Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, Fats Domino, Mahalia Jackson, Hank Williams, Jimmy Rogers, Dolly Parton, Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Sidney Bechet, Howlin’ Wolf, B. B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, but also for the connoisseurs, Charlie Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson, the founding fathers of the original blues… All shined in the southern United States, in this area that is. Between Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. Jazz was born in New Orleans, the blues in the Delta and Memphis, where it evolved into rockabilly and rock’n’roll, and country in Nashville.
For those who like popular music, going to this area away from the usual tourist areas is the archaeologist’s equivalent of visiting the sites of Cheops, Petra or Angkor. It reveals the places where it all began. without this area that runs more or less along the Mississippi…
Source: Le Figaro
