Nothing But the Blues : The Music and the Musicians - Softcover

Cohn, Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0789206072 ISBN 13: 9780789206077

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 1999

Synopsis

It is our most passionate music, rooted in ancient Africa but brought to blossom in America at the doorstep of the twentieth century. It is a living heritage of song born in poverty, persecution, and hard labor, born of love and love betrayed, of holiness and sin, the pleasures and the pains of the flesh, the experience of tragedy, comedy, drunkenness, despair, desolation, and pure joy. It is the blues.

At root, the blues is rich in its simplicity, but it has flowered across the years in a variety of rare complexity. Perhaps no form of popular art is more immediately appealing than the blues, yet so rewards a thorough knowledge of its finer points. In eleven authoritative essays commissioned especially for the book, Nothing But the Blues traces the African-American origins of the music, its early development as popular entertainment, its early recorded manifestations, its regional differentiation (Mid-South, Tidewater-Piedmont, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles), its many stylistic dimensions, and its contemporary manifestations. Country blues, urban blues, the evolution of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, and the blues revival are all fully covered.
But the written history is only part of the story. Blues fans have always treasured rare photographs of their heroes, and Nothing But the Blues is gloriously illustrated with posed and candid shots of the musicians as well as photographs of such one-of-a-kind artifacts and documents as Leadbelly's NYPD rap sheet and classic recording contracts. Nothing But the Blues features an introduction by one of the genre's living legends, B. B. King, and a comprehensive "best of the best" discography, including current and rereleased recordings as well as the collectors' treasures to go after.

Blues is more popular than ever before. Not only are reissues of historical blues classics selling in unprecedented numbers, but a whole new crop of vital young blues artists is active in clubs and on record today. Nothing But the Blues is a lavishly illustrated comprehensive history of the music and the musicians, as well as the promoters, producers, and others who have shaped--and continue to shape--this powerful and enduringly popular American musical art form.

About this title

About the Author:

Blues historian Lawrence Cohn is the producer of a massive blues reissue project undertaken by Sony Music/Legacy Recordings. The premiere two-CD set in the series, featuring the music of blues giant Robert Johnson, not only earned Cohn a Grammy award, but has sold some half-million copies in the U.S. alone--an unprecedented number for a historical reissue.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Foreword by B. B. King

I first met Larry Cohn in 1969, after having read a most favorable article he wrote about me and my career as it was at that time. It wasnt too hard to see that not only was he interested in my music, he was interested in the blues, period. Well, lots of time has passed since that meeting. Many nights have been spent on the road touring. Ive made lots and lots of records, had--like everyone else--high points and low points, but what has always stayed the same has been the blues. The thrill may be gone for other things, but not for the blues.

It has been a long haul. From Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton to Son House and Robert Johnson, from Lightnin Hopkins and Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton and Johnny Winter, to Robert Cray and the many other blues players and singers. Some recorded, some never did. Some traveled and performed, some stayed at home. But whatever the way, the tradition has carried on. In many cases, it had to take a European detour before some Americans would recognize their own music, but I feel that it is now firmly entrenched in the consciousness not only of Americans, but of music lovers throughout the world.

This book will take the reader on an adventure--an adventure through the "houses of the blues," where many different individuals will be encountered. Some are colorful, some are mysterious, all are interesting.

So, read on, knowing full well that the blues is alive and well and will be so when you finish this lovingly presented portrait of the music and the musicians.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0789206072
• ISBN 13: 9780789206077
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432