in the late 1940`s, saxophonist sidney bechet chose to live in paris because he was given more respect there than in his american homeland.
although he`s a jazz player, he illustrates one influence that blues has had; through their music, afro-american musicians won the respect of a european audience at a time when they were perhaps undervalued in the usa. when popular rock stars like the stones and clapton made clear their reverence for the old american blues guys, this was a small but definite contribution towards a growing appreciation of afro-american culture and hence, indirectly, racial integration in america. anyway, that`s how things looked from the brit side of the atlantic; i`m sure something similar was happening inside the usa itself; that blues was an early bridge between white and black communities.
also, of its very nature, blues tells about the plight of the common man. in the 1950`s, in an atmosphere of optimistic post-war consumerism, the blues was a small subversive voice stripping away the sugar coating from what was still a bitter pill for many. i suppose blues provided a rallying call for the disaffected, and later, a template, a precedent for the protests of the 1960`s.
but you`re the researcher, lld - maybe you should be telling us !
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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953
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