Son House & Bukka White - Masters of the Country Blues

by Son House / Bukka White

In the bearly part of the 20th century, Mississippi was still ultimately a slave state. The Delta region had recently been cleared of wilderness, and profitable plantations had sprung up, attracting African-American workers to sharecrop. Unfortunately, Jim Crow laws were in effect that made sure these workers stayed tied to the lowest level of society. Around the same time, a new form of music popped up: blues. The blues spread through Mississippi and infected Son House and Bukkha White, now recognized as two of the form's most influential figures. Both masters of Delta bottleneck blues and acknowledged by Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson as influences, this video captures the two at the height of their powers.