Talk:Delta blues

The last paragraph is a mixture of geography lesson and plugs for venues. I'm going to edit it pretty severely in a few days when I have time. Any objections? --Squiddy 00:32, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Not from me - thanks for tackling this much-needed cleanup. --RobHutten 10:59, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I was cleaning up the rest and thought I was done when I hit that para...all I have time for now is the wfy. Could go on for pages about how the DB are being preserved. Ain't nobody's fault but mine. --24.221.8.253 16:00, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for today's edits... a definite improvement! --RobHutten 17:47, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

From the final paragraph:
 * The Delta is changing in so many ways and the style is losing young people, mostly to rap.

That's a pretty bold statement. Yes, I agree that the Delta is changing, but Delta blues is losing younger listeners to rap (hip-hop)? Blues from the Delta may be less popular in the hundred or so years since its incarnation, and hip-hop may have gained popularity in the more recent generation, but that doesn't necessarily equate a direct correlation, nor is hip-hop at "fault". This sentence sounds more like someone has a personal grudge against hip-hop. --buck 16:22, 29 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Post-cleanup looks much better. Thanks. --buck 15:40, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

- Correction

I changed the following line from the first paragraph:
 * Slide guitar and harmonica dominate the instruments used.

To: Guitar and harmonica dominate the instruments used because Slide Guitar is a style of guitar playing, not an instrument used by delta bluesmen or anyone else.JUICE66 08:03, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

So and So is not a delta blues man...
R. L. Burnside was a northern Mississippi hill country blues man. Listing him as a delta blues man is incorrect. - Buster 05:50, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

I have updated the list to exclude Country blues artist R. L. Burnside. 71.7.243.163 14:55, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Willie McTell was an Atlanta musician. He had no connection with the 'Delta blues' - a notion which itself is in dire need of examination. Perhaps we'll end up calling it the Charley Patton/Son House school of blues. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dr12stringblues (talk • contribs) 22:14, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Elmore James is currently listed as an example of a delta-blues musician who was not born in the delta. I would consider Elmore James a specific example of Chicago blues, not Delta blues, because of the emphasis on his electric guitar and the loud band in the background supporting him. Zapwai (talk) 20:09, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

labels
i'll be going through my notes and adding citations to remove the tags put on this page, which i have for some reason long over looked but am in the process of shaping up. Ishmaelblues (talk) 17:26, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

i have added a section on delta blues women, not that anyone is reading this. Ishmaelblues (talk) 03:43, 5 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, I just did. In line citations to specific pages are the prefered method. Otherwise, someone will probably slap another tag on the article. I don't put anything in an article unless I can provide a reference. And, let me say that most of these "Delta Blues musicians" played lots of different music, where authors have really looked into what they recorded, or tried to record. But, I've got plenty of other stuff to do. Steve Pastor (talk) 19:06, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Delta Blues Needs to be Re-examined
I have trouble with this article as a native of Arkansas and a native of the Arkansas Delta. While I think scholars are quite clear that Delta blues originated in Mississippi, it is not at all correct to limit the definition of the Delta to only the state of Mississippi's Delta. To place a map in this article which only shows the delta portion of the state of Mississippi is to suggest that a discussion of delta blues can only focus on this state. Both Louisiana and Arkansas share the geographic region and have contributed immensely to what Americans have come to know as Delta Blues. To suggest that the expanse of the region which encompasses Delta blues "extends from Yazoo City westward to the Mississippi River" is to suggest a wall sat in the middle of the river blocking all non-Mississippi influences in Delta Blues. The Arkansas Delta runs from West Memphis to Helena to Pine Bluff and all those cities and others not far from them produced a plethora of Delta Blues artist beginning at the turn of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, the tone of your article suggests that Arkansas born artists such as Big Bill Broonzy, Louis Jordan, Luther Allison, Casey Bill Weldon, Robert Lockwood, Robert Nighthorse, Petey Wheatstraw, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Washboard Sam, Son Seals, Roosevelt Sykes, George "Harmonica" Smith, Junior Wells, and a host of others had no relevant contributions to the music. I guess Mississippi artists who moved to Arkansas and resided for lengthy periods while honing their crafts don't count such as Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Walker, and others. I suggest you look at the Arkansas Delta article to gather more information about the MANY blues artist from that region. Delta blues in the true delta region (the three state area including Eastern Arkansas, Northeast Louisiana, and western Mississippi) plays just as good on both sides of the river. I wish this article would reflect this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmmyjam (talk • contribs) 01:50, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Sold down river
I grew up learning that Delta blues were considered to be more "authentic" if you will, than Chicago blues. That slaves were worse off as they were "sold down river," and that the worst place to be was in Mississippi. That this was what spurred the blues into existence. Over time, and after emancipation, as blues became appreciated as a musical style, one could make a living in New Orleans or Chicago as a musician so folks would pack up and move. I'd really like to know how much fact is there to this story?

--Jndrline (talk) 21:22, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Get yourself a copy of "Escaping the Delta". It is one of the best books on blues that I have read. Steve Pastor (talk) 18:06, 5 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I agree that Escaping The Delta by Elijah Wald challenges most of the generalisations in this article. For example: "There were almost no memories of slavery in the Delta. It had little history prior to 1861. There were a few plantations, but few Negroes remained after emancipation. The earliest accounts of this area describe it as a frontier. Most of the Delta was cleared and settled around the turn of the century; in order to attract black workers, high wages were paid. Life was harsh, but better than in the arid hill country to the East. For many immigrants, the Delta served as a staging ground for the dramatic move North" (pp.85-86) Mick gold (talk) 00:41, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

And there is this from "In Search of the Blues by Marybeth Hamilton. " Delta blues..."was discovered - or, if you like, invented - by white men and women, as the culmination of a long-standing fascination with uncorrupted black singers, untainted by the city, by commerce, by the sights and sounds of modernity." Steve Pastor (talk) 16:23, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

Actual Delta/Mississippi style
Here's some original research, POV, that I've gleaned in places over the years and can't "trace"/document. Originals like Mississippi John Hurt aside, the Mississippi style is characterized by driving rhythms, short motivic melodies, and the use of the guitar as a percussion as well as melodic instrument. Jazz Gillum is one of the earliest practitioners.Tapered (talk) 07:22, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Does anyone else consider Muddy Waters a Delta player?
He's not here or on the Delta list? Just curious.Pdecalculus (talk) 16:27, 8 July 2015 (UTC)
 * He is cited as the link between "Delta blues and rock 'n' roll" in his bio so it seems reasonable. Philg88 ♦talk 16:34, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

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