oda
71 posts
Apr 19, 2009
9:17 AM
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Have you read any good blues related books?
I will be getting:
"Blues with a feeling: the little walter story" by Tony Glover &...
and
"Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta" by Robert Palmer
and
"R L's Dream" by Walter Mosley
and of course Adam's memoirs.
anything else to that list? anything worthwhile! interview, memoir, bio, history.
Last Edited by on Apr 19, 2009 9:18 AM
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isaacullah
187 posts
Apr 19, 2009
5:03 PM
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"The Muddy Waters Story" was a really good read, as was "Blues: the Basics". "The Story of Chess Records" was not that great--not much more than an extended discography with a little backstory thrown on top. Adam's books are tops!
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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MindApe
5 posts
Apr 19, 2009
5:46 PM
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Sonny Terry's "Country Blues Harmonica" is a half autobiography/instructional-tab book. The autobiography is fabulous. It keeps most of Sonny's colloquialisms so if you're at all familiar with the way he talks, you feel like he's narrating it to you. It has some very memorable moments...Sonny's not as innocent as you might think, even for a blind guy with a nice smile, as he's still a thorough bluesman. Particularly memorable are numerous occasions when Sonny tries to shoot people, once with a pistol, and again with a shot gun. (He ends up getting a guy in the rear, which is pretty good IMO for a blind fella.)
The tabs are good too, though they take a bit of getting used to. If you can do most of the licks in Tom Ball's Sonny Terry book then this one is the next level, as it points out a few of the subtleties.
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kudzurunner
371 posts
Apr 19, 2009
6:17 PM
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I like Elijah Wald's ESCAPING THE DELTA. It's a good antidote to romanticized versions of blues history.
You might also take a look at my second book, SEEMS LIKE MURDER HERE: SOUTHERN VIOLENCE AND THE BLUES TRADITION.
David Honeyboy Edwards's THE WORLD DON'T OWE ME NOTHING is, for my money, the best blues autobiography. But Mance Lipscomb's I SAY ME FOR A PARABLE is terrific in its own way, although it's harder to read because the ghostwriter, Glenn Alyn, has rendered Lipscomb's voice in an unusual, semi-phonetic way.
The greatest American blues playwright, August Wilson, has a couple of zingers: MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM and SEVEN GUITARS.
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Buzadero
62 posts
Apr 19, 2009
8:03 PM
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"The Land Where The Blues Began", Alan Lomax.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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DanP
78 posts
Apr 19, 2009
9:40 PM
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Chasin' That Devil Music by Gayle Dean Wardlow is an excellent book about pre-war Mississippi Delta blues. It is a collection of essays and articles about Charlie Patton, Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson, Bukka White and other early bluesmen and women. It also contains a lot of information about Paramount Records and the blues people who recorded for that label. It also includes a CD of rare early blues recordings. As for books on post-war Chicago blues, one of my favorites is Chicago Blues by Mike Rowe which was also published under the title Chicago Breakdown.
Last Edited by on Apr 19, 2009 9:50 PM
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Elwood
26 posts
Apr 20, 2009
8:48 AM
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Not really a biography but Sonny and Brownie do a great little walk down memory lane on their version of 'On The Road Again', in which they do mention the time Sonny Terry pulled his .38 on some guy.
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harmonicanick
249 posts
Apr 20, 2009
10:05 AM
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Not blues but rock/jazz
The Autobiography by Bill Bruford the drummer with Yes and King Crimson
Bill provides fascinating insight into playing with super groups in the 70's
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