デルタ・ブルース源流の一人。
2016年の夏、僕はニューオーリンズからHighway 61、通称ブルース・ハイウェイを、時にはミシシッピー川を横に見ながら、時には見渡す限り綿花畑が続く道をひたすら北上。
やがて、IndianolaのHolly Ridgeという小さな街に着き、探し回ることしばし。やっと探し当てた彼の墓は、コットン集積工場横の原っぱにポツンとあって、今、記憶に残ってるのは、視界にないけど少し向こうに感じる数人の工場労働者の気配と、強烈な真夏の日差しだけです。
僕が一番好きな「Down The Dirt Road Blues」。1929年、Indiana Richmondで収録。ギターのボディをパーカッシブに叩きながら、つんのめったように弦をかき鳴らし絞り出すダミ声シャウト。デルタ・ブルースの、粗野だけど、ただただ表現だけが残ったような曲に魅せられています。
One of the origins of Delta Blues.
In the summer of 2016, I traveled north from New Orleans along Highway 61, also known as the Blues Highway, sometimes with the Mississippi River beside me and other times surrounded by endless cotton fields.
Eventually, I arrived in the small town of Holly Ridge, Indianola, and searched around for a while. Finally, I found his grave, sitting alone in a field next to a cotton gin factory. What sticks in my memory now is the feeling of a few factory workers nearby, though they were out of sight, and the intense heat of the midsummer sun.
My favorite is “Down The Dirt Road Blues,” recorded in 1929 in Indiana Richmond. It features a percussive guitar rhythm, with a gravelly voice shout, as if struggling, while plucking the strings. I’m captivated by the raw expression of Delta Blues, where it seems like only the pure essence of emotion remains.