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Category Archives: The Blues
Howlin’ Wolf,1910-1976: His Life, His Times, His Blues (Blues Stories, 27)
A Review of James Segrest and Mark Hoffman, Moanin’ at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin’ Wolf. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004. Howlin’ Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett, June 10, 1910, near West Point, Mississippi. (His grandfather nicknamed … Continue reading
Posted in "Charley Patton", Age of Jim Crow, American History, Chicago Blues, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Popular Culture, Robert Johnson, Skip James, Son House, Southern History, The "Great Migration", The Blues, Uncategorized, Urban Blues, WP Long Form
Tagged Age of Jim Crow, American History, American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, Blues, Blues Revival of the 1960s, Chicago Blues, Delta Blues, Howlin' Wolf biography, James Segrest and Mark Hoffman, Robert Johnson, Southern History, The Blues, The Great Migration, WP Longform
2 Comments
They don’t call me “Dr. Excitement” for nothin’, you know! (Be True to Your School, 5)
[Note: In a previous post in this series, I discussed how certain personal eccentricities helped me construct a “classroom persona,” one “Dr.,” beard, polyester suit, and awful pun at a time. In this entry, I’d like to offer a few … Continue reading
Posted in "The Race Beat", Age of Jim Crow, American History, Civil Rights Movement, Civil War, Cold War, Dr. Martin Luther King, Elias Boudinot, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Work, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized, Vietnam War
Tagged Age of Jim Crow, American History, American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, Blues, Civil Rights Movement, Cold War, Historical Reflection, History Curriculum, History Teaching, History Teaching Career Retrospective, Interdisciplinary Work, Prep school teaching with a PhD, Southern History
4 Comments
“Who was that Masked Man?”: Building a Classroom Persona (Be True to Your School, 4)
[NOTE: In a previous post in this series, I saluted the two best teachers I’ve ever had, Miss Gertrude Weaver (high school) and Professor James Rabun (graduate school). In addition to deep knowledge of history and loads of energy and … Continue reading
Posted in "big bucks", American History, building a classroom persona, classroom eccentricities, Delaware, Education, Historical Reflection, History, History Curriculum, History Teaching, jogging, memoir, New Jersey, Prep School, prep school teaching with a PhD, Retirement, Southern (Georgia) History, Teaching, The Blues, Uncategorized, WP Long Read
Tagged American History, American History and Culture, American Popular Culture, building a classroom persona, education, Historical Reflection, History Teaching, History Teaching Career Retrospective, Prep school teaching, Prep school teaching with a PhD
11 Comments
Skip James, “Emotional Hermit” of the Blues (Blues Stories, 26)
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 Blues Revival of the 1960s, Eric Clapton, Grafton Wisconsin, H.C. Speir, Mississippi Delta Blues, Newport Folk Festival, Skip James, Stephen Calt
4 Comments
Chasing the Delta Blues: The Mississippi Blues Trail, Part 2 (Blues Stories, 25)
[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 Delta Blues Museum (Clarksdale, Ground Zero Blues Club, Helena Arkansas, Henry Townsend, Mound Bayou Mississippi, Ms.), Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Rock 'n' Roll and Blues Heritage Museum (Clarksdale, Son House, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Tunica (Mississippi) Museum
4 Comments
Chasing the Delta Blues: The Mississippi Blues Trail, Part 1 (Blues Stories, 25)
[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 "Pat" Thomas, B.B. King, B.B. King Museum, Delta Blues, Indianola Mississippi, Mississippi Blues Trail, Old Highway 61 Museum, U.S.49, U.S.61
4 Comments
On the Trail of Blind Willie McTell (Blues Stories, 24)
A Review of: Michael Gray, Hand Me My Travelin’ Shoes: In Search of Blind Willie McTell. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2009. [NOTE: For a new project, I’ve decided to revisit a number of works on the Blues and the men and … Continue reading
Posted in Age of Jim Crow, American History, Blind Willie McTell, Georgia History, Historical Reflection, History, History of Rock and Roll, Piedmont Blues, Popular Culture, Research, Southern (Georgia) History, Southern History, The Blues, Uncategorized, Urban Blues, WP Long Read
Tagged Blind Willie McTell, Blues Revival of the 1960s, John and Ruby Lomax, Michael Gray, Statesboro (Ga.), Thomson (Ga.)
2 Comments
Willie “61” Blackwell, A Blues Performer Without a Wikipedia Entry, 1905-c.1972 (Blues Stories, 23)
[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
The Mississippi Delta Today, Maybe. . . . (Blues Stories, 22)
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
