Pre-War Delta Blues
tagStarted early 1900sPeak 1927–1937Last big hit late 1930s
Pre-War Delta Blues refers to the first major recorded wave of Delta music, captured before World War II. The sound is acoustic, regionally inflected, and often rough in recording quality, which only deepens the starkness of the vocals and guitar attack.
History
Paramount, Vocalion, ARC, and other labels recorded many of the defining Delta artists in the late 1920s and 1930s, creating the discographic foundation for everything later audiences would call “authentic” Delta blues. Charley Patton, Son House, Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson, Skip James, and Ishmon Bracey are among the key names of that prewar recorded canon.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Britannica and the Library of Congress on Mississippi Delta blues
- Britannica on slide guitar
- Smithsonian on Bentonia’s minor-key continuity.