The Official Site of Chuck Berry. Rock and Blues. Tom Waits. Bonnie Raitt. Billie Holiday: The Official Site of Lady Day. A Short History of the Blues. The Dockery Plantation contributed extensively to the develpment of the blues in Mississipppi. Indesputeabley, its major contribution was Charley Patton. Charley Patton was quite possibily the blues' most talented all-around artist. A magnificent guitar player, songwriter and singer, he exterted influence that extended from Son House to Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson The Blues Queens The Bluesmen The origins of blues is not unlike the origins of life.
The Crossroads From the crossroads of Highways 61 and 49, and the platform of the Clarksdale Railway Station, the blues headed north to Beale Street in Memphis. The Blues... it's 12-bar, bent-note melody is the anthem of a race, bonding itself together with cries of shared self victimization. The blues form was first popularized about 1911-14 by the black composer W.C. The Blues are the essence of the African American laborer, whose spirit is wed to these songs, reflecting his inner soul to all who will listen. Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup. A History Of Blues Pt1.
Origins of the blues. Little is known about the exact origin of the music now known as the blues.[1] No specific year can be cited as the origin of the blues, largely because the style evolved over a long period and existed in approaching its modern form before the term blues was introduced, before the style was thoroughly documented. Ethnomusicologist Gerhard Kubik traces the roots of many of the elements that were to develop into the blues back to the African continent, the "cradle of the blues".[2] One important early mention of something closely resembling the blues comes from 1901, when an archaeologist in Mississippi described the songs of black workers which had lyrical themes and technical elements in common with the blues.[3] African roots[edit] African American work songs were an important precursor to the modern blues; these included the songs sung by laborers like stevedores and roustabouts, and the field hollers and "shouts" of slaves.[3][4] Master Kora maker Alieu Suso in the Gambia.