Would you agree that The Blues is the original American art form?
May 22, 2010 by
Filed under blues history
Consider that Blues cannot trace its direct roots to any African music form or any European music form. And it is the foundation for all American music forms that followed: rock, jazz, even country and bluegrass.
Also, it was prevalent early in this country’s history – some historians say that it became common as early as the late 1700’s.
Do you agree that Blues is the original – and some would say only – truly American artform?
I think the first “American” music was the beats the Native Americans played during tribal rituals. Or maybe hymns that slaves sang as codes to escape to freedom. Which was NOT the Blues.
I would disagree. With a subject containing so many grey areas as the classification of musical forms and their influences, one could argue just about any point they wanted with varying degrees of credence.
The Blues originated in the Mississippi Delta in the early 1900s by African Americans.It was a way of trying to deal with the cruel and inhumane treatment under the Jim Crowe laws.The music told stories about the hard and difficult lives of so many human beings. I was born in the heart of the Delta.Know quite of few blues singers.Yes,it is truly an original American Art Form.I would not say the only-truly American artform,but one true artform
yeah blues is from mississippi long ago
I agree with you to a point. It has always irked me that Jazz is consistently called the only truly American art form/music, when that title would be more appropriately bestowed on the Blues. That being said, there are some fatal flaws with even that attribution. As the first poster stated, the original American music came from Native Americans long before slaves ever reached these shores. Furthermore, while your statement about blues being the foundation for rock, jazz, etc. is correct, the interrelationship between blues and country is much more complex. Both forms developed at the same time in a symbiotic fashion. Country itself can also lay claim to being the original (notwithstanding Native music) American music. While the blues arose from African sources combined with european influences, country arose from european sources (specifically English, Scottish and Irish folk music) combined with african influences. Finally, your premise that the blues cannot directly be traced to any African form is dead wrong. West African music, particularly Griot and Jeli singers, is often indistinguishable from early blues music with the exception of language. Check out some of the research done by people like Sam Charters and Paul Oliver (and the attendant recordings) for great examples of this.