Adelaide Fringe Review: A History of Mississippi Farm Blues
Posted on: Thu 2 Mar 2023
Star Spangled Blues!
It all happens with the Cal Williams Jr Blues Trio, playing A History of Mississippi Farm Blues at the Wheaty Tin Shed.
We’re taken to the epicentre of Mississippi River Blues. Timeless music reflecting the bitterness of share-cropping and The Depression. Music fired with Civil Rights and Social Activism. Music soaked with longing, drugs and whisky. It’s tremendous music with an irresistible call! And the Wheaty Tin Shed is a great place to hear it – gathered up close around the laminex tables with a glass of something interesting.
Cal Williams Jr gently weaves messages of social and political history into this musical journey of African American Blues and it’s flow from the delta n’ the river to the Chicago scene. We hear how country blues evolved depth and complexity as the music spread across the land. And we listen to the musical impact of legends such as Charlie Patton (known to many as Godfather of the Blues) and JB Lenoir.
Legends, of course, live on –Memphis Minnie, one of the most influential Blues artists in the 1930s and 40s sang about The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 (Rain keeps coming, levee’s goanna break), a song which later became one of the most acclaimed hits of hard rock band Led Zeppelin
It’s a great show – music, entertainment, history…. how to be happy with The Blues!
Christina Hagger, aka Dr Christina, The Thursday Edition of Festival City
Image: Christina Hagger
