Far from the vaudeville stage, the men (and woman) featured in this chapter constructed what would become the spine of popular music for decades to come. Here is the blues at its most elemental, the stark truths of a person alone with a guitar, and the thoughts and feelings they can’t shake. The arrangements are simple, but the spectrum of emotional shading is wide - these songs can be delicate or wild, plaintive or carefree. Highlights include the gravelly voice of Blind Willie Johnson, and three tracks from the towering Leadbelly.