Book Review: The Land Where The Blues Began
The Land Where the Blues Began
by Alan Lomax
Copyright 1993
ISBN: 0-679-40424-4
This is a general history of the Blues, written by one of America's premier folk-scholars. Lomax mostly tells the story of how he experienced the Blues, traveling through the American South during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. He also includes background information on the early days of the genre, with a focus on the Mississippi Delta region, which in his phrase is "the land where the Blues began."
Lomax includes interviews with men who were (in his mind) important to how the Blues evolved, and in many cases included transcripts of field recordings that he made of these men talking and playing with their peers and with Lomax himself. Among the prominent Bluesmen profiled are Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Sid Hemphill, Son House, Robert Johnson, Fred McDowell, Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Boy Williamson.
At times Lomax's tone was somewhat condescending towards the artists he is talking about, and at other times he was annoyingly dismissive of all of the other forms of music that have been influenced by the Blues. In general though, this was a wonderful book that I strongly recommend to anyone interested in the history of American music or in African-American history.
Rating: 9 out of 10.
After looking over Lomax's bibliography I updated my To Read Lists.
by Alan Lomax
Copyright 1993
ISBN: 0-679-40424-4
This is a general history of the Blues, written by one of America's premier folk-scholars. Lomax mostly tells the story of how he experienced the Blues, traveling through the American South during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. He also includes background information on the early days of the genre, with a focus on the Mississippi Delta region, which in his phrase is "the land where the Blues began."
Lomax includes interviews with men who were (in his mind) important to how the Blues evolved, and in many cases included transcripts of field recordings that he made of these men talking and playing with their peers and with Lomax himself. Among the prominent Bluesmen profiled are Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Sid Hemphill, Son House, Robert Johnson, Fred McDowell, Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Boy Williamson.
At times Lomax's tone was somewhat condescending towards the artists he is talking about, and at other times he was annoyingly dismissive of all of the other forms of music that have been influenced by the Blues. In general though, this was a wonderful book that I strongly recommend to anyone interested in the history of American music or in African-American history.
Rating: 9 out of 10.
After looking over Lomax's bibliography I updated my To Read Lists.