Delta Magic

By 1960, leagues of mop-haired Brits and American garage-rockers had latched onto the music of the Mississippi Delta. The timeless, emotive, sometimes haunting and painful, religious-tinged blues, jazz and gospel of impoverished black men and women is one of the most enduring parts of the American musical canon.

This incredible music and the incredible musicians that wrote and performed it are unparalleled in musical history. They have been revered, imitated, copied and adored by countless millions. But, they have also been overlooked by recent generations.

As the magical musical explosion of the 1960s and 1970s came to an end, rock n' roll began to be thought of as a white contribution to American music. As most of us should know, this couldn't be further from the truth. There were many things and many people that brought us what we needed to make rock n' roll.

There are dozens and dozens of people who should be noted here. Each with a story to tell. Each responsible for seminal works that will stand the test of time.

To highlight a few: Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Bill Broonzy, Jimmy Rushing, Big Joe Turner, Willie Dixon, Josh White, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi John Hurt, Elmore James and Muddy Waters. So far, I have not encountered a bad record by any of these cats. Nary a bad song, in fact! (With the exception of some of John Lee Hooker's late collaborations with rock icons in the late 70s and early 80s).

In other words, if you're interested in the music of bands like: Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, ZZ Top, Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steve Miller Band, The Grateful Dead, or The Beatles then you should know that those bands essentially started playing music because of their love of American blues music. In many cases, they covered blues songs and just added distortion or fuzz to make it a bit different. I guess you could say that they actually "covered" the songs in extra sound to differentiate. There were and still are hundreds of other bands that grew up listening to black American music and then decided to form a band to make music that mimicked it.

I am not saying that these bands are not good bands or that they cheated their way through music, just that their influences are essential knowledge for the casual listener as well as the rabid fan!