The Blues: A Very Short Introduction

The Blues: A Very Short Introduction
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 153
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780199750795
ISBN-13 : 0199750793
Rating : 4/5 (95 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Blues: A Very Short Introduction by : Elijah Wald

Download or read book The Blues: A Very Short Introduction written by Elijah Wald and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-03 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praised as "suave, soulful, ebullient" (Tom Waits) and "a meticulous researcher, a graceful writer, and a committed contrarian" (New York Times Book Review), Elijah Wald is one of the leading popular music critics of his generation. In The Blues, Wald surveys a genre at the heart of American culture. It is not an easy thing to pin down. As Howlin' Wolf once described it, "When you ain't got no money and can't pay your house rent and can't buy you no food, you've damn sure got the blues." It has been defined by lyrical structure, or as a progression of chords, or as a set of practices reflecting West African "tonal and rhythmic approaches," using a five-note "blues scale." Wald sees blues less as a style than as a broad musical tradition within a constantly evolving pop culture. He traces its roots in work and praise songs, and shows how it was transformed by such professional performers as W. C. Handy, who first popularized the blues a century ago. He follows its evolution from Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith through Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix; identifies the impact of rural field recordings of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and others; explores the role of blues in the development of both country music and jazz; and looks at the popular rhythm and blues trends of the 1940s and 1950s, from the uptown West Coast style of T-Bone Walker to the "down home" Chicago sound of Muddy Waters. Wald brings the story up to the present, touching on the effects of blues on American poetry, and its connection to modern styles such as rap. As with all of Oxford's Very Short Introductions, The Blues tells you--with insight, clarity, and wit--everything you need to know to understand this quintessentially American musical genre.


The Blues: A Very Short Introduction Related Books

The Blues: A Very Short Introduction
Language: en
Pages: 153
Authors: Elijah Wald
Categories: Music
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010-08-03 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Praised as "suave, soulful, ebullient" (Tom Waits) and "a meticulous researcher, a graceful writer, and a committed contrarian" (New York Times Book Review), El
The Original Blues
Language: en
Pages: 866
Authors: Lynn Abbott
Categories: Music
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-02-27 - Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Blues Book of the Year —Living Blues Association of Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence Best Historical Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Soul,
Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music
Language: en
Pages: 463
Authors: Ted Gioia
Categories: Music
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-11-02 - Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“The essential history of this distinctly American genre.”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution In this “expertly researched, elegantly written, dispassionate y
Deep Blues
Language: en
Pages: 332
Authors: Robert Palmer
Categories: Music
Type: BOOK - Published: 1981 - Publisher: Viking Adult

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Deep Blues" offers a concise, authoritative account of the music's Afircan beginnings, its early evolution, and its transformation from a backcountry good-time
Acoustic Blues Guitar Styles
Language: en
Pages: 78
Authors: Larry Sandberg
Categories: Music
Type: BOOK - Published: 2007 - Publisher: Taylor & Francis

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Introduces the basics of finger-style acoustic guitar blues.