Welcome to a brief history on The Blues. Here,
you will learn facts about the beginnings of the Blues and also about the lives of some of the
best musicians from the Mississippi Delta to the Legend of Son House. In the late seventeenth century, the first groups of black people who were considered
slaves were brought on a tremendous journey from their African homeland to America. To the white
Americans of the time, the slaves were little more than strong arms and sturdy backs.
The blues style of music originated in the
work fields of the southern United States. Historians believe that blues began in infancy as a
field holler whose "call and response" style developed into work songs that matured into the blues.
At the heart of it is the underlying pattern of call and response. The singer belts out a statement:
I've got the blues all night 'cause my woman's done gone. And then, typically, there's musical space,
inviting a response, offered up by the other workers but later transformed into the guitarist, keyboardist, harp, sax or trumpet player.
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The Beginnings