Mississippi delta blues history books

A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta by robert palmer, escaping the delta. Blues is the cornerstone of american popular music, the bedrock of rock and roll. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta 9780140062236 by palmer, robert and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books. Arcadia publishing houses the top selection of mississippi history books online. Get your mojo working with these essential delta resources. Music, comfort food and southern hospitality run deep in the delta. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta.

The stories are all by different authors and edited by carol haines. The mississippi delta is famous for its fertile soil and for its poverty. The essential history of this distinctly american genre. The mississippi delta, also known as the yazoo mississippi delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the u. By greg cahill from the november 2016 issue of acoustic guitar.

Jazz and blues historian ted gioia tackles the often uncertain biographies of robert johnson, charley patton, son house, and others who cultivated their art in the land that lies between the confluence of the mississippi and yazoo rivers. This book is a collection of short stories about folks who live or come from around the mississippi delta. Mississippi delta home of blues music, culture, history for. Gioiathe author of a landmark study of west coast jazz and the acclaimed the history of jazzbrings to life the stirring music of the mississippi delta, evoking the legendary figures who have shaped its sound and ethos. Mace has significantly increased knowledge of and pride in the blues as a distinctive form of the mississippi deltas arts and culture. 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. The blues represent lessons about ways of dealing with pain and suffering that transcend time. Jul 09, 2012 geographers define a delta as the triangularshaped fertile area created by siltation at the mouth of a river. 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. This essay shows how its geography, demography, and history have made it one of the most distinctive places in the american south. 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.

In this extraordinary musical and social history, robert palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of chicagos south side, to international popularity, recognition, and imitation. 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. The list starts with general books of the blues essential reading, followed by blues artists in alphabetical order, interjected with blues books on particular themes. Mississippi is in fact no more or no less racist than the rest of. The stories are fascinating and touched with mysticism, and violence and murder and the blues. The oliver family mississippi delta legacy book signing at mississippi wildlife museum. 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. 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 b. The arts and education program teaches students to play music and keeps the history of the delta blues alive. Mississippi delta home of blues music, culture, history.

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. Apr 04, 2004 the delta is an environmentally compelling place, due in part to the presence of the mississippi river. A history of the events and people who defined the mississippi blues. Nov 09, 2008 a history of the events and people who defined the mississippi blues. This musical and cultural history traces the blues from its roots in west africa to the mississippi delta to urban chicago and beyond. There are many fine books on the blues, so i thought i would share with you my recommendations.

Delta blues is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Vocal styles in delta blues range from introspective and soulful to passionate and fiery. The life and times of the mississippi masters who revolutionized american music. Louisiana may be the birthplace of jazz, but mississippi delta, is where the blues were born. King, and zz top to local guitarists playing gigs on the weekend. American cornerstone influencing everyone from the rolling stones to cassandra wilson, the blues recordings that came out of the mississippi delta. Independent scholar and blues musician cheseborough has compiled a detailed guide to blues music landmarks in mississippi and memphis.

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. Palmer treads the fine line between scholarship and readability and makes the book both informative and interesting. The life and times of the mississippi masters who revolutionized american music gioia, ted on. The true story of a pioneer woman, the robber bridegroom, morning song, cross dog blues. Two photographers document a community of chineseamericans in the birthplace of the blues. Blind lemon jefferson easy rider blues blind willie mctell statesboro blues kansas joe when the levee breaks mamie smith and her jazz hounds crazy blues memphis minnie where is my good man at mississippi john hurt avalon blues nora bayes homesickness blues sam collins lonesome road blues. Jun 12, 2015 blues greats robert johnson, muddy waters, son house, and b. 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.

Palmer, is an epic as noble and essentially american as any in our history the. Live from the mississippi delta showcases a rare collection of photographs and stories about musicians from robert plant, b. James cobb provides the first comprehensive history of the mississippi delta to appear in half a centuryhis exposition of the often misunderstood sharecrop and tenant systems is a much needed contribution, but the sections devoted to the delta s. For generations, plantation owners strove to keep black laborers on the farm and competing businesses out of town. This was my first trip to mississippi and marked the 48th state id visited.

Live from the mississippi delta hardcover square books. 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. How white flight ravaged the mississippi delta the atlantic. 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. Local son morgan freeman once said, what was true then is true now. Neither black nor white in the mississippi delta the new.

Apr 12, 2015 the mississippi delta has always been the home of the blues. Another one, the land where the blues began, by alan lomax also in paperback at amazon us was helpful, but not great. 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. It is an agricultural region where cotton was once king, and where precisionag rules today. The purpose of the delta blues museums arts and education program is to continue the great musical tradition born in the mississippi delta. 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.

The region has been called the most southern place on earth southern in the sense of characteristic of its. The mississippi delta has always been the home of the blues. In the late 1940s in indianola, mississippi, a young man named riley king was singing and playing guitar with his friends in a group called the famous st. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta palmer, robert on. Experience the blues in its birthplace on this guided excursion in the mississippi delta. Delta blues by carolyn haines goodreads share book. History and culture of the mississippi delta region lower. When the mississippi delta blues festival began in 1978, it was the only major festival of its kind in the south. But, when blues fans refer to the delta, the land where the blues began, we mean the fertile alluvial plain shared by the mississippi and yazoo rivers, rather than the area farther south at new orleans. 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. Mississippi delta birthplace of the blues music by t and masson across the delta and till the sun goes down.