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Smokestack Lightnin' Home Page' -- The Blues Profile Page
The Delta Blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music.
It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United
States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to
Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the
west to the Yazoo River on the east. The Mississippi Delta area
is famous both for its fertile soil and its poverty. Guitar,
harmonica and cigar box guitar are the dominant instruments
used, with slide guitar (usually on the steel guitar) being a
hallmark of the style. The vocal styles range from introspective
and soulful to passionate and fiery. Delta blues is also
regarded as a regional variation of country blues.
s is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in
the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that
stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg,
Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the
Yazoo River on the east. The Mississippi Delta area is famous
both for its fertile soil and its poverty. Guitar, harmonica and
cigar box guitar are the dominant instruments used, with slide
guitar (usually on the steel guitar) being a hallmark of the
style. The vocal styles range from introspective and soulful to
passionate and fiery. Delta blues is also regarded as a regional
variation of country blues.
Origin
Although Delta blues certainly existed in some form or another
at the turn of the 20th century, it was first recorded in the
late 1920s, when record companies realized the potential African
American market in Race records. The earliest recordings were by
the 'major' labels and consist mostly of one person singing and
playing an instrument, though the use of a band was more common
during live performances. Freddie Spruell is reckoned to be the
first Delta blues artist to record, as he waxed 'Milk Cow Blues'
in Chicago in June 1926. Some of these early recordings were
made on 'field trips' to the South by record company talent
scouts, but some Delta blues performers were invited to travel
to northern cities to record. According to Dixon & Godrich
[1981], Tommy Johnson and Ishman Bracey were recorded by Victor
on that company's second field trip to Memphis, in 1928. Robert
Wilkins was first recorded by Victor in Memphis in 1928, and
Big
Joe Williams and Garfield Akers also in Memphis (1929) by
Brunswick/Vocalion.
Son House first recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin (1930) by
Paramount. Charlie Patton
also recorded for Paramount in
Grafton, in June 1929 (and again, at the same location in May
1930). In January and February 1934 Patton visited New York City
for further recording sessions. Robert Johnson traveled to San
Antonio (1936) and Dallas (1937) for his ARC, and only,
sessions.
Subsequently, the early Delta blues (as well as other genres)
were extensively recorded by John Lomax and his son Alan Lomax,
who criss-crossed the Southern US recording music played and
sung by ordinary people helping establish the canon of genres we
know today as American folk music. Their recordings number in
the thousands, and now reside in the Smithsonian Institution.
According to Dixon & Godrich (1981) and Leadbitter and Slaven
(1968), Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress researchers did
not record any Delta bluesmen (or women) prior to 1941, when he
recorded Son House and Willie Brown near Lake Cormorant,
Mississippi, and Muddy Waters at Stovall, Mississippi, however
this claim is disputed as John and Alan Lomax did record Bukka
White in 1939, Lead Belly in 1933 and most likely others.
Style
Cross Road Blues
Scholars in general disagree as to whether there is a
substantial, musicological difference between blues that
originated in this region and in other parts of the country. The
defining characteristic of Delta blues is instrumentation and an
emphasis on rhythm and 'bottleneck' slide; the basic harmonic
structure is not substantially different from that of blues
performed elsewhere. 'Delta blues' is also a style as much as a
geographical appellation: Skip James and Elmore James, who were
not born in the Delta, were considered Delta blues musicians.
Performers travelled throughout the Mississippi Delta, Arkansas,
Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee. Eventually, Delta blues spread
out across the country, giving rise to a host of regional
variations, including Chicago and Detroit blues.
Themes
The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman Farm was an
important influence on several blues musicians who were
imprisoned there, and was referenced in songs such as Bukka
White's 'Parchman Farm Blues' and the folk song 'Midnight
Special'. Delta Bluesmen also typically sang songs in the first
person about sexuality, the travelling lifestyle and the
tribulations resulting from leading this lifestyle.
Women performers in Delta Blues
In big city blues women dominated the musical landscape; i.e. Ma
Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. However, in Delta Blues
and other rural or folk style blues women rarely recorded the
blues. In Delta Blues often female performers had some romantic
connection to more notable male delta blues performers; such as
Geeshie Wiley attached to Papa Charlie McCoy. McCoy's brother
Kansas Joe McCoy was attached to the arguably more notable
Memphis Minnie and the seminal Charlie Patton sometimes played
and recorded with his wife Bertha Lee. It was not until late in
the 1960s that women began to be heard in recorded performances
at the level they had previously enjoyed. It was then that Janis
Joplin arrived as both the first female performer to achieve
both accolades from her peers as a blues performer and a
'crossover' commercial success who reached diverse audiences
with a powerful and emotive vocal delivery. Other women to
followed later (among many) were both influenced by Delta blues,
and who learned from some of the most notable of the original
artists alive include Bonnie Raitt, and Susan Tedeschi.
Influence
Many Delta Blues artists moved to Detroit and Chicago such as
Big Joe Williams creating a pop influenced city blues style,
however, this was displaced by the new Chicago blues sound in
the early 1950s pioneered by Delta Bluesmen, Muddy Waters,
Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter, harking back to a more delta
influenced, yet electrified sound. This Delta style blues folk
music also inspired the creation of British Skiffle music, from
which eventually came the persons and bands of the British
Invasion, while simultaneously influencing British Blues which
led to the birth of early hard rock and heavy metal.
This section was created from www.wikipedia.com