The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the blues. Stretching from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee, the Delta was transformed in the nineteenth century from an undeveloped "island" of hardwood forest and bayous to one of the richest cotton producing areas of the Deep South. Just as the Black laborers transformed the land, so did they cultivate the blues out of the fertile soil of work chants and gospels. Thus began a musical tradition which would produce the likes of Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and later Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and B.B. King. This book is a documentary study, with text and photos, of the survival of this heritage. While many of the greats have died or left the area, the music lives on there. Through numerous interviews, transcribed sessions in local "jook joints," and photographs, author William Ferris reveals the philosophy, lifestyles, and reminiscences of contemporary Delta musicians as they tell how they learned and how they continue to play and live the blues. -- from Book Jacket.