"The Blues is the roots. The rest is the fruits."

You might be wondering where "Bluenotes" comes from.  The blue note, or "worried note", is what makes the musicality of blues and jazz so special, in my opinion.  The I, IV, V, then flat VII of a chord progression is typical blues and it evokes the longing and aching so indicative of the art.  I love the blues.  I believe the blues to be paramount to the American musical lexicon.  To me, it is the only truly American sound.  All other forms of popular music - jazz, country, rock & roll, and hip hop grew from the ingenuity and raw art that is the blues. 

One of my favorite websites is http://www.yearoftheblues.org/.  In 2003, the Year of the Blues project celebrated 100 years of recorded blues in America.  National Public Radio ran an incredible thirteen part series on the evolution of blues, from the African slaves who turned their native musical traditions into the roots of blues, to today's greats like B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, and Taj Mahal (to name a scant, but notable few).  If you get a chance, check it out.  It's full of great recordings and great commentary. 

A new television series on the TNT network, "Memphis Beat", starring Jason Lee, showcases some pretty great music.  While the premise of the show is a cop's life in Memphis, Jason Lee's character Detective Dwight Hendricks, is also a musician and a student of Memphis' musical traditions.  Each episode is full of amazing tunes.  Here's hoping TNT puts out a soundtrack...  A recent episode featured a great tune by Tony Joe White called "Polk Salad Annie." 

(Spoken)  "If some of ya'll never been down south too much...
I'm gonna tell you a little bit about this, so that you'll understand
What I'm talkin' about
Down there we have a plant that grows out in the woods and the fields,
Looks somethin' like a turnip green.
Everybody calls is Polk Salad.  Polk Salad.
Used to know a girl that lived down there
And she'd go out in the evenings and pick a mess of it...
Carry it home and cook it for supper, 'cause that's about all they had to eat,
But they did it all right.

(Sung) Down in Louisiana, where the alligators grow so mean
There lived a girl that, I swear to the world, made the alligators look tame

Polk salad Annie, polk salad annie
Everybody said it was a shame
'Cause her mama was workin' on the chain gang
(A mean, vicious woman)

Everyday 'fore supper time she'd go down by the truck patch
And pick her mess o' polk salad
And carry it home in a tote sack

Polk salad Annie, 'Gators got you granny
Everybody said it was a shame
'Cause her mama was aworkin' on the chain gang
(A wretched, spiteful, straight-razor totin' woman,
Lord have mercy, pick a mess of it)

Her daddy was lazy and no count
Claimed he had a bad back
All her brothers were fit for was stealin' watermelons out of my truck patch
Polk salad Annie, the gators got your granny
Everybody said it was a shame
'Cause her mama was workin' on the chain gang
(Sock a little polk salad to me, you know I need a mess of it)"

Listen a bit here http://s0.ilike.com/play#Tony+Joe+White:Polk+Salad+Annie:80278:s53766291.13123166.22882058.0.2.277%2Cstd_47c61a6202764a3498e28a4cb3dd753e

Check out some blues and tell me what you think.