Legends of the Delta Blues

The Mississippi Delta is the source of America's deep and pervasive blues tradition. At a time when that tradition appeared in danger of disappearing, many of its most elemental practitioners reappeared to remind us of the bruising force of this music's headwaters. They were living legends that demonstrated strong bonds with legends passed. This video presents the unalloyed power of Delta legends Eddie 'Son' House, Johnny Shines, Bukka White, and John Lee Hooker as they performed in the 1960s and 1970s. This is music which has mesmerized everyone from a young Muddy Waters to today's blues-based rockers. Its earthy vitality remains fresh in rare performances rife with slide guitars, driving rhythms and songs as searing as a hellhound's bay across the Delta darkness.