Blues #2

I came across this recording a few months ago when browsing videos that famed folklorist and ethnographer Alan Lomax filmed during his fieldwork in the American South. After watching it, I sought to learn more about who this man, Belton Sutherland, was – in all his cigarette-smoking, foot-tapping, cap-wearing glory. I soon found that there is shockingly little about him on the internet, despite his ‘Blues #2’ having over 2 million views on YouTube. However, here’s some of what I learned:

Belton Sutherland was born to a family of sharecroppers in 1911. This recording of him was shot by John Bishop, Worth Long, and Alan Lomax in 1978 as part of a PBS documentary called The Land Where the Blues Began. The documentary details Lomax’s pursuit of Southern folk music through the Mississippi Delta and examines traditional country blues in its native environment: levee camps, churches, and on front porches (where we see Sutherland). The documentary effectively shines a light on musicians unknown outside the Delta. Southern Blues is a really rich subject with an amazing history, and this video is just a taste of it.

Sources:

Mount Zion Memorial Fund: https://www.mtzionmemorialfund.org/p/the-unmarked-grave-of-belton-sutherland.html