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Post-Civil War Origins of the Blues: Religious
Besides the rather obvious musical parallels between spirituals,
slave songs, and the shout to the blues, there were other influences
from black religious institutions. For example, there are a number
of correlations between the blues and the rhythms and lyrics of
the traditional black religious folk sermon.
Both share a similar approach to language, framing a down-to-earth
vernacular in short and direct statements and using a limited
vocabulary to create an articulate expression. Black preachers
and bluesmen both use impromptu deliveries, creating a strong
interaction between performer and audience. Finally, both espouse
life-affirming resilience, perhaps the most important element
of all.
As the historian Margaret W. McCarthy notes, "Affirmation
is a characteristic attitude held by both preacher and bluesman.
At their backbone is a resilience that refuses to be suppressed,
and the quality which more often than not feeds their resilience
is humor - a humor over-riding the painful subjects couched in
both forms...the ability to fuse the comic with the serious stems
from that indomitable spirit that pervades the sermon and the
blues."
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