The blues ain't just frat boy's music.

John W. Work

While listening to the radio today, I heard a report on NPR about the blues that made me chuckle. A quote from the article;

In the South during the Jim Crow era, long before the blues became frat party music, it was common for black men (and a few women) to play the blues on street corners, bars, cafes -- any public place where the police were agreeable and passers-by might contribute a quarter or a dime.

That line about the blues being frat party music is interesting to me, because many people today seem to forget the roots of the blues.

I recommend that you read the whole commentary; A Chance Encounter with the Blues by Bruce Nemerov. It also includes a song recorded by the noted Fisk University music professor John Work. And various other links that may be of interest to lovers of the blues.

file under;
music, blues, John Work