Beginning of Blues: The Sibling of Jazz

1800’s to 1930’s. Blues also had its beginnings as a result of slavery. Jazz happened to reach mass popularity first but as you’ll see, blues eventually caught up

-“field calls” later known as “blues calls” are the earliest forms of vocal performance by African Americans

-these are used not only to communicate in the field world, but to set tempos in order to work to.

-plantation owners often permitted the slaves to sing while they worked because they were more productive

-these calls were based on “call and response” and could also pass secret messages from the masters through hidden messages in the lyrics

-when slavery ended, most blacks didn’t have the means to travel to other parts of the country, nor the education to find other employment other than what they had done as slaves

Sharecropping-cotton producers

still needed to harvest cotton, so a new form of payment had to be arranged because slavery was now illegal.

-this new arrangement was called “sharecropping” where employees would earn a “share” of the profits

This share was usually enough to rent a shack of a residence, feed your family and nothing more. Ironically, slave owners housed and fed their slaves.

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Blues music became a rare outlet to express the suffering blacks still endured in the post-slave era

-many of the first public performances where held at “juke joints” a small barn or cabin back in the bush or swamp out of sight and earshot to white law enforcement, so that bootleg whiskey and lyrics unflattering toward southern white society wouldn’t be discovered. The penalties could be fatal.

Hidden messages fill blues lyrics. Musicians use analogy, allegory and imagery to tell their stories. A common example is “a woman” replacing the white boss. It was acceptable for a black man to complain about how your woman abuses you, but not how your boss does.

“Huddy Ledbelly” Ledbetter “On a Monday”

Hidden Messages continue

On a Monday, I was arrested

On a Tuesday, I was locked up in jail

On a Wednesday, my trial was attested

On a Thursday, nobody would go my bail

Almost done, I'm almost done, almost done

And I ain't gonna bring them yellow women no pail

Take these stripes, stripes from around my shoulder

Take these chains, these chains from around my legs

Lord, these stripes, it sure don't worry me

But these chains, these chain's gonna kill me dead

Yes, I'm almost done, almost done, almost done

And I ain't gonna bring them yellow women no pail

On Friday, my baby went a-walking

On a Saturday, she locked me outa the door

On a Sunday, we were sitting down a-talking

On a Monday, she pawned all of my clothes

Blues was hidden in juke joints buried in the swamps of the rural south. Until…

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson was a young man who wanted to learn to play the guitar.

This is one of two known photos of him

He took lessons from a blues legend named Son House

He sounded like this…

When he returned…

He starts playing at the local juke joints.Shortly after that a group from Columbia

records comes through town looking to capture traditional music

People are stunned…

His songs make the airwaves all throughout America

He goes on tour and comes as far north as Windsor Ontario

He brings blues out of the juke joints of the deep south.

Let the rumours begin.The rumours are supported by his lyrics

He becomes a star

I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please

Standin' at the crossroads, tried to flag a ride Whee-hee, I tried to flag a ride Didn't nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by

Standin' at the crossroads, risin' sun goin' down Standin' at the crossroads baby, the risin' sun goin' down I believe to my soul now, po' Bob is sinkin'

You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown That I got the crossroad blues this mornin', Lord, baby I'm sinkin' down

I went to the crossroad, mama, I looked east and west I went to the crossroad, babe, I looked east and west Lord, I didn't have no sweet woman, ooh well, babe, in my distress

I got to keep moving, I got to keep moving Blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail Mmm, blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail And the day keeps on remindin' me, there's a hellhound on my trail Hellhound on my trail, hellhound on my trail If today was Christmas eve, if today was Christmas eve And tomorrow was Christmas day If today was Christmas eve and tomorrow was Christmas day All I would need is my little sweet rider Just to pass the time away, to pass the time away You sprinkled hot foot powder, mmm, around my door All around my door You sprinkled hot foot powder, all around your daddy's door It keeps me with ramblin' mind rider Every old place I go, every old place I go I can tell the wind is risin', the leaves tremblin' on the tree Tremblin' on the tree I can tell the wind is risin', leaves tremblin' on the tree All I need is my little sweet woman And to keep my company, hey, hey, hey, hey, my company

Crossroads Hellhound on my Trail

“Hellhound” turned out to be his last recording

Robert Johnson start s acting REALLY strangeHe was killed after a show at a juke joint in

Mississippi. As with the tale that Robert Johnson had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the power to make music beyond the reach of his rivals, it was reported by his partner Johny Shines that he had died on his hands and knees “Barking like a dog”

Word gets around the blues community of his death and the bluesmen panic.

Son House would put his guitar away, and not take it out again until the 1960s

“Devil’s Music” is born

Supports the LegendDid die violently of

being poisonedDid dissappear for a

while when learning to play

Did have very erratic behaviour

Apparently had a thing with the club owners wife

Apparently met another guitar teacher

May have suffered from mental illness

True or False?Discredits the Legend

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