Editing Delta blues (section)

== Origin ==
Although Delta blues certainly existed in some form or another at the turn of the twentieth century, it was first recorded in the late 1920s, when record companies realized the potential African-American market for "[[race records]]". The major labels produced the earliest recordings, consisting mostly of one person singing and playing an instrument. Live performances, however, more commonly involved a group of musicians. Record company talent scouts made some of the early recordings on field trips to the South, and some performers were invited to travel to northern cities to record. Current research suggests that [[Freddie Spruell]] is the first Delta blues artist to have been recorded; his "[[Milk Cow Blues]]" was recorded in Chicago in June 1926.<ref>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p475029/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Freddie Spruell |last=Leggett |first=Steve |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=December 6, 2011}}</ref> According to Dixon and Godrich (1981), [[Tommy Johnson (blues musician)|Tommy Johnson]] and [[Ishmon Bracey]] were recorded by [[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor]] on that company's second field trip to Memphis, in 1928. [[Robert Wilkins]] was first recorded by Victor in Memphis in 1928, and [[Big Joe Williams]] and [[Garfield Akers]] by [[Brunswick Records|Brunswick]]/[[Vocalion Records|Vocalion]], also in Memphis, in 1929.

[[Charlie Patton|Charley Patton]] recorded for Paramount in Grafton, in June 1929 and May 1930. He also traveled to New York City for recording sessions in January and February 1934.

[[Son House]] first recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin, in 1930 for [[Paramount Records]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/paramount-records|title=Paramount Records|website=Msbluestrail.org}}</ref>

[[Robert Johnson]] recorded his only sessions, in San Antonio in 1936 and in Dallas in 1937, for [[American Record Corporation|ARC]]. Many other artists were recorded during this period.

{{Listen
| type = music
| filename = Crossroads.ogg
| title = "Cross Road Blues"
| description = 47-second sample of Robert Johnson song
}}

Subsequently, the early Delta blues (as well as other genres) were extensively recorded by [[John Lomax]] and his son [[Alan Lomax]], who crisscrossed the southern U.S. recording music played and sung by ordinary people, helping establish the canon of genres known today as [[American folk music]]. Their recordings, numbering in the thousands, now reside in the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. According to Dixon and Godrich (1981) and Leadbitter and Slaven (1968), Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress researchers did not record any Delta bluesmen or blueswomen prior to 1941, when he recorded [[Son House]] and [[Willie Brown (musician)|Willie Brown]] near [[Lake Cormorant, Mississippi]], and [[Muddy Waters]] at [[Stovall, Mississippi]]. However, among others, John and Alan Lomax recorded [[Lead Belly]] in 1933,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/muddy-waters-first-recording/|title=The Lomax Legacy: Giving A Voice to the Voiceless|date=September 23, 2022|author= Richard Havers|website=Udiscovermusic.com}}</ref> and [[Bukka White]] in 1939.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pages.stolaf.edu/americanmusic/tag/bukka-white/|title=Bukka White and the Record Companies|website=Pages.stolaf.edu|date=February 26, 2018|author= Annika Van Farowe}}</ref>