The Mythology Of Pre-War Blues

During the 1960s the rediscovery of pre-war blues was driven by the emergence of popular white British bands such as The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac and Cream.  They were drawn to the raw and soulful sound of blues and performers such as Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy.  As a result of the interest in the 50s blues scene, naturally people sought to learn about those who had influenced their own musical influences.  As a result, artists such as Robert Johnson, Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Charlie Patton and Blind Lemon Jefferson from the pre-war blues era, the 1920s were revived into popular culture.

The point of this short essay is to determine whether the mythology that grew around blues after its rediscovery is perceived as a good or a bad thing. 

I have been reading a book called ‘Escaping the Delta’ by Elijah Wald.  Wald argues that the myths that surround blues are damaging and that it is ignorant of people to believe that blues musicians were anything but people searching for stardom.  Indeed, anyone with the slightest knowledge of blues music would already know this.  Just take Robert Johnson’s life, drugs, drink, women, and death.  He was clearly not the wounded wonderer singing about life on the plantations and how his woman left him.  Clearly it was a career path, remember it is America; the American dream has always been alluring vision no matter the race.  But Wald spends much of his time dispelling the myths that surround various blues musicians, of which the most famous is Robert Johnson.  Many people have heard the story about Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil in exchange for the skill to play the guitar, or even the song ‘Cross Road Blues’ which is often erroneously linked with the story. 

Robert Johnson

Although the truth behind blues music is far more ‘conventional’ than the myths suggest, why should the myths be pushed aside?  Without these myths the music would not have taken the same impact among its 60s followers. 

Despite my own knowledge of pre-war blues music and the life of its various musicians, when discussing Robert Johnson with people I often tell them about the mythical ‘Selling his soul to the Devil’ story and just to add to it that there have only ever been two pictures discovered of him because people find it interesting, selling his soul to the devil is obviously not true and it would be foolish to think otherwise.  But there are others Blind Lemon Jefferson who began playing during Prohibition (1920 – 1933) on street corners and then in the Juke joints of the day, he employed future blues guitarist T-Bone Walker as his guide and refused to play on a Sunday; Blind Willie McTell who wandered the southern states busking on street corners; Son House, a man of god who could not resist the temptation of the blues, he also allegedly shot and killed a man (in self defence) and was jailed for 15 years; Mississippi John Hurt recorded music prior to the Great Depression, but after the label Okeh Records went out of business he returned to Mississippi and obscurity working menial jobs, rediscovered in the 1963 he had a short time of success before his death in 1966 ; Blind Willie Johnson was a victim of his stepmothers rage, blinding him at a young age by throwing lye in his eyes and he remained poor for his entire life, he became a preacher before his death; Charley Patton, the first showman of the blues, this guy played the guitar around his head and behind his back just like Jimi Hendrix would do in the 60s; and Lead Belly, blues and folk musician, a man who fought the establishment through songs expressing anti-racism, classism and discrimination in general, a fiery temper landed him in jail for stabbing a man, but a future friend of folk legend Woody Guthrie and a big influence on Bob Dylan. 

From top left: Blind Lemon Jefferson; Charlie Patton; Mississippi John Hurt.
 From bottom left: Son House; Blind Willie McTell; Lead Belly.

There is form of oral tradition at the heart of the blues, many of the original songs had been derived from songs passed down from generation to generation.  There is no harm in continuing this process.

The rediscovery of the blues and the myths that surrounded it helped to cement it in the psyche of the young generation of the 60s.  It was about the wanderer the ‘beat generation’, the idea of freedom that defined the decade and some of the most influential literature, On the Road by Jack Kerouac that inspired a generation.  It also tapped directly into the political spectrum of the decade with things such as the Civil Rights Movement, many of the blues musicians that had grown up suffering the prolonged aftermath of the abolition of slavery, born into a simple existence of plantation life.  The Dockery Plantation in Cleveland, Mississippi gave birth too many of the great blues musicians, Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker.  The link to these days can be heard through the anguished soul in the voices of Blind Lemon Jefferson or Blind Willie McTell.  Bob Dylan even wrote into his song Blind Willie McTell from his Bootleg Album Vol. 3:

“See them big plantations burning
Hear the cracking of the whips
Smell that sweet magnolia blooming
see the ghosts of slavery ships
I can hear them tribes a-moaning
hear the undertaker's bell
nobody can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell”

The blues was perceived to be connected to the race problems in America that were still at the forefront of American politics during the 1960s.

The importance of the mythology behind many of the great pre-war Blues musicians certainly helped many to be rediscovered that would have otherwise been lost to time.  Although the truth is different, the mythology entices people in and helps one of the most influential and significant musical genres and the accomplished musicians that created it endure.

For those who have an interest in pre-war blues, check out a new musician born to American parents but from Australia called C.W. Stoneking.