"CLASSIC BLUES was the first blues -- the first blues to be recorded for popular consumption. It was immensely popular in the 1920s. Grounded in folk blues combined with vaudeville stylings, it was almost exclusively performed by women. These were often fiercely independent 'wild women' -- unashamed to lay their souls bare, unafraid to give advice. Oftimes they were the comediennes, finding humor in the pain.
CLASSIC BLUES WOMEN were the first to chronicle topics like domestic abuse, alcoholism, prostitution, homosexuality, gender politics, racism and other social conditions, and, of course, sex -- its joy and its pain. Musically, these women introduced vocal techniques that gave drama and immediacy to their performances. They would cry, growl, moan, syncopate, slide & slur, bend & break notes, improvise and rephrase to bring their stories to life.
In 2004, Gaye Adegbalola & Roddy Barnes embrace and redefine this style as NEO-CLASSIC BLUES ...
P.S. A note on track 18, BD Womans Blues by Lucille Bogan (aka Bessie Jackson):
In her bold in-your-face style, Lucille chronicled the fiercely independent attributes of this kind of woman, a B.D. Woman. Originally recorded in 1935,B.D. then stood for bull dagger. Today, the B.D. would stand for bull dyke."
