. We can only imagine (& get chills accordingly) what he felt as he found each of these great artists, watched them play & sing, & then recorded them for posterity. Simply amazing. Also simply amazing is knowing that our government actually did this back in the 1930s.!!!

[Odin029]

@HoodaThunket Please! I could give you a list of white people who saved these forms of music. It was a white man who traveled the back roads of America recording this music from the sources. It was the white people who brought the blues to the world. There are so many people who first heard the name Robert Johnson come out of the mouth of Eric Clapton or Keith Richards. If it wasn't for white people, the blues might have withered on the vine.