blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
scene in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, which had its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. According to AllMusic,"The Atlanta blues scene of the 1920s was among the most fertile in all the South, with a steady stream of rural musicians converging on the city hoping to gain exposure playing the local club circuit, with any luck rising to perform at Decatur Street's famed 81 Theatre."
The oldest representative of the Atlanta blues was
Peg Leg Howell
Joshua Barnes Howell, known as Peg Leg Howell (March 5, 1888 – August 11, 1966), was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist, who connected early country blues and the later Twelve bar blues, 12-bar style.Blind Willie McTell, Barbecue Bob,
Charley Lincoln
Charley Lincoln (born Charlie Hicks, Jr., March 11, 1900 – September 28, 1963), also known as Laughing Charley, was an early American country blues musician. He often recorded with his brother Robert Hicks, who was billed as Barbecue Bob.
L ...
and Curley Weaver, with McTell typically being the most popular and acclaimed. Many of these musicians banded together into groups; the most popular of these bands were the Georgia Cotton Pickers.
Cora Mae Bryant
Cora Mae Bryant (May 1, 1926 – October 30, 2008) was an American blues musician. She was the daughter of another American blues musician, Curley Weaver. Bryant released two solo albums in her lifetime on the Music Maker (label), Music Maker la ...
, the daughter of Curley Weaver, gradually became important on the Atlanta blues scene; performing, organizing "Giving It Back" festivals at the city's Northside Tavern to honor early blues artists, and as a frequent caller to local blues radio shows. Also, Bryant's knowledge of early blues in Atlanta and Georgia, was used as a source by the music historians
Peter B. Lowry
Peter B. Lowry (April 1, 1941 – June 29, 2022) was an American folklorist, writer, record producer, ethnomusicologist, historian, photographer, forensic musicologist, and teacher who dealt with aspects of popular music, mainly African-American ...
and Bruce Bastin.
More modern blues performers that have come out of or near Atlanta include
Delta Moon
Delta Moon is an American swamp blues, blues rock, and blues band. They originated in Inman Park, Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The group's name came to founder member, Mark Johnson, whilst on a pilgrimage to Muddy Waters' cabin near Clarksdale ...
, and
Chick Willis
Robert Lee "Chick" Willis (September 24, 1934 – December 7, 2013) was an American blues singer and guitarist, who performed and recorded from the 1950s to the 2000s.
Biography
He was born in Cabaniss, Monroe County, Georgia, the cousin of Ch ...
Peg Leg Howell
Joshua Barnes Howell, known as Peg Leg Howell (March 5, 1888 – August 11, 1966), was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist, who connected early country blues and the later Twelve bar blues, 12-bar style.Charley Lincoln
Charley Lincoln (born Charlie Hicks, Jr., March 11, 1900 – September 28, 1963), also known as Laughing Charley, was an early American country blues musician. He often recorded with his brother Robert Hicks, who was billed as Barbecue Bob.
L ...
Fred McMullen
Fred McMullen (born c. 1905; date of death unknown) was an American blues singer and guitarist known to be active in the 1930s. He recorded with the guitarists Curley Weaver and Buddy Moss in 1933, after which there is no definitive documentation ...
Buddy Moss
Eugene "Buddy" Moss (January 16, 1914 – October 19, 1984) was an American blues musician. He is one of two influential Piedmont blues guitarists to record in the period between Blind Blake's final sessions in 1932 and Blind Boy Fuller's de ...
Andrew and Jim Baxter Andrew Baxter (March 1869 – April15, 1955), African-American fiddle player, and Jim Baxter (James Baxter; January18, 1898 – June11, 1950), African-American-Cherokee singer and guitar player, were a father and son fiddle and guitar duet f ...
Ed Andrews
George Edward Andrews (April 5, 1859 – August 12, 1934) was an American professional baseball player. He was a right-handed second baseman and outfielder over parts of eight seasons (1884–1891) with the Philadelphia Quakers, Indianapolis ...
Willie Baker
Willie Baker was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He recorded eight tracks, playing a twelve-string guitar to back his own strong vocals. All of his recordings took place in January and March 1929 in Richmond, Indiana, ...