-
First Blues song recorded
The first blues songs, including W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues", are published as sheet music. -
The Great Migration
The United States enters World War I. Military and economic mobilization accelerates the great internal migration of African-Americans that is already underway. -
Mamie
Mamie Smith records for Okeh Records. Her "Crazy Blues" becomes the first blues hit, beginning the business of "race" recording. -
Bessie and Ma
Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, the defining performers of the classic blues, make their recording debuts. -
Folk Blues debuts
Ralph Peer, the famous Artist & Repertory man for Okeh and Victor Records, makes his first field recordings in Atlanta, Georgia, marking the recording debut of both the folk blues and what will later be called country music. -
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Blind Lemon Jefferson is first recorded. He will become the dominant blues figure of the late 1920s and the first star of the folk blues. -
Great Depression
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 begins on Black Thursday, signaling the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States. Amid widespread economic ruin, sales of records and phonographs plummet, crippling the recording industry. -
Electric!
Eddie Durham records the first music featuring the electric guitar. The modern instrument, first developed by musician George Beauchamp and engineer Adolph Rickenbacher in the early 1930s, will help to transform the sound of the blues. -
U.S. Enters World War II; Migration Continues
The Japanese bombing attack on Pearl Harbor marks the entry of the United States into World War II. As had been the case during World War I, economic and military mobilization creates new opportunities for African Americans, particularly in the urban centers of the North. -
Muddy Waters and Chicago Blues
Muddy Waters makes his first Chicago recordings, beginning his tenure as the dominant figure in the Chicago blues and a key link between the Mississippi Delta and the urban styles -
Elvis debuts
Elvis Presley makes his recording debut on Sun Records with a version of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right." -
The Country Blues
Samuel Charters publishes The Country Blues, fueling the blues element of the folk music revival.