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Welcome to the Early
Blues History Section.
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On
this page you will find: |
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the
Blues History Noticeboard,
comprising links to Blues Essays, Articles, Poetry,
Art, Tribute Projects and Talks,
followed by |
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the
Blues Research Noticeboard,
comprising details and links to blues research
projects and links to associated websites, followed
by |
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the
Blues
Books Noticeboard, comprising
links to recommended blues books, CDs, Movies, DVDs
and on-line radio links, followed by |
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the
Blues Travelogues Noticeboard,
comprising links to photo galleries, articles and essays on trips to
the 'Land Where The Blues Began' |
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all interspersed with
relevant photographs, images
and quotations. |
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Alternatively, click on
the above buttons for all major sections of the
website or
click here for the main menu
or click
Early
Blues Treasure Trove of miscellaneous links to all
other sections of the website. |
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NEW HISTORY SECTION (from 1st March 2018):
This original ‘History’ Section
of
www.earlyblues.com has been re-created in an all new more
manageable and easier to browse format together with
extended content, especially on the history of British Blues
welcoming new contributors
Stevie King
from the
British Blues Archive
organisation and
Keith Woods
from
'Tales From The Woods'
magazine and roots music
networking group.
The new
format has been developed on
www.earlyblues.org
and
will ultimately replace this original History
Section of
www.earlyblues.com, being entirely dedicated to the history and
evolution of the Blues in essays and articles, cultural
aspects, exhibitions, presentations, courses, talks,
research projects, reference lists, recommended blues books,
blues resting places, and links to other blues sites.
As this
original History Section is so large the new format section
has been developed over time (re-creating all elements of the
old format content into the new format). For ease of
conversion, all new entries from 1st March 2018
have now been created only in the new format. To keep each
section complete there are links to the old format
embedded in the new format content where the material has
not yet been converted. When this is the case please click
the back button or just close the page to return to the new format section.
So 'Earlyblues.com'
now runs as two separate but interlinked websites:
www.earlyblues.com
(original History Section) and
www.earlyblues.org
(new expanded and re-formatted History Section).
Click here to see the new developing History Section,
remembering that you can return to the full
www.earlyblues.com
website or this original History Section any time by
clicking the link on the new format Home page.
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Quote for earlyblues.com from Paul Oliver
(one of the world's leading authorities and
writer on the history of the blues):
"Alan, congratulations on your Website (Early) Blues, sincerely, Paul Oliver"
See Interview with Paul Oliver
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"...The blues tell the story of life’s difficulties — and, if you think
for a moment, you realize that they take the hardest realities of life
and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of
triumph. This is triumphant music.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
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BLUES HISTORY
NOTICEBOARD: ESSAYS, ARTICLES,
POETRY, ART, POSTERS AND TALKS |
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Click the
Blues Essays
logo to browse essays, articles, tales, talks, books, poetry and
everything else blues history related....
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Click the
Exhibitions
logo for photo galleries of
Blues Photographic Exhibitions including details of the artists,
the photos and the background to the exhibition themes |
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Click the
British Blues
logo for
a
History of British Blues in articles and
essays, interviews with legendary British blues artists,
memories and memorabilia, and recommended British blues history
books. |
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Acoustic Blues
Magazine- nostalgic reproductions of a series of magazines published in
1991 promoting interest in UK blues artists, both those little known
outside a particular region and the few that have achieved
national and international fame. |
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Click the
Blues Travelogues
logo for a series of articles relating to blues trips to the
'Land Where The Blues Began' |
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Click the
Blues Poetry
logo for a collection of articles relating to Blues Poetry, the Poets
and Poetry about the Blues and Blues Artists. |
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Click the
Blues Art
logo for collections of
Artists,
Illustrators and Sculptors of the Blues
and links to their websites. |
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Click the logo for the
'Blues Artists and Their Instruments
Guide' by Dai Thomas.
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Coming soon:
a photo gallery of the resting places of early blues artists. |
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Coming soon:
a photo gallery of Masters of the Blues - a collection of
photographs and details of iconic artists I have had the
pleasure in photographing, meeting and occasionally
interviewing. |
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Coming soon:
a photo gallery of rare blues vinyl record album covers -
personal collections, including details of labels, artists and
additional notes about the recordings. |
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Click
the logo to see a full list of essays and articles on the
History of Gospel Music on the sister website
www.earlygospel.com
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Click the
Roots Español
logo to browse a selection of blues essays translated into
Spanish. |
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Click the logo
for the 'Blues
Memories'
section where I invite you, the reader, to tell me how you first
'discovered' the blues. |
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Click the logo
to see the Archive of Mississippi Max Haymes's Blues Club
Posters. |
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Coming soon:
a collection of blues related cartoons, jokes and humorous
images. |
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Click the logo to see an impressive
Blues Collage
by Colin McNeill. |
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Click the logo for the
European Blues Association
(EBA)
website.
The EBA, incorporating the 'Archive
of African American Music', is an educational organisation
established in 1999 to promote African American music in its
many forms and provide educational activities for young people
and adults. The EBA encourages research into the music and its
cultural heritage. In partnership with the University of
Gloucestershire it facilitates the study and discussion of
issues related to the development of Black Music and its
relationships with pop music and culture. |
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Click the logo for the
British Blues Archive
(BBA) website.
The BBA is a registered charity which archives the history,
musicians, the venues and the instruments that make up British
Blues.
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Bessie Smith - A Painting by Gill
Smith
© Copyright 2013 Gill Smith. All Rights Reserved.
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BLUES
RESEARCH
NOTICEBOARD |
Check out:
Slave To The Blues (Coffles and the Auction Block -
Slave Roots of the Blues)
This article is part of
a far larger work ('Slave To The Blues') which seeks to focus on the secular
roots of the Blues back in slavery times in the USA.
Slave To The Blues
is a long term collaborative project between
Max Haymes, Rex Haymes, Robin Andrews, Dai Thomas and Alan White, where
we intend to highlight the non-religious music of the African American
before 1865.
 Check
out:
The Underground Railroad
- a new sister website currently under development
which will give an
insight into the Underground Railroad movement during American slavery
times, incorporating a collection of references to seminal works together
with personal material and anecdotes. The website will include the origins
of the underground railroad, a chronology of key dates and significant
events, influential people, locations and associated events, essays and
articles specialising in the underground railroad, research projects, a
bibliography of key reference literature, a discography of related music and
video, and Internet website references.
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From the essay:
Slave To The Blues (Coffles and the Auction Block -
Slave Roots of the Blues)
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BLUES BOOKS, CDs, DVDs, MOVIES AND RADIO
LINKS NOTICEBOARD |
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Check out details of Michael Gray's award-winning
Book
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Mural, Leland, Mississippi © Copyright 2008 Alan
White. All Rights Reserved.
Plaque painted at the side of the Mural
© Copyright 2008 Alan White. All Rights Reserved.
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Quote for earlyblues.com from Dick Waterman
(Photographer, Blues Promoter, Author, and the only non-performer in the
Blues Hall of Fame):
"All blues fans are grateful for your wonderful www.earlyblues.com -
a most captivating resource for blues fans"
www.dickwaterman.com
Agent, manager,
producer, promoter, Dick Waterman is the only person inducted in The
Blues Hall of Fame who was not either a performing artist or a record
company executive. He established himself in the Blues community as a
diligent advocate for the artists and the art of Blues. Waterman is
primarily known today as an archivist and photographer of Blues,
Country, Rock and Jazz legends from Mississippi John Hurt to Mick Jagger
and Eric Clapton. His commitment to documenting the Blues artists he
worked with and came into contact with throughout the years is
legendary.
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BLUES
TRAVELOGUES
NOTICEBOARD |
The Mississippi Delta: Birthplace of the
Blues - "This Is Where the Soul of Man Never Dies."
- by Terry
Messman
Annual Road Trip to the Mississippi Delta
in 4 fascinating episodes!
- by
Keith Murphy, with complementary photos by
Alan White
'Deep South Early Blues
travelogue'
:
Memphis thru to Clarksdale
Down The Dirt Road
(travelling the Southern States) by
Courtland Bresner
- in 5 instalments:
Down The Dirt Road (Part 1)
Down The Dirt Road (Part 2)
Down The Dirt Road (Part 3)
Down The Dirt Road (Part 4)
Down The Dirt Road
(Part 5)
Coming soon (sort of)...
1 - 'Deep South Country
Blues, Plantations and New Orleans Jazz'
:
Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and
Tennessee
(including Memphis, Helena,
Clarksdale, Vicksburg, Natchez, New Orleans, Jackson and Nashville)
2 - 'Piedmont/East Coast
Blues and the Civil Rights Movement'
:
Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee
and Alabama
(including Atlanta, Macon, Savannah,
Charleston, Chattanooga, Birmingham and Montgomery)
3 - 'Urban Blues, Chicago
and Route 66' :
Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma,
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California
(including
The Chicago Blues
Festival
and Route 66 oddities)
4 - 'Hillbilly Country,
The Blues Ridge Mountains, The Underground Railroad and The American Civil
War' :
Pennsylvania, Virginia and North
Carolina
(including Philadelphia, Gettysburg,
Roanoke, Galax, Petersburg, Richmond and Manassas)
5 - 'St Louis Blues,
Steamboats and The Underground Railroad'
:
Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky,
Ohio, Indiana and Michigan
(including Chicago, Davenport,
Springfield, St Louis, Cairo, Louisville, Cincinnati and Battle Creek)
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Earlyblues website 'Treasure Trove' (click on a link to discover some gems):
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Website, Photos and Text © Copyright 2000-2019 Alan
White. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, email:
alan.white@earlyblues.com
Click on the logo for the main menu
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Updated:
