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As a comprehensive nonprofit organization

that protects the legacy and music of

legendary blues artist Robert L. Johnson,

the foundation also encourages those

activities that keep alive the traditions

that formed Johnson’s music.

This book is about one of those traditions:

HOMEMADE INSTRUMENTS.

The state of Mississippi’s mantra is

“The Birthplace of America’s Music.” That

credo places the state in a unique arena

when highlighting the genres of popular

music that have contributed so much to

the world of creative entertainment. The

instruments that were born out of both

creativity and poverty are indicative of the

spirit of America and the “can do” mantra

that shaped the Industrial Revolution.

2011 is the centennial birthday of this icon

force, and this foreword serves as a literary

salute to the “King of Delta Blues” and how

his ingenuity laid a foundation for greatness.

Foreword

BY BRUCE M. CONFORTH PH. D., BEN L. MINNIFIELD, AND DR. TANYA SCOTT

—

ROBERT JOHNSON BLUES FOUNDATION

Blues music has its origin in the work songs sung by

slaves in the southern states of America. During slavery,

Africans adapted to using the leftovers of plantation

owners as mechanisms for survival and entertainment.

They also used their own traditions to transform the

American cultural landscape. The cultural relationship

of slave and slave owner was complex and often a

give-and-take exchange. From foodways (using cast-off

pig intestines to create the delicacy of chitterlings),

to architecture (slaves introduced the “front porch” to

America), to folk medicine and traditions, slave culture

brought much to American life.

Music was a particularly interesting area of exchange.

Although slave owners often encouraged musical

expression among their slaves, believing a misguided

rationale that a singing slave was a happy slave, they

also felt instruments could be used to communicate

secret messages that would lead to rebellion. The 1739

South Carolina slave codes, for instance, were the first

to ban drumming among slaves for fear that the rhythms

would foment insurrection. However, the African musical

tradition slaves brought to the New World included much

more than just drums. There was a rich African tradition

of stringed instruments, from the one-string fiddle to the

multi-stringed kora. Perhaps the most important of these

African retentions was the banjar, which would morph

into the banjo

—

oddly enough, an instrument that would

become associated with Anglo-American folk music and

ultimately one of the signature sounds of the proto-typical

white roots music “bluegrass.”

After slavery, though still under the oppression of

Jim Crow and segregation, the power of song and

music provided a base for inspiration and entertainment.

America’s earliest documentation of songs from this era

is found in Allen, Ware, and Garrison’s 1867 book,

Slave

Songs of the United States.

In this seminal text, we see

work and secular songs, as well as the spiritual roots that

would eventually form the blues. This early documentation

speaks to music used to open the core of a person’s soul

through verse and instrumentation, and explore the pain

and pleasure of living. This is the basis of the blues.

“If the blues tell stories about life experiences

revolving around race, love, and social class,

then these instruments provide the background

upon which those stories were sung.”

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