“Fattening frogs for snakes”: Blues and the music industry

Charmaine Neville, the Mardi Gras Indians, and the music of oppositional politics

“…43 She opposes "the expropriation of the blues by the record industry" just as she resists the exploitation of her own talent. 44 She automatically feels that fear of reprisals must be ignored: "Speaking about what I might feel like inside is going to get me in trouble. People feel like that-you know it's happening every day so they're afraid to say 'I like that even though it's a political song and I believe in what the song is saying,' because that may cause harm to them in some way."…”