Traveling Minstrel and Medicine Shows

            Traveling theatrical shows were prevalent throughout the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and they played a major role in the history of the blues: not only did many blues musicians begin their careers and develop their abilities in such troupes, traveling shows also served to propagate and popularize blues music by bringing it to audiences throughout the South. [1]

             Traveling shows rang ed from informal medicine shows that accompanied salesmen pitching snake oil or other tonics to sophisticated theatrical events, with orchestras, comedians, and solo acts. According to Elijah Wald, the smaller shows “visited out-of-the-way areas, and provided work for all sorts of rural musicians, including many who are remembered as blues pioneers;” thus, these medicine shows were instrumental in bringing the deep, rural blues style(and musicians) to a broader public. [2]

             The more sophisticated minstrel shows, although they have been historically criticized for their “racist associations” and for relying on “demeaning stereotypes and black-face makeup,” were quite popular throughout the South among black and white audiences alike. [3]   Their musical repertoire was primarily popular and classical, but at the turn of the century they began to incorporate the blues, introducing it into the world of popular music. Ma Rainey, a singer with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, began to sing blues songs after hearing a girl sing a “strange and poignant” song. [4]   Similarly, W. C. Handy achieved great success when he began orchestrating blues songs for his traveling band after he heard a “ragged black guitarist” sing while using a knife as a guitar slide. [5]

             Finally, the simultaneous presence of blues music and Western classical music within the troupes - as well as vernacular styles and highly trained musicians - fostered a rich mixture of styles that paved the way for a variety of subsequent genres like Classic blues, swing, jazz, and early rock.

      Bibliography

      [1]  Wald, Escaping the Delta, 51. <p class="MsoFootnoteText">      <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[2]  Ibid. <p class="MsoFootnoteText">      <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[3]  Ibid., 50. <p class="MsoFootnoteText">      <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[4]  Palmer, Deep Blues, 44. <p class="MsoFootnoteText">      <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Arial Unicode MS";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[5]  Obrecht, “A Century of Blues Guitar,” 87.