Spirituals, The Blues Connection ... Spirituals are the work, and plantation
songs that evolved into the blues and gospel songs for worship. In the 19th
century, the word ‘Spirituals’ referred to essentially folksongs. Although they
were often rooted in biblical stories, they also showed us the hardships of
people who were the slaves from the17th century onwards. Many new music
genres including what we now call the blues emerged from spirituals but, as
we shall see, the genre we now call the blues existed even before the
spirituals, and in fact were an element of the Spirituals, only the format we’re
familiar with was different.
Initially, we found the wonderful lady, Mammy Prater. Mammy, her real name
was Annie, but she preferred Mammy. She was born a slave in 1805. She was
our inspiration to research and to discover the spirituals and their connection
with the blues.

Spirituals -The-Blues-Connection.pdf

Download: .... Oh Freedom

When exploring where the 'Blues' originated, we generally  look to the spirituals of the 19/early 20th Century. ​This spiritual Oh Freedom can be traced back to at least the late 1800's and probably came into being soon after the end of slavery in 1865. Like many African American spirituals, this song, essentially refers to freedom from slavery, as many spirituals do, but also shows us the underlying influence of what we now celebrate as the blues.