Down at Theresa's--

Book excerpt: The booming industries of Chicago acted as a magnet for rural migrants from the Delta region of North Western Mississippi in the 1940s and 50s. The often painful adjustments made by these new arrivals in the 'Windy City' led to the rise of a new musical form, an electrified urban version of the blues that was soon ringing out from the bars and clubs of the city's South Side. The impact that this music was to have on the development of popular music in the 20th century is impossible to overstate -- although its originators were often not the ones to pocket the profits. Blues lyrics -- concise, earthy, humorous, or downright dirty -- encapsulated the urban experience as no music had done before.