by Megan Pierce

Created on: June 01, 2010

The musician sits on a silver garbage can on the corner of Dearborn and Wacker Street, with a sleek black Gibson cradled on his lap, its strings vibrating with stridently deep grating tones only familiar with Chicago’s distinct music: The Blues. Made up of a 12-bar brassy melody repetitious of melancholy sorrow epitomized by the Negro slave during America’s Manifest Destiny era, the Blues have molded musical legends such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, BB King, and John Lee Hooker into essential icons of African American culture. But the artists and performers of the Blues have always been under a constant prejudiced scrutiny as a stereotype of the “unfortunate” Negro minstrel figure throughout American history and even into today’s society.

            The Mississippi Delta alludes claim to the ubiquitous musical genre that originated during the mid-1800s as Negro folk music beget by the African slaves who were brought to the United States. After the Civil War, Blues music began to seep its way into New Orleans, Louisiana and grew into a brassier sounding repertoire compiled of bass, drums, piano, harmonica, and guitar. By 1911, W.C. Handy popularized Blues by recording “Memphis Blues” in 1912 and “St. Louis Blues” in 1914. By the Roaring Twenties, Blues music was a national craze, and by the Great Depression, the Blues had bled into Chicago society, being continuously performed by Willie Dixon, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Howlin’ Wolf. Chicago has become the most famous city to host the essence of the Blues, and with musical establishments such as the House of Blues on Dearborn Street, the Blues have been electrified into a big-city image most prevalent of African Americans and the musicians who brought their folk music into a lively existence.

            A common theme of the Blues is the soul-sodden sadness that has reflected the “pressing upon unfortunate and down-trodden pour souls yearning to be free from life’s troubles.” In current day Chicago, many African American musicians of the Blues magically perform the music epitomized by their ancestors held captive of not only the physical restraints of slavery, but also the unseen shackles of prejudice and bigotry. Unfortunately, these chains of racist intolerance still exist throughout the city of

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>