PARTNERS IN CRIME

ourbon and blues, those famous American icons, have a distinctive duality in common: on the one hand the devil music and demon alcohol. On the other hand, the sad music that makes you feel better and the dram a day keeping the doctor away. The early songsters in the Delta not only sang secular numbers, but also religious ones. Among them were preachers, such as the Rev. Gary Davis, famous for his 12-string guitar playing. Some older blues-men turned to religion in the 1930s and 40s not wanting to play the blues anymore and then reappeared on the scene during the 1960s blues and folk revival. The same goes for distillers, of whom several were lay ministers. Elijah Craig preached the gospel in Kentucky, happily distilling whiskey throughout