Mississippi History and the Delta Blues

681 Words2 Pages

Mississippi history is a sad history of slavery and oppression. It is a history of racism and refusal to let go of segregationist ideals. Mississippi history is enough to give many the blues. In fact, the Blues style music originated in Mississippi and gravitated outward from there. .Mississippi history and Blues history are intertwined. Delta Blues is a blues style that originated in the Mississippi Delta and influenced many musicians. Another musical art form, Jazz may be considered an offspring from the Blues and also started in the South. There are many Blues musicians and singers that come from Mississippi or have become linked to Mississippi for various reasons. Bessie Smith, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, and Cassandra Wilson have all made their mark on Mississippi history through the Blues and Jazz music.
Although Bessie Smith was not born in Mississippi nor did she make her home there, she will always be known for her tragic and early death there. Blues singer Bessie Smith known as “Empress of the Blues” was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1894. The Blues may have come naturally for Smith. Early in her life, she lost her father before she could even remember. Smith was an orphan by the age of nine having also lost her mother. Furthering her attraction to Blues music, she also lost a brother before she was ten. It is no wonder that she experienced the pains of poverty at this early age. An older sister took over the responsibility of the family, but it could not have been easy. Smith and a brother helped earn money for the family by “busking,” a form of street performance. Another brother left the family to join a traveling vaudeville show. Although his exit was painful and without warning for Smith, it laid the path f...

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...in Chicago and transplanted the Blues there. His style of playing became associated with the Chicago Blues style.

Blues music is a big part of Mississippi history. Delta Blues is the distinctive style of Blues music that originated in the Mississippi Delta. One of the most famous early women Blues singers, Bessie Smith died in Mississippi and will always be associated with Mississippi. Charley Patton, who spent his entire life in Mississippi, is considered the “Father of Delta Blues”. He influenced many younger Blues player. Muddy waters was born in Mississippi and learned to play the Blues there, but he developed a style of Blues music that influenced Mississippi and beyond.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Smith http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Patton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dockery_Plantaion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddy_Waters

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