The Delta Blues Highway

Most of the Blues artists failed to make a living plying their craft. Some perservered. Some abandoned their talents. Artists like Son House, Mississippi John Hurt and many others quit the Blues. Many of these greats were even thought to be dead. But years after the Korean War, some individuals began to inquire about some of these so called 'dead'. Many were never confirmed as gone and a few individuals decided to pursue the notion that some of these Blues musicians were in hibernation. Their suspicions that some of these musicians were not dead were later confirmed. House, Hurt, Skip James and others were indeed located, alive and well.This was one of the key elements of the Delta Blues Highway.

A second interesting characteristic of the Highway was the determination to break down racial prejudice and discrimination through the Blues. The competition, if it can be called that, between Country Blues vs. Electric Blues, was the avenue that would invite some success with this. Whites joined civil rights marchers in greater numbers. Attributable to a small extent with the blues, this movement woud flourish and flourish as the years went by.

From Britain to the U.S.