MindTheGap
467 posts
Sep 16, 2014
8:27 AM
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I'm in the middle of Robert Palmer's Deep Blues, and enjoying that very much. I crave more detail - any recommendations on books that expand on any of the periods covered? I particularly like how he refers to specific songs to illustrate how the music evolved.
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gutbucket
10 posts
Sep 16, 2014
9:52 AM
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Have a look at the Howlin' Wolf biography Moanin' At Midnight. Ol' bigfoot Chester was quite a guy...
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Harpin.J
4 posts
Sep 16, 2014
10:45 AM
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You've probably already read it:
"Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers: The Evolution of the People's Instrument" by Kim Field. Excellent book covering most of the greats...
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rogonzab
593 posts
Sep 16, 2014
11:17 AM
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The books of Adam Gussow, Escaping the Delta is also a great book.
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blueswannabe
505 posts
Sep 16, 2014
4:25 PM
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THE WORLD DON'T OWE ME NOTHING BY HONEY BOY EDWARDS
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MarioMS
108 posts
Sep 17, 2014
10:06 AM
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Hi,
I think my blues books blog will help to get an overview of all kind of blues related books. Just take a look and maybe you`ll find somthing interesting...over 400 books!
http://bluesbooks.blogspot.de/
Mario Hemken
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MindTheGap
468 posts
Sep 17, 2014
12:11 PM
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Mario - Wow! What a collection, thank you so much!
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Bodhi
1 post
Sep 17, 2014
12:58 PM
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I'm currently reading "The Devils Music - A History of the Blues" by Giles Oakley. Highly recommended. I've got Deep Blues on my shelf waiting to be read...
b.
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John95683
188 posts
Sep 17, 2014
9:56 PM
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I enjoyed "Can't Be Satisfied- the life and times if Muddy Waters" Not as dry as "Deep Blues" IMO
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kudzurunner
4970 posts
Sep 18, 2014
4:46 AM
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I'd vote for ESCAPING THE DELTA by Elijah Wald or THE WORLD DON'T OWE ME NOTHING, which is Honeyboy Edwards's biography. It depends what you're interested in. Actually, the new Jimmy Rogers bio is also fantastic.
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SteveTech
4 posts
Sep 18, 2014
4:59 AM
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2nd for The Devil's Music. I'm 2/3 through and it's challenged my outlook on many things.
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MindTheGap
469 posts
Sep 18, 2014
7:08 AM
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Thanks for the recommendations. After reading some reviews, I'm thinking that the best way to go deeper is to go to the biographies. That said, 'The Devils Music' looks good as another broad sweep.
Some reviewers of Escaping the Delta have mentioned that it comes from the angle of assuming that the reader has preconceptions (wrong ones) about the origin of the blues. And so might be a bit annoying if that's not the case. Is that fair?
Mario's blues book blog is a goldmine, but of course some of those titles would be hard to get hold of.
As for Adam's 'Seems Like Murder Here' I feel I need more grounding in fact and culture before properly engaging with it. Is that fair?
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Sep 18, 2014 7:16 AM
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