The Blues Was Born in Louisiana, not Mississippi | Chris Thomas King | TEDxLSU

[@reelgoodfishing]

Got to meet this man when he played Vinyl in Pensacola and man, what a picker. Enjoyed my short talk with him and will always love him as a musician and as a person.

[@charlesjacques750]

Hi Chris. Your Dad played at my brother’s wedding reception primarily as a favor to me. I agree with everything you said. Artists and musicians recognize one another pretty quickly.. intuitively. Their learning is experiential not from a book. French New Orleans and Baton Rouge Music Culture predate everything. Before words were written music was. I spent many happy New Years Eve’s at Tabby’s Blues Box in Baton Rouge. WBRH (Jazz) played your Hard-Time Killing Floor Blues tonight and I don’t think anyone alive or dead from Bentonia, Ms. would complain.

[@mynamesjudge]

I know this guy from O Brother Where Art Thou but I had no idea he was actually a musician. Good stuff.

[@ringokidd387]

Long time no see brother your mom and your daddy Tabby are so proud of you right now I reckon you always knew that! God bless you brother and your loved ones for following in your daddy's footsteps what he always tried to teach us and what he always was about the blues preservation I miss the old Tabby's blues box back when we used to hang out and jam great food great atmosphere great family and friends man!

[@marynwagbara7326]

I remember Tabby's Blues Box on North Blvd. I went there many times back in the 80's. There was Beautiful music and musicians that came from everywhere. Along with Rose and Thomas Cafe that was right next door with all that great southern soul food.

[@ShinyFlakesShinyFlakes]

I reached this conclusion myself after a straight year of research. Found this man’s book shortly after coming to this conclusion and currently reading it now. Excellent book.

[@HAMMERHEAD-g3h]

I've done a fair bit of research myself but if you think about it, it's almost impossible to come up with a conclusion. The bad thing about history is that it's always written by the living. However, we do know that the big artists that made it in the blues early on were from Mississippi. It's just like bluegrass music. It sprung up after Irish settlers came to the south. However, there's no way of really tracking down who started it. We can just trace back its roots and no how it came to be. For example, blues music on an instrument has a lot of seventh and 9th chords. Those cords build tension and the scale often used for blues or the pentatonic scale. That scale also builds tension which makes sense because during field hollers, You're singing in a high-pitched voice and then you're quickly resolving to give another message during your next verse.

[@ShinyFlakesShinyFlakes]

@@HAMMERHEAD-g3h I agree we will never know for sure. The truth, however, is the first “big blues” artists were not actually from MS (Leroy Carr and Kokomo Arnold being two examples, two who also greatly influenced Robert Johnson, who WAS NOT WELL KNOWN during his time). They became “big” or famous later on - the ones we think of as legends today not many people knew about during their own time. And while we can never know for sure, if you follow the EVIDENCE, there is hard evidence of blues in New Orleans years before any actual evidence of it being played in MS. I would highly recommend you read Escaping The Delta by Elijah Wald. It will clear up a lot of misconceptions that you have.

[@bow_wow_wow]

I love Chris Thomas King. What a soul!

[@chalexen2862]

4:30 his version of “Good Morning Heartache” is my favorite part.

[@charlesbarry971]

My first hearing from this performer

[@tomrustin1912]

Looking forward to seeing you in Biloxi @ Ground Zero April 19,2024

[@MrToband]

And Texas, same for Rock n Roll, born in Texas and Louisiana. Elvis got his start in Texas and Louisiana.

[@charlesbarry971]

A one man jazz and blues conservatory

[@monj5492]

This is such a ridiculously funny argument. Louisiana and Mississippi are adjacent to each other so there's really no point to argue where it came from. The Blues had British musicians going crazy and so many bands were founded because of a bond over the Blues and I promise you no Englishmen like Pink Floyd or the Rolling Stones saw the thin-line difference between Louisiana and Mississippi LMAO

[@jkinnama]

Sure, the Brits were in the MS-CHI pipeline. So was Bloomfield and Butter. But the MS guys who picked up on the blues format were copying an urban trend. Buddy Bolden in new Orleans, Ma Rainey.

[@androlibre9661]

I think his issue is Mississippi gets all the Credit

[@Hibbs4Prez]

So? Louisiana gets all the credit for jazz.

[@Hibbs4Prez]

Bolden and Rainey played a style more reminiscent of jazz than what we think of today as blues. They were heavy with brass instrumentals, unlike country blues guys who were more inclined to rely on string guitars and harmonicas. Also I don't think Rainey wrote songs or composed music. She was a singer. She can't be credited for creating a sound.

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

@@Hibbs4Prez "Louisiana gets all the credit for jazz." Yeah but rightly in that case.

[@trese2658]

Mississippi DELTA blues meaning the delta area of the Mississippi River which includes Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas. If I’m gonna make an educated guess I’ll say Mississippi and Louisiana the only thing separating them is a river but the culture and the people were the same.

[@michellecgcasteel]

This was so interesting!. I work at a brain injury rehab and do a Listening Comprehension class. For several months now we have been going over the lessons of the "timelines" in the Americana music triangle series. We have recently studied Jellyroll Morton and Buddy Bolden along with the origins of the Blues, Jazz, Gospel etc... We are in Louisiana and our clients homes include Mississippi so this will be a very interesting spin on what we've been told. I love this perspective... Thanks!!!

[@cheesetoast8312]

That is so interesting. I gotta share this....I worked on a brain injury ward in a University Of Maryland Rehabilitation Center in the mid 90s. The one music style every patient would often respond too was Blues. Be they fast, slow, delta, Chicago or uptown jump, each had a response. The patients ranged from late teens to late 80s and all races, backgrounds and education levels. I was mostly freaked out considering each staff member hated the fact I would play it for them because of their insecurities. It was odd for a young bi racial kid from Ohio just finishing up his Occupational Therapy Education to even be listening to that type of music too. The one thing I concluded was that it clearly moved me too once I heard it and so did those patients. Primitive is a word that could be used but I would never use it. How I even got here to even notice your comment is as bizarre as anything simply because I was on a Tab Benoit run all day this Easter.... Time moves without understanding sometimes I guess.

[@jackoo666]

with all due respect (and its a WHOLE lotta respect) luisianna is the birth place of jazz. blues is something different. blues is much older. and it is different than just a "sad" song

[@AndrewVOdom]

Not sure about that. Blues and jazz are deeply entwined. Interesting topic and great post.

[@jackoo666]

@@AndrewVOdom my point was blues far predates jazz. without blues there is no jazz though yes they are deeply entertwined

[@jackoo666]

@@AndrewVOdom my basic understanding is that Jazz came around when some classically trained very talented musicians tried to write their own stuff based around blues but with more complex rhythms and chords etc

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

@@jackoo666 "blues far predates jazz" Blues can be traced to the 1890s and jazz to either the '00s or '10s depending on how narrowly you think you're defining jazz.

[@jeffreyd700]

Jazz musicians back then didn't call their music "jazz". They called it playing the blues or just playing "music"

[@shanelyshane]

"my blues was born when my baby kicked me out the door"

[@matthewwilliams3643]

The music to his song sounds like Will the Circle be unbroken

[@pshearer80]

CTK is a treasure but this is bunk. It was born on cotton plantations in Mississippi. Going way back, workers copped vocal melodys from Native Americans, (probably the Yazoo people along the Yazoo River) and set them to music with cheap acoustic guitars. A lot of those guys didn’t even know how they were tuned, one reason it’s so difficult to emulate. Charley Patton was the first to get recognition and establish the genre when he was at Dockery Plantation.

[@HAMMERHEAD-g3h]

I've read his book and you are right. It is not accurate. He has no merit to back up his claims. His book comes off as very hateful and angry and I do not recommend it as a read.

[@AnalogOpher]

This was a very enjoyable musical, and Chris Thomas King is great, but it takes more than some good, light entertainment to convincingly argue the main theme of this presentation.

[@TTFMjock]

He didn’t really argue it, but he is right. Alan Lomax grossly misunderstood his focus of stud and misled a whole generation. Blues tunes started to be named as puns on the ancient sense of the term meaning melancholy, causing confusion. But the further back you go the less blues is associated with this or with the 12 bar form .

[@rw9432]

Thank you so much

[@reneerochone5843]

Love it... Awesome

[@nickarmage8311]

Blues was born right up the street here on the back porch, you can bet on that

[@monterrosasremodeling2339]

No they weren't the blues came from Africa

[@Brainbuster]

Play at 1.5x playback speed. ;) You're welcome.

[@imsSpiceyy]

LOL NICE

[@KraftyUk]

I believe it started in the Mississippi Delta, thats my personal opinion, im not taking about publications or recordings. It was known as the devils music, no one would touch it, so it remained in juke joints, and on street corners. I dont want to cause an argument, but its like deciding ether Jesus was Jewish or Christian, theres no way to prove it.

[@monterrosasremodeling2339]

Actually it comes from Africa and allot of proof is available is you do a bit of research.

[@toxiclittlecorner]

@@monterrosasremodeling2339 it does not come from Africa. It’s inspired by African music of course but we didn’t have access to the same instruments so we made our own ( I say we because I’m from the MS Delta) that had different sounds. This sound is completely unique and is different. It’s a blend of African and European music which of course created a entirely NEW and DIFFERENT sound. You wouldn’t go around saying Rock is blues but it’s obviously heavily influenced by blues also. A new sound was from as a result of trying something new with what’s already been done. That’s it, that’s all 😊

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

"I believe it started in the Mississippi Delta" There is zero evidence of that.

[@jkinnama]

Skeptics, strongly suggest reading Elijah Wald's Escaping the Blues, which makes the same point--that the country guys were picking up on a city trend. Up til that point, rural musicians played a mixed bag of material (fiddle music, rags, the odd pop song). When the blues hit with Bolden and Ma Rainey, it was a new trend and they got into it.

[@664theneighbor5]

Bro the first “city blues” player (WC handy) got his music from delta musicians lol.

[@ronlight7013]

I've thought of picking up Elijah Wald's book but haven't yet done so. What strikes me as very odd about the argument, though, is in the assumption that Delta sharecroppers are listening to what's coming out of the city. They're living on isolated plantations and traveling no farther than a few miles to the plantation store, the juke joint and church. I find the idea of their being exposed to big city culture improbable to the point of absurd. And it's not that New Orleans gave two hoots about rural blues either. Big city band music - evolving into jazz - and country blues music were concurrent inventions borne of different cultural influences. Wald notwithstanding, there are historical sources that bolster this argument.

[@hermessanhao]

The one thing King is correct about is that the Blues is in no way primitive. It's not some ancient oral tradition straight outta Africa. The Blues, Jazz and Gospel are all about as old as each other. I would agree with the Cosmopolitan aspect, but then I live in Dallas and Deep Ellum is about seven minutes from my house.

[@664theneighbor5]

This guys wrong the blues DEFINITELY started in Rural Mississippi. It was rural and came to the cities when WC handy picked it up in 1910

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

"the blues DEFINITELY started in Rural Mississippi" Wrong, nothing definite about that at all, and what evidence we have doesn't point there.

[@664theneighbor5]

@@thebrazilianatlantis165 Everyone knows it started in Mississippi. WC handy literally discovered it there. Louisiana only has jazz

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

@@664theneighbor5 "Everyone knows it started in Mississippi." That we have evidence of that is a myth pushed by Alan Lomax, after he recorded a bunch in Mississippi. W.C. Handy heard the blues "Got No More Home Than A Dog" in the 1890s before he moved to Mississippi.

[@Lineberek]

Beautiful 👏👏👏

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

"The Blues Was Born in Louisiana, not Mississippi" There is no plausible evidence that blues music originated in Louisiana. The blues songs that are known to date to the nineteenth century are "Got No More Home Than A Dog," "Joe Turner," and apparently "K.C. Blues." No evidence points to any of these being known in Louisiana at the time, and "Joe Turner" is about events in Tennessee.

[@kovisualeyes1st]

Still getting new views! I think you can take it a step further and say that Louisiana and the blues were the roots of equal rights awareness as New Orleans music and people welcomed outsiders who had no experience with others outside of their pocket rural culture and introduced them to grace, joy and .. everything that is the blues. I could go on, better to say, Choose Love.

[@1022rebelreddog]

field hollers/gospel/street musicians/southern plantations...across the south...tent revivals...and yes he is right new orleans...juke joints....

[@vnessa33]

There is no music like being under the whip and gun

[@shivajidasgupta5888]

Mississippi soon took the same roadway of blues music

[@justintrest]

This man has bumped his head

[@tearahiko]

So many experts in the comment thread, who probably dont know how to play the blues. Lol smh

[@BluesAndNoise]

Today’s guitarists listening to Robert Johnson or John Hurt would not describe it as primitive

[@nickspann20]

Sorry not accurate, read anything you can find of the blues and Mississippi is where the blues were first discovered and not to mention where the large majority of early influential blues artist were discovered from. Yes Louisiana had early artists as did Arkansas but what he is referencing in the video is dixie land jazz which was born out of New Orleans and yes there is a-lot of common threads between early Americana folk music styles and this larger area was producing a lot of initiative music and It is also true the delta refers to an area that overlaps several states including LA MS and AR so he is somewhat right but that’s the only thing LA has on its side in regards to saying its the home of the blues. If u wanna know about the blues read about them they’re plenty of good books out there on the blues.

[@jkinnama]

Elijah Wald makes the same point in Escaping the Blues, that the country players were copying a city trend. That's the way things usually work.

[@jkinnama]

The Mississippi > Chicago > Stones was based on 1) the mistaken notion that the Delta guys were 'folk musicians' (Charley Patton was a professional and certainly no musical primitive) and 2) rock artists who mistook their particular influences for the whole of it. And guys like Muddy were hip enough to play along because it made them honorary rock stars.

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

"Mississippi is where the blues were first discovered" Nope. W.C. Handy had heard "Got No More Home Than A Dog" in the 1890s before he moved to Mississippi, and "Joe Turner" was written about as present in Tennessee in the 1890s.

[@nickspann20]

@@thebrazilianatlantis165 Sorry but that’s not accurate, grab u some books on the blues my friend and read up.

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

@@nickspann20 You're mistaken. Try reading Handy's 1941 autobiography and finding where he talks about "Got No More Home Than A Dog."

[@1022rebelreddog]

its not whos right or wrong...its American music...like jazz....they coexist...jazznblues..

[@kingblack9387]

No it's African American music

[@kingblack9387]

It's African

[@taylorham9532]

@@kingblack9387do you understand how big africa is like seriously you’re half brained. that’s a whole continent you said. you really believe they share the same genre of music across such a vast amount of land? idiota

[@bjw8806]

New Orleans couldn’t have invented the blues. The blues are an expression of rural life plantations , swamp life , bayous. New Orleans was an urban city Cosmopolitan even. Hence jazz being developed. He was on the right track with Baton Rouge which would have made more since given the background

[@TSC997]

He said Louisiana, not New Orleans. Why are we in Louisiana known for exactly what you say, swamp life and bayous, yet y’all aren’t?

[@bjw8806]

@@TSC997 who is y’all ? I am speaking from the Baton Rouge region perspective

[@LiT_RaBBiT]

4:45 what’s the name of this song?

[@threnody4955]

Goodmorning heartache

[@chutneyferret3569]

If anyone had any leads on the roots of blues I’d love to hear- got as far back as Alan lomax recordings but like Tommy king says it goes further back than that id love to know more. Would be really interested to know if there are crossovers from parts of African music to blues if anyone has any leads? :)

[@monterrosasremodeling2339]

From what I've understood so far blues came from Africa

[@chutneyferret3569]

Refer to exodus in the Bible it's a valid resource :) cross reference.. it's absolutely awesome. Also note blues is generally 4/4 which you can see is "White" from irish folk.. the clues are all in folk music!

[@chutneyferret3569]

The blues is cross cultural

[@chutneyferret3569]

The banjo comes from an Arabic lute- played with the same picking style.. drums banned in early America.. so much to say but i gotta go!

[@chutneyferret3569]

@@monterrosasremodeling2339 Africa is incomprehensibly large and therefore vague. You got different music specific to region it goes deep.

[@1022rebelreddog]

most died before they could be recorded...I thank people like bob Dylan and eric Clapton,the stones british invasion....and elvis….too many to name...

[@billyvitale8994]

This was not convincing at all...it seems that this is only one persons opinion .. the fact that this person is from New Orleans ... well.. it seems he is touting his own view... I am not saying I know the answer...the blues was born as an expression that emerged from the south for the most part as an expression of blacks that were under duress...they used music to express their .. humanity.. there pain..and even their joy... cause they used it to dance as well...it's hypnotic characteristics... captured the attention of many ... that is what seems to have happened ...but still looking for answers... thats why I viewed this in the first place.

[@jamesbeyer3]

He's from Baton Rouge FYI.

[@chuckHart70]

Ok... Explain Scott Joplin..... Boogie Woogie Blues... that was 1860-70s... Blues is way older than 1890s. Everyone can claim it. I say Sedalia, Mo is where Blues started. :-) Scott Joplin!

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

What makes you think Joplin used blues before the 1910s?

[@mr.nobody68]

The Blues was born in the cotton fields on plantations all around America It is believed that the earliest slaves used some of their tribal songs from Africa as work songs which slowly transformed into the Blues of the late 1800s into the 1900s. This video is just some goober talking nonsense

[@edouglaspratt]

Mr. Nobody, I had the same reaction. Having studied almost every book on African American folklore and Blues, I read Mr. Thomas-King's book carefully, patiently persisting through his iconclastic claims. What I learned is that his thesis is solidly evidence-based. The man is an autodidact scholar. Blues truly began in NOLA, 1885 through 1903, and certainly spread into surrounding regions, many of them rural where instruments and musicians were not as professional as in NOLA. Blues in Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama were not as influenced by NOLA Creole Blues. In the Tunica-Friars Point area of Mississippi at that time, there were no plantations or social networks; it was all thickly wooded swampland wild with snakes, bear, mosquitoes and panthers. African Americans brought their West African arts into this region around 1902 when the area was gradually drained and cleared and farms were established. African Americans came to the farms and share cropping plantations, bringing spirituals, field hollers, the Diddly Bo and the bottle neck guitar; bones, washtub bass, harmonica, washboard, and banjo. And truly they contributed to the development of the Blues. Some African Americans came to this new "Mississippi Delta" (which included the Helena, Arkansas region) from the NOLA area and they brought their culture of brass bands like King Oliver's, and Blues piano a la Jelly Roll Morton. Around 1915 Victrolas and radios were affordable and the NOLA Blues guitar of Lonnie Johnson inspired many rural Folk Blues musicians to aspire to a high level of professionalism. Indeed Folk Blues musicians began Busking, working a network of professional musicians, most of whom were proficient at their evolving styles; their unique mergers of West African art, Southeastern African American arts, and the well-established NOLA Creole Blues. A lot to digest, Mr. Nobody. I think I got it right... BTW, Mr. King does not credit the African American folk musics of rural Louisiana and the Eastern southern states, and I believe that is a serious mistake on his part. Give your brain a chance to grok.

[@orbituary]

Blue laws permit the sale of alcohol and other "vices" on Sunday for religious reasons, not dancing

[@MrRalph664]

Boy u know u lyin.

[@1022rebelreddog]

sorry but the rhythm came from Africa....shave and a hair cut....is bo diddley etc...

[@1022rebelreddog]

miss. shieks…..Charlie patton….

[@killingsworthgc]

No. And neither was Mardi gras.

[@Charlleyw]

Nope. It was born in the Piedmont.

[@Bigzthelove]

Blues comes from africa

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

Blues music can only be traced back to 1890s Americans.

[@Bigzthelove]

@Brazilian Atlantis Idk about the year 1890, maybe that’s what google says idk? And sure blues music was not called blues music until Americans called it that. And blues music is a very American thing. But blues comes from African immigrants playing African scales and African song forms in the americas using European instruments that are based off of African instruments. What I meant by saying blues comes from Africa is the idea/concept of playing music in that style comes from Africa. It definetly changed by the time folks were calling it the blues, but it’s just African people playing African music in the US.

[@thebrazilianatlantis165]

@@Bigzthelove "blues comes from African immigrants" No, it was their children who invented blues music. "by the time folks were calling it the blues" When people first called it blues music (about 1905) is one thing, and when those sorts of songs arose is another, and is about 1890.

[@romanfields7900]

Nope.

[@Bigzthelove]

@@romanfields7900 where’s it come from?

[@isaacezekiel941]

Liar

[@atom8810]

chris looks depressed