New book on Texas blues: Just in time for the return of President Bush

It was the British blues-rock invasion of the '60s that shone a huge, popular (meaning: mostly white) light on Delta blues. For his part, Govenar traces his own interest in African-American music to when he was four years old in Boston. His father brought home four records -- two of which included the greatest hits of 1956 and performances by Sarah Vaughan and Charlie Parker

GOVENAR: "Between those two records, black music became my first music. I listened to them over and over again. I don't think I got another record until I was 13."

Now, let's go back to "Dallas Blues." The second reason that recording is noteworthy, at least historically, is that Maggie Jones' version came out in the mid-1920s. It was part of an explosion of blues music from Texas artists -- recorded in Texas, New York or Chicago. And that explosion was triggered by a single performer -- from Dallas, by way of Wortham, Texas. 

GOVENAR: "The patriarch of Texas blues is Blind Lemon Jefferson. Blind Lemon was the first male blues guitar player to attain national success. His music during that period of the mid-1920s was immensely popular."

And record executives wanted to repeat his success, which is why, for a few years, Dallas-Fort Worth became a national hub for blues music. (Not surprisingly, the famous last songs of Robert Johnson were recorded here -- in a building on Park Avenue in downtown Dallas that, not surprisingly, may soon be demolished.) In the 600 pages of Texas Blues, Fort Worth and Dallas  account for 118 pages together, almost one-fifth the entire book. Dallas alone has more pages than any other city.  Even so, the book doesn't encompass the entire land rush of recordings that Blind Lemon Jefferson set off: Document Records, based in Vienna, is trying to release all the music that was pressed then, and so far has unearthed and produced work by some 95 Texas artists -- in blues and jazz and other styles.

All of those Texas-based recordings in the late '20s included not just minor artists like Maggie Jones. They included the first record of Aaron "T-Bone" Walker -- when he was still going by the name "Oak Cliff T-Bone."

["I Got the Blues" from T-Bone Walker]

Walker had known Blind Lemon in the '20s, when he led the older musician around Deep Ellum. Later on, Walker's pioneering use of the electric guitar would utterly change American music. That means there's a direct link between a young man and a blind musician playing for quarters on the streets of Dallas - and the rock 'n' roll or rhythm and blues you've got on your iPod.

As a style, Govenar says that Texas blues is lighter, more fluid, more eclectic than Delta blues. From the start, it contained bits of country, gospel, jazz, Tejano and zydeco. That's why in his book, Govenar includes such artists as Freddie Fender and Clifton Chenier. It's also why he sub-titled it: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound.

But in today's hip-hop world, blues doesn't seem 'contemporary' at all. Marginal is more like it.

GOVENAR: "You're right, it's overshadowed. But simply put, blues is embedded in American popular music. African-American music was not really played on the radio until the end of the 1940s. [But] You look at popular music today, and the most popular music is rooted in African-American sounds."

Govenar says the blues has retained its hold all these years because it's not just about misery. The blues was created by the first generation of African-Americans after slavery. So it is about slavery. But it's also about freedom. The freedom, at last, to express oneself. The freedom to move on down the road.

Lightnin' Hopkins - who was born in East Texas and met Blind Lemon when he was only eight years old - Lightnin' Hopkins would seem to agree.

["Good Times" by Lightnin' Hopkins: "Good times, yeah, but it's better down the road."

Lightnin' Hopkins, named by Rolling Stone one of the 100 greatest guitarists

Dallas Blues 1912 sheet music image, courtesy of Don O. Image of Lightnin' Hopkins from geocities.com. Image of T-Bone Walker from cherrylane.com