Key To The Highway

Mobility was a big deal for two of the late 19th Century's hottest inventions: the car and the Blues. The freedom to outrun hard times, split from a soured romance or relocate to a cooler psychic space was as prime a musical mover then as now. In “Key to the Highway” Big Bill Broonzy heads for someplace “where I'm better known.” “Nobody seemed to know me,” laments Robert Johnson as he fails to flag a ride at the “Cross Road Blues.” But Memphis Minnie, suggesting that hitting the pavement isn't all it's cracked up to be, counsels staying put and just dealing with it in “Nothing in Rambling.”