Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues [Hardcover] Review

Many Americans have shown a great interest in "roots" music as part of a highly commendable effort to understand our country's life and culture.Much of this interest has, over the years, focused on the blues of the Mississippi Delta and, in particular, on the recordings of singer and guitarist Robert Johnson (1911 -1938). Johnson was an obscure figure in his day and his life and music remain the stuff of legend.He had two recording dates in 1936 and 1937.His music was rediscovered in the 1960s and since that time the sales of his collected recordings have numbered in the millions.
In "Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues" (2004), Elijah Wald offers a compelling study of the blues and of blues historiography focusing on Robert Johnson. Wald tries to correct what he deems to be the prevailing myths about Johnson: that he was a primitive folk artist caught in the Mississippi Delta who recorded and perfected a local traditional form of blues.Wald finds Johnson an ambitious young singer who had studied the blues forms popular in his day.Johnson, Wald argues, wanted to escape the Mississippi Delta and pattern himself on the urban blues singers, in particular Leroy Carr, emanating from the midwest and Chicago.
Wald finds that Johnson displayed a variety of blues styles in his recordings and that he was largely ignored by black music listeners of his day because Johnson's early efforts to capture an urban blues style were basically copies of more successful singers and because his songs in the Delta blues style lacked appeal to the urban and sophisticated black audience of the time.
Johnson's music only became well-known, Wald argues, with the rise of English rock, and with his rediscovery by a largely white audience.The tastes of black music listeners had moved in a mostly different direction towards soul, funk, rap, disco and did not encompass rural blues singers.The fascination of modern listeners with Johnson, according to Wald, is due to a romantic spirit -- a boredom with the life of the everyday -- and a search for a past full of authentic individuals who knew their own wants and needs and who projected themselves in their art.
Wald's book begins with a history of the blues before Robert Johnson focusing on the commercial character the music had at the outset.He gives a great deal of attention to the Blues queens -- Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey -- and to their smooth-voiced male sucessors, particularly Leroy Carr, as mentioned above, and Lonnie Johnson.These singers profoundly influenced Johnson's music and his ambitions to become a popular entertainer and not a cult figure.
The central part of Wald's book consists of a brief biography of Johnson -- summarizing the various speculations on his life -- and of a song-by-song discussion of his recordings.In this discussion, Wald discusses the music with a great deal of intelligence and understanding.He shows very clearly Johnson's debts to his more commercially sucessful predecessors and explains as well the variety of blues styles Johnson encompassed in his songs.
The final portion of the book carries the story of the blues forward beyond Robert Johnson's death.It shows how the music at first evolved into a combo style, again approaching popular music, which took blues into a different direction from Johnson's recordings.The book concludes with a discussion of Johnson's rediscovery, and the discovery of other Delta blues singers, beginning in the 1960's.
Wald clearly knows his material.For all his criticism of the mythmaking cult over Johnson, Wald's love for this music shines through, as he is the first to admit.Upon reading this book, I spent considerable time relistening to Johnson's music and felt I came away with a better understanding and appreciation of it than I had before.The goal of every book about music should be to encourage its readers to return to (or get to know) the songs, or what have you, themselves.The book meets this goal admirably.
There are few books on the blues that manage to be both scholarly, critical, and inspiring and Wald's book is one of these few.I do not find Wald's thesis as unsusual as he claims it to be, but it certainly will be worth exploring by listeners and readers who do not have a large backround in this music.
In music, a fair and careful historical account will in the long run perform a greater service to the music and the artists than will legends and stereotypes.The Delta singers discussed in this book, Robert Johnson, Son House, Skip James, Charley Patton, were musicians of talent.Understanding their story can only increase the listener's appreciation of the blues.

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New Orleans Acoustic Blues Guitar:: The Babe Stovall Era 1964-1974 (Volume 1) [Paperback] Review

This is a complex and dense book, and way too short to satisfy most people's taste. What Collins says in one or two sentences aptly sums up the music politics of the city back in those days. This is the evidence and perspective of just one performer---but the plot of ground he has found for new orleans folk music in the city's jazz history is going to yield huge dividends for those writers coming afterwards. The book is obviously a text book written to accompany some sort of visual instruction. And thus, maybe hard to follow. The 8 song examples are really not enough, and Snooks Eaglin leads do not get much attention.Stovall and Lonnie Johnson material can be found elsewhere, as well. The book at times seems sandwiched in between discocography and references. Collins is aware that he cannot take the reader everywhere. But I agree this is a good place to start.

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Product Description:
The folk era of the mid to late 1960s in New Orleans has received little attention from historians and educators compared to the folk scenes of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.The book focuses on styles of Babe Stovall, Snooks Eaglin, and Lonnie Johnson and is the companion book for a university course on acoustic blues...

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Blues: An Anthology [Paperback] Review

I have to admit that when I received this book it wasn't everything I expected, but I take the full blame. I made assumptions and put it on my wishlist without really reading the description fully. I felt I didn't need to know anything more than that it had illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias and that it was by Handy.

I expected more history and stories rather than actual songs with music, and I expected illustrations throughout.

After receiving it I know now that it is mainly an anthology of songs, and the illustrations are limited to the introduction.

This does nothing to diminish this book as a treasure in my eyes.

Though the Covarubbias illustrations are much fewer than I'd imagined, they still make me breathless to look at them. Truly gorgeous. The music provided by W C Handy is itself history to me. It's just a beautiful book to own.

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Product Description:
Originally published in 1926, a classic collection of great blues songs arranged for piano and voice--the most famous blues collection in history.Among the first black men to write and publish blues music, Handy did more than anyone else to make blues popular and accepted. Includes historical notes, tunes and arrangements, notes for each song, a bibliography, and a chart of guitar chords.Illustrated by reknowned Mexican illustrator Miguel Covarrubias.

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The Rough Guide to Blues 1 (Rough Guide Reference) [Paperback] Review

Lacking satisfactory background knowledge I strongly felt it'd do me well to bone up some on this rich history of the musical tradition called the Blues. In addition to this somewhat romanticized and mysterious past promising to be entertaining to read about I knew that most of the music I've loved as what some may call a middle class white boy comes from the Blues, to one degree or another. I really feel I should know more about these people. I've found "Rough Guide to the Blues" to be a well written, top-notch reference book that provides a solid and through overview of a long, rich cultural history. That's the point of it. Detailed profiles of hundreds of musicians and critical reviews of the best, most influential Blues albums. Tells you what albums and songs to hear, offering lists as well such as 10 best harmonica solos and 10 greatest slide-guitar tracks. Rockers influenced by the Blues are covered as well.

Robert Plant digs it. Says author Nigel Williamson "has transported these angel wraiths into the 21st century - breathing new life into a glorious kaleidoscope of Afro-American music".

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Product Description:
The Rough Guide to Blues gives you the complete lowdown on all the grittiest singers, bottleneck guitarists, belt-it-out divas and wailing harmonica players that made the most influential music of the last century. From music legend B.B. King to folk hero Robert Johnson, the guide includes detailed profiles of hundreds of artists and critical reviews of their best albums. The fascinating story is told in full – how the blues crawled from the Mississippi Delta, went electric in the big cities, and spread across the world – with feature boxes on topics like boogie woogie, gospel and the best blues record labels. Check out the ten greatest slide-guitar tracks – or the ten most miserable "woke up this mornin"s. with the handy playlists that help you to pick'n'choose quick "best ofs" to download to your iPod or MP3 player.

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