1920s Blues
Located in 1 route
1920s Blues is the first great commercial blues decade: classic female singers, country blues guitarists, barrelhouse pianists, jug bands and gospel-blues performers all entering the shellac record market. It is not one sound. Its unity comes from the decade's recording economy, short 78 rpm sides, segregated marketing and the sudden documentation of blues as stage music, rural music, sacred music and dance entertainment.
History
The success of "Crazy Blues" in 1920 led labels to record blues for Black consumers, first with women from the stage and then with rural instrumentalists and regional acts. Bessie Smith became a superstar, while Blind Lemon Jefferson's success helped open the market for solo country blues. By the decade's end, Paramount, Okeh, Columbia, Victor and other labels had created an archive that later generations treated as a blues foundation.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- 1920s blues histories
- race-record scholarship
- artist discographies
- archive/reissue references