NEVER GET OUT OF THESE BLUES ALIVE: THE WORLD OF THE BLUES

Motherland Media Network

The origins of blues are not unlike the origins of life. For many years it was recorded only by memory, and relayed only live, and in person. The Blues were born in the holes of slave ships in route to the Mississippi Delta and the gigantic plantations of Louisiana, Georgia, South and North Carolina long before the Civil War. The music was Influenced by African roots, field hollers, ballads, spiritual rhythms and rhythmic dance tunes called jump-ups. The Blues evolved into a music for a singer who would engage in call-and-response with his guitar. He would sing a line, and the guitar would answer. From the crossroads of Mississippi Highways 61 and 49, and the platform of the Clarksdale Railway Station, the blues headed north to Beale Street in Memphis. The blues have strongly influenced almost all popular music including jazz, country, and rock and roll and continues to help shape music worldwide This week’s program will focus on the history and impact of the Blues as it relates to life for African people living in America. We will feature the music of some of the giants in the world of the blues, i.e., Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry; Muddy Waters; T-Bone Walker; Howlin Wolf; BB King; Bobbie Blue Bland; John Lee Hooker; Lightnin Hopkins; Big Mama Thornton; Robert Johnson; Lead Belly and others. The goal and objective of the Black Reality Think Tank is to “understand the past, dissect the present and support in implementing a meaningful future.