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... to preserve,
promote and perpetuate the Blues Tradition ...
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Recommended Readings
& Discography
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This listing
of recommended readings provides a fairly complete library of the history of the Blues and
is a good place to start your education -- especially if you are a new Blues enthusiast.
If you have any suggestions for inclusion in this list we welcome your comments. Recent
addtions to the list are at the bottom. Books available from Amazon.com are
linked with our "special" link ... so if you are in the market to buy, please
use our book specific links (click on the underlined titles). If you need more information
about Amazon.com
before you buy, please visit the links from their home page. (But if you need a
recommendation, consider this it ... I have bought from them on the web, and was extremely
pleased!)Some of the books listed here
are generally available from your Free Public Library, others you may be able to get from http://www.amazon.com
("The World's Largest Bookstore", they can help you locate out-of-print books).
Use this search link to look for specific books or use the specific links in our list to
earn us more commission for your purchase:
A brief description is provided when information was
available. Several books include a discography. Use your browser's FIND feature to search
for the word discography. Several books are noted as ESSENTIAL READING, use
your FIND feature to search for those.
If you are in the mood for tunes, link
to Amazon.com![Amazon90X29-b-logo.gif (1685 bytes)](images/MiscLogos/Amazon90X29-b-logo.gif)
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Also check out the Best Blues
Page
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Blues
for Dummies
by Lonnie Brooks, Cub Koda, Wayne Baker BrooksPaperback - 372 pages Book & Cd edition (August
1998)
- 372 pages Book & Cd edition (August
1998)
IDG Books Worldwide; ISBN: 0764550802 ;
Dimensions (in inches): 1.06 x 9.30 x 7.45
Amazon Price: $19.99
Filled with information on the great blues singers,
songwriters and musicians and a list of the most essential blues records of all time, this
book takes music lovers on a journey from the Mississippi Delta to Memphis to Chicago and
points beyond. The CD features a discussion of the blues by blues guitar legend Lonnie
Brooks. |
- Back Woods Blues -
Compiled by Simon Napier
Blues Unlimited Publication 1968
A brief pamphlet covering an interesting cross section of blues musicians by various well
known blues authors.
- Living Country Blues
- Harry Oster
Minerva Press 1969
A detailed study of country blues emphasizing the themes and lyrics of the music.
- Beale Street USA Where
The Blues Began
Blues Unlimited Publication 1967
- Recording the Blues
- Robert Dixon & John Goodrich
Stein and Day 1970
A concise pre-war history of the record companies that recorded the early blues and the
people they recorded.
- Crying for the
Carolinas - Bruce Bestin
Studio Vista 1971
Field research of the blues covering the Carolinas, North Georgia and legacy of Blind Boy
Fuller.
- Savannah Syncopators -
African Retentions In The Blues - Paul Owen
Stein and Day 1970
An examination based on field studies of the African element in the blues.
- Memphis Blues and Jug
Bands - Bengt Olsson
Studio Vista 1970
A history of the blues musicians and jug bands of the Memphis scene and Beale Street.
- Ma Rainey and
The Classic Blues Singers - Derrick Stewart-Baxter
Stein and Day 1970
A discussion of the "Classic" women singers of the twenties who first put the
blues on record.
- The Listeners Guide to
the Blues - Peter Guralnick
Facts on File 1982
A survey of an evaluation of Blues LP's categorized by region, periods and musicians;
makes a good discography for the blues.
- The Roots of the Blues
an African Search - Samuel Charters
M. Boyars 1981
Charters documents his search in West Africa of cultural, instrumental and musical
derivations to the blues.
- The Spirituals and the
Blues: An Interpretation - James Cone
Seeburg Press 1972 (Greenwood Press 1980)
- Listen to the Blues
- Bruce Cook
Scribner's Sons 1973
A good overview of the history of the blues with profiles of the bluesmen and the
importance of the music in American history.
- Deep Blues
- Robert Palmer
Viking 198
An excellent account of the history of the Blues from the rural beginnings to the south
side of Chicago with a brief discography.
* ESSENTIAL READING *
- Black, Whites and Blues
- Tony Russell
Stein and Day 1970
An historical examination of the complex relationship between the black and white folk
music traditions and their importance to the blues.
- Blues from the
Delta - William Ferris
Studio Vista 1970 (Anchor Press Doubleday 1978)
A documentary on the blues and specific musicians of the Mississippi Delta with
transcriptions of a house party and a discography.
- Blues Who's Who:
A Biographical Dictionary of Blues Singers - Sheldon Harris
Arlington House 1979 / 1988
An extensive research that includes 571 biographies and 400 photos which lists each
performer alphabetically with an abbreviated account of the events in their careers.
- White Boy
Singin' the Blues - Michael Bane
Penguin Books 1992
A chronicle of the adoption, imitation and alteration of black musical styles by whites
from Beale Street to New Wave.
- The Bluesmen:
The Story and the Music of the Men Who Made the Blues - Samuel Charters
Oak Publications 1967 (1977)
(also available from Amazon.com as: The Blues
Makers: Containing Reprints of Two Titles : The Bluesmen and Sweet As the Showers of Rain
1991)
An excellent exploration of the personal, social and musical backgrounds of the great
Mississippi, Alabama and Texas bluesmen.
- The Legacy of
the Blues: Glimpse Into The Art and Lives of Twelve Great Bluesmen - Samuel
Charters
Da Capo Press 1988
Each chapter provides an insight into the lives of 12 immense bluesmen based on
interviews. The book grew out of a series of LP's on Sonet Records.
- Sweet As The
Showers of Rain - Samuel Charters
Oak Publications 1979
(also available from Amazon.com as: The Blues
Makers: Containing Reprints of Two Titles : The Bluesmen and Sweet As the Showers of Rain
1991)
A study of regional post-war blues styles including Tennessee, Memphis, Atlanta, Atlantic
Coast and the Carolinas.
- Right On: From Blues to
Soul in Black America - Michael Havalambos
Drake Publications 1975
Republished as: Soul Music The Birth of A Sound in Black America
Da Capo 1985
A study of the development of soul music from the blues during the 50's and 60's and the
power or black radio stations.
- Blues
People: Negro Music in White America - Imamu Amiri Baraka, et al
William Morrow & Co. 1983
A musical and sociological study which explains that the beginnings of the blues music
began with the American negro culture.
- Urban Blues
- Charles Keil
University of Chicago Press 1992
Written about the expressive male role of the contemporary bluesman within the urban
lower-class negro culture.
- Stomping the
Blues - Albert Murray
McGraw-Hill 1989
An overview of blues music as it relates to the classic, swing and jazz traditions;
includes lots of good photographs.
- The Devil's
Music: A History of the Blues - Giles Oakley
Taplinger Publishing Co. 1997
A good primer on the historical development of the blues with fine illustrations and
lyrics.
- Aspects of the Blues
Tradition - Paul Oliver
Oak Publications 1970
- The Story of the
Blues - Paul Oliver
Chilton Book Co. 1997
A very exciting and thorough book on the blues with a complete story from its birth to
today, illustrated with excellent photographs and a discography.
* ESSENTIAL READING *
- "Sounds So Good To
Me" The Bluesmen's Story - Barry Lee Pearson
University of Pennsylvania Press 1984
A collective portrait of 21 bluesmen's careers as told through their interviews and
autobiographies.
- Chicago Breakdown -
Mike Rowe
Drake Publishers 1975
Republished as: Chicago Blues The City & The Music
Da Capo 1981 (1986)
A well illustrated history of a distinct style of urban blues and the dozens of black
musicians who came our of the south and west sides of Chicago, with discography.
- Honkers and Shouters:
The Golden Years of Rhythm & Blues - Arnold Shaw
MacMillan Publishing Co. 1978
An excellent history of R & B as an indigenous black art form and style with an
emphasis on the musicians, writers and singing groups that created it and the record
companies that nurtured it; discography included.
- Blues -
Robert Neff & Anthony Connor
David R. Goodine Publisher 1975
An inspired mingling of quotes from scores of blues musicians with excellent informal
photographs.
- Big Star Fallin' Mama:
Five Women in Black Music - Hettie Jones
Viking Press 1974
A narrative about Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday and Aretha
Franklin presenting their personality, music and the times.
- The Blues Line: A
Collection of Blues Lyrics - Eric Seckheim
Schirmer Books 1969
The lyrics of 270 blues songs that represent every major blues artist are presented like
poetry with sketches of each musician.
- The Music: Reflections
On Jazz and Blues - Imamu Amiri Bavaka
Morrow 1987
- Blow My Blues
Away - George Mitchell
Louisiana State University Press 1983
- Cousin Joe:
Blues From New Orleans - Cousin Joe & Harriet J. Ottenheimer
University of Chicago Press 1987
A story of Cousin Joe Pleasant's life evolved from 15 years of taped conversations
including the gigs, recording sessions, tours and associations with other famous people.
- Stormy Monday:
The T-Bone Walker Story - Helen Oakley Dance
Louisiana State University Press 1990
This first biography of T-Bone reflects sound research based on dozens of interviews with
Walker; discography included.
- Black Pearls:
Blues Queens of the 1920's - Daphne Duval Harrison
Rutgers University Press 1990
A study of the black women blues singers during the 1920's and how they transformed a folk
tradition into popular music.
- The Country
Blues - Samuel Charters
Rinehart 1959 (Da Capo Press 1975, 1988)
The pioneering study and excellent introduction to the country blues that reconstructs its
evolution and dissemination.
* ESSENTIAL READING *
- The Poetry of the Blues
- Samuel Charters
Oak Publications 1963
An analysis of the themes of the blues lyrics and verses.
- The Meaning of the
Blues - Paul Oliver
Hergon Press 1965
This book compiles recorded interviews from 65 blues singers to present their lives,
homes, work and musical heritage.
- Blues Records 1943-1966
- Mike Leadbetter & Neil Slaven
Oak Publications 1968
A definitive discography of over 1,000 blues musicians that is an encyclopedia of more
than two decades of recorded blues. An updated discography titled "Blues Records
1943-1970" Vol. 1 (A to K) has just been published. Vol. 2 will be available later
this year.
- Nothing But The
Blues - Lawrence Cohn, et al
Abbeyville Press September 1993
* ESSENTIAL READING *
- Nothing But The Blues
- Mike Leadbetter
Oak Publications 1971
A book of reports, anecdotes, interviews and photographs compiled from the writers of
Blues Unlimited Magazine.
- Feel Like
Going Home: Portraits In Blues & Rock 'N' Roll - Peter Guralnick
E.P. Dutton 1971
A book of profiles that trace the development of the blues from traditional country roots
up through Memphis, Chicago and early days of rock 'n' roll with a selected discography.
- The Blues Revival -
Bob Groom
Studio Vista 1971
Survey of the expanding popularity of the blues describing research, rediscoveries and
recordings.
- Beale Black &
Blues Life and Music on Black America's Mean Street - Margaret McKee & Fred
Chrisenhall
Louisiana State University Press
- Big Road Blues -
Traditions & Creativity in the Folk Blues - David Evans
Da Capo 1982 (1987)
A study of the processes of the folk blues tradition and composition done through
fieldwork research.
- Red River Blues -
Bruce Bestin
MacMillan 1986
A definitive story of the origins and evolutions of the black American blues tradition in
south eastern America drawing on oral history interviews.
- Black Music - Dean
Tudor & Nancy Tudor
Libraries Unlimited 1979
A survey and buying guide to blues, rhythm 'n' blues, gospel, soul and reggae music on
LP's with nearly 1/2 of the book devoted to the blues.
- The Arrival of
B.B. King - The Authorized Biography
Doubleday & Co. 1988
A psychological, sociological and musical study of the most famous blues singer and
guitarist of our time with discography.
- Blues and The
Poetic Spirit - Paul Garon
Eddison Bluesbooks 1996
Louisville native takes a fresh look at the poetry and spirit of the blues bringing
together psychology, psychoanalysis and surrealism.
- Blues Off The
Record: Thirty Years of Blues Commentary - Paul Oliver
Da Capo Press 1988
A collection of essays and critiques written over 30 years. The book is arranged in
sections or origin, guitar players, cities and piano players.
- Early Downhome
Blues A Musical and Cultural Analysis - Jeff Todd Titon
University of Illinois Press 1995
An application of the techniques of anthropology, linguistics, history, musicology and
popular culture to studying rural blues.
- Bessie Smith - Paul
Oliver (Kings of Jazz Series)
A.S. Barnes and Co. 1971
Introduction to the life of Bessie Smith, the greatest jazz singer of her day with
discography.
- Robert Johnson
- Samuel Charters
Oak Publications 1979
The story of Johnson's elusive life and influential music with remembrances by musicians
who knew him and musical transcriptions.
- Blues Guitarists -
Various
Guitar Players Productions 1975
A collection of 19 interviews and articles reprinted from Guitar Player Magazine.
- Up From The
Cradle of Jazz - New Orleans Music Since W.W. II - Jason Berry, Jonathan Foose and
Tad Jones
The University of Georgia Press 1992
- Meeting The
Blues / The Ris of the Texas Sound - Alan Grovenar
Taylor Publishing Co. 1995
A chronicle of the rise of the Texas blues sound through excellent photographs and oral
history. Individual biographies grouped by the various regions of Texas is the format of
the text with a selected discography.
- Searching for
Robert Johnson - Peter Guralnick
Dutton Publishing 1989
83 pages - $15 at the Chicago House of Blues bookstore
- Muddy Waters, The Mojo
Man - Sandra B. Tooze
Traces Muddy's life from the 1920's to his death in 1983
- All Music Guide
to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings (All Music Guide
Series) - Michael Erlewine & Vladimir Bogdanov (Editor), Chris Woodstr
Miller Freeman Books September 1996
Listing more than 500 blues artists alphabetically, each with a brief biographical
profile, and reviewing and rating their best recordings -- more than 3,000 in all -- this
comprehensive guide identifies thousands of top-notch CDs, albums, and tapes in all styles
of the blues. Fifteen historical essays plus supplemental "music maps" chart the
roots and evolution of the blues.
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