Muddy Waters Folk Singer

I just hope we continue to see some great bluesmen in the future but I cannot see the future ever producing a John Lee Hooker or another BB King or a Buddy Guy or going back further Muddy etc. I guess part of it is a generational thing - these guys really came from humble beginnings and had so much to say when they played - maybe I am being unfair on the newer talent coming through.

The social conditions that produced the Blues no longer exist. I am afraid all the real blues recordings have been made. All we can look forward to is better technology to remaster them. I have a map of the state of Mississippi, that shows the birth place of well known bluesmen. I was stunned. There just has to be more bluesmen from the MS delta, than the rest of the country combined. It truly is a music from the delta.

Sorry Rok2id, Bessie Smith was belting out the blues with a big band before the delta players you refer to had picked up guitars. Delta blues is one subset of the blues but just one. There are many more varieties and lots of good blues still being played.

There are a few greats scattered around the south, including Bessie who I think is fron TN. I have three of her boxed sets. Great stuff, but very poor recordings. That is the sad part, the music was great before the technology was. I use the word FEW in a relative sense, because Mississippi is the source and mother lode of the blues. And even within the state of Ms, it is concentrated in the delta. I went to the Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS and was amazed at the number of musicians from that state. I mean big time people. Blues, Country, soul/R&B, rock&roll, Jazz, Gospel even Classical. Mississppi punches well above it's weight when it comes to music. There are greats all over, but the sheer concentration of the numbers is what sets Mississippi apart.

BTW, I disagree that the delta blues is a subset. It is the original, the source therefore it cannot be a subset. All that it spawned can be called subsets. The Delta blues is just the blues. Texas / louisiana ,Chicago, The Carolinas may be called subsets. I don't list memphis because it is where the Delta starts.