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Blues History Timeline
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The Minstrel Show Becomes Poplar in America
With very odd costumes and black faced performers and controversial racial caricatures, the show grows popularity across the nation. -
Slave Songs Are Published
The earliest collection of African-American spirituals, Slave Songs of the United States,, is published. -
Historical Song "Maple Leaf Rag" Published
Scott Joplin publishes the very popular song "Maple Leaf Rag." Ragtime is starting to become a key influence on the Piedmont style of blues. -
First Recording Of Black Music
The first ever recording of Black Music by Victor Records was, "Camp Meeting Shouts." -
Bluesman Discovered Playing Instrument
Famous musician W.C. Handy sees a bluesman in Mississippi playing guitar with a knife sitting at a train station. -
First Ever Blues Song Recorded
The first ever blues song are published as sheet music. The first male folk blues records, featuring singers Papa Charlie Jackson and Daddy Stovepipe are apart of the first song. -
The Great Depression Hits The U.S
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 started on Black Thursday, foreshadowing the start of the Great Depression in America. Among widespread economic disaster, sales of records and phonographs decrease, crushing the music industry. -
Jump Blues Pop On The Scene
Jump blues was pioneered by Louis Jordan and Ralph Peer would record the first folk music to be later names Country Music. -
The Electric Guitar Hits The Market
Eddie Durham is the first to record using the electric guitar. The modern day instrument, first developed by musician George Beauchamp and engineer Adolph Rickenbacher right around the Great Depression will help to boost the melody of the blues. -
Muddy Waters Jumps Into Action
Muddy Waters creates his first Chicago recordings, beginning his career as the alpha figure in the Chicago blues and a key link between the Mississippi Delta and Urban Styles. -
New Definition Of Rhythm
The editor at Billboard magazine changes the term "rhythm and blues" for the unprofessional "race" records, according to Jerry Wexler -
B.B King's Breakout Hit
B.B. King has his first major blues hit with a new rhythm version of "Three O'Clock Blues." -
Elvis Begins Promising Career
Elvis Presley makes his recording debut after signing with Sun Records to create a version of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right." -
Big Names Perform At Venues
Blues recording artists Muddy Waters and B.B. King sing at the Fillmore East, a concert venue New York City, to a primarily non-colored audience. -
2003: The Year Of The Blues
The U.S Congress declares the year 2003 the "Year of the Blues," because of the 100th anniversary of artist W.C. Handy's encounter with an unknown early bluesman waiting at a train station in Mississippi in 1903.
