“I’m a blues-man moving through a blues-soaked America,
a blues-soaked world, a planet where catastrophe and celebration
–joy and pain sit side by side. The blues started off in some field,
some plantation, in some mind, in some imagination, in some heart.
The blues blew over to the next plantation, and then the next state.
The blues went south to north, got electrified and even sanctified.
The blues got mixed up with jazz and gospel and rock and roll.”

― Cornel West, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir

https://youtu.be/nBgkw06JhFA?list=RDnBgkw06JhFA

“When Johnson started singing,
he seemed like a guy who could have
sprung from the head of Zeus in full armor.”

― Bob Dylan, Chronicles, Vol. 1

“The blues tells a story.
Every line of the blues has a meaning.“

~John Lee Hooker

“Because the blues is the basis of most American music in the 20th century. It’s a 12-bar form that’s played by jazz, bluegrass and country musicians. It has a rhythmic vocabulary that’s been used by rock n’ roll. It’s related to spirituals, and even the American fiddle tradition.“

~Wynton Marsalis

“The Blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling, and understanding.”

Willie Dixon

“Where I grew up, Bob Wills and his western swing was very popular. And western swing is not that far from jazz and blues.”

Willie Nelson

“If you can’t play the blues… you might as well hang it up.”

Dexter Gordon

“Blues is my life. It’s a true feeling that comes from the heart, not something that just comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I love, and blues is what I always do.”

Koko Taylor