Authentic Blues - Its History and Its Themes

This translation of Robert Springer's Le blues authentique (1985, Editions Filipacchi) surveys the history and development of the blues in the United States. It analyzes its evolution in relation to the history of African Americans in the South during the post-slavery period and during their successive migrations to urban centers like Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It tackles the problem of stylistic characteristics and social aspects of the blues by analyzing the lyrics of hundreds of blues songs recorded between the 1920s and 1950s and underlining the various changes in themes. This in-depth study documents the history of the blues and also focuses on its social aspects and on the authenticity of its impact on both black and white segments of American society and popular culture from the 1920s to the present.

Robert Springer is a professor of English at the University of Metz in Longeville les Metz, France. He is the author of Authentic Blues: Its History and Its Themes and the editor of The Lyrics in African American Popular Music.