[78-L] Some blues firsts up to 1914

[Joe Scott]

by about 1894: 12-bar precursors of blues music, without lyrics about "blues," are performed by roustabouts, who tend to travel widely, and in bars (some great examples were collected by Mary Wheeler on the Ohio River, others all over the South, some of them tied to known events in places such as St. Louis and Savannah, Georgia)
by 1907: "I got the blues" lyrics in Louisiana
by 1908: "I got the blues" lyrics in Georgia and Mississippi
1908: first "Blues" with 12-bar published, in Louisiana, by songwriter who said he learned the tune from another Louisiana musician
1909: first known instance of someone considering "blues" a type of music, Louisiana
1910: second and third known instances of "blues" considered a type of music, Texas and Florida
1912: second "Blues" with 12-bar published, in New York, by songwriters from the Carolinas
1914: first known recordings of "Blues" are in North

Evidence in the above that blues music originated in the state of Mississippi: none. Near the Mississippi River: little.

Joseph Scott