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Blues

Blues music originated in the cotton fields of the southern United States where the majority of the slave hands were put to work. "The earliest folk-blues were sung by nameless African-Americans living and working in the South's cotton belt in the early 1880's and 1890's- in particular, the region from the Mississippi Delta to East Texas"(Barlow 3). It was believed that this began as a call and response style, which matured into the work song. From that standpoint, after the release of the slaves, the work song then matured into their Spirituals, and later was introduced to the whites through black-faced Minstrel of Medicine shows (How the Blues Overview). As the music matured and became more renowned, its influence became prominent in the music styles of the time, and in the intertwining relationships between the races. "The music was a unique and cultural offering that whites could not deny. It was something new and intriguing to whites that shed a new light on blacks and their place in American culture and society"(Overview). The music did not seem to have the same color restrictions as the music previously performed. It drew blacks and whites together in a place where everyone could leave the Jim Crow laws at the door (Overview). This offered a new and beneficial lifestyle for the blacks as well as the whites. Maybe the interest was that the white people had found a new talent to exploit and from which to make easy money, or perhaps, maybe it was because the whites genuinely understood the cultural significance in the music and respected this talent of the black race enough to overcome racial and cultural differences.
Although it was socially acceptable for the Blues musicians to write, compose and produce their music, it was frowned upon, until the late 1950's, that the teenage generation be exposed to black Blues musicians. However, white Blues musicians were another story. The distribution of Blues music was eased into the public by using white...