This book, first published in 1982, shows that jazz and blues are music forms that are about individualism, experiment, expression and feeling. From their origin in the work songs and spirituals of America's southern slaves, through to their adaptation to the urban adaptation to the urban environment in Chicago and New Orleans, the author details the social and economic background that saw the birth of the blues and jazz, and introduces and appraises their leading exponents. He shows how African rhythms were combined with an American musical tradition to produce a distinctive style which was to revitalise Western music.

Get your mojo working as you take a musical trip from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago's gritty South Side and points beyond with Blues For Dummies, an insightful, toe-tappin', music lovers' guide to the blues. Popular blues guitarist Lonnie Brooks serves as your tour guide through the life and times of the blues, from the acoustic mystique of Robert Johnson and Son House to the urban blues men and women of today: John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, B.B. King, Etta James, Koko Taylor, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and, of course, Brooks himself.

Blues For Dummies travels from sad to glad, with stops along the way at heartache and despair, hope and joy, on the road to great music. Get hip to the different styles and eras of the blues; discover what makes the blues so blue; find out "Who's Who" among four generations of blues musicians; and make tracks to the best blues clubs on the planet with this great, easygoing reference. Plus, take a listen to some of the greatest blues recordings of all time (from Muddy Waters and Little Walter to Bobby "Blue" Bland, Buddy Guy, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown) on the exclusive audio CD that comes with Blues For Dummies.

The Dorsey brothers were prominent members of the Big Band fraternity in the late thirties, forties, and fifties. Jimmy Dorsey: A Study in Contrasts is a bio-discographical text that spans Jimmy Dorsey's career as a musician, orchestra leader, and composer. The book is a collection of chronological listings of every recording on which Dorsey is believed to have played or have been present, interspersed with brief biographical notations and contemporary historical information that show the close relationship between his talents and his life experiences as well as points out the many contrasts between Jimmy and his brother Tommy in personality, business drive, and musical ability. Each listing contains an abundance of information about the studio, city, and date of the session, the name of the recording group, its personnel and their instruments, plus the matrix number, song title, vocalist (if any) and all the world wide releases known to be in existence (including 78 rpm, 45 rpm, EP, LP, 8-track, cassette, compact disc, and electrical transcription). The listings even include any other titles under which the recording may have been released. In addition to music, motion pictures, radio, and television programs on which Dorsey worked or appeared, the listings contain information about the Broadway musical productions where he was a member of the pit band. In all, over 3000 recordings and appearances are listed, making this an unequaled and minutely detailed reference on Jimmy Dorsey, one of the most influential musicians of the big band era.

Bobby Womack was born on 4 March 1944, and died on 27 June 2014, aged 70. In a career that spanned two centuries and seven decades, the soul singer, songwriter and guitarist carved a niche for himself that has rarely been equalled, and never surpassed. He is, quite simply, irreplaceable. A phenomenally gifted musician, his incredible talent helped him to escape the ghetto and become a star, with 30 million record sales to his name. Yet behind his beautiful music lay a life scorched by tragedy. Having trod the harsh edge of the music business for decades, he finally told his explosive story in Midnight Mover. From finding success with his family gospel group The Valentinos and being whipped into shape by James Brown and Jimi Hendrix on the chitlin circuit , to recording with Wilson Pickett, Eric Clapton and Elvis Presley, Womack s stellar career wove a colourful path through the history of soul, rock and R&B music. His collaborations with other musicians read like a roll of honour, from Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles to The Rolling Stones and Damon Albarn. Success came at a price, however. Womack lost his friend and mentor Sam Cooke when the soul star was gunned down in a motel. A doomed marriage to Cooke s widow followed, which severely damaged his reputation in the music business. Tragically, he lost two sons, one to suicide, as well as his brother Harry to a brutal murder. His escape was to turn to drugs. Years of riotous abuse took their toll on Womack and those closest to him including Janis Joplin, who spent her last night drinking with the singer. But Womack s talent, searing guitar and soulful voice always survived. Cited as an influence by myriad musicians, even in death he remains the epitome of cool. Honest, insightful and unflinching, this is the authentic voice of the Midnight Mover, a supremely talented legend of music whose every day was lived to the full.

EHow to Play Blues GuitarE gives you vital instruction in blues basics from top guitar teachers and reveals the screts of blues greats often in their own words. Revised and expanded with 32 pages of new lessons and packed with musical examples charts and photos this is your complete step-by-step course for learning acoustic or electric blues guitar. In-depth lessons with pros like Andy Ellis Jesse Gress and Arlen Roth teach you to build your own style while exploring the music of traditional bluesmen and modern stars. You'll learn the styles of B.B. King Eric Clapton John Lee Hooker T-Bone Walker Albert collins Michael Bloomfield Buddy Guy Hubert Sumlin Robben Ford and more.

Through images of hands, this book conveys the strength, beauty, diversity, depth, and power of the blues, the root of all American music. It features photographs from Joseph A. Rosen's 30-plus years of adventure in blues and music photography. Included are such noted music personalities as B.B. King, Gary Clark, Jr., Buddy Guy, Al Green, Willie King, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, The Blind Boys of Alabama, James Brown. The book holds rich treasures for lovers of music, photography, and the human form. One need not be deeply versed in the blues to appreciate the beauty, strength, and diversity of those who make it. With powerful imagery, as well as anecdotes and biographical information, Blues Hands tells a story of human experience.

It remains one of the most remarkable breakthroughs in music history. The nervous and dishevelled figure who played his punk-blues song 'Dog House Boogie' before Jools Holland and his dumbstruck Hootenanny audience that New Year's Eve 2006 seemed to have emerged from nowhere. Apparently a sixty-five-year-old former hobo, Steve played his trademark threestring guitar (aka The Three-String Trance Wonder) and stomped on a wooden box with a Mississippi motorcycle plate stuck on (aka The Mississippi Drum Machine). His Norwegian studio had recently failed, he'd had a heart attack, and he was only known among a tiny community of hardcore blues fans, yet by the next morning he was famous. His album Dog House Music, recorded in his kitchen, sold out overnight. 2007 brought a MOJO, Reading and Glastonbury, and 2008 worldwide success and his major label debut. The rest, they say, is history. Or perhaps not. Everyone loved the grit and authenticity of Steve's songs about life on the road. His roots in the Deep South were celebrated across the media, and BBC Four took Steve round Mississippi for a documentary. But look a little closer, and a very different musical - and personal - journey rears its head. In this groundbreaking new biography, Matthew Wright draws on new information and some musical collaborators to create a startling life story, teasing out crucial details to turn the regular story of a hobo's wanderings in the wilderness on its head and bring Seasick Steve's life in from the cold. The real Steve was not a blue-collar amateur who got lucky, but a committed professional, steeped in a variety of ever-changing, era-defining musical traditions throughout his life, from the moment his dad played him boogie-woogie piano as a baby. This is a career that's touched an astonishing range of lives, from Albert King and Lighnin' Hopkins to Jimi Hendrix, from Janis Joplin to Kurt Cobain and Slash of Guns N' Roses. Ramblin' Man tells the tale of the extraordinary life of this musical polymath, as he wound a course through some of the most epochal moments in music history of the twentieth century. The myth was astonishing; the real story is even better.

The Definitive Jazz & Blues Encyclopedia, now fully updated from the illustrated edition, is the ultimate guide to two musical styles that have fundamentally influenced popular music. Divided into chapters, each covering a different era, the book traces the evolution of jazz and blues from their nineteenth-century African-American origins right through to the present day. Each chapter starts with a Sounds & Sources section, looking at the key developments in the music during that period. This is followed by an A-Z of artists from that era, with more extensive entries on key artists that include recommended classic recordings. With further sections on Styles, covering everything from Ragtime to Bebop and Texas Blues to Rhythm & Blues, and more; and Instruments, all written by a team of experts, this invaluable encyclopedia is comprehensive, easy to use and highly informative.

The most comprehensive single-volume blues publication ever, with songs spanning the entire history of the genre. Every major blues artist is well-represented, including Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Billie Holiday, Leadbelly, Alberta Hunter, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Witherspoon, Bessie Smith, Sonny Boy Williamson, and scores of others. Features very easy-to-read engravings of 400 fantastic songs, including: All Your Love (I Miss Loving) * Angel Eyes * Baby Please Don't Go * Basin Street Blues * Beale Street Blues * Bell Bottom Blues * Black Coffee * Crossroads * Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans * Everyday (I Have the Blues) * Fine and Mellow * Folsom Prison Blues * A Good Man Is Hard to Find * Hellhound on My Trail * (I) Can't Afford to Do It * I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues * Ice Cream Man * Lady Sings the Blues * Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) * Lucille * Mean Woman Blues * My First Wife Left Me * Nine Below Zero * Oh! Darling * Road Runner * Royal Garden Blues * St. Louis Blues * Steamroller Blues * Stormy Weather * Sweet Home Chicago * Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do * The Thrill Is Gone * Worried Man Blues * hundreds more!

Following the Drums: African American Fife and Drum Music in Tennessee is an epic history of a little-known African American instrumental music form. John M. Shaw follows the music from its roots in West Africa and early American militia drumming to its prominence in African American communities during the time of Reconstruction, both as a rallying tool for political militancy and a community music for funerals, picnics, parades, and dances. Carefully documenting the music's early uses for commercial advertising and sports promotion, Shaw follows the strands of the music through the nadir of African American history during post-Reconstruction up to the form's rediscovery by musicologists and music researchers during the blues and folk revival of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although these researchers documented the music, and there were a handful of public performances of the music at festivals, the story has a sad conclusion. Fife and drum music ultimately died out in Tennessee during the early 1980s. Newspaper articles from the period and interviews with music researchers and participants reawaken this lost expression, and specific band leaders receive the spotlight they so long deserved. Following the Drums is a journey through African American history and Tennessee history, with a fascinating form of music powering the story.

Steve Cushing, the award-winning host of the nationally syndicated public radio staple "Blues before Sunrise," has spent over thirty years observing and participating in the Chicago blues scene. In" Pioneers of the Blues Revival," he interviews many of the prominent white researchers and enthusiasts whose advocacy spearheaded the blues' crossover into the mainstream starting in the 1960s.
Opinionated and territorial, the American, British, and French interviewees provide fascinating first-hand accounts of the era and movement. Experts including Paul Oliver, Gayle Dean Wardlow, Sam Charters, Ray Flerledge, Paul Oliver, Richard K. Spottswood, and Pete Whelan chronicle in their own words their obsessive early efforts at cataloging blues recordings and retrace lifetimes spent loving, finding, collecting, reissuing, and producing records. They and nearly a dozen others recount relationships with blues musicians, including the discoveries of prewar bluesmen Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Skip James, and Bukka White, and the reintroduction of these musicians and many others to new generations of listeners. The accounts describe fieldwork in the South, renew lively debates, and tell of rehearsals in Muddy Waters's basement and randomly finding Lightning Hopkins's guitar in a pawn shop.
Blues scholar Barry Lee Pearson provides a critical and historical framework for the interviews in an introduction.

The harmonica is one of the most important, yet overlooked, instruments in music. This definitive volume celebrates the history of the world's most popular musical device, its impact on various forms of music, folk, country, blues, rock, jazz and classical music. The author traces the development of the harmonica from the ancient Chinese sheng to futuristic harmonica sythesizers. Nearly seventy harmonica masters are profiled including Stevie Wonder, Little Walter, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Reed, Charlie McCoy, Sonny Terry, and John Popper. This updated edition includes an extensive new afterword, an expanded discography of the finest harmonica recordings, and a listing of the best harmonica resources on the internet.

Born to shell-shocked parents in shell-shocked London shortly after the end of World War II, Paul 'Sailor' Vernon came into his own during the 1960s when spotty teenage herberts with bad haircuts began discovering The Blues. For the Sailor it became a lifelong obsession that led him first to record collecting and stalking unsuspecting visiting bluesmen, and then into a whirlwind of activity as a rare record hunter, record dealer, magazine proprietor/editor, video bootlegger and record company director before a variety of personal and business setbacks eventually ushered him into seeking a more stable form of existence. The many twists and turns in the author's roller-coaster adventure of a life are all vividly charted in this hilarious illustrated autobiography. GASP as you read how he road-tripped his way through the Deep South armed only with a Rand McNally map, a Swiss army knife and an emergency jar of Marmite! MARVEL as you absorb in-depth descriptions of legendary performances by long-departed giants of the Blues! CHOKE on your coffee as one rotten gag after another blindsides you! REND YOUR GARMENTS as you realise just how many original Blues 78's went through his sweaty hands! SHOUT "BLIMEY!" within earshot of surprised elderly relatives as you follow the rags-to-riches tale of his extraordinary life! It's all here in this one-of-a-kind life history that will leave you reaching for an enamel bucket and a fresh bottle of disinfectant!

This eclectic compilation of readings tells the history of rock as it has been received and explained as a social and musical practice throughout its six decade history. This third edition includes new readings across the volume, with added material on the early origins of rock 'n' roll as well as coverage of recent developments, including the changing shape of the music industry in the twenty-first century. With numerous readings that delve into the often explosive issues surrounding censorship, copyright, race relations, feminism, youth subcultures, and the meaning of musical value, The Rock History Reader continues to appeal to scholars and students from a variety of disciplines. New to the third edition: Nine additional chapters from a broad range of perspectives Explorations of new media formations, industry developments, and the intersections of music and labor For the first time, a companion website providing users with playlists of music referenced in the book Featuring readings as loud, vibrant, and colorful as rock 'n' roll itself, The Rock History Reader is sure to leave readers informed, inspired, and perhaps even infuriated-but never bored.

(Guitar Recorded Versions). 14 of this blues/rock axe master's transcriptions, from his Thin Lizzy days as well as his solo career. Songs: Bad for You Baby * Cold Day in Hell * Empty Rooms * The Loner * Midnight Blues * Oh Pretty Woman * Out in the Fields * Over the Hills and Far Away * Parisienne Walkways * Since I Met You Baby * Still Got the Blues * Texas Strut * Victims of the Future * Walking by Myself.

The study of jazz comes of age with this anthology. One of the first books to consider jazz outside of established critical modes, Jazz Among the Discourses brings together scholars from an array of disciplines to question and revise conventional methods of writing and thinking about jazz. Challenging "official jazz histories," the contributors to this volume view jazz through the lenses of comparative literature; African American studies; music, film, and communication theory; English literature; American studies; history; and philosophy. With uncommon rigor and imagination, their essays probe the influence of various discourses-journalism, scholarship, politics, oral history, and entertainment-on writing about jazz. Employing modes of criticism and theory that have transformed study in the humanities, they address questions seldom if ever raised in jazz writing: What are the implications of building jazz history around the medium of the phonograph record? Why did jazz writers first make the claim that jazz is an art? How is an African American aesthetic articulated through the music? What are the consequences of the interaction between the critic and the jazz artist? How does the improvising artist navigate between chaos and discipline? Along with its companion volume, Representing Jazz, this versatile anthology marks the arrival of jazz studies as a mature, intellectually independent discipline. Its rethinking of conventional jazz discourse will further strengthen the position of jazz studies within the academy.Contributors. John Corbett, Steven B. Elworth, Krin Gabbard, Bernard Gendron, William Howland Kenney, Eric Lott, Nathaniel Mackey, Burton Peretti, Ronald M. Radano, Jed Rasula, Lorenzo Thomas, Robert Walser

B. B. King has the blues running through his blood.

Growing up in the rural poverty of the Mississippi Delta, King first experienced the blues at nine years old, when his mother passed away. The man of the house before the end of his first decade, he used this strife as a source of inspiration and launched one of the most celebrated musical careers in American history.

King has led a remarkable life, and this riveting autobiography dramatizes his whirlwind adventures from the Memphis of the forties to the Moscow of the nineties with unflinching candor and sincerity. But most of all, B.B.'s story is the story of the blues--the evolution from country acoustic to urban electric, the birth and explosion of rock 'n' roll--and B.B.'s own long, but ultimately triumphant, struggle for crossover success, during which he remained unwaveringly true to the music of his heart.

An updated new edition of Ted Gioia's acclaimed compendium of jazz standards, featuring 15 additional selections, hundreds of additional recommended tracks, and enhancements and additions on almost every page. Since the first edition of The Jazz Standards was published in 2012, author Ted Gioia has received almost non-stop feedback and suggestions from the passionate global community of jazz enthusiasts and performers requesting crucial additions and corrections to the book. In this second edition, Gioia expands the scope of the book to include more songs, and features new recordings by rising contemporary artists. The Jazz Standards is an essential comprehensive guide to some of the most important jazz compositions, telling the story of more than 250 key jazz songs and providing a listening guide to more than 2,000 recordings. The fan who wants to know more about a tune heard at the club or on the radio will find this book indispensable. Musicians who play these songs night after night will find it to be a handy guide, as it outlines the standards' history and significance and tells how they have been performed by different generations of jazz artists. Students learning about jazz standards will find it to be a go-to reference work for these cornerstones of the repertoire. This book is a unique resource, a browser's companion, and an invaluable introduction to the art form.

This eclectic compilation of readings tells the history of rock as it has been received and explained as a social and musical practice throughout its six decade history. This third edition includes new readings across the volume, with added material on the early origins of rock 'n' roll as well as coverage of recent developments, including the changing shape of the music industry in the twenty-first century. With numerous readings that delve into the often explosive issues surrounding censorship, copyright, race relations, feminism, youth subcultures, and the meaning of musical value, The Rock History Reader continues to appeal to scholars and students from a variety of disciplines. New to the third edition: Nine additional chapters from a broad range of perspectives Explorations of new media formations, industry developments, and the intersections of music and labor For the first time, a companion website providing users with playlists of music referenced in the book Featuring readings as loud, vibrant, and colorful as rock 'n' roll itself, The Rock History Reader is sure to leave readers informed, inspired, and perhaps even infuriated-but never bored.

The life of blues legend Robert Johnson becomes the centerpiece for this innovative look at what many consider to be America's deepest and most influential music genre. Pivotal are the questions surrounding why Johnson was ignored by the core black audience of his time yet now celebrated as the greatest figure in blues history.

Trying to separate myth from reality, biographer Elijah Wald studies the blues from the inside -- not only examining recordings but also the recollections of the musicians themselves, the African-American press, as well as examining original research. What emerges is a new appreciation for the blues and the movement of its artists from the shadows of the 1930s Mississippi Delta to the mainstream venues frequented by today's loyal blues fans.

You ain't nothing but a ""Hound Dog"" ... with these words shouted into the microphone she will always be remembered: Big Mama Thornton. Who is this woman who sang the megahit ""Hound Dog"" before Elvis Presley and who wrote ""Ball & Chain"", the song that catapulted Janis Joplin to sudden fame? The story begins with her first musical attempts in the Hot Harlem Revue as a girl of 14. Then the book follows her journey into the Mecca of Texas Blues, Houston, where Big Mama Thornton met Johnny Otis, with whom she recorded her greatest success-""Hound Dog"". With the slowdown of the blues in the early sixties this book follows Big Mama Thornton's way to California, discusses her struggle to survive and celebrates her grandiose musical comeback in the course of the blues revival and the hippie movement. With the end of the sixties, facing the declining interest in the old school blues, the book shows how Big Mama Thornton found her niche in clubs and festivals in the U.S. and Europe. The book then follows Big Mama Thornton through the seventies and eighties until her untimely death.

Here is the book jazz lovers have eagerly awaited, the second volume of Gunther Schuller's monumental The History of Jazz. When the first volume, Early Jazz, appeared two decades ago, it immediately established itself as one of the seminal works on American music. Nat Hentoff called it "a remarkable breakthrough in musical analysis of jazz," and Frank Conroy, in The New York Times Book Review, praised it as "definitive.... A remarkable book by any standard...unparalleled in the literature of jazz." It has been universally recognized as the basic musical analysis of jazz from its beginnings until 1933.
The Swing Era focuses on that extraordinary period in American musical history--1933 to 1945--when jazz was synonymous with America's popular music, its social dances and musical entertainment. The book's thorough scholarship, critical perceptions, and great love and respect for jazz puts this well-remembered era of American music into new and revealing perspective. It examines how the arrangements of Fletcher Henderson and Eddie Sauter--whom Schuller equates with Richard Strauss as "a master of harmonic modulation"--contributed to Benny Goodman's finest work...how Duke Ellington used the highly individualistic trombone trio of Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, Juan Tizol, and Lawrence Brown to enrich his elegant compositions...how Billie Holiday developed her horn-like instrumental approach to singing...and how the seminal compositions and arrangements of the long-forgotten John Nesbitt helped shape Swing Era styles through their influence on Gene Gifford and the famous Casa Loma Orchestra. Schuller also provides serious reappraisals of such often neglected jazz figures as Cab Calloway, Henry "Red" Allen, Horace Henderson, Pee Wee Russell, and Joe Mooney.
Much of the book's focus is on the famous swing bands of the time, which were the essence of the Swing Era. There are the great black bands--Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Earl Hines, Andy Kirk, and the often superb but little known "territory bands"--and popular white bands like Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsie, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman, plus the first serious critical assessment of that most famous of Swing Era bandleaders, Glenn Miller. There are incisive portraits of the great musical soloists--such as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Bunny Berigan, and Jack Teagarden--and such singers as Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and Helen Forest.

The guitarists' guitarist and the songwriters' songwriter, the legendary Bert Jansch has influenced stars as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Paul Simon, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Donovan, Pete Townshend, Neil Young, Bernard Butler, Beth Orton and Devendra Banhart. Unassuming, enigmatic and completely focused on his music, he has remained singularly resilient to the vagaries of fashion, being rediscovered and revered by new generations of artists every few years. Born in Edinburgh in 1943, Jansch became an inspirational and pioneering figure during Britain's 'folk revival' of the 1960s. In 1967 he formed folk/jazz fusion band Pentangle with John Renbourn and enjoyed international success until they split in 1973, when he returned to a solo career. Surviving alcoholism and heart surgery, Jansch has recently enjoyed a career renaissance - delivering a series of albums from 1995 onwards which have secured his standing as one of the true originals of British music.