Category Archives: Delta Blues

Reflections on Race, Part 2 (Teaching Civil Rights, 15)

Posted on April 2, 2022 by georgelamplugh

[Note: This is the concluding part of a look at how, in retrospect, I came to terms with the question of race in the history of this nation, which I taught for forty years; its present, where I live; and … Continue reading →

Posted in ""state rights", Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, building a classroom persona, Civil Rights Movement, Current Events, Delaware, Delta Blues, Dr. Martin Luther King, Education, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History graduate school, History Teaching, Interdisciplinary Work, memoir, Newark (Del.) High School Class of 1962, Popular Culture, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Taylor Branch, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Skip James, “Emotional Hermit” of the Blues (Blues Stories, 27)

Posted on September 1, 2017 by georgelamplugh

A Review of Stephen Calt, I’d Rather Be the Devil: Skip James + the Blues. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2008. His music was the defiant product of an emotional hermit: “I wanted it different all the way—I always have had … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Books, Delta Blues, History, History of Rock and Roll, Popular Culture, Skip James, Son House, Southern History, Stephen Calt, The Blues, Theology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Chasing the Delta Blues: The Mississippi Blues Trail, Part 2 (Blues Stories, 25)

Posted on June 1, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[This is the second and concluding post about the trip the Willowy Bride (AKA, the WB) and I took along the Delta portion of the Mississippi Blues Trail in May 2013.  For Part 1, go here.] * * * * … Continue reading →

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, Alan Lomax, B.B. King, Big Bill Broonzy, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta Blues, History, History of Rock and Roll, Howlin' Wolf, Interdisciplinary Work, John Lee Hooker, Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Robert Johnson, Son House, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Chasing the Delta Blues: The Mississippi Blues Trail, Part 1 (Blues Stories, 25)

Posted on May 1, 2017 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  Anyone who has perused the “Blues Stories” page of this blog will know that, of all the stopping places available to  fans interested in “Blues Geography,” my favorite location is the Mississippi Delta, generally regarded as the “birthplace of the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, B.B. King, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta Blues, History, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Robert Johnson, Son House, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Willie “61” Blackwell, A Blues Performer Without a Wikipedia Entry, 1905-c.1972 (Blues Stories, 23)

Posted on November 15, 2016 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  I suppose “obscurity” is a relative concept.  Before the modern era, one would actually have had to “research” a person in various “hard copy” sources, before lamenting his or her “obscurity.” In more recent years, however, with the Internet in general, … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, Willie '61' Blackwell | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The Mississippi Delta Today, Maybe. . . . (Blues Stories, 22)

Posted on August 1, 2016 by georgelamplugh

A Review of: Richard Grant, Dispatches from Pluto:  Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta (Simon & Schuster, 2015) You’re Richard Grant, a native of Great Britain and a journalist whose writing and documentary film work have shed light on cultures … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Books, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, Popular Culture, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, WP Long Read | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“The Flags, Daddy, the Flags!”: “Retired But Not Shy” at Six

Posted on June 1, 2016 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE:  I launched Retired But Not Shy: Doing History After Leaving the Classroom a couple of weeks following my retirement, in May 2010, from nearly four decades teaching History in an Atlanta prep school.  I really didn’t know what I was doing, but, as the … Continue reading →

Posted in American "republicanism", American History, Arnold M. Shankman, Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Removal, Civil Rights Movement, Creek Indians, Delta Blues, Dr. Martin Luther King, Education, Elias Boudinot, George R. Gilmer, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, Interdisciplinary Work, Martin Luther King, Mississippi John Hurt, Newark (Del.) High School Class of 1962, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized, Wilson Lumpkin, WP Long Read | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Blues Masters from the Delta (Blues Stories, 21)

Posted on April 1, 2016 by georgelamplugh

 A Review of Ted Gioia, Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008. [NOTE: Once upon a time,  I hoped to write a book on the origins … Continue reading →

Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, Alan Lomax, American History, B.B. King, Bessie Smith, Books, Chicago Blues, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta Blues, History, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Retirement, Robert Johnson, Son House, Southern History, The "Great Migration", The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“The Blues Had a Baby” (Blues Stories, 18)

Posted on November 3, 2014 by georgelamplugh

A Review of John Milward, Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock ‘n’ Roll (And Rock Saved the Blues). Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2013. “’The blues had a baby,’ Muddy Waters sang, ‘and they called it rock and roll.’ Yeah, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Alan Lomax, American History, B.B. King, Big Bill Broonzy, Books, Chicago Blues, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta Blues, Historical Reflection, History, History of Rock and Roll, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Research, Retirement, Robert Johnson, Son House, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Evolution of a Blog: “Retired But Not Shy” at Four

Posted on September 15, 2014 by georgelamplugh

[NOTE: If I had not edited my school’s “History Department Newsletter” over the last few years of my teaching career, I might never have become a blogger. Using a template provided by Microsoft, I planned each bi-monthly issue, parceled out … Continue reading →

Posted in "Lincoln"--the movie, "The Race Beat", American History, Blues Women, Books, Civil Rights Movement, Civil War, Current Events, Delta Blues, Dr. Martin Luther King, George R. Gilmer, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, James Gunn, Martin Luther King, Popular Culture, prep school teaching with a PhD, Research, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Vietnam War, Wilson Lumpkin | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments