Show:
Singers and Bands
Songs
Genre Terms
Dates in History
Miscellaneous
100
This key figure sold his soul to the Devil to become a great bluesman.
Who is Robert Johnson
100
This song articulates the blunt realism of a lover’s relationship in its descriptions of poverty and erotic desire that is a far contrast to the middle-class relationship articulated in the song “My Blue Heaven.”
What is “Black Snake Moan”
100
A popularized form of blues, often written by professional composers and performed by primarily female vaudeville and recording artists.
What is Classic Blues
100
Electronic recording begins with the introduction of the microphone.
What is 1925
100
In 1921, the American record industry sold over ___________ million discs for the first time.
What is 100 million
200
This composer, also known as the “Father of the Blues” composed the classic blues tune “St. Louis Blues” famously sung by Bessie Smith in 1925.
Who is W.C. Handy
200
This song tells the true story of the composer’s overnight incarceration in the Bolivar County, Mississippi, jailhouse after being arrested for drinking moonshine.
What is “Tom Rushen Blues”
200
A term used from the 1910s through the 1930s for traditional Southern Anglo American folk and dance music styles.
What is Hillbilly Music
200
Ralph Peer records Jimmie Rogers and the Carter Family in Bristol, Tennessee, inaugurating the careers of the first major stars of hillbilly music.
What is 1927
200
These two terms were used by the American music industry from the early 1920s until the late 1940s to classify and advertise Southern music.
What is Race Music and Hillbilly Music
300
This charismatic composer wrote the blues song “Tom Rushen Blues” that became famous for its encoded, or hidden, meanings.
Who is Charley Patton
300
This song, in a style which some critics have called “white man’s blues,” suggests the poetic and musical patterns of 12-bar-blues, but uses the guitar strictly as an accompaniment and not a melodic response to the vocal line.
What is “Blue Yodel No. 2”
300
A style of song and performance developed among rural African Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries featuring a single vocalist who accompanied himself on guitar.
What is Country Blues
300
Delta Blues guitarist and singer Charlie Patton makes his first record.
What is 1929
300
This was the first African American-owned record company, owned by bandleader and songwriter W.C. Handy.
What is Black Swan
400
The composer of “That Black Snake Moan” was the first recording star of country blues.
Who is Blind Lemon Jefferson
400
This song is an excellent example of black gospel music in its intense expressivity, vocal virtuosity, and rhythmic intricacy.
What is “The Sun Didn’t Shine”
400
A genre of music originating principally from the field hollers and work songs of rural blacks in the southern United States during the latter half of the 19th century.
What is Blues
400
Robert Johnson records his “Crossroads Blues” which becomes a standard for postwar Chicago blues musicians and later blues rockers like Eric Clapton.
What is 1936
400
Bessie Smith’s ability to attract an audience that crossed the color line during the 1920’s saved this record company from bankruptcy.
What is Columbia
500
This group became the one of the most important acts in the history of country music.
Who was The Carter Family
500
This song, which emulates the aesthetic musical plainness of the Puritans from Britain and Ireland, is indicative of the humility and devotion that marked authentic religious faith.
What is “Gospel Ship”
500
Religious-themed popular music performed by both white and African American musicians.
What is Gospel Music
500
The Great Depression begins with the collapse of the New York Stock Market.
What is 1929
500
This process, which transformed the way that blues music was transmitted, helped shape the evolution of the blues as new musicians were influenced by the performance styles of that generation.
What is the Recording Process