Blues With a Feeling: The Little Walter Story
by Tony Glover, Scott Dirks, Ward Gaines
Blues-harp blower Tony "Little Sun" Glover and his collaborators say Little Walter Jacobs "was to harmonica blues what Charlie Parker was to jazz saxophone." Jacobs' playing, much of it in Muddy Waters' band, "set the standard" for and "creat[ed] much of the musical language" of the modern blues harp. [T]he authors...liken his innovations to the groundbreaking electric guitar tactics of Jimi Hendrix in the '60s. An excellent shelfmate for Robert Gordon's recent Muddy Waters biography, Can't Be Satisfied. $17.47 from Amazon.
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Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters
by Robert Gordon
Muddy Waters's wailing slide guitar, stuttering rhythm and boisterous, sex-drenched lyrics (see "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I Got My Mojo Working") inspired a generation of bluesmen and rock-and-rollers including a modish band of Brits who copped their name from his classic tune "Rollin' Stone." In this engaging biography, Gordon ("It Came from Memphis") mines some new territory, but the real punch comes from his telling, which reads as if he were on the front porch with friends, passing a half-pint of whiskey. $18.17 from Amazon.
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Michael Bloomfield: If You Love These Blues
by Jan Mark Wolkin, Bill Keenom, Carlos Santana
(Readers's comments): The cadence of this book moves at a tempo similar to Michael Bloomfield's life and music. Sometimes the words fly so fast they take away your breath; in other parts, every syllable inflicts white-hot pain in your soul. A floating, oral history biography isn't a new literary device, but it's certain the most excellent approach for someone so multidimensional as Bloomfield. Even the most hardcore fan will discover dozens of new stories in this book. To the newly initiated, the book explains a vital period of blues history. I surrendered to the book's spell, which is every bit as delicious and intricate as a prolonged Bloomfield solo on a good Saturday night. The bonus rarities CD is worth the price of admission alone, so how can you miss on this purchase? $17.47 from Amazon.
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Roy Buchanan: American Axe
by Phil Carson
(Viewer's comments): Phil Carson sets a new standard with his musical bio of the late eclectic virtuoso guitarist, Roy Buchanon. Combining great empathy for his subject, musical knowledge, researching skills and a narrative style that is at once hip, entertaining and informative, Carson spins a fable for our times. Buchanon's career spanned the birth and development of rock 'n' roll and Carson weaves a story at once poignant and provocative as Buchanon squanders his phenomenal talent while wrestling with the inner demons that plagued his life. As much a human interest drama as an essential book for guitarists and fans of all persuasions, "American Axe" also includes terrific photos and a detailed discography. $12.57 from Amazon.
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Chasin' That Devil Music: Searching for the Blues
by Gayle Dean Wardlow
Chasin' That Devil Music has the feel of a documentary about the making of a thrilling motion picture. The main focus is on the Delta blues singers of the early 20th century--artists such as Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Son House, and Blind Lemon Jefferson who've achieved near-mythic status in blues circles. In addition, many of the articles gathered in this splendidly illustrated volume capture the process and people involved in tracking long-lost recordings nearly as elusive as the performers who made them. Here, for example, is the story of author/blues scholar Gayle Dean Wardlow's three-year hunt for the death certificate of Robert Johnson, the celebrated Mississippi bluesman and a figure whose legend has grown greater with each year since his much-debated death in 1938. The text here is nearly as raw in spots as the music that sparked it, but, as with those sounds (which can be heard on a terrific CD sampler included with the book), enthusiasts will find Chasin' That Devil Music riveting. $13.97 from Amazon.
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Josh White: Society Blues
by Elijah Wald
A gifted and charismatic entertainer, Josh White (1914-1969) was one of the best-known folk-blues artists of his day. In the early 1960s, one survey ranked him as America's third most popular male folksinger, surpassed only by Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. He appeared on national television, performed at numerous college concerts and club dates, and released several dozen albums-all featuring his distinctive guitar style, supple voice, and unique showmanship. In this compelling biography, Elijah Wald traces White's journey from the "colored" side of Greenville, South Carolina, to the heights of Manhattan café society. He explores the complexities of White's music, his struggles with discrimination and stereotypes, his political involvements, and his sometimes raucous personal life. $22.75 from Amazon.
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Roadkill on the Three-Chord Highway: Art and Trash in American Pooular Music
by Colin Escott
Rockabilly expert Escott (e.g., Hank Williams: The Biography) here promises to look at the "forgotten ones" of early rock'n'roll. He is most effective when chronicling the modest successes and crushing tribulations of rockabilly journeymen such as Sonny Burgess, Wanda Jackson, the Collins Kids, and Onie Wheeler and such country singers as Wynn Stewart and Vernon Oxford. But while the 14 profiles are uniformly well written and informative, a few of them seem forced and out of place in a book about early hit makers who quickly faded from public view. Fifties crooner and television personality Perry Como, pop singer Patti Page, rock icon Roy Orbison, and country legend Jim Reeves hardly seem to qualify as "roadkill on the three-chord highway" of rock'n'roll dreams. Despite his lack of focus, the author provides some interesting glimpses into the lives of musicians who helped form country music and rock'n'roll nearly 50 years ago. Recommended for music fans who want to expand their knowledge of rockabilly and country $13.97 from Amazon.
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What'd I Say: The Atlantic Story
by Ahmet Ertegun
When Ertegun founded Atlantic Records in 1947 with $10,000 borrowed from his dentist, the 24-year-old native of Turkey was living in segregated America, which did not realize the beauty of its own cacophony. Luckily, however, there was the radio an ethereal land of the free where he could realize his dream of making music that was beyond color as well as category but not above the heads of the mass majority. Spanning six decades, this coffee-table history fortunately goes a little deeper than most. Ertegun's anecdotes are intermingled with those of his esteemed business associates and recording artists. If the company one keeps is a reflection of intelligence, then Ertegun is a genius times 100: Atlantic's roster includes no less than Ray Charles, Clyde McPhatter, the Drifters, Big Joe Turner, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, Mabel Mercer, Bobby Darin, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Sam and Dave, Dusty Springfield, Led Zeppelin, Tori Amos and so on. As fascinating as their recollections are standing alone, they would have been more powerful woven into one sprawling yarn. However, many of the book's satiny black-and-white publicity stills of Atlantic's more esoteric acts speak volumes. What saves the book from quoting itself into oblivion are nine essays by some of the most respected music journalists. Each nicely crystallizes the label's enormous contributions to R&B, jazz, rock 'n' roll, pop and soul. $52.50 from Amazon, only 5 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
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