Blues Music

The first Blues singers were AfricanSlaves. Their music grew out ofdespair of slavery. Even after theirrelease the slaves were still held down by appalling poverty, and deprived of any kind of privilege. For many thisfreedom was worse than the slaveryWhen the slaves were set free in1865, they faced poverty andhomelessness. The nightmare ofslavery was over, but black people were often denied jobs andmistreated in other ways, as thissong tells us: I been hurt an mistreated

till I done made up my mind. I been hurt an mistreated till I done made up my mind. Gonna leave dis ol country An all my troubles behind These words come from a blues song.

First person in Blues Music

Charlie Pattonwas one of the first mainstream stars of
the Delta blues genre. Patton, who was born in Hinds County, Mississippi near Edwards, lived most of his life in Sunflower County, in the Mississippi Delta. Most sources say he was born in 1891, but there is some debate about this, and the years 1887 and 1894 have also been suggested.

In 1900, his family moved 100 miles (160 km) north to the legendary 10,000-acre (40 km2) Dockery Plantation sawmill and cotton farm near Ruleville, Mississippi. It was here that both John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf fell under the Patton spell. It was also here that Robert Johnson played and was given his first guitar. At Dockery, Charlie fell under the tutelage of Henry Sloan, who had a new, unusual style of playing music which today would be considered very early blues. Charlie followed Henry Sloan around, and, by the time he was about 19, had become an accomplished performer and songwriter in his own right, having already composed "Pony Blues," a seminal song of the era. Robert Palmer describes Patton as a "jack-of all-trades bluesman" who played "deep blues, white hillbilly songs,

nineteent ent ll , nd t er rieties f l nd ite ntry dance sic it equal facility". e as extremely ular across t e Sout ern United States, andin contrast to t e itinerant andering of most lues musicians of is timeplayed scheduled engagements at plantations and taverns. ong efore imi endrix impressed audiences ith flashy guitar playing, Patton gained notoriety for his showmanship, often playing with the guitar down on his nees, ehind his head, or ehind his ack. Although Patton was a small man at about foot ,his gravelly voice was rumored to have been loud enough to carry yards without amplification. Patton's gritty bellowing was a major influence on the singing style of his young friend hester Burnett, who went on to gain fame in hicago as owlin' olf. Patton settled in olly idge, ississippi with his common-law wife and recording partner Bertha ee in 33. e died on the eathman-Dedham plantation near Indianola from heart disease on April , 3 and is buried in olly idge both towns are located in Sunflower ounty). A memorial headstone was erected on Patton's grave the location of which was identified by the cemetery caretaker . oward who claimed to have been present at the burial) paid for by musician ohn ogerty through the t. Zion emorial und in uly, . he spelling of Patton's name was dictated by im O'Neal who also composed the Patton epitaph. Patton's race is the subject of minor debate. hough he was considered African-American, because of his light complexion there have been rumors that he

was Mexican, or possibly a full-bloodCherokee, a theory endorsed by Howlin' Wolf. In actuality, Patton was a mix of white, black, and Cherokee (one of his grandmothers was a full-blooded Cherokee). Patton himself sang in "Down the Dirt Road Blues" of having gone to "the Nation" and "the Territo'"meaning the Cherokee Nation portion of the Indian Territory (which became part of the state of klahoma in 1907), where a number ofBlack Indians tried unsuccessfully to claim a place on the tribal rolls and thereby obtain land.

Patton's death certificate states that he died in a house approximately twenty miles from Dockery's Plantation in Indianola, Mississippi. Bertha Lee is not mentioned on the certificate, the only informant listed being one Willie Calvin. His death was not reported in the newspapers.

Singing the blues has always been a way for black Americans to tell of the unhappy things in their lives. hatever the notes of the tunes, all Blues songs are based on the sameset of three chordThe most common form of Blues is the bar Blues. It is called this because of the length of the music is twelve bars, and it also fits with the typical Blues lyrics. hatever tune is used, the harmonies stay more or less the same. This means the tunes are always similar.