Marshall Petty: it's the Truth, Ruth!

The controversy over where the blues originated, do your homework. It came from the bowels of slaves and former slaves and their descendents. Call it what you want,race card or whatever, Bonni has the right to say what she believes as well as you or anyone else. However she is mostly right in the fact that like most everything else that African-Americans have contributed to this society it has never been fully recognized nor appreciated and others have been the opportunist. Ask the foreigners who play the blues or a derivation of it. They credit the creators of the music ,Black folks ,not whites or Native Americans or any other ethnic group.

The blues has been exploited like oil or any other commodity that generates wealth. The blues or any other art form that is successful in this nation has been marketed to a certain audience to generate a profit. Like it or not that market is primarily white. When we had " race music" it was rejected by white audiences until we had Elvis. Blacks love the blues, r&b, jazz, classical c&w, hip hop, rap, and so on. But, the industry controls the behavior of pseudo blues societies. Yes it is a Black thing for most real blues artist and enthusiast.

True it is to be played, enjoyed by anyone but the credit in terms as to who should be getting the recognition in the form of money and prestige put it where it is supposed to be and don't anyone take these statements as racist. It is the truth Ruth. Bonni forward this to as many as possible. --Marshall Petty, Charleston WV jazz/blues saxophone player and band leader, June 28 2007

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