Page 48 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2023 Digital Edition

Freedmen often decided to settle together. It was at this
point that the idea for all-Black towns developed. Larry
O’Dell explains, “They created cohesive, prosperous farming
communities that could support businesses, schools and
churches, eventually forming towns. Entrepreneurs in these
communities started every imaginable kind of business,
including newspapers, and advertised throughout the South
for settlers.” I’ve heard it said, the word was “tremendous
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opportunity, come help us do this… don’t come lazy and don’t
come broke!”
The upshot of this opportunity was that more than 50
all-Black towns were established. These towns emphasized
education, self-governance, strong churches and communities,
and were held together by the economic security of their
agricultural land. They believed that education was the key to
a better future; the schools were strict and people graduated The Battle of Honey Springs in Rentiesville, OK,
high school. My husband, Rentiesville native and bluesman has been called the “Gettysburg of the West.” ii
D.C. Minner used to say, “If I did not get my lesson, I got a Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Muskogee. In an interview with
whoopin’ from the teacher. On my way home, my friend’s Bill Wax on Sirius XM’s B.B. King Bluesville, B.B. King said,
mom would give me a whoopin’, and when I got down here “Jazz players say you can’t play good jazz unless you
to the house Mama [his grandmother who raised him, Miss know the blues.” And D.C. said, “The R&B and blues bands
Lura] would give me a whoopin’, and she didn’t even want to here in the ‘50s and ‘60s all started their blues sets with an
know what I did wrong! If I got it from the others, she just had hour of instrumental jazz, so people could come in and get
one coming too!” comfortable, and so the horn players could work out and do
Here’s where we can pick up on the music coming out solos before they had to settle down to ‘blow parts’ − be
of Oklahoma. Foley explains that the opportunities available rhythm players, essentially.” So, you see, there’s a blurred line
during this time crafted the music legacy of the region; “Access there between jazz and blues here.
to music lessons, instruments and mentors help explain why Given its history, plus the connection to Texas and the West
more African American musicians from Oklahoma developed Coast (you can drive to California without scaling the Rocky
the advanced musical skills necessary to evolve into jazz Mountains; there is a lot of work out there for musicians), I
artists… As social and economic conditions changed for the call Oklahoma − and Texas − “the cradle of the West Coast
state’s African Americans by the 1920s and 1930s, more Blues.” Blues from Oklahoma is unique. Its sound includes
musicians born during that time period evolved into traditional, horn sections, it’s a little smoother and the players dress − they
guitar-based practitioners of the blues.” Musicians who could consider themselves a little more “city” or “slicker.”
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read jazz charts went east and worked in almost every major An integral part of Oklahoma’s blues sound developed
jazz ensemble out of New York. with the Texas-Oklahoma “Hot Box” guitar style. Unlike the
The jazz and blues players in Oklahoma were, in many slide playing or finger picking styles from the Piedmont and
ways, one community, particularly in major cities, such as Mississippi-Chicago sounds, the “Hot Box” guitar style is
a single-note lead style that has a great local lineage that
eventually crossed over to rock ‘n roll. Starting around
1900, players of this style include Blind Lemon Jefferson
(possibly the earliest to record this style), jazz innovator
Charlie Christian (the first to put electric guitar solos into
jazz), T-Bone Walker, Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B.
King to Eric Clapton and beyond. The Hot Box single-note
lead style is the style of most American rock ‘n roll to this
day! B.B. King said in another Bill Wax interview, “I am from
Mississippi, but my fingers are too lazy to play Mississippi
style, I play Texas!”
There is no “music industry” per se in Oklahoma like there
is in Nashville, Austin or Chicago; most people who play
professionally work out of state. But since there are lots of
juke joints in these towns − five in Rentiesville alone − there’s
Even the Down Home Blues Club décor promotes regional musicians and still a lot of music! Oklahoma has produced numerous great
Oklahoma’s musical tradition.” iii musicians and I’d love to tell about each and every one, but

46 Blues Festival Guide 2023