Blues music has never been a good old boys club, not from the very beginning.
Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Sippie Wallace and Big Mama Thornton saw to that during their early 20th century rise to help shape the genre that defines themes of hardship, resilience and everyday life. Etta James, too.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe blended gospel, blues, and rhythm-and-blues in the 1930s and 1940s, and later described early rock and roll as “just sped up rhythm and blues,” adding that she had “been doing that forever,” according to historical accounts.
