Who would have dreamed back in the 1800s, when cotton field slaves hollered their grievances back and forth that their moans would grow into a new musical genre? One widely considered to be America’s first indigenous musical style!
Who would have dreamed that when one of the first recorded blues singers died early of unknown causes, legend would have it that he sold his soul to the devil for musical excellence?
Robert Johnson’s music must have been really good!
Attendees at the 1 p.m. Friday, August 15 meeting of the Friends of the Eufaula Memorial Library will have a chance to find out.
They’ll also hear audio clips of the signature songs of blues dignitaries T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Etta James, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Keb ‘Mo’— and more.
Friday’s topic, “History of the Blues,” will be presented by local writer/researcher Lenore Bechtel and writer/ photographer Mike Barnes, as a tribute to Selby Minner, Rentiesville blues legend.
Minner’s tragic and unexpected death on June 9 squelched her opportunity to keep the booking she made months ago to talk and sing about blues history at the Friend’s meeting.
Bechtel’s slide show will highlight prominent blues singers for every decade since the 1920s, when blues songs started being recorded.
Slides of lyrics demonstrating how the blues form evolved will be shown with pictures of the blues artists and a very short audio clip of each artist’s signature song.
Included are pictures of D.C. and Selby Minner in the 1990s when they toured as “Blues on the Move.”
Barnes will show videos of Minner singing at her Down Home Blues Club in Rentiesville and at other venues.
The couple’s Dusk to Dawn Blues Festival brought international crowds to their Rentiesville acreage. Now entering its 35th year, the festival continues through the work of the Friends of Rentiesville, a group committed to keeping the Labor Day weekend event alive.
No reservations are needed to attend the Friend’s August 15 tribute to the Minners and the musical genre they loved.
The event will start at 1 p.m. in the library’s Follansbee room.
Guests are encouraged come early to enjoy refreshments and secure a seat.
