Floyd's School of Blues EncyclopediaLineage map

The Lineage Map

Elvis Presley's first single and Nirvana's last song on MTV Unplugged were both blues songs first. Tap anyone on the map to trace where their music came from, and where it went next.

– artists
– songs
– covers

Find an artist or song

Drag to turn · pinch or scroll to zoom · tap a dot

Pre-war blues
Post-war blues & R&B
Rock, pop & folk
Song
Covered by
Learned from

How to read the map

Time runs upward

Every song sits at the height of the year it was first recorded, from an Irish ballad of the 1760s at the bottom to the 2000s at the top. Gold dots are the pre-war blues, orange the post-war blues and early rock and roll, blue the rock, pop and folk artists who recorded those songs next.

Tap any dot to light up its whole lineage: where it came from, and everyone it reached. The list below tells the same story in words.

Start with a story

Hiding in plain sight

Elvis started with a blues.
His first single, in July 1954, was "That's All Right", written and first recorded by the Mississippi bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup in 1946.
"Hound Dog" was a woman's hit.
Big Mama Thornton took it to No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1953, three years before Elvis recorded it.
A rolling stone, twice over.
Brian Jones named his band after "Rollin' Stone", a 1950 Muddy Waters record, which itself grew out of Robert Petway's 1941 "Catfish Blues".
Read the songwriting credits.
Willie Dixon shares the writing credit on Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", "The Lemon Song" credits Howlin' Wolf, and "When the Levee Breaks" credits Memphis Minnie.
The Beatles began as a skiffle band.
Skiffle took off with Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line", a Lead Belly song. The Quarrymen were one of thousands of British skiffle groups it inspired.
Cream played the Delta, loud.
"Crossroads", "I'm So Glad", "Spoonful", "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Four Until Late", "Sitting on Top of the World": much of Cream's set list was pre-war and Chicago blues.

Every song on the map

The whole map, as a list: each original artist, their songs, and who recorded each song next. Tap a title to see it on the map.