I love the blues. I love how it speaks the truth. (not mine) I love the music that was borne from it. Which includes all rock 'n' roll in its various forms of music today. It's the root of this big tree. ... But what I'm ashamed of is that it was brought to us from the slave trade. You could say that if it weren't for slavery, we wouldn't have this sort of music at all.

Rhythms and the soul of Africans came to New Orleans and the transmutation began. In the cotton fields and on the plantations. I can't imagine the scenes of slaves at work without the rhythmic sway that somehow got them through another day. ... And so on, and so on. "The Blues" was named and, over time, moved up the muddy Mississippi to Chicago and set down there, too. And the evolution continued (think of the diagram on the board in The School of Rock).

What's your take on this?

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