Delta blues

Delta blues are named for the Mississippi Delta.

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, the Mississippi River on the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The Mississippi Delta area is famous both for its fertile soil and its extreme poverty. Guitar and harmonica are the dominant instruments used. The vocal styles range from introspective and soulful to passionate and fiery.

Delta blues music was first recorded in the late 1920s. The early recordings consist mostly of one person singing and playing an instrument, though the use of a band was more common during live performances. The recording of early Delta blues (as well as other genres) owes much to John Lomax, who criss-crossed the Southern US recording music played and sung by ordinary people. His recordings number in the thousands, and now reside in the Smithsonian Institution.

"Delta blues" is 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 traveled 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.

Scholars 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 would seem to be instrumentation and an emphasis on rhythm and "bottleneck" slide; the basic harmonic structure is not substantially different from that of blues performed elsewhere.

Because the Mississippi Delta was essentially "feudal" in the 1920s and earlier, and the plantation system was oppressive, there existed a subculture of blues artists who were refugees from that system.

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'. Thus Delta blues can refer to one of the first pop-music subcultures as well as to a performing style.

List of artists

• Ishman Bracey
• Willie Brown
• R.L. Burnside
• Sam Chatmon
• Bob Cobb
• James Cotton
• Mike Cross
• Arthur Crudup
• David Honeyboy Edwards (1915- )
• Earl Hooker
• John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) Pioneer of Detroit blues
• Son House (1902-1988)
• Mississippi John Hurt (1892-1966)
• Skip James (1902-1969)
• Robert Johnson (1911-1938)
• Tommy Johnson Influenced by Charley Patton.
• Paul Jones
• Junior Kimbrough
• Rubin Lacy (1901-1972)
• Leadbelly (Huddie William Ledbetter) (1888-1949)
• Furry Lewis
• Robert Lockwood Jr.
• Robert Lowery (1931- )
• Tommy McClennan
• Memphis Minnie
• Charley Patton (1891-1934) One of the first "stars" of Delta blues.
• Paul Pena
• Snooky Pryor
• Johnny Shines
• Sunnyland Slim
• Henry Sloan Mentor to Charley Patton
• Hound Dog Taylor
• Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) (1915-1983) Pioneer of Chicago blues
• Bukka White
• Big Joe Williams
• Howlin' Wolf

See also

• Delta Blues Museum, in Clarksdale, Mississippi
• King of the Delta Blues Singers, an album by Robert Johnson

Bibliography

• Cobb, Charles E., Jr., "Traveling the Blues Highway", National Geographic Magazine, April 1999, v.195, n.4

External links

• Trail of the Hellhound - Delta Blues in the lower Mississippi Valley
• The Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola
• "The Blues", documentary by Martin Scorsese, aired on PBS.
• http://www.djohnsonblues.com, musician that performs 1930s Mississippi Delta Blues in style of Son House and Robert Johnson

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