Ask most any blues fan who they think about when you ask them, “Who is the prototypical Delta blues artist?”, and the most likely response would probably be “Robert Johnson”.  And I get it, as the mythological pedestal upon which many have placed Johnson, and the ensuing rhetoric about his life and times, correct or incorrect in facts, for years have placed him at the forefront of not only the highest importance vis-à-vis the Delta blues, but of all the blues.  Johnson has for many, many years been the proverbial poster child for the blues.  By the way, a great book on the life and times of Robert Johnson, entitled Brother Robert: Growing Up With Robert Johnson, written by Anneye C. Anderson, the step-sister of Johnson, is an illuminating and worthy read.

Johnson was long ago bestowed the title of “King Of The Delta Blues.”  It’s a moniker that in many ways is hard to argue with, as Johnson’s collective blues songwriting, guitar proficiencies, and influence have remained strong to the present day, 84 years after his death at the age of 27.  Johnson’s legacy is that his blues contributions led to the immense fame and fortune of a great many rock musicians, and the influence, but surely not the level of wealth, of countless blues artists.  But, in actuality, is Robert Johnson the rightfully-designated “King Of The Delta Blues”?  I propose that if the title that is forever attached to Robert Johnson would have been able to been conferred much earlier (which would have been impossible due to the lack of passage of time and the considerations that can then be brought to the table), that bluesman Charley Patton most likely, not only in my eyes but in the perceptions of others who have taken time to study the blues, is perhaps a more creditable blues artist to wear the crown of “King Of The Delta Blues.” 

Robert Johnson was, by all accounts, a very itinerant figure, rambling as he did great distances and with many varying blues associates (think Honeyboy Edwards and Johnny Shines, for instance), marking him as the archetypal wandering bluesman, here today and gone tomorrow, walking the back roads into the next town, or riding the rails to distances far off.  He was not a semi-permanent, familiar blues entertainment face in any one locale, as his explorations more often than not found him not in one place for very long.

Now, this is not to proffer that Patton didn’t ply his blues trade in a myriad of locales; he did.  Whether it was Chicago, somewhere in Louisiana, Memphis, or a host of other places, Patton did voyage out to offer his performing skills.  The difference, however, between him and Johnson, was that the bulk of Patton’s blues artistry was presented amongst the untold numbers of Delta plantations.  As such, the argument that Patton is the true “King Of The Delta Blues” is a reasonable and valid claim.  Patton carried a certain cache of recognition amongst blues lovers in the Delta, whether he was performing for plantation farm workers, either on-site or at the back country jukes, dances, picnics, or other venues and occasions.  Simply, Patton, it can be soundly claimed, appeared of great blues heft among Delta residents for not only his remarkable blues music and entertainment riches, but because of his familiarity. 

Patton’s birth date has been debated over the years, and depending which source one employs, it could have been as early as 1885, or as late as 1891, with the lingering confusion about it making it possible that it could also have been any of the years between those two points.  Interestingly, both his gravestone and his Mississippi Blues Commission historical marker both indicate his birth date as 1891.  It is acknowledged that Patton was born on the Edwards, Mississippi Sam Herring Plantation, a location in western Hinds County in the mid-western portion of the state.  Any blues fan who has viewed the known picture of Patton will notice that he was not a fully Black in heritage; rather, he was of mixed race, including Native American, Caucasian, and Black lineage. 

Early in his years, he and his family moved to the Will Dockery Plantation, a large roughly 26,000-acre cotton farmstead and sawmill in Dockery, Mississippi, located in the upper western part of the state on the Sunflower River flanked by the cities Cleveland and Ruleville. 

At the Dockery Plantation, Patton forged his blues style, one influenced by Henry Sloan, one of the first noted figures of Delta styled blues.  By the way, it was Henry Sloan playing “I’m Going Where The Southern Crosses The Dog” that is said to have been the first blues song heard by W.C Handy, the American musician and composer who many refer to as “The Father Of The Blues”, in a railroad station in Tutwiler, Mississippi.  While playing at Dockery Plantation, Patton established relationships with fellow Delta bluesmen Willie Brown (he of “M & O Blues”) and Tommy Johnson (he of “Canned Heat Blues”).  There were other bluesmen in the area who in turn were guided by Patton, including the aforementioned Robert Johnson, Chester Burnett (a/k/a Howlin; Wolf), and Fiddlin’ Joe Martin, to name but a few.

A smaller man in stature, Patton was said to be roughly five and one-half feet high, yet he possessed a rough, commanding, substantial howl of a voice.  Most certainly, Patton’s most admired and significant recording was the first of his Paramount label releases, a blues entitled “Pony Blues”.  By the way, “Pony Blues” (1929) was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the National Recording Registry of the Library Of Congress in 2006. 

The interesting aspect of Patton’s music was that he filled his songs with allusions to people he met along the way, locales he visited, goings-on in the Delta region, along with societal observations.  Patton recorded a two-part magnum opus, “High Water Everywhere Part I” and “High Water Everywhere Part II” both that grimly detailed the devastation wrought by the Mississippi River having flooded and the resultant tragic human toll in the loss of life and the misery that gripped the living and broken. 

This is not at all to suggest that Patton’s blues were all sad in character, as he produced insistent music fashioned for dancing.

Patton’s voice was equally coarse, immense in delivery, and no-nonsense.   His guitar playing style can best be described as a percussive guitar technique, with apparent loads of overt showmanship. 

In short, Patton played with instrumental and vocal techniques that offered blues dealing with all facets of the human experience and the resulting moods thereof.  He could be a mischievous bluesman who was known to use various voices within a blues song to form the troupe of individuals characterized within the tune.  His blues was theater of the mind. 

Patton passed away in 1934.  He was inducted into The Blues Hall Of Fame in 1980.

I don’t normally recommend a specific blues recording when I author my blue artist profiles, but for Patton, there is one that I cannot advocate highly enough.  Information on that compilation is found below. 

Founder Of The Delta Blues” – Charley Patton (Yazoo 1020)

A collection of 24 of the most powerful blues recordings of all time, dating from 1929 to 1934

Song Titles

• Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues
• Down The Dirt Road Blues
• Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues
• Green River Blues
• A Spoonful Blues
• Moon Going Down
• Tom Rushen Blues
• Elder Green Blues
• When Your Way Gets Dark
• Dry Well Blues
• High Water Everywhere Part I
• High Water Everywhere Part II
• Shake It And Break It
• Pony Blues
• Bird Nest Bound
• Some These Days I’ll Be Gone
• Banty Rooster Blues
• 34 Blues
• High Sheriff Blues
• Stone Pony Blues
• Hammer Blues
• It Won’t Be Long
• Going To Move To Alabama
• Poor Me