A TIME LINE OF THE BLUES ======================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dates | Blues | History, Industry, Arts | | & Sciences ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1619 | | The first shipload of slaves are | | sold to the colonies dock in | | Virginia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1831 | | Nat Turner's slave rebellion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1843 | First public minsterl show in | | Virginia. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1862-64 | | A series of congressional acts | | facilitates the building of the | | nation's first transcontinental | | railroad, the Union Pacific. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1863 | | The Emancipation Proclamation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1865 | | The 13th Amendment abolishes | | slavery. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ca. 1865| | In granting basic rights to | | ex-slaves (including the right to | | marry and own land), the "Black | | Codes" passed by most Southern State | | legislatures in the aftermath of the | | Civil War also ensures segragation | | of public facilites. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1866 | | The Ku Klux Klan founded in | | Pulaski, Tennessee. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1890 | | Mississippi's redrawn constitution | | includes a clause under which a | | prospective voter can be asked to | | read and interpret any part of the | | constitution in order to be eligable | | to vote. This "literacy clause" | | becomes the modal by which other | | Southern states disenfranchise | | blacks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1899 | Scott Joplin's | | "The Maple Leaf Rag" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1902 | The Dinwiddle Coloured | | Quartet records for Victor | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1910 | | National Association for the | | Advancement of Coloured People | | (N.A.A.C.P) is founded by | | W.E.B. Dubois and seven whites in | | response to the lynching of two | | black men in Springfield, Illinois. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1912 | Leroy "Lasses" White's | The Titanic Sinks. | "Nigger Blues," Hart Wand and | | Loyd Garrett's "Dallas Blues" | | and W.C. Handy's | | "Memphis Blues" are all pub- | | -lished within a few months | | of one another. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1914 | W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues"| | is published. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1917 | | The 'Chicago Defender' announces | | it's 'Great Northern Drive' and | | urges blacks to flee the South, an | | exodus which is already well | | underway. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1920 | "Race" recording begins with | Women get the vote. | Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1923 | Bessie Smith's "Downhearted | | Blues," Ma Rainey's | | "Bo-Weavil Blues" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1924 | Papa Charlie Jackson's | | "Papa's Lawdy, Lawdy Blues" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1925 | | Electrical recording is introduced ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1926 | Blind Lemon Jefferson's | | "That Black Snake Moan" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1928 | Leroy Carr's "How Long - How | The Southern drought is described | Long Blues," Tampa Red and | in Son House's "Dry Spell Blues" | Georgia Tom's "It's Tight | | Like That," and Clarence | | 'Pine Top' Smith's "Pine Top's| | Boogie-Woogie" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1929 | Charlie Patton's "Pony Blues" | The stock market crashes plunging | and "High Water Everywhere" | the country into the Great | Parts I & II | Depression. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1933 | Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter) | | is recorded by John & Alan | | Lomax at the Louisiana State | | Penitentiary of Angola. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1936 | Robert Johnson's "Crossroad | | Blues" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1937 | Bessie Smith dies as a result | | of injuries sustained in an | | automobile accident on Highway| | 61, in Mississippi. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1941 | Alan Lomax records Mckinley | | Morganfield {a.k.a. Muddy | | Waters} for the Library of | | Congress on Stovali's Farm, | | Sonny Boy Williamson {Rice | | Miller} debuts on KFFA's "King| | Biscuit Hour" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1942 | | Billboard Magazine intiates it's | | R & B chart. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1944 | Louis Jordan's "G.I. Jive" | The mechanical cotton picker is | reaches top of the pop charts | introduced; 20 years later, only | | 5% of the Delta's cotton crop will | | be hand-picked ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1947 | T-Bone Walker's "Call it | | Stormy Monday" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1948 | John Lee Hooker's "Boogie | WDIA, In Memphis, becomes the first | Chillen"; Muddy Waters' "I | radio station to switch to all-black | Can't be Satisfied" | programming; B.B. King is later a | | disc jockey there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1949 | Leadbelly appears in France | | becoming the first country | | bluesman to perform in Europe | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1952 | B.B. King's version of Lowell | | Fulson's "Three O'Clock Blues"| | tops Billboard's R&B charts | | for five weeks; later that | | year, Little Walter's "Juke" | | reaches number one. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1958 | The end of an era: Muddy | Stereo is introduced | Waters' last appearance on | | Billboard's R&B charts with | | a song called "Close To You" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1962 | Booker T. and the MG's "Green | | Onions," Stax's first hit | | record. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1964 | The recently rediscovered | | bluesmen Son House & Skip | | James are featured at the | | Newport Folk Festival | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1969 | B.B. King and Muddy Waters | | play The Fillmore East. | | Johnny Winter is signed to CBS| | Records, supposedly for the | | largest advance ever offered | | a musician. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1970 | B.B. King's "The Thrill is | Living Blues begins publication in | Gone" | Chicago. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1971 | Hound Dog Taylor and the | | House Rockers launch Alligator| | Records. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1980 | John Landis's movie "The Blues| | Brothers" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1982 | | The Compact Disc is introduced. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1984 | Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Texas | | Flood" | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1989 | John Lee Hooker's "The Healer"| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1990 | Columbia releases Robert | | Johnson's complete recordings | | on CD. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ============================================================================== * This is a partial time-line of the blues, reproduced from the book: The History Of The Blues, by Francis Davis. If you would like the complete and indepth timeline, I STRONGLY recomend you purchase this fine book! The History of The Blues, By Francis Davis, Copyright 1995, Mojo Working Productions Text Copyright 1995, Francis Davis Published by, Hyperion 114 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10011