Bentonia BluesW.C. Handy, the acknowledged Father of the Blues from Memphis, was an orchestra leader
for white society dances, playing waltzes, Broadway hits and ragtime. He spent some time
on the Yellow Dog line (a train that created the town of Carter as it crossed the Delta
from Yazoo City to Tutwiler) coming south into the Delta to play for dances in the early
days of this century. It was in the Delta that Handy went back to the earthy, lonesome
music of the Southern Negro and thus became the father of the blues. Henry Stuckey of
Satartia was one of the black bluesmen who was playing a distinctive kind of music that
paved the way for a school known today as "Bentonia Blues". According to David
Evans, a devotee of Blues and professor of anthropology at California State University,
the "Bentonia Blues" guitarist use mainly an open D minor turning and an
intricate picking style. The singing covers a wide range with a tendency to begin high the
"tumble" to a lower final pitch. Stuckey taught his style to a more famous
bluesman, Skip James. Today, several musicians in the Bentonia area who grew up listening
to Skip James keep up the Bentonia Blues tradition. One of Mississippi's most authentic blues musicians lived in Bentonia. Fans of vintages singer/guitarists Jack Owens have make pilgrimages to visit the homebody in his rural element. Owens (pictured to the right) is a self-made master of country blues. He plays the so-called "Bentonia Style" and is known for his intricate guitar picking and brood lyrics. That music has changed little to none, since the 1920's. A farmer most of his life, Owens says "I've been driving a guitar ever since I was crawlin'! I make up songs here at home myself, I don't write 'em down. I sing 'em when I'm out in the field, when I'm plowing. When I get home I pick up my guitar." Owens represents one of the oldest blues styles still in existence. Another famous bluesman was Tommy McClennan, born in Yazoo City on 04/08/08. He was a gravel-throated blues growler, his rawboned 1939-42 Bluebird Recordings include "Bottle It Up and Go", "Cross Cut Saw Blues" and "Deep Blue Sea Blues" (Catfish Blues). He died in Chicago in 1958. Today Bentonia is still home to the "Blue Front Cafe". As the sun sets in the beautiful Mississippi Delta listen closely and hear the "Bentonia Blues" echo across the cotton fields for the Blue Front Cafe". Reminisce about a time gone by in rural Mississippi.
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