Blues
Born in the Mississippi Delta.
About The Genre
Birthed in the South, the blues evolved from spirituals, field hollers, work songs, and other African and African American musical traditions. It traveled from the Mississippi Delta upriver to New Orleans and in the 1930s and 1940s traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago and other urban areas. It is impossible to overestimate the impact of traditional Blues on 20th century popular music. It birthed the rhythm & blues, and rock & roll genres, and had a major influence on jazz and country music.
"While blues lyrics often deal with personal adversity, the music itself goes far beyond self-pity. The blues is also about overcoming hard luck, saying what you feel, ridding yourself of frustration, letting your hair down, and simply having fun. The best blues is visceral, cathartic, and starkly emotional. From unbridled joy to deep sadness, no form of music communicates more genuine emotion."
Trivia/Famous Lyrics
DId you know...
I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above for mercy, "Save me if you please"
From Cross Road Blues by Robert Johnson
The gypsy woman told my mother, before I was born
I got a boy child's comin', gonna be a son of a gun
He gonna make pretty womens, jump an' shout
And then the world wanna know, what this all about
From I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man by Willie Dixon
