RED RIVER BLUES: THE BLUES TRADITION IN THE SOUTHEAST.

The complete story of the origins and evolution of the black American blues tradition, drawing extensively on oral history interviews.

English folklorist Bruce Bastin has written a history of the blues tradition in the Southern Atlantic states. Drawing on extensive interviews and primary sources, he focuses more on the performers than on the music. After describing the sociocultural context of the tradition, the author provides biographical details of its major practioners, mentioning in passing every performer he has been able to identify. The wealth of detail provided is impressive, and serious folklore collections will want this volume. The author's tendency to catalog information, however, leads to a lack of narrative cohesion; the general reader will find this slow going. Bruce Hulse, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.