Like conversation with the blues, blow my blues away 1971, by george mitchell, and blues 1975 by robert neff and anthony connor, consist largely of firstperson commentary by the blues singers themselves, and both books are quite sought after. Alfred beginning delta blues guitar bookdvd musician. Delta blues lessons how to play blues guitar burninguitar. Lets begin with the delta musician extraordinaire, robert johnson. The early masters of american blues series provides the unique opportunity to study the true roots of modern blues. There have been many blues books published over the years focussing on individual blues styles and artists. Jackson offers a unique and entertaining look at the history of delta blues and teaches the basic vocabulary of delta blues style with this twoprong, book anddvd approach. Ive just finished reading ted gioias new book, delta blues, a thoroughly researched and brightly written study of the history of the delta blues, its central location in the history of all blues. The stories are fascinating and touched with mysticism, and violence and murder and the blues. In this extraordinary musical and social history, robert palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of chicagos south side, to international popularity, recognition, and imitation. This ambitious biographical encyclopedia delivers the goods, listing over 600 entries from every era and style of the blues.
Mississippi is in fact no more or no less racist than the rest of. Desoto magazineif you dont know a lot about blues music and the delta musicians who birthed it, lived it and kept it alivein spite of the more popular. A look at the history of blues music, musicians and emotion. The mississippi delta is historically famous for its fertile soil and the poverty of farm workers. Blues is the cornerstone of american popular music, the bedrock of rock and roll. Delta blues was advertised on page 14 of rifter 35. After a convenient hotel pickup, embark on a journey down the famed highway 61 and explore blues history at landmarks like the crossroads, the delta blues museum, the grammy museum mississippi, and the. A dollar donation for every book sold will be given to the rock river foundation, a charity dedicated to helping the arts and literacy in the delta. The best acoustic blues guitar lessons to learn how to play in the style of the greatest bluesmen such as robert johnson, big bill broonzy, son house and many others. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta. Mick brown enjoys a judicious history of one of popular musics most influential traditions. An authority on jazz and blues, ted gioia is the founder and editor of. The more we visit, the more i appreciate the people, their struggles and their history.
Looking for recommendations for delta blues method books. Delta blues guitar country blues series by stefan grossman and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. He has recorded several cds as a pianist and composer and is the author of five highly regarded books on jazz and roots music. Placed together, the words and photos of hidden history of mississippi blues bring a music, history and people to the printed page in a purposely intimate way leaving readers rooting for the bluesmen and pondering the future of music. I have read a few books about blues history, and i have watched a lot of documentaries. The mississippi delta is ground zero of the blues, meaning it was here where it all began. Big bill broonzy and muddy waters directly joined that migration, like many others, avoiding the more harsh southern jim crow laws. The land where the blues began by alan lomax in the 1930s, library of congress archivist and blues aficionado alan lomax visited the mississippi delta with his folklorist father, john lomax.
My son was a teacher for tfa in the delta and lived in clarksdale for a couple of years. This songbook provides a nice spoonful of blues by artists from the fifties chuck berry and elvis, the sixties cream, the seventies zz top, acdc, led zeppelin and deep purple, the eighties stevie ray vaughan and the nineties eric claptons acoustic cover of bo diddley. Oliver is one of the most respected and prolific writers on blues history and this is a very readable overview of the origins and evolution of blues in the 20th century. Apr 12, 2015 the mississippi delta has always been the home of the blues. The delta blues museum was established in 1979 by the carnegie public library board of trustees and reorganized as a standalone museum in 1999, the delta blues museum is mississippis oldest music museum and the nations first museum dedicated to the american art form known as the blues. Throughout the book, gioia writes about the history of the delta blues, the performers, and the music with passion and knowledge. Over the 1920s and 1930s, country blues, delta blues and memphis blues originated out of their respective areas, employing various instruments and differing sounds. This musical and cultural history traces the blues from its roots in west africa to the mississippi delta to urban chicago and beyond.
Stefan grossman, noted roots blues guitarist and musicologist, has compiled this fascinating collection of 14 songs from seven pivotal early blues guitarists from the mississippi delta. Deep blues is a history of delta blues written by robert palmer one of the great music writers of the last half of the twentieth century. American cornerstone influencing everyone from the rolling stones to cassandra wilson, the blues recordings that came out of the mississippi delta. Tracing its origins from the mississippi delta to its amplification in chicago right after world war ii, davis argues for an examination of the blues in its own right, not just as a precursor to jazz and rock n roll. In this book, ted gioia gets to the roots of the rootsthe delta blues, arguably the. My book also has a lot of general history of the delta, and it is a fascinating place with some rich african american history a book i highly recommend is the most southern place on earth by james c. Alfred beginning delta blues guitar bookdvd musicians. The mississippi delta style of blues or, simply, delta blues emphasized solo performances by singers accompanying themselves on guitar and relying on a host of distinctive techniques, such as the sliding of a bottleneck or metal object such as a knife along the fingerboard to bend notes, the. A musical and cultural history of the mississippi delta by robert palmer, escaping the delta. He is the author of deep blues and other books, and served as writer and music director for two awardwinning documentary films, the world according to john. Deep blues robert palmer robert palmers book focuses on the deltachicago connection, loaded with fascinating stories and profiles about people and places. List of books and articles about blues music online. Born in hazlehurst, mississippi in 1911, robert leroy johnson would be dead at 27. As the legend of delta blues man robert johnson has grown and mutated into a kind of scholarly fervor, the reputation of robert lockwood jr.
Mystery novelist carolyn haines was born may 12, 1953, in hattiesburg, mississippi. A guide to the repertoire, the history of jazz and delta blues. Author robert palmer, a little rock, arkansas native, served as the chief popmusic critic for the new york times and became a frequent contribute to rolling stone, atlantic monthly, and other publications. There are many fine books on the blues, so i thought i would share with you my recommendations. Robert johnson, muddy waters, john lee hooker, bo carter, son house, elmore james, robert lockwood, charley.
Mace has significantly increased knowledge of and pride in the blues as a distinctive form of the mississippi deltas arts and culture. When the mississippi delta blues festival began in 1978, it was the only major festival of its kind in the south. The essential history of this distinctly american genre. In general delta blues, country blues and ragtime is called fingerstyle these days. In its earliest form, the style became the first black guitardominated music to make it onto phonograph records back in the late 20s. The story of king records an excellent history of king records, a very influential indie label based in cincinnati, ohio. In this extraordinary musical and social history, robert palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of chicagos south side, to. And there are many other great writers on delta blues history heres some source material from the back of my book. Urban blues evolved from classic blues following the great migration, or the great northern drive, which was both forced and voluntary at times, of african americans from the southern u. Delta blues guitar is a book that has been around for quite awhile, that is, it has stood the test of time. The blues, like many other genres of music, are deeply influenced by the region in which they are created.
Fiction and nonfiction books about blues music and blues musicians score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. We are in the posthistory of the blues, and at this point we might as well set some requirements, guards against benign nonsense, for new books. Oct 08, 2016 these musicians are the pillars upon which the houses of folk, rock, and blues have been built. Palmer treads the fine line between scholarship and readability and makes the book both informative and interesting. If you have any blues books you dont want, please let me know. A complete guide to authentic acoustic blues slide guitar. Connect with delta blues collectors across the globe and complete your collection. Heres a sample lesson from blues by the book fingerpicking blues. Once the delta blues made their way up the mississippi to urban areas. Experience the blues in its birthplace on this guided excursion in the mississippi delta. Strongly influenced by jazz and incorporated caribbean influences, it is dominated by piano and saxophone but has also produced major guitar bluesmen. Delta blues by carolyn haines overdrive rakuten overdrive.
The roots, the music, the people from charley patton to robert cray francis davis by francis davis and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. It is truly a unique culture and the blues music is awesome. Delta blues together with the beginning delta blues guitar dvd and save. Henry sloan january 1870 possibly march, 1948 was an american musician, one of the earliest figures in the history of delta blues. Local son morgan freeman once said, what was true then is true now. Mace has significantly increased knowledge of and pride in the blues as a distinctive form of the mississippi delta s arts and culture. Ted gioia born 21 october 1957 is an american jazz critic and music historian. The music called the blues that emerged from mississippi has shaped the development of popular music in this country and around the world. It originated in the mississippi delta, a region of the united states that stretches from north to south between memphis, tennessee, and vicksburg, mississippi, and from east to west between the yazoo river and the mississippi river.
A brief history of the blues article by ed kopp, published on august 16, 2005 at all about jazz. The history of the blues by francis davis abebooks. Blind lemon jefferson easy rider blues blind willie mctell statesboro blues kansas joe when the levee breaks mamie smith and her jazz hounds crazy blues memphis minnie where is my good man at mississippi john hurt avalon blues nora bayes homesickness blues sam collins lonesome road blues. In addition to stefans expert transcriptions, the book includes a cd containing the original. Popular musicians of that time included bo carter, blind lemon jefferson, tampa red, blind blake, sylvester weaver, robert johnson, blind willie mctell, blind boy fuller, frank stokes, robert wilkins and casey bill weldon. New book on the mississippi delta blues steve hoffman. The mississippi delta is the fertile alluvial plain in the northwest of the state. Featured texts all books all texts latest this just in smithsonian libraries fedlink us genealogy lincoln collection. Apr 07, 2014 delta blues 2 hours of blues, 41 great tracks, the greatest stars of the delta. Bb king charles brown koko taylor buddy guy hubert sumlin robert lockwood and many, many more. The story of the blues told through the eyes of the artists who lived it. Delta blues musicians like charley patton and skip james headed to northern. Francis daviss the history of the blues is a groundbreaking rethinking of the blues that fearlessly examines how race relations have altered perceptions of the music. Mississippi delta home of blues music, culture, history for.
All three books have been honored with the ascap deems taylor award. The stories are all by different authors and edited by carol haines. Delta blues giant robert johnson may 8, 1911 august 16, 1938 is one of the most fascinating and mysterious performers in music history. Below is a list of albums made by artists from the delta who, in the early years of the 20 th century, played in a quite distinctive style. The earliest blues records were made in the 1920s, but very little recording took place in the mississippi delta area. Pioneers like howlin wolf and muddy waters paved the way for many british artists who created a pop influenced blues style. Blues is the roots and everything else is the fruits willie dixon blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll muddy waters in this book, ted gioia gets to the roots of the rootsthe delta blues, arguably the greatest influence in music today. The mississippi delta style of bluesor, simply, delta bluesemphasized solo performances by singers accompanying themselves on guitar and relying on a host of distinctive techniques, such as the sliding of a bottleneck or metal object such as a knife along the fingerboard to bend notes, the. The blues represent lessons about ways of dealing with pain and suffering that transcend time. The daughter of two journalists, she earned a bachelors degree in journalism from the university of southern mississippi in 1974 and went on to work at several ne. Delta blues by carolyn haines goodreads share book.
You might pick up some rock with some tough guitar riffs or some rap. Today, delta blues is a melting pot of traditional blues, a bit of pop and a good pinch of cajun spice. And the reason is that it is a valuable collection of solos by players like charley patton, son house, willie brown, robert johnson, and others. Im working my way through one of grossmans country blues books but he seems to cover it all. There have been suggestions that he moved to chicago shortly after world war i.
Politics, religion, customs, dialect and traditions can all be heard in the various styles of the blues. The list starts with general books of the blues essential reading, followed by blues artists in alphabetical order, interjected with blues books on particular themes. Gioia is an editorinchief of the encyclopedia of jazz musicians and has authored a number of books on jazz such as the jazz standards. This book is a collection of short stories about folks who live or come from around the mississippi delta. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Very little is known for certain about his life, other than he tutored charlie patton in the ways of the blues. Learn the techniques and history of the delta blues with this book anddvd set. Record companies began to record african american music. Now ted gioia gives us delta blues, a book weve needed for a long time.
This collection of short fiction captures both the art of the tale and the power of the blues, and is a nod at the human condition that often inspires musicians to write and sing the blues. Discover the most collected and trending delta blues music. Delta blues is one of the earliestknown styles of blues. He created an essential body of blues guitar music, recording 29 songs in 1936 and 1937 that would exert a powerful influence on the likes of eric clapton, jimi hendrix, keith richards, johnny winter and. Here komara and johnson answer the question of not only what is a blues book, but which ones are worth owning. Blues delta blues delta blues the delta blues style comes from a region in the southern part of mississippi, a place romantically referred to as the land where the blues were born. We are in the post history of the blues, and at this point we might as well set some requirements, guards against benign nonsense, for new books on all blues, but especially delta blues. American cornerstone influencing everyone from the rolling stones to cassandra wilson, the blues recordings that came out of the mississippi delta from the late 1920s. This book is about clarksdale, a small town in mississippi, usa, and how the local community has revitalised the longdilapidated downtown, with the renewal based on the towns intimate association with blues music and the culture that flows through the mississippi delta. Delta blues is characterised by insistent repeated guitar riffs, and heart rending vocal lines that owe a lot to the work songs and field hollers that the audience, and players, heard around them every day. New orleans was a popular center for jazz, especially in the 1920s. The delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. By the midtwenties the jukejoints, dances and fishfries in every little town in the delta, were moving to the sound of the blues. Mar 08, 2007 the early masters of american blues series provides the unique opportunity to study the true roots of modern blues.
Buy a cheap copy of delta blues book by carolyn haines. Here, we look at five essential delta blues albums every aficionado should have on their shelf. New orleans blues, is a subgenre of blues music and a variation of louisiana blues that developed in the 1940s and 1950s in and around the city of new orleans, rooted by the rich blues roots of the city going back generations earlier. Alfred beginning delta blues guitar bookdvd woodwind. Artists like tony joe white, john fogerty, eric clapton and tab benoit have certainly put their spin on delta blues.
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