Male singers from the country playing their own guitars and harmonicas. Female vocalists in the city backed by big bands. Blues music gets on record in the early 1920s in many formats, but these two are the most common. Bessie Smith and Blind Lemon Jefferson were two early stars. In the 1930s and 1940s, blues went north and west—in Chicago, musicians like Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter Jacobs plugged guitars into amplifiers, played harmonicas into microphones, and created a driving ensemble sound that still rules the form today. The 1960s brought a blues revival, with festivals on college campuses and old bluesmen back for a second career. Rockers worshipped them, and younger blues musicians added to their legacy. And it's our music. From Robert Jr. Lockwood and Sonny Boy Williamson to Son Seals, Luther Allison, and Larry McCray, the blues is at home in Arkansas.
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