Literary Question

[Walter Potter]

As far as writing goes, Guralnick is my favorite. He can take a dry
subject and make it interesting. The  "Blues Who's Who" (dry dry dry) is
also dated, dated, dated. And I've been told, wrong in places. I can't
remember what the errors are though. Also it only covers the "front"
person in a group. Many of the great sidemen (& women) are left out.
--
maxdog

bluesfantom wrote:

> My two cents says maxdog is quite right about Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues".
> Good info without being too involved.  Might think of following that up
> down
> the road with Charles Keil's "Urban Blues".  The bio on BB King is pretty
> good, by Charles Sawyer.  And, although rather specific, Marc Ryan's
> "Trumpet Records" is an easy read.  Same with "Mississippi The Blues Today"
> by Robert Nicholson.  Could suggest the first half of "Woman with Guitar:
> Memphis Minnie's Blues" and "King of the Delta Blues" and that thing about
> Skip James.  Can't recall...well, those are rather involved, just like Big
> Road Blues by David Evans.  I still like Guralnick's work.  Might consider
> "The Big Book of Blues" as a beginner's reference; it's much easier to cast
> around for who's who (with some major disappointments) than the All Music
> Guide (rather completist and you can get the same info on-line) or that
> huge "Blues Who's Who" (dry dry dry).
>
> tom
>
>
>> I think Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues" is a fine place to start. I didn't
>> find it too academic at all. It was the first book solely devoted to the
>> blues that I read. I found "The Land Where the Blues Began" boring and a
>> bit too self-absorbed. For more narrow views of the blues, "The Search
>> for
>> Robert Johnson" is a nice quick read, Honeyboy Edwards' "The World Don't
>> Owe Me Nothin'" is great and both the Muddy Waters' biography "I can't be
>> satisfied" and the new Howling Wolf biography, "Moanin' at Midnight" are
>> interesting but maybe a bit too detailed for a newbie. I seem to remember
>> that there is a book titled "Country Blues" which might more closely suit
>> his current interests but I don't remember who wrote it and don't know
>> how
>> good it is. A trip to Amazon.com might help.
>> --
>> maxdog
>>
>>
>>> I have a 19-year-old nephew who's become fascinated with the blues. He
>>> discovered 60s-era folk singers at art school - Phil Ochs, early Dylan,
>>> Tom Rush, etc. and worked his way back to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. I
>>> introduced him to the blues by sneaking him into local clubs, and he
>>> decided to go back to the beginning in that genre too and has been
>>> listening to Son House, John Hurt and Fred McDowell. I'd like to get him
>>> a book for Christmas and am wondering what would be the best one in
>>> terms of history. Deep Blues? The Land Where Blues Began? Lost Highway?
>>> Any input would be appreciated.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Mary Lou Sullivan
>>>
>
> Archives & web interface: http://lists.netspace.org/archives/blues-l.html
> NetSpace LISTSERV(R) software donated by L-Soft, Inc.
> http://www.lsoft.com
> To unsubscribe from BLUES-L, send an email with the message UNSUBSCRIBE
> BLUES-L to: listserv@lists.netspace.org
>


--
maxdog

"Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects." -Will Rogers

Archives & web interface: http://lists.netspace.org/archives/blues-l.html
NetSpace LISTSERV(R) software donated by L-Soft, Inc.   http://www.lsoft.com
To unsubscribe from BLUES-L, send an email with the message UNSUBSCRIBE BLUES-L to: listserv@lists.netspace.org