Freeman opened an upscale restaurant and the ground zero blues club next to clarksdales storied blues museum. Together with palmers deep blues, i consider them a mandatory read for a blues music aficionado. With its history of slavery, racial oppression, the ku klux klan, and jim crow laws, plus baking heat, rampant illiteracy and. We can also head north and cross over the mississippi river to helena, arkansas with incredible blues and civil war history. I have read a few books about blues history, and i have watched a lot of documentaries. This musical and cultural history traces the blues from its roots in west africa to the mississippi delta to urban. Charlie musselwhite live from the mississippi delta is an important and original addition to the literature of the blues. Jun 12, 2015 blues greats robert johnson, muddy waters, son house, and b. Another one, the land where the blues began, by alan lomax also in paperback at amazon us was helpful, but not great. Blues history blues is an american heritage, and it should be noted as such. The first, at holly ridge, is dedicated to delta blues pioneer charley patton. In dispatches from pluto, adventure writer richard grant takes on the most american place on earththe enigmatic, beautiful, often derided mississippi delta. Part of versos haymarket series, examining aspects of american history, politics, and culture from various perspectives on the political left, this book covers the history of.
Not only do i love the music of both these blues legends but also look at that beautiful signwriting. And there are many other great writers on delta blues history heres some source material from the back of my book. Nov 09, 2008 a history of the events and people who defined the mississippi blues. Howlin wolf muddy waters with the mississippi delta blues down home music bus. This museum provides an incomplete, if not revisionist history of the mississippi delta. By greg cahill from the november 2016 issue of acoustic guitar. List of books and articles about mississippi history. Hill country blues also known as north mississippi hill country blues or north mississippi blues is a regional style of country blues. Wonderful journey through the history of the great mississippi delta blues. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta by robert palmer available at amazon us in paperback, which helped me to understand the roots wonderful book, i highly recommend it. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Palmers book was my introduction to the blues and im very glad of it because its so wide and deep like varying parts of the mississippi river. It touches on issues of race relations, economic development, and musical and literary creativity.
Shop online at the delta blues museum, clarksdale ms. In this book, ted gioia gets to the roots of the rootsthe delta blues, arguably the. Nov 04, 2012 the mississippi delta was fertile ground for the roots of the blues. This book is definitely for the diehard musicblues fan only. It originated in the mississippi delta, a region of the u. Mississippi john hurt avalon blues nora bayes homesickness blues sam collins lonesome road blues. Blues musicians of the mississippi delta by steven manheim. It was initially a folk music popular among former slaves living in the mississippi delta, the flat plain between the yazoo and mississippi rivers.
Louisiana may be the birthplace of jazz, but mississippi delta, is where the blues were born. We recommend booking the delta blues museum tours ahead of time to secure your spot. The mississippi delta national heritage area mdnha is the land where the blues began, where rock and roll was created and where gospel remains a vibrant art. Mississippi s generally hilly landscape reaches its highest point 806 ft246 m in the northeastern corner of the state along the tennessee river. The blues, howlin wolf once said, is problems, and for a long time the history of the blues, like problems, was covered up. Panny mayfield offers a unique window on the blues culture of clarksdale, mississippi, and its delta environs over the past three decades or so. The mississippi delta style of bluesor, simply, delta bluesemphasized solo performances by singers accompanying themselves on guitar and relying on a host of distinctive techniques, such as the sliding of a bottleneck or metal object such as a knife along the fingerboard to bend notes, the. Together the volumes represent one of the national park service s responses to title xi mississippi delta region initiatives passed by congress in 1994. This book contains images of these important performers and the rich delta landscapes that influenced their music. Then the mississippi delta driving tour heads to friars point, a ms river town loaded with blues and civil war history, ending with a visit to the mississippi river and a short ride on the ms river levee, where the once port of friars point used to be, near the site of the now underwater delta, mississippi and montezuma island. With its history of slavery, racial oppression, the ku klux klan, and jim crow laws, plus baking heat, rampant illiteracy and poverty, the delta was a cruel place for many african americans well into the middle of the 20th century. Quarterly journal of the music library association it is a good read with a nice way of getting the facts across. Apr 04, 2004 the delta is an environmentally compelling place, due in part to the presence of the mississippi river.
Local son morgan freeman once said, what was true then is true now. Brown covers with pictorials of blues singers, band on the front cover one guy wearing a blue suit. Mississippi delta home of blues music, culture, history for. In this region, where cotton was the primary cash crop, much of. Mississippi delta share book recommendations with your. Panny flautt mayfield, a lifelong delta resident from tutwiler and an awardwinning journalist, documents multiple decades of blues and gospel music in her native land. Nov 18, 2015 while not a traditional weekend trip like other destinations weve featured, the mississippi blues trail, or the mississippi delta, makes for a great weekend getaway. It originated in the mississippi delta, a region of the united states that stretches from north to south between memphis, tennessee, and vicksburg, mississippi, and from east to west between the yazoo river and the mississippi river. In spite of lomax being sometimes controversial, nobody can diminish the importance of lomax in the delta blues research. After a convenient hotel pickup, embark on a journey down the famed highway 61 and explore blues history at landmarks like the crossroads, the delta blues museum, the grammy museum mississippi, and the. The life and times of the mississippi masters who revolutionized american music. Get more details at the official website of the mississippi blues trail. Mace has significantly increased knowledge of and pride in the blues as a distinctive form of the mississippi delta s arts and culture. Now there is a club on times square in new york city.
Music, comfort food and southern hospitality run deep in the delta. It is an agricultural region where cotton was once king, and where precisionag rules today. The mississippi blues trail is an ongoing project of the mississippi blues commission. With original research and keen insights, ted gioiathe author of a landmark study of west coast jazz and the critically acclaimed the history of jazzbrings to life the stirring music of the delta, evoking the legendary figures who shaped its sound and. The book measures the impact of the plantation system on those who suffered its depredations firsthand, while tracing the decline and resurrection. He never bogs down in detail, and manages to keep up a central narrative told across episodes from the history of the delta blues. The pioneers of the style played a key role in developing the market for traditional blues recordings in the 1920s and 30s. Mississippi delta birthplace of the blues music by t and masson across the delta and till the sun goes down. Placed together, the words and photos of hidden history of mississippi blues bring a music, history and people to the printed page in a purposely intimate way leaving readers rooting for the bluesmen and pondering the future of music. The mississippi delta was fertile ground for the roots of the blues. This essay shows how its geography, demography, and history have made it one of the most distinctive places in the american south. Exploring the origin of the blues in the mississippi delta. Live from the mississippi delta showcases a rare collection of photographs and stories about musicians from robert plant, b. A new edition of a classic history of the mississippi river delta development arrested is a major reinterpretation of the 200yearold conflict between african american workers and the planters of the mississippi delta.
Mississippi delta blues, also known as delta blues, regional style of early 20thcentury american folk music, centred in the delta region of northwestern mississippi. Mississippi delta blues mississippi delta blues from world war ii into the 21st century. Mississippi is in fact no more or no less racist than the rest of. The second marker is located in front of the southern whispers restaurant on nelson street in greenville. It is characterized by a strong emphasis on rhythm and percussion, steady guitar riffs, few chord changes, unconventional song structures, and heavy emphasis on the groove, which has been characterized as the hypnotic boogie. The mississippi delta style of blues or, simply, delta blues emphasized solo performances by singers accompanying themselves on guitar and relying on a host of distinctive techniques, such as the sliding of a bottleneck or metal object such as a knife along the fingerboard to bend notes, the. The mississippi delta has no shortage of museums, historic attractions and clubs devoted to the blues. Blues and jazz have always influenced each other, and they still interact in countless ways today.
American cornerstone influencing everyone from the rolling stones to cassandra wilson, the blues recordings that came out of the mississippi delta from the late 1920s. My blues trail road trip started in memphis, which is where the delta starts. Throughout the book, gioia writes about the history of the delta blues, the performers, and the music with passion and knowledge. The mississippi delta is famous for its fertile soil and for its poverty. Experience the blues in its birthplace on this guided excursion in the mississippi delta. Museum of the mississippi delta greenwood 2020 all you.
Sweet home chicago chicago mississippi blues trail. With the migrants came the delta blues that was the foundation of the classic postwar chicago blues style. Delta blues is one of the earliestknown styles of blues. The blues grew out of the plantations and prisons, the swampy marshes and fertile cotton fields of the mississippi delta. Highway 61, the storied stretch of blacktop that cuts through the heart of the mississippi delta and decades ago delivered the musicians northonto the national stage and into music history.
Gioia creates the rare combination of a book that is both deeply informative and enjoyable to read. Mace has significantly increased knowledge of and pride in the blues as a distinctive form of the mississippi deltas arts and culture. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta palmers immensely readable exploration of the blues as it flowed from the sharecropping world of the mississippi delta into the urban centers of the u. Deep blues is a history of delta blues written by robert palmer one of the great music writers of the last half of the twentieth century. But visitors will find the region has many other stories to tell, from. A new history of the blue, from its beginnings in the mississippi delta to its global impact on todays music. The true story of a pioneer woman, the robber bridegroom, morning song, cross dog blues. Today the path courses through the delta, touching nearly every juke joint, homestead and graveyard where the blues began.
The blues means a lot of things to a lot of people. Since the 18th and mainly the 19th century, italian settlers have been located in cities and towns across mississippi. How white flight ravaged the mississippi delta the atlantic. The life and times of the mississippi masters who revolutionized american music by ted gioia, goes beyond. My book also has a lot of general history of the delta, and it is a fascinating place with some rich african american history a book i highly recommend is the most southern place on earth by james c. Mississippi delta home of blues music, culture, history. King, and zz top to local guitarists playing gigs on the weekend. In the years following world war ii, traditional blues fell out of favour with the public. Named for the floodplains between the mississippi and yazoo rivers, the region is where american music was born from the songs of sharecroppers.
The life and times of the mississippi masters who revolutionized american music gioia, ted on. Blues is a musical art form with its own distinct musical progressions and much more. A brief history of the blues article by ed kopp, published on august 16, 2005 at all about jazz. Edward komara, former blues archivist of the university of mississippi, and his successor greg johnson pulled together perhaps the definitive bibliography of books about the blues in their new release 100 books every blues fan should own. This musical and cultural history traces the blues from its roots in west africa to the mississippi delta to urban chicago and beyond. While they have some information about a blues historian, they leave out any mention of the. The oliver family mississippi delta legacy book signing at mississippi wildlife museum. Mick brown enjoys a judicious history of one of popular musics most influential traditions. Hidden history of mississippi blues celebrates the crossroads.
A great book on the history of the blues, the area it came from and the people who started it all off. The delta musicians, however, continued to exert a strong influence on the music world, although often from new. See all 1 the delta blues museum tours on tripadvisor. King was inducted into the blues foundation hall of fame in 1984 and into the rock and roll hall of fame in 1987. The best way to understand the blues is to visit our blues videos page and watch and listen to the. Get your mojo working with these essential delta resources. Follow the journey to discover sites where you can experience the birthplace of the blues. While not a traditional weekend trip like other destinations weve featured, the mississippi blues trail, or the mississippi delta, makes for a great weekend getaway. Christine wilson is director of publications for the mississippi department of archives and history and managing editor of the journal of mississippi history, the quarterly publication of the mississippi historical society. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta palmer, robert on.
Deep blues was a walk through the history of the delta blues from day one on the mississippi cotton plantations through approximately 197879 the book was published in 1980. He is the author of deep blues and other books, and served as writer and music director for two awardwinning documentary films, the world according to john. You read this, you get the big picture story of the delta blues, how the music migrated to chicago and other big cities and why its so important to so much great music that came after it. History and culture of the mississippi delta region lower. A nice book that is quite educational about the blues singers. The blues recordings that came out of the mississippi delta from the late. Delta bohemian tours a driving tour of the mississippi delta. Perhaps the most influential of the many styles of blues music, mississippi delta blues, also called delta blues, rose out of the fertile agricultural triangle located between vicksburg, mississippi, to the south and memphis, tennessee, to the north, and bordered by the mississippi river to the west and the yazoo river to the east. We can rap and ride, and your time and money buy my time and talk. The delta blues museum gift shop is the place to go for your blues memorabilia and much more. As the world celebrates the 100th birthday of mississippi delta blues legend robert johnson this spring, a new book about the blues genre and. Delta blues book ted gioia a new history of the blue, from its beginnings in the mississippi delta to its global impact on todays music.
The first three mississippi blues trail markers were dedicated on december 11, 2006. The land where the blues began documentary 1979 youtube. Palmer treads the fine line between scholarship and readability and makes the book both informative and interesting. When the mississippi delta blues festival began in 1978, it was the only major festival of its kind in the south. He is a blues revue magazine columnist, wrox radio deejay, xmsirius radio correspondent, ground zero blues club music coordinator and juke joint festival cofounder. Teaching the blues to mississippi delta kids shows them they have a culture to be proud of many young people in the mississippi delta have no idea how local history shaped the blues. The blues represent lessons about ways of dealing with pain and suffering that transcend time. Italians have settled in the state of mississippi since colonial times, although numbers have declined over the years.
Desoto magazineif you dont know a lot about blues music and the delta musicians who birthed it, lived it and kept it alivein spite of the more popular. The blues grew up in the mississippi delta just upriver from new orleans, the birthplace of jazz. History and highlights the mississippi delta is generally considered to be the birthplace of the blues, with the new musical form emerging around the turn of the 19th century. Mississippi delta blues from world war ii into the 21st. The story of the blues began in northwestern mississippi in the late 1800s. The mississippi delta has always been the home of the blues.
They have a few paintings, taxidermic animals, and cases with arrowheads, but thats about it. Richard grant and his girlfriend were living in a shoebox apartment in new york city when they decided on a whim to buy an old plantation house in the mississippi delta. The delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. The delta blues museum clarksdale 2020 all you need to. In the 1930s, library of congress archivist and blues aficionado alan lomax visited the mississippi delta with his folklorist father, john lomax. Apr 12, 2015 the mississippi delta has always been the home of the blues. The mississippi delta played a huge role in the history of blues music. Weekend guide to the mississippi blues trail this is my. New book on the mississippi delta blues steve hoffman. American cornerstone influencing everyone from the rolling stones to cassandra wilson, the blues recordings that came out of the mississippi delta. A history of the events and people who defined the mississippi blues.
The mississippi delta is historically famous for its fertile soil and the poverty of farm workers. The most distinctive region in the states varied topography is the mississippi delta, a flat alluvial plain between the mississippi and. This was my first trip to mississippi and marked the 48th state id visited. I already have a cd of son houses music and intend to search you tube for some of the other artists. John buntin of governing magazine said that msp has long cast its shadow over the mississippi delta, including my hometown of greenville, mississippi. The mississippi department of corrections operates the mississippi state penitentiary parchman, msp in unincorporated sunflower county, within the mississippi delta. The great migration from the south to the promised land of chicago brought more african americans here from mississippi than any other state, especially during and after world war ii.
Much more than a fan book, delta blues places the history of this musical form into its unique context as history, folk art and commercial endeavor. Jan 06, 2015 how white flight ravaged the mississippi delta. But in 2006, mississippi began to protect its history with the mississippi blues trail. These qualities make 100 books every blues fan should own a valued purchase for serious blues lovers and librarians alike. This volume ii of the lower mississippi delta region heritage study is a companion document to volume i, which was released to the public in march 1998. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta by robert palmer and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
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