The 1920s "classic era" of recorded blues was dominated by women who lived and performed in the cities. This Rough Guide explores its glitzy heyday when singers such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey became the first real stars of the blues.
It's a superb collection of great music in great performances which have been well remastered so they sound pretty clean but still thoroughly authentic.
"From the hardship suffered by black sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta nearly a hundred years ago, the blues, a deep soulful music full of passion and rhythm, was born."
Unquestionably American, pop music has a profound debt to blues. This episode explores the tumultuous history of blues from its New Orleans origins to its current state.