National Recording Registry: Blues

Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—
“Ain’t got nobody in all this world,
Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
And put ma troubles on the shelf. - Langston Hughes, "The Weary Blues"

The blues may be the most American genre in the National Recording Registry, if it isn't country. This style of music first emerged in the rural South, and was recorded around the same time as jazz - the distinction is not clear, as made apparent by the titles of jazz songs and the prevalence of the piano in some early blues works (such as those Hughes recalls). However, the sound typically classified as blues music is that of Black man with a guitar recounting his troubles. Their songs talked about poverty, relational troubles, and other ailments with simple melodies that tend to repeat their first lines.

That style of blues may now be thought of as the "delta blues", for its popularity in the Mississippi delta region, though more sub-genres have been identified, which are represented by the various singles in the Registry for this genre. The best-known delta blues singer is Robert Johnson, whose complete recordings are included in the Registry - all of 41 songs (including alternate takes) he recorded in two sessions before his death in 1938. Popularized by the 1961 compilation King of the Delta Blues Singers, Johnson is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time, noted for the variety of popular 1930s style in which he was able to play. His "Cross Road Blues" may be the most famous blues song - describing his selling his soul to the devil at a cross roads, in exchange for the ability to play guitar. The song establishes the image of the blues man associated with this early style.

Of course, blues did not end with the death of Robert Johnson - it transformed into the style of "urban blues" - the same topics, covered by artists such as B.B. King with larger backing groups. Overlap with the genre called "rhythm and blues" is present (there really is no boundary). Recordings listed below are classified as blues by the Library of Congress, and total over six hours.