This idea of a pilgrimage to the Delta began long ago. I think every musician who has ever played the blues can imagine themselves standing at the crossroads, brave enough to be there at midnight, waiting for the dark man. When the opportunity to go on a short quest with my good friend and little brother, Dave, I jumped with both feet. We had decided to fly to Memphis on a Thurs. and spend Fri, Sat and Sunday on a driving tour of music’s most historic area. Sometimes Delta music gets overlooked as to the extent of its influence on what music has been produced since early in the 20th century. Really, its influence on all recorded music since then is really more the case. Most music historians, when talking about the greatest influence on modern music will mention, Elvis, The Beatles, and the Nashville sound. Guess what folks; none of it happens without the old slave music. Beginning during civil war times, the sound of the Delta spread throughout the country, fueling the ragtime of the 20’s, the jazz and swing of the 30’s and 40’s, the western cowboy, and eastern country of the 40’s and 50’s and finally the rock of the 50’s.Then it went worldwide. The British bands of the 60 have got most of their influence from the rocknroll that came from the Memphis area. Nearly all the truly influential musicians of the 60’s from England studied the early Sun Records recordings. That led them deeper into the influences of the Robert Johnsons, the Elmore James’, the Muddy Waters, etc. What happened then is the truly remarkable thing about music. Since it had influenced so many famous musicians, the common man started paying attention to the early music. The not so famous musicians started hearing it too. As recording technology improved, more music became available and more people had the privilege of hearing it. And the surprising thing is, it sounds just as fresh and energetic as when it was new. So when they say Memphis is Mecca to music, the idea is solid.
The crossroads is a matter of much debate. Where is it? Which one is real? Does it really exist? Well, those are the questions, and over the next few weeks, I will try to explain my experiences, and my feelings, and my reverence for the crossroads to supply my answer.
I’ve been playing music since 1965. Guitar has been my main instrument, although I started out playing bass. One of the first guitar players I was in a band with, was what we would call today, a Johnnie Winter clone. Here I was, a 17 year old boy from farm country in Ohio, playing “white hot” blues tunes in bowling alley lounges, and that’s pretty much how I got my start. I look at the old song lists from those days, and it amazes me how much blues we did. I had a lot of exposure to bands from Detroit in those days and they were all playing the same stuff, old rockers that were old blues songs. And it keeps happening over again. Every new project I begin, it seems the same songs show up, and it’s usually the blues tunes. I’ll bet if we could look ahead 100 years, somewhere, somebody would be rerecording Love In Vain to the enlightenment of another new generation. The quest begins.