Twelve-Bar Road, chapter 1 · Part 1, The form and the groove

Where the blues came from

The blues took shape in the South around the turn of the twentieth century, reached sheet music in 1912 and records in 1920, and was sung and played long before anyone wrote it down.

Nobody can tell you where the blues began, because the people who were there did not write it down. What the sources give you instead are glimpses: a collector noting a song, an archaeologist listening to the men he had hired, a bandleader waiting for a train. This chapter puts those glimpses in order, and then follows the music onto paper and onto records.

The earliest of them comes from Texas. In 1890 a collector named Gates Thomas wrote down a song called “Nobody There”, which the Handbook of Texas calls the earliest reference to something like blues in the state. In 1901 the archaeologist Charles Peabody came to Coahoma County, Mississippi, to dig, and noted the songs his Black labourers sang as they worked. In the same years Howard Odum was writing down blues in Lafayette County, around Oxford.1,2,3

By the early 1900s the blues was widespread across the South. The musicians who played it traveled for work, and the songs went with them from town to town, passed on by ear rather than on paper.1

Who had recorded by 1930

18701880189019001910192019301890: A song like a blues noted in Texas.1890 A song like a blues noted in Texas1895: Dockery Farms founded.1895 Dockery Farms founded1901: Peabody hears work songs in Coahoma County.1901 Peabody hears work songs in Coahoma County1901: Handy hears a guitarist, as Palmer dates it, as remembered years later.1901 Handy hears a guitarist, as Palmer dates it1903: Handy hears a slide guitarist at Tutwiler, as remembered years later.1903 Handy hears a slide guitarist at Tutwiler1912: “The Memphis Blues” published.1912 “The Memphis Blues” published1920: Mamie Smith records “Crazy Blues”.1920 Mamie Smith records “Crazy Blues”1922: Paramount begins recording blues.1922 Paramount begins recording blues1926: Blind Lemon Jefferson records blues.1926 Blind Lemon Jefferson records blues1929: Paramount opens its Grafton studio.1929 Paramount opens its Grafton studioDeltaCharley Patton: born about 1891, died 1934.Charley PattonMississippi John Hurt: born 1892 or 1893, died 1966.Mississippi John HurtTommy Johnson: born 1896, died 1956.Tommy JohnsonSon House: born 1894 or 1902, died 1988.Son HouseBukka White: born about 1904, died 1977.Bukka WhiteWillie Brown: birth year unknown, death unrecorded.Willie BrownMemphisMemphis Minnie: born 1897, died 1973.Memphis MinnieTexasHenry Thomas: born 1874, died 1950.Henry ThomasBlind Lemon Jefferson: born 1893 or 1894, died 1929.Blind Lemon JeffersonT-Bone Walker: born 1910, died 1975.T-Bone WalkerPiedmontBlind Willie McTell: born 1898 or 1901, died 1959.Blind Willie McTellSt. LouisLonnie Johnson: born 1889 or 1894 or 1899 or 1909, died 1970.Lonnie JohnsonVaudevilleSylvester Weaver: born 1896, died 1960.Sylvester WeaverGospelBlind Willie Johnson: born 1897, died 1945.Blind Willie JohnsonPre-war ChicagoScrapper Blackwell: born 1903 or 1904, died 1962.Scrapper BlackwellTampa Red: born 1900 or 1903 or 1904 or 1908, died 1981.Tampa Red
18701880189019001910192019301890: A song like a blues noted in Texas.1890 A song like a blues noted in Texas1895: Dockery Farms founded.1895 Dockery Farms founded1901: Peabody hears work songs in Coahoma County.1901 Peabody hears work songs in Coahoma County1901: Handy hears a guitarist, as Palmer dates it, as remembered years later.1901 Handy hears a guitarist, as Palmer dates it1903: Handy hears a slide guitarist at Tutwiler, as remembered years later.1903 Handy hears a slide guitarist at Tutwiler1912: “The Memphis Blues” published.1912 “The Memphis Blues” published1920: Mamie Smith records “Crazy Blues”.1920 Mamie Smith records “Crazy Blues”1922: Paramount begins recording blues.1922 Paramount begins recording blues1926: Blind Lemon Jefferson records blues.1926 Blind Lemon Jefferson records blues1929: Paramount opens its Grafton studio.1929 Paramount opens its Grafton studioDeltaCharley Patton: born about 1891, died 1934.Charley PattonMississippi John Hurt: born 1892 or 1893, died 1966.Mississippi John HurtTommy Johnson: born 1896, died 1956.Tommy JohnsonSon House: born 1894 or 1902, died 1988.Son HouseBukka White: born about 1904, died 1977.Bukka WhiteWillie Brown: birth year unknown, death unrecorded.Willie BrownMemphisMemphis Minnie: born 1897, died 1973.Memphis MinnieTexasHenry Thomas: born 1874, died 1950.Henry ThomasBlind Lemon Jefferson: born 1893 or 1894, died 1929.Blind Lemon JeffersonT-Bone Walker: born 1910, died 1975.T-Bone WalkerPiedmontBlind Willie McTell: born 1898 or 1901, died 1959.Blind Willie McTellSt. LouisLonnie Johnson: born 1889 or 1894 or 1899 or 1909, died 1970.Lonnie JohnsonVaudevilleSylvester Weaver: born 1896, died 1960.Sylvester WeaverGospelBlind Willie Johnson: born 1897, died 1945.Blind Willie JohnsonPre-war ChicagoScrapper Blackwell: born 1903 or 1904, died 1962.Scrapper BlackwellTampa Red: born 1900 or 1903 or 1904 or 1908, died 1981.Tampa Red
  • Born, and the life that followed
  • Years in which they recorded
  • Sources disagree about the year of birth
  • Died
  • Lived on after 1930
  • A year no source records
  • Remembered years afterwards, not written down at the time

Blind Lemon Jefferson: born 1893 or 1894, first recorded 1925, died 1929. Blind Willie Johnson: born 1897, first recorded 1927, died 1945. Blind Willie McTell: born 1898 or 1901, first recorded 1927, died 1959. Bukka White: born 1904, first recorded 1930, died 1977. Charley Patton: born 1891, first recorded 1929, died 1934. Henry Thomas: born 1874, first recorded 1927, died 1950. Lonnie Johnson: born 1889 or 1894 or 1899 or 1909, first recorded 1925, died 1970. Memphis Minnie: born 1897, first recorded 1929, died 1973. Mississippi John Hurt: born 1892 or 1893, first recorded 1928, died 1966. Scrapper Blackwell: born 1903 or 1904, first recorded 1928, died 1962. Son House: born 1894 or 1902, first recorded 1930, died 1988. Sylvester Weaver: born 1896, first recorded 1923, died 1960. T-Bone Walker: born 1910, first recorded 1929, died 1975. Tampa Red: born 1900 or 1903 or 1904 or 1908, first recorded 1928, died 1981. Tommy Johnson: born 1896, first recorded 1928, died 1956. Willie Brown: birth year unknown, first recorded 1930.

Sixteen guitarists who had made a record by 1930, each in the lane where they played, with ten events along the top. For seven of them, sources disagree about the year of birth, and the timeline shows every year given.

A memory at a railway station

The best-known early account is W.C. Handy’s. Waiting for a train at Tutwiler, Mississippi, he heard a man playing guitar with a knife pressed on the strings and singing about going where the Southern cross the Dog. Handy told the story in his autobiography in 1941 and never said what year it happened. The Mississippi Blues Trail marker at Tutwiler dates it to about 1903, while a Smithsonian essay, following the historian Robert Palmer, puts it in 1901. So treat the year as a memory rather than a record. The timeline marks both years.4,2

Handy was a bandleader, and he adapted what he heard into compositions of his own. He moved to Memphis in 1905, and in 1912 his “Memphis Blues” was published, the year the blues first appeared on sheet music. It was not the only one. In March of the same year Hart Wand, a bandleader in Oklahoma City, published “Dallas Blues”, which the Oklahoma Historical Society calls the first blues on sheet music. Which came first depends on whose account you read, and both were printed in the same year.5,6,7

Where the first reports came from

The MississippiThe OhioThe MissouriThe ArkansasThe TennesseeThe Delta, drawn roughlythe Delta1895: Will Dockery founded Dockery Farms in 1895 on land bordering the Sunflower River, the plantation that was on and off Charley Patton’s home for nearly three decades.1901: Archaeologist Charles Peabody came to Coahoma County, Mississippi, in 1901 to excavate mounds, and noted down the songs his Black labourers sang as they worked.Coahoma County1903: W.C. Handy heard a man at the Tutwiler railway station playing slide guitar with a knife and singing “Goin’ where the Southern cross’ the Dog”, as Handy told it in his 1941 autobiography without giving a year.1905: Howard Odum carried out some of the earliest documentation of blues in Lafayette County, Mississippi, in the early 1900s.Lafayette County1912: W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues” was published in 1912, the year blues first appeared on sheet music.Memphis1912: Oklahoma City bandleader Hart Wand published “Dallas Blues” in March 1912, which the Oklahoma Historical Society calls the first blues on sheet music.Oklahoma CityBlind Lemon Jefferson, born in Couchman, near WorthamBlind Willie Johnson, born in near BrenhamBlind Willie McTell, born in ThomsonBukka White, born in near Houston, MississippiCharley Patton, born in between Bolton and EdwardsHenry Thomas, born in Big SandyLonnie Johnson, born in New OrleansMemphis Minnie, born in Algiers, New Orleans, by her own accountMississippi John Hurt, born in TeocSon House, born in near LyonSylvester Weaver, born in LouisvilleT-Bone Walker, born in LindenTampa Red, born in SmithvilleTommy Johnson, born in a plantation between Crystal Springs and Terry
The MississippiThe OhioThe MissouriThe ArkansasThe TennesseeThe Delta, drawn roughly1895: Will Dockery founded Dockery Farms in 1895 on land bordering the Sunflower River, the plantation that was on and off Charley Patton’s home for nearly three decades.Dockery Farms1901: Archaeologist Charles Peabody came to Coahoma County, Mississippi, in 1901 to excavate mounds, and noted down the songs his Black labourers sang as they worked.1903: W.C. Handy heard a man at the Tutwiler railway station playing slide guitar with a knife and singing “Goin’ where the Southern cross’ the Dog”, as Handy told it in his 1941 autobiography without giving a year.1905: Howard Odum carried out some of the earliest documentation of blues in Lafayette County, Mississippi, in the early 1900s.Lafayette County1912: W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues” was published in 1912, the year blues first appeared on sheet music.Memphis1912: Oklahoma City bandleader Hart Wand published “Dallas Blues” in March 1912, which the Oklahoma Historical Society calls the first blues on sheet music.Oklahoma CityBlind Lemon Jefferson, born in Couchman, near WorthamBlind Willie Johnson, born in near BrenhamBlind Willie McTell, born in ThomsonBukka White, born in near Houston, MississippiCharley Patton, born in between Bolton and EdwardsHenry Thomas, born in Big SandyLonnie Johnson, born in New OrleansMemphis Minnie, born in Algiers, New Orleans, by her own accountMississippi John Hurt, born in TeocSon House, born in near LyonSylvester Weaver, born in LouisvilleT-Bone Walker, born in LindenTampa Red, born in SmithvilleTommy Johnson, born in a plantation between Crystal Springs and Terry
  • Where a player was born
  • Where an event took place
  • The Delta, drawn roughly

Blind Lemon Jefferson was born in Couchman, near Wortham. Blind Willie Johnson was born in near Brenham. Blind Willie McTell was born in Thomson. Bukka White was born in near Houston, Mississippi. Charley Patton was born in between Bolton and Edwards. Henry Thomas was born in Big Sandy. Lonnie Johnson was born in New Orleans. Memphis Minnie was born in Algiers, New Orleans, by her own account. Mississippi John Hurt was born in Teoc. Son House was born in near Lyon. Sylvester Weaver was born in Louisville. T-Bone Walker was born in Linden. Tampa Red was born in Smithville. Tommy Johnson was born in a plantation between Crystal Springs and Terry. 1895: Will Dockery founded Dockery Farms in 1895 on land bordering the Sunflower River, the plantation that was on and off Charley Patton’s home for nearly three decades. 1901: Archaeologist Charles Peabody came to Coahoma County, Mississippi, in 1901 to excavate mounds, and noted down the songs his Black labourers sang as they worked. 1903: W.C. Handy heard a man at the Tutwiler railway station playing slide guitar with a knife and singing “Goin’ where the Southern cross’ the Dog”, as Handy told it in his 1941 autobiography without giving a year. 1905: Howard Odum carried out some of the earliest documentation of blues in Lafayette County, Mississippi, in the early 1900s. 1912: W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues” was published in 1912, the year blues first appeared on sheet music. 1912: Oklahoma City bandleader Hart Wand published “Dallas Blues” in March 1912, which the Oklahoma Historical Society calls the first blues on sheet music.

The birthplaces of fourteen guitarists who had recorded by 1930 and the places of six events.

The first records

For eight years after 1912 the blues lived on paper and on stage. Then, in 1920, a record company tried it. OKeh recorded the singer Mamie Smith in February, and when that record sold well enough it brought her back on 10 August to record “Crazy Blues”. Released that November, it reportedly sold 75,000 copies in its first two months.6

Paramount, a record company founded in 1917 by the Wisconsin Chair Company, began making blues records in 1922, and followed Mamie Smith’s success with vaudeville singers such as Ma Rainey and Ida Cox. The guitarists came next. In December 1925 a Paramount scout brought a blind singer from Texas, Blind Lemon Jefferson, to Chicago to record, and from March 1926 he made blues records under his own name, more than eighty of them before he died in December 1929. The success of his records and Blind Blake’s showed the company that a man singing to his own guitar could sell.8,9,1

Other companies went to the musicians instead. Through the 1920s engineers from OKeh, Vocalion, Brunswick, Columbia, RCA and Paramount came to Dallas once or twice a year and recorded local players in hotel rooms. From the mid-1920s scouts recorded Atlanta’s players too, and in Memphis the companies set up temporary studios, where Mississippians such as Tommy Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt came to record.1,10,11

Where they made their first records

The MississippiThe OhioThe MissouriThe ArkansasThe TennesseeThe Delta, drawn roughlythe DeltaFirst recorded in Chicago: Blind Lemon JeffersonChicagoFirst recorded in Dallas: Blind Willie Johnson and T-Bone WalkerDallasFirst recorded in Memphis: Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt and Tommy JohnsonMemphisFirst recorded in Grafton: Son House and Willie BrownGrafton
The MississippiThe OhioThe MissouriThe ArkansasThe TennesseeThe Delta, drawn roughlyFirst recorded in Chicago: Blind Lemon JeffersonChicagoFirst recorded in Dallas: Blind Willie Johnson and T-Bone WalkerDallasFirst recorded in Memphis: Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt and Tommy JohnsonMemphisFirst recorded in Grafton: Son House and Willie BrownGrafton
  • Where players first recorded: the more players, the larger the ring
  • The Delta, drawn roughly

First recorded in Chicago: Blind Lemon Jefferson. First recorded in Dallas: Blind Willie Johnson and T-Bone Walker. First recorded in Memphis: Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt and Tommy Johnson. First recorded in Grafton: Son House and Willie Brown.

The four cities where players who had recorded by 1930 made their first records.

Sources

  1. Alan Govenar, “Blues”, Handbook of Texas Online.
  2. Michael Luster, “At Play in the Delta”, 1997 Festival of American Folklife program book.
  3. Mississippi Blues Trail, “Oxford Blues” (marker, Oxford).
  4. Mississippi Blues Trail, “W.C. Handy Encounters the Blues” (marker, Tutwiler).
  5. Mississippi Blues Trail, “W.C. Handy Birthplace” (marker, Florence, Alabama).
  6. Ed Komara, “Crazy Blues”, National Recording Registry, Library of Congress.
  7. Hugh W. Foley Jr., “Blues”, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
  8. Mississippi Blues Trail, “Paramount Records” (marker, Grafton, Wisconsin).
  9. Handbook of Texas Online, Alan Govenar, “Jefferson, Blind Lemon”
  10. Ian Hill, “Blues Music”, New Georgia Encyclopedia (2004, last edited 2024).
  11. Mississippi Blues Trail, “Memphis Blues” (marker, Memphis).

This lesson was drafted with the help of AI, so it may contain a mistake. Its diagrams are drawn by Everyfret’s own software. How Everyfret is made