To understand the blues, you have to go back to slavery and the struggles of black Americans after the Civil War. In this climate, the blues was born. It comes from appalling work conditions on cotton and tobacco plantations and in the timber, turpentine, and levee camps of the Deep South. Ultimately, it is the story of oppression and unyielding racism.

Blues melodies, singing styles, structures, and rhythms can all be traced back to the tribal music of West Africa. Griot singing influenced the blues the most. Griot singers are storytellers. They typically do not perform in groups, only as soloists. They also accompany themselves on a stringed instrument not unlike the acoustic guitar.

The Mississippi Delta is considered the birthplace of the blues since it was here that the blues was first documented around 1900. Blues historians cite Charley Patton (1891–1934) as a key figure in the development of the blues. Some even call him the founding father. Clearly, Patton influenced blues legends such as Son House, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, and a whole host of others.

Prior to W. C. Handy (1873–1958), the blues was played only in the American South. However, Handy transformed the blues from a backwoods style of music to a new form of entertainment that could be bought, sold, and mass marketed. By the 1920s, musicians of all races were performing and recording the blues. The blues could be heard on concert stages and on 78 rpm recordings distributed by record labels such as Victor, Okeh, the American Record Corporation, and Paramount.

After both world wars, black musicians from the Mississippi Delta moved to northern cities such as Detroit and Chicago. This was called the Great Migration. When Delta musicians arrived in Chicago they began using amplifiers, and soon the legendary Chicago style was born. The Chicago style of blues was a direct precursor to rock-and-roll. It was also one of the first genres to embrace the electric bass.

Today the electric bass is commonly used in blues-rock, a hybrid that is played throughout the nation. Blues-rock is a potpourri of styles, and it is an excellent vehicle for bassists who like to play shuffle rhythms, walking bass lines, and ostinatos. You will learn all about these terms later in the chapter.