Folk & Blues: The Encyclopedia: The Premier Encyclopedia Of American Roots Music - Hardcover

Stambler, Irwin; Stambler, Lyndon

9780312200572: Folk & Blues: The Encyclopedia: The Premier Encyclopedia Of American Roots Music

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312200579 ISBN 13: 9780312200572

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2001

Folk and blues remain vibrant and alive today and have been enjoying a new boom as audiences rediscover such blues performers as Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, and Bessie Smith, and folk artists like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan. The excitement and impact of these musical forms are the focus of this extensively revised and updated third edition of Folk and Blues: The Encyclopedia. It covers a spectrum of artists, from the pioneers at the turn of the twentieth century to the stars of today: Keb' Mo', Altan the Chieftains, Ani DiFranco, Ry Cooder, Sarah McLachlan, Wilco, John Prine, and Los Lobos, to name a few. Folk and Blues: the Encyclopedia contains:

-Interviews with many of today's top artists
-Extensive awards information from the Grammys, the Folk Alliance, and the Blues Foundation
-Photos of the most important folk and blues artists of the twentieth century
-The first comprehensive index of folk and blues music

Unlike any other book currently on the market, Folk and Blues: The Encyclopedia covers the rich roots of American music, as pioneered by African Americans and European immigrants, and its influence on almost every facet of today's popular music around the globe. This encyclopedia provides insight into why folk and blues are distinct fields of their own but interact in many ways to provide important additions to America's musical heritage. This is a unique and highly readable reference that belongs on the desks of music critics and music lovers everywhere.

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About the Author:

Irwin Stambler has been writing about music since the mid-1960s. Folk and Blues: The Encyclopedia is his fifth volume in the series for St. Martin's Press, which has also included the Encyclopedia of Pop Music, Encyclopedia of Folk, Country, and Western Music, Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock, and Soul, and Country Music: The Encyclopedia. Irwin lives in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife, Connie, a talented artist who has contributed sketches to some of his books. His son, Lyndon Stambler, has worked as a writer and journalist for The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times and was a contributor to Country Music: The Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock, and Soul. Since 1990, Lyndon has been a staff correspondent for People Weekly's Los Angeles Bureau, where his work has included interviews in the music field and album reviews. He now lives in Culver City, California, with his wife, Terry Silberman, who works with South Los Angeles Health Projects.

From Library Journal:

Following two previous Irwin Stambler solo works (The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul and Country Music: The Encyclopedia), this well-done effort will serve as a more than adequate resource for fans and researchers of American folk and blues music. It will be most useful to those looking for an initial in on a particular artist or group or to satisfy a ready-reference need for an all-encompassing encyclopedic-type entry. The entries of many, if not most, of those profiled actually amount to mini-bios, some based on interviews with the performers, others written in cooperation with other experts. The Stamblers give solid coverage to most mainline folk and blues artists, old and new, as well as artists less associated with these genres, such as Dave Alvin and Hoyt Axton. Questions can be raised about criteria, particularly when one finds no entry for Johnny Cash (country and folk, most certainly) but one for Hootie and the Blowfish (rock or pop). Nevertheless, the writing is excellent and informative throughout, making this book a joy just to leaf through or to use for serious research. Some inclusion concerns aside, this is a good purchase where interest warrants."David M. Turkalo, Suffolk Univ. Law Sch. Lib., Boston
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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