The Chicago blues, a quintessentially African American art form, was consciously coopted by young, white musicians. The Delta-born progenitors reacted not with contempt toward the copycats from the suburbs, Hyde Park and beyond, but with willing acceptance of their role as mentors.
It could happen only in the kumbaya 1960s, and modern-day retellings tend to focus on the cultural and geographic boundary-erasing aspects of the phenomenon. But hey, the kids could really play, and when they heaped praise on their heroes, the fallout created a windfall for older Black artists.
