The Duality of the Blues; Episode 7 of American Song

Get in touch! The Blues deals with very personal types of pain. But it doesn’t wallow in self-pity. The blues is about overcoming – like Martin Luther King Jr. used in his marches – “We Shall Overcome”. Great blues is all about a catharsis – a purging – of the things that hurt us so that we can go on living better lives! Nothing captures the Christian sense of death and redemption like the blues; When you think of the blues, you think about misfortune, betrayal and regret. You lose your job, you get the blues. Your mate falls out of love with you, you get the blues. Your dog dies, you get the blues. Appallingly, America seems to be back at 'the crossroads' again in 2021. At the time that I'm publishing this, Georgia has just instituted voter suppression laws again, and there are bills in 43 of our states to follow suit. I hope this episode of American Song serves as a reminder about the horrors we've already been through as a nation, and a strong statement that we MUST NEVER go there again. I pray that the 'better angels' (to use a phrase from Abraham Lincoln) of our natures and our nation gain control. I hope that this entire podcast series is a reminder of how great our nation is and has been, and that we realize that it is BECAUSE and not despite of our diversity that we have been so. Track List Viola Davis - from Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Netflix) Interview: Leadbelly on the Origin of the Blues The Burden of the Angel Beast - Bruce Cockburn, from Dart to the Heart Homeless - Ladysmith Black Mambazo, from Paul Simon's Graceland Woke Up This Morning, With my Mind on Jesus - Mississippi Fred McDowell Motherless Child - O.V. Wright We Shall Overcome - Mahalia Jackson Strange Fruit - Bessie Smith Signifying Monkey - Oscar Brown Cross Roads - Robert Johnson Dust My Broom - B.B. King W.C. Handy - St. Louis Blues John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom Midnight Special - Leadbelly See That My Grave is Kept Clean - Blind Lemon Jefferson Interview: Steven Johnson (grandson of Robert Johnson) Preaching Blues (Up Jumped the Devil) - Robert Johnson Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Ma Rainey This Train - Sister Rosetta Tharpe You Shook Me - Muddy Waters Interview: Buddy Guy (with Nick Harcourt and Guitar Center) Jumpin' at the Woodside - Count Basie and his Orchestra One O'Clock Jump - Lester Young Mean Old World - T Bone Walker Indian Tom Tom - Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band Sibo Bangoura - Ted Talk from TedX Sydney Hey Hey - Eric Clapton, Unplugged For a listing of all sources, please visit our American Song Podcast page on Facebook or download this episode's script, posted on this website.