Episode 107: A History of the Blues (short stories and music to entertain and, ideally, inform) 08 07 2022

There's a story behind this week's show. The Blues Society of Omaha asked me and Glenn, who fills in from time to time, to go on the main stage of our annual, In the Market for the Blues, and discuss the history of the blues. So we did. Sorta. The blues is a pretty big topic - especially to pack into 45 minutes. Instead, I put together A History of the Blues (rather than The History...). I decided to discuss some of the events that made the blues the artform it is today including The Great Migrations of Blacks from the American South to the north and west, some of the sources for blues music including field recordings, Chess Records, and John Hammond. I also told some stories like how John Lomax's efforts to get a recording label for Leadbelly tied together with the sit-com Friends, or how John Hammond's search for Robert Johnson created, in large part, the sound that was Classic Rock, or how a Memphis kid's love of a jug band player lead, indirectly, to several hit recording acts in the 60s and 70s. Or how Reg Dwight played the blues and became Elton John.  We are ecclectricity and, ideally, you find that entertaining and informative. At the very least, but perhaps the most important, the show is not predictable or driven by cliches. Thanks for giving this a lesson.It was an act of love putting this together. I hope you enjoy the effort. Pacific Street BluesAugust 7, 2022Link to Visuals1. Blue House and the Rent to Own Horns / I Put a Spell on You2. Dave Alvin / Highway 663. W.C. Handy /Beale Street Blues 4. Louis Armstrong / What Did I Do (to be so Black and Blue)? 5. Alan Lomax / Spoken Word6. Rev. Gary Davis / Candy Man 7. Bessie Jones and the Group8. Blind Willie Johnson / John the Revelator (Rex Granite Band, Mellencamp, Son House) 9. Tedeschi Trucks Band / Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning 10. Leadbelly / New Orleans11. Lonnie Donegan / Rock Island Line12. The Animals / House of the Rising Sun13. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) / Donegan's Gone 14. Bruce Springsteen / spoken15. Woody Guthrie / This Land is Your Land 6. The Carter Family / When the World's on Fire 17. Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash / Jackson18. Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash / North Country Girl 19. Memphis Jug Band / KC Moan20. Charlie Musselwhite / Blues Gave Me a Ride (Elvin Bishop [Paul Butterfield Blues Band], Ben Harper)21. Lovin' Spoonful / What a Day for a Daydream (Even Dozen Jug Band; Jonathan Sebastian, David Grisom (Grateful Dead), Steve Katz (Blood Sweat & Tears), 22. Maria Muldaur/ Midnight at the Oasis