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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 is a Japanese horse best known for winning the 2006 Melbourne Cup. ... Blues music redirects here. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... A harmonica is a free reed wind instrument. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Detroit blues is blues music played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 50s. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (936x1229, 205 KB)Also see here for an annotated image found on this NPR story. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (936x1229, 205 KB)Also see here for an annotated image found on this NPR story. ... Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. ... This article is about the geographic region of the U.S. state of Mississippi. ... For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... The historic Mississippi River Commission Building in Vicksburg, constructed in 1894 Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi. ... For the river in Canada, see Mississippi River (Ontario). ... hTe Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Mississippi and the second longest tributary of the Mississippi River that flows into that river from the east (the longest is the Ohio River). ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... A harmonica is a free reed wind instrument. ...

Origin

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 Alan 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. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually when speaking about the United States. ... Lomax playing guitar on stage at the Mountain Music Festival, Asheville, North Carolina, sometime between 1939 and 1950. ... The Smithsonian Institution Building or Castle on the National Mall serves as the Institutions headquarters. ...

Style

"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. Nehemiah Curtis Skip James (June 21, 1902 – October 3, 1969) was an American blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. ... Elmore James (January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues singer and guitarist. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Detroit blues is blues music played by musicians resident in Detroit, Michigan, particularly that played in the 1940s and 50s. ...

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

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. This style of blues heavily influenced British Blues which led to the birth of early hard rock and heavy metal. Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison in the state of Mississippi, USA. It is located on 18,000 acres (73 km²) in Parchman, Mississippi, and was built in 1901. ... Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison in the state of Mississippi, USA. It is located on 18,000 acres in Parchman, Mississippi. ... Bukka White album cover Booker T. Washington Bukka White (November 12, 1906– February 26, 1977) was a delta blues guitarist and singer born near Houston, Mississippi. ... Midnight Special is a traditional folk song in the prison-blues style. ... The British blues is a type of blues music that originated in the late 1950s. ... Hard Rock redirects here. ... Heavy metals, in chemistry, are chemical elements of a particular range of atomic weights. ...

By some, the term "Delta Blues" itself is seen as an invented "authenticity" mainly constructed by white folk revivalists in post-war times. Their "perception of the music’s authentic contours is rural, male, non-commercial, and permeated by sorrow." By this, they erase a large part of a supposedly 'inauthentic' history of the blues, especially sexual song.

List of artists

• Jamie Anderson
• Ishman Bracey
• Willie Brown
• R.L. Burnside
• Sam Chatmon
• Bob Cobb
• James Cotton
• Mike Cross
• Arthur Crudup
• CeDell Davis
• David Honeyboy Edwards
• Earl Hooker
• John Lee Hooker
• Son House
• Mississippi John Hurt
• Mississippi Fred McDowell
• Skip James
• Robert Johnson
• Tommy Johnson
• Paul Jones
• Junior Kimbrough
• Rubin Lacy
• Robert Lockwood, Jr.
• North Mississippi All-stars
• Robert Lowery
• Tommy McClennan
• Charley Patton
• Paul Pena
• Pinetop Perkins
• Snooky Pryor
• Johnny Shines
• Sunnyland Slim
• Henry Sloan
• Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
• Hound Dog Taylor
• Muddy Waters
• Bukka White
• Big Joe Williams
• Howlin' Wolf

Jamie Anderson (b 1842, Scotland d 1905) was a nineteenth century professional golfer who won The Open Championship three times. ... Ishman Bracey (January 9, 1901 - February 12, 1970), was a blues singer and guitarist from Mississippi, considered one of the most important early delta blues performers. ... Willie Brown (August 6, 1900 - December 30, 1952) was an American Delta Blues guitarist and singer. ... R. L. Burnside (b. ... Sam Chatmon (January 10, 1897 - 1983), was a delta blues guitarist and singer. ... Seinfeld is an American television situation comedy set in New York City that ran from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998. ... James Jimmy Cotton (born July 1, 1935 in Tunica, Mississippi), is an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter who is the bandleader for the James Cotton Blues Band. ... Mike Cross (b. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... David Honeyboy Edwards on cover of APO CD 2010 David Honeyboy Edwards (born June 28, 1915 in Shaw, Mississippi, United States) is a Delta blues guitarist and singer. ... Earl Hooker (January 15, 1929 – April 21, 1970) was an African American blues guitarist. ... John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an influential American post-war blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter born in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Mississippi John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1892 , Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. ... Fred McDowell (1904-1972), called Mississippi Fred McDowell was a singer and guitar player of delta blues . ... Nehemiah Curtis Skip James (June 21, 1902 – October 3, 1969) was an American blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. ... Robert Johnson, born Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. ... Paul Jones (born Paul Pond, 24 February 1942, in Portsmouth, England) is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio and television presenter. ... Junior Kimbrough (born David Kimbrough in Hudsonville, Mississippi, July 28, 1930; d. ... Robert Junior Lockwood, Jr. ... Tommy McClennan (April 8, 1908 - 1962?) was a blues singer and guitarist. ... Charley Patton Charley Patton (May 1, 1891–April 28, 1934) was an American delta blues musician, and one of the first mainstream stars of the genre. ... Paul Pena on the cover of his album New Train Paul Pena (born January 26, 1950 in Hyannis, Massachusetts, died October 1, 2005, in San Francisco) is a multi-genre singer, pianist, and guitarist, performing Mississippi Delta blues, jazz, flamenco, folk, rock and roll and Tuvan throat-singing. ... Pinetop Perkins (born Joe Willie Perkins in 1913) is an American blues musician from Mississippi. ... Snooky Pryor, born James Edward Pryor on September 15, 1921 in Lambert, Mississippi, pioneered the thicker, amplified sound of blues harmonica. ... Johnny Shines (1915-1992) was an American blues guitarist. ... Albert Sunnyland Slim Luandrew (September 5, 1907–1995), was a blues pianist born on a farm near Vance, Mississippi. ... Henry Sloan was one of the earliest known blues musicians. ... Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers Natural Boogie Alligator Theodore Roosevelt Hound Dog Taylor (April 12, 1915 - December 17, 1975) was an American blues guitarist and singer. ... McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1915 – April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered the Father of Chicago blues. He is also the actual father of blues musician Big Bill Morganfield. ... Bukka White album cover Booker T. Washington Bukka White (November 12, 1906– February 26, 1977) was a delta blues guitarist and singer born near Houston, Mississippi. ... Big Joe Williams (October 16, 1903 - December 17, 1982) was an American blues musician and songwriter, known for his characteristic style of guitar-playing, his nine-string guitar, and his bizarre, cantankerous personality. ... Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known as Howlin Wolf or sometimes, The Howlin Wolf, was an influential blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. ...

See also

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

The Delta Blues Museum exists to collect, preserve, and provide public access to and awareness of the blues. ... The King of the Delta Blues Singers was recorded by Robert Johnson (1911-1938), and is considered one of the greatest (and most influential) blues recordings ever. ...

Bibliography

• Cobb, Charles E., Jr., "Traveling the Blues Highway", National Geographic Magazine, April 1999, v.195, n.4
• Hamilton, Marybeth: In Search of the Blues.

The National Geographic Magazine, later shortened to National Geographic, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society. ...

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.
• A brazilian bar named after this style of music