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Overview

After the rise and disbandment of the original Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in 1878, many other copycat groups sprung up, using Fisk's business model for raising funds for Black universities. In 1904, Charles Williams from Holly Springs, Mississippi, formed the Williams Jubilee Singers, "The World's Greatest Harmonizing Octette." Previous jubilee companies had often had ten or a dozen members or an octet making a "double quartet." Still, the increasing tendency was to reduce the groups' size and feature, as did Williams, a popular quartet (or quartette) (Oliver 2012, n.p.). Publicity material for the Williams Jubilee Singers emphasized their musical training at universities and colleges as Rust, Drake, Livingston, and Oberlin. However, as more jubilee companies were formed trying to capitalize on the "Jubilee Singers" brand, it became common practice to emphasize the singers' formal training and musical credentials

Be ready to:

Describe the musical landscape in which blues-derived music developed.

Describe various aspects of the Jim Crow laws and their impact on African American society.

Describe the antecedent musical genres that impacted the development of the blues.

Define the term blues.

Explain why W.C. Handy is affectionately referred to as the "Father of the Blues."

Illustrate the textual and musical form-three-line structure-of the blues.

Name blues compositions/performers from the three broad stylistic categories-Country, Classic, and Urban blues-and their respective contributions.

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Stylistic Categories

From its early developments in the rural South during Reconstruction and onwards, the blues can be broadly categorized as Country, Classic, and Urban. In addition, we can divide these three main categories into many sub-genres based on regional styles or styles based on how these different blues styles are performed. Although not exhaustive, Country blues, the first category we will delve into, can be divided into the following blues subcategories:

Delta

Memphis

Piedmont

Georgia

Alabama

Three essential Delta blues musicians are:

Charley Patton (c. 1881-1934)

Son House (1902-1988)

Robert Johnson (1911-1938)

Short Biography
Charley Patton	"The man credited with first popularizing the Mississippi Delta blues, Patton was a consummate showman, and his singing and guitar playing defined the style that would become known as Delta blues. His playing was intense, primal, and rhythmic. He pretty much started it all." Studies reveal that the "genesis of Delta blues goes back to Dockery's Plantation in Sunflower County, Mississippi" (Erickson 2021, n.p.). Charley Patton - Down The Dirt Road Blues♫
Son House	"Eddie "Son" House was simply the most intense-sounding blues artist of all time. He was a contemporary of Charley Patton and Willi Brown. His pioneering Delta blues sound directly influenced such musicians as Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters, who cited House as their biggest inspiration. Son's pounding rhythmic guitar and anguished vocals were a window into his tortured soul. He epitomized what the Mississippi Delta buses as all about" (Erickson 2021, n.p.). Eddie "Son" House - Delta Blues♫
Robert Johnson	"Johnson took the raw, rhythmic immediacy of the Delta blues that Charley Patton and Son House began, absorbed the influences and innovations of more sophisticated stylists like Lonnie Johnson, and created the most ingenious blend of Country blues guitar ever. He was the first guitarist to expertly incorporate boogie-woogie piano bass lines underneath his fingerpicking and slide sound. He lived fast and died young, but after his material was re-released to the World in 1966, his impact was felt across the globe" (Erickson 2021, n.p.). Robert Johnson - Cross Road Blues♫

Sidney Bechet

The blues like spirituals were prayers. One was praying to God; the other was praying to man.

Sterling Brown

You can't play the blues until you have paid your dues