In the Smart City Memphis blog, there is mentioned an International Blues Challenge festival this weekend, and that got me thinking. Our city is known as the home of the blues, yet the blues were first actually played in New Orleans. Before instruments were added, it was all vocal. The blues were adapted from the songs and hymns that the slaves sang in the fields as they worked. It's kind of like the city is stealing the title from New Orleans a bit, isn't it? Granite, that jazz is from New Orleans, and the Blues were also based off of jazz, but still. Chicago is also known for it's blues music, but is not the original home of it. Although Memphis does have a strong tradition of the blues, as well as many talented blues singers, Memphis is more known as the birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll.
Anyway, all this talk about blues music makes me think of the movies The Blues Brothers and The Blues Brothers 2000. Those are some great movies! The music and cast in each one are phenominal. I actually prefer the second one, because of the songs and because I'm not a John Belushi fan. Having Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin in them, as well as many other famous soul singers, made the movies even greater. The car chases and humor didnt hurt, either. I know, not a real big connection to the original blog, but music in the movies is.
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