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Contents
As a comprehensive nonprofit organization
that protects the legacy and music of
legendary blues artist Robert L. Johnson,
the foundation also encourages those
activities that keep alive the traditions
that formed Johnson’s music.
This book is about one of those traditions:
HOMEMADE INSTRUMENTS.
The state of Mississippi’s mantra is
“The Birthplace of America’s Music.” That
credo places the state in a unique arena
when highlighting the genres of popular
music that have contributed so much to
the world of creative entertainment. The
instruments that were born out of both
creativity and poverty are indicative of the
spirit of America and the “can do” mantra
that shaped the Industrial Revolution.
2011 is the centennial birthday of this icon
force, and this foreword serves as a literary
salute to the “King of Delta Blues” and how
his ingenuity laid a foundation for greatness.
Foreword
BY BRUCE M. CONFORTH PH. D., BEN L. MINNIFIELD, AND DR. TANYA SCOTT
—
ROBERT JOHNSON BLUES FOUNDATION
Blues music has its origin in the work songs sung by
slaves in the southern states of America. During slavery,
Africans adapted to using the leftovers of plantation
owners as mechanisms for survival and entertainment.
They also used their own traditions to transform the
American cultural landscape. The cultural relationship
of slave and slave owner was complex and often a
give-and-take exchange. From foodways (using cast-off
pig intestines to create the delicacy of chitterlings),
to architecture (slaves introduced the “front porch” to
America), to folk medicine and traditions, slave culture
brought much to American life.
Music was a particularly interesting area of exchange.
Although slave owners often encouraged musical
expression among their slaves, believing a misguided
rationale that a singing slave was a happy slave, they
also felt instruments could be used to communicate
secret messages that would lead to rebellion. The 1739
South Carolina slave codes, for instance, were the first
to ban drumming among slaves for fear that the rhythms
would foment insurrection. However, the African musical
tradition slaves brought to the New World included much
more than just drums. There was a rich African tradition
of stringed instruments, from the one-string fiddle to the
multi-stringed kora. Perhaps the most important of these
African retentions was the banjar, which would morph
into the banjo
—
oddly enough, an instrument that would
become associated with Anglo-American folk music and
ultimately one of the signature sounds of the proto-typical
white roots music “bluegrass.”
After slavery, though still under the oppression of
Jim Crow and segregation, the power of song and
music provided a base for inspiration and entertainment.
America’s earliest documentation of songs from this era
is found in Allen, Ware, and Garrison’s 1867 book,
Slave
Songs of the United States.
In this seminal text, we see
work and secular songs, as well as the spiritual roots that
would eventually form the blues. This early documentation
speaks to music used to open the core of a person’s soul
through verse and instrumentation, and explore the pain
and pleasure of living. This is the basis of the blues.