Can a type of music be owned Examining how music is linked to racial constructs and how African American musicians and audiences reacted to white appropriation Blues Music in the Sixties shows the stakes when whites claim the right to play and live the blues In the 1960s within the larger context of the civil rights movement and the burgeoning counterculture the blues changed from black to white in its production and reception as audiences became increasingly white Yet while this was happening blackness especially black masculinity remained a marker of authenticity Crossing color lines and mixing the beats of B B King Eric Clapton and Janis Joplin the Newport Folk Festival and the American Folk Blues Festival and publications such as Living Blues Ulrich Adelt discusses these developments including the international aspects of the blues He highlights the performers and venues that represented changing racial politics and addresses the impact and involvement of audiences and cultural brokers