Blues Timeline SG

By sgutierrez4

  • Dockery Farms

    Dockery Farms
    Many workers there learned blues and took it with them outside the plantation. Home to many famous blues artists such as Henry Sloan, Charley Patton, Son House, Willie Brown, Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Roebuck "Pops" Staples and David "Honeyboy" Edwards.
  • Period: to

    Years of Blues Music

  • "Blind" Lemon Jefferson

    "Blind" Lemon Jefferson
    He was born in Texas and recorded songs such as "Matchbox Blues", "Black Snake Moan", and "See That My Grave is Clean". Helped found the Deep Ellum blues movement in Dallas and taught T-Bone Walker to play guitar.

  • Maple Leaf Rag

    Maple Leaf Rag
    This song and Joplin's influence in the development of ragtime helped influence early Blues.

  • Reporters on Blues Music

    Reporters in the Deep South reported on Blues music around this time slowly increasing its popularity.

  • W.C. Handy's Discovery

    W.C. Handy's Discovery
    He discovers the "12-bar format for blues.

  • First Blues Music Published

    First Blues Music Published
    The first ever Blues music was published called "I got the Blues" by Antonio Maggio.

  • First Blues Music Published as a Sheet

    First Blues Music Published as a Sheet
    The first Blues songs such as W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues" are published as sheet music.

  • World War I and Blues Music

    World War I and Blues Music
    American troops are exposed to Blues music for the first time, causing a music explosion in the genre.

  • Bessie Smith

    Bessie Smith
    She was one of the first Blues artists to emerge out of the 20's and contributed to more modern interpretations of the genre.

  • First Solo African American Recording

    First Solo African American Recording
    The first recording of a solo African American, Mamie Smith's cover of "Crazy Blues", sold over 1,000,000 copies exposing Blues to more people.

  • Big Bill Broonzy

    Big Bill Broonzy
    He moved from Mississippi to Chicago and was a key contributor in starting the Chicago/Detroit Blues genre and popularizing it.

  • Migration to the North

    Migration to the North
    African Americans started migrating to more urban cities in the north, defining Blues as more than just music of rural Mississippi.

  • Sylvester Weaver

    Sylvester Weaver
    He was the first to record the style in blues known as slide guitar, using a knife as a slide on the guitar's fret board.

  • First Male Folk Blues Records

    The first folk blues male music is released featuring artists Papa Charlie Jackson and Daddy Stovepipe.

  • Electrical Recording Technology

    Electrical Recording Technology
    Electrical recording technology is introduced and blues music is able to expand and grow more because of this.