The MNO of blues – AMERICA’S Gift Index: halfway stage

The MNO of blues – AMERICA’S Gift Index: halfway stage

ByPaul Merry

CHECK THE MNO Index of AMERICA’S Gift below Christopher Marlow: English playwright who greatly influenced Shakespeare The young guy above is Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlow, stabbed to death aged 29 in a London pub brawl  in 1593. But why is he in AMERICA’s Gift? Well, it was Marlow’s play ‘The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus’ that kicked off…

The JKL of blues: 16 Johnsons, 7 Kings & a lotta London

The JKL of blues: 16 Johnsons, 7 Kings & a lotta London

ByPaul Merry

The JKL Index to AMERICA’S Gift: The untold story of how blues evolved. I welcome any excuse to include a photograph of the great Lonnie Johnson. This shot must have been taken around 1925. Check those spats.  According to the index of AMERICA’S Gift, Johnson is the blues’ most common surname, with King next (although two of these…