Deconstructing Delta Blues

The more I write about music, the more I realize how little I know about the various genres. Fortunately, my blues education is finally developing; a friend sent me a copy of Ted Gioia's new book, "Delta Blues" (2008) published by W.W. Norton , New York and London. It seems fitting that, as I approach the second anniversary of BSRR, I am finally beginning to learn about the music.


The best thing about this extremely comprehensive work is in the details. The facts about these legendary Delta musicians dispel the outlandish mythology that has grown up with the spread of the music, in the same way that Sixties rock rumors mushroomed through word-of-mouth - Paul McCartney's barefoot on the Abby Road cover because he died , Mama Cass Eliott choked to death on a ham sandwich, Jimi Hendrix' drummer's heart exploded because of an overdose of speed, etc.,etc. The best known Delta blues tall tale is - of course- Robert Johnson's legendary deal with the devil, and Gioia chases down every tenuous thread of information about the cryptic musician, exposing the "Me and the Devil" story as an early form of image management, designed to enhance Johnson's career, and demonstrating that the same manufactured "hype" has been applied to other blues giants, including Howling Wolf. Johnson's untimely death is described in detail, but, as is the case with most stories about the cryptic musician, Gioia's research can't substantiate the circumstances with official accounts; instead, as is the case of most of the stories about Delta artists, he faithfully repeats the remembrances of other players . The truth about Robert Johnson is that he encouraged the linkage with the devil, elevating his reputation in the back country juke joints and the sleepy Delta hamlets, the pre-cursor to the demonic rock industry, personified by Ozzy Osborne; it was said that he paid for this association by a slow, agonizing death. Ironically, the spectre of religion seems to haunt a lot of the back country bluesmen with Gioia pointing out that many were ashamed to admit, when "re-discovered " in the Sixties ,that they had ever played the "evil" blues.


Delta Blues meticulously documents the alleged beginning of the "popularization" of the genre, when W.C. Handy sees a musician playing by a Mississippi train station and turns it into "The St. Louis Blues" in 1902. As interesting as the early tales of Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Son House, Lonnie Johnson and many others are, Gioia delves into de-mystifying some of the commonly-accepted Delta imagery as well through detailed descriptions of Parchman Farm , the Dockery plantation among others, the Delta itself, and a myriad of facts documenting such blues aficionado trivia as the origin of the expressions "dirt poor" and "where the Southern cross the Dog". The early pioneers who popularized the music are woven into the story as well , the most notable being H.C.Speir's record shop - slash - recording studio in Jackson, Mississippi where many of the masters were first immortalized, and the rise and fall of the various struggling blues labels - Paramount, OKeh, Victor and - of course - the legendary sessions in a San Antonio hotel when two British expatriates infatuated with the emerging American blues recorded Robert Johnson on the ARC label in 1936.


The transition from Clarksdale to Chicago is personified by the larger than life figures of Muddy Waters , first recorded in front of his Delta shack by Alan Lomax using a recording device powered by his car battery which propelled Muddy to worldwide fame and a lucrative career playing clubs and making records for Chess; Howlin' Wolf, older but much wilder, his towering stage presence enhanced by tricks like shaking up a Coke bottle, sticking it in his pants and popping the top during the climax of a song ; John Lee Hooker, whose feet barely touched the Delta mud at birth before his family fled, a musician who nobody could follow because he never played a song the same way twice but Hooker's music didn't really have a beat, but a throbbing pulse which nobody could duplicate; and last but certainly not least, B.B. King, whose talent bridged the gap into jazz, rock and classical, and whose longevity has made him the Mount Rushmore of the blues.


There are very few stones left unturned by the end of this four hundred - plus page tome, which includes a detailed discography. If you want to dispel the myths and delve into the grit about this truly American art form, then check out Delta Blues .