Deep Blues

If you like blues music and are curious about its origins and seminal artists and personalities, Robert Palmer's book is a great place to start. I particularly like how he traces the musical origins of blues back to African traditions in Senegambia, showing how the polyrhythms and polyphony of centuries-old traditions still resonate in modern blues. Palmer gives good career overviews of the major blues legends (Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, etc.), so you also get a good primer on where to start if you're a listener just getting started on appreciating classic blues.

Published in 1981, it is, in my humble opinion, a must have for Blues enthusiasts in particular and these who deeply appreciate modern music in general. Robert Palmer gives an excellent but brief overview of regional differences from the various areas of Africa that were brought to North America during the active period that the Atlantic slave trade was being engaged in and how, by being forced to labor together on various plantations, these divergent sounds ultimately fused and influenced each other. From there he explores how these sounds eventually took root and became uniquely American musical genres. He ends by telling the story of how some of those musical strains made their way up north landing in Chicago and the influence there.I would also STRONGLY recommend reading in addition to this book: "Chicago Blues: The City & The Music" by Mike Rowe, 1975, Da Capo Press (originally published in 1973, Eddison Press, Ltd, London).Both books should be on the bookshelf of ANY Blues affectionado.

Um trabalho de pesquisa incrível que mergulha profundamente na história do Blues!

Das Buch sollte jeder Blues Fan einmal gelesen haben. Danach versteht man woher die Musik kommt und wie sie zustande kam. Fakten und wunderbare Geschichten rund um die Musiker dieser Zeit von Son House zu Charley Patton über Leadbelly bis Tampa Red und Muddy Waters zu jedem finden sich Geschichten und Anekdoten. Sehr zu empfehlen.

This is the bee knees of blues histories. Published way back in the 80s and inevitably a little out of date, it still holds its own against all comers. Very well researched, and written with real passion and enthusiasm, it is the ideal starting point for your musical trip of a life time.The focus is on Mississippi Delta blues, and the story is told around the life and times of Muddy Waters. We start at the start, of course, and I strongly recommend you have your downloads at hand so that you can listen to the founding fathers as Palmer introduces them. Prepare yourself! The almost feral performances of, say, Charley Patton and Son House will either appal or enchant.Almost everyone is here. Willie Brown, Tommy Johnson, Johnny Shines, two Sonny Boy Williamsons, Robert Lockwood ... all those magical names I heard as a young boy, long before I heard some of the music!Palmer writes wonderfully concise biographical sketches of these men ... little is known about many and he doesn't speculate beyond what is reasonable to assume. These individual stories are combined with equally concise and insightful reports of the prevailing social and economic conditions that were so important in shaping this extraordinary music.It isn't too much of a hagiography; reading between the lines you can see that some of these men might not have been easy to live with. Charley Patton, allegedly, used to beat his women with his guitar ... was that a steel bodied National? Good grief.Palmer is rather reverential about some ... Muddy Waters, for instance. But he sends you back to Muddy's earlier work, recorded before he allowed himself to become subsumed in the relentless macho posturing of Mannish Boy in the later years. I may be a little biased. I prefer the introverted angst of the unsurpassed Elmore James.On a personal note, I was disappointed to note that despite hailing from Avalon, one of my guitar greats, Mississippi John Hurt, fails to make the cut and isn't even mentioned. Most of the early blues men Palmer describes were essentially song and dance men, who could play anything a particular audience required. As the 'blues' became a commercial proposition many of them eschewed other parts of their repertoire to cash in. John Hurt, for many reasons, ended up retaining much of his varied material ... religious, dance, and so on ... but he certainly still played blues in his uniquely melodic style. I think he was worth a footnote anyway.Remember, Palmer's focus is on the Delta. There were other blues centres. So, just to take one example, Texas blues is mentioned only in passing. Thus you may miss out on the world's first pop star, the simply wonderful Blind Lemon Jefferson, and that master of the monotonic bass, the mighty Mance Lipscomb ... to name but two.But an excellent read. I can't wait to go on to Stephen Calt's I'd Rather Be The Devil, which is a lot tougher in its judgements. Should be the ideal counterweight then ...Plus, a librarian's note: if you buy this edition you get a lovely little American Penguin version, well made and bound, and although B format (19.8 x 12.9 cms), still compact and slim enough to carry in your pocket and look cool as you read it on the train; or, better still, leave it lying in your guitar case when busking (if you can find a spot in Belfast, that is), as I do, and instantly become an encylopaedic blues maestro, able to break off playing at any time and enlighten your avid listeners to the history - social, cultural, economic - of whatever piece you're (in my case) lurching through, never leaving first position on the fretboard and hitting more bum notes than ever Charley Patton hit even when he was paralytic drunk.