Blues Books

Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music

Ted Gioia

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The definitive account of how the rough sounds of the Mississippi Delta changed the course of American popular music.

The blues grew out of the plantations and prisons, the swampy marshes and fertile cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. With original research and keen insights, Ted Gioia—the author of a landmark study of West Coast jazz and the critically acclaimed The History of Jazz—brings to life the stirring music of the Delta, evoking the legendary figures who shaped its sound and ethos: Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and others. Tracing the history of the Delta blues from the field hollers and plantation music of the nineteenth century to the exploits of modern-day musicians in the Delta tradition, Delta Blues tells the full story of this timeless and unforgettable music. No cultural force boasts such humble origins or such world-conquering reverberations. In this evocative rags-to-riches tale, Gioia shows how the sounds of the Delta altered the course of popular music in America and in the world beyond. 38 illustrations.

Blues You Can Use (Blues You Can Use)

John Ganapes, John N Ganapes

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hal Leonard Corporation Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $11.39

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Having lots of fun with this 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a nice introduction to blues guitar. With a good combination of theory and practice, each lesson builds on the previous material. The one confusing thing I've found so far is the fact that the author will introduce some chord forms for a given lesson, then in the practice exercise, a completely unknown chord form will appear. It isn't that the "new" chord is wrong - it just hasn't been covered in the lesson. Guess that keeps you on your toes, tho. The CD has some really nice "studies" that you can play along with. Bottom line - after about 4 weeks, I've gotten through the first four lessons and I'm having more fun with my guitar than ever. Your mileage may vary.

Learn to improvise entire neck, any key 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I am 61 years old and finally I can play lead (any key) over entire neck after going thru this book and taking time on each lesson to fully understand it. I have taken private Jazz lessons for a year before but something was missing. This book made it clear,I now see lead patterns when i hit a chord and can jump anyplace on neck and still be playing lead in the right key.

Editorial Review:

A comprehensive source designed to help guitarists develop both lead and rhythm playing. Covers: Texas, Delta, RandB, early rock and roll, gospel, blues/rock and more. Includes 21 complete solos; chord progressions and riffs; turnarounds; moveable scales and more. CD features leads and full band backing.

Rock n' Blues Harmonica: A World of Harp Knowledge, Songs, Stories, Lessons, Riffs, Techniques and Audio Index for a New Generation of Harp Players (Includes ... book and 74 minute stereo CD Jamming Buddy)

Jon Gindick

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cross Harp Press Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $15.24

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 66 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fun way to understand blues harp 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Even if you don't play (or want to) this book helps understand where those wonderful notes come from.

Just what I was looking for 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I use a harmonica on a couple songs while playing guitar - basic, easy riffs following original recordings. I wanted to expand my knowledge of the instrument, but I'm not planning on becoming a harp soloist. This book gave me the information I was looking for along with useful music theory. The background stories help present the information in an enjoyable way. The included CD does a fantastic job of reinforcing the book while giving the opportunity of improving your chops while jamming along.

An enjoyable escape from reality. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Turn on this CD and lay back and jam along.
A great way to reduce stress
and learn to play the blues harmonica.

Editorial Review:

One of the most complete harmonica books ever! Uses fact, fiction, illustration, and notation to teach Music Theory 101, chord progressions, puckering, tongue-blocking, octaves, tongue-slaps, headshakes, vibrato, bends, overblows, secrets of great tone, and much more. B/W photos.

Blues Piano: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series (Keyboard Instruction)

Mark Harrison

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hal Leonard Corporation Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $6.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fabulous 5 out of 5 stars.
21 of 21 people found this review helpful.

I'm a blues guitarist and I'm in the early stages of learning to play piano, so I can't give the most credible of reviews of this book yet, but I can tell you that it's chock-full of really, really, REALLY excellent comps and vamps and licks. So far I'm only able to work on the simplest of the stuff early in the book, but I've listened to the CD the whole way through, and it's just one example after another after another of killer riffs, the kind of stuff that makes me think, "YES...that is what I want to be able to play." In all kinds of blues styles.

This is definitely *not* a beginner book. As I said, most of it is still way beyond me. It's not a "here's what the half-rest looks like" kind of book, nor will you find guides for fingering. One of the first signs that told me that this book is still over my head is that it shows chords like, say, a 9th chord, with all five notes shown, in a key where it appears to me that there's no possible way one hand can hit all of those notes. Does the experienced player just hit a broken chord? Is it supposed to be a two-handed chord, even though it's shown in the bass clef, and there are also notes in the treble clef? I don't know.

So this is a book for people who already have some piano playing ability. But the material is terrific, and there's a ton of it. If I can ever learn to play all, or even half, of the stuff in this book, I'll be a happy man.

Editorial Review:

Ever wanted to play the blues, but weren't sure where to start? Blues Piano will teach you the basic skills you need. From comping to soloing, you'll learn the theory, the tools, and even the tricks that the pros use. And, you get seven complete tunes to jam on. Listen to the CD, then start playing along! Covers: scales and chords; left-hand patterns; walking bass; endings and turnarounds; right-hand techniques; how to solo with blues scales; crossover licks; and more.

Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta

Robert Palmer

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin (Non-Classics) Amazon Marketplace: 70 new & used starting at $5.70

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A review on the book, not the DVD....... 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Robert Palmer's book "Deep Blues" is nothing short of an anthropological journey to find the genesis of the blues. He does an excellent job of highlighting the various early popular bluesmen, men such as Tommy Johnson, Charlie Patton, and Robert Johnson. He details life working on the plantations of the deep south, life on a Saturday night living it up in the various juke joints of the south, and the personal lives of early blues singers which led to the creation of the blues, and by extension, American music as we have come to know it.

The book begins by going back to the western coast of Africa, where the slave trading occurred, and Palmer details very well the oral music traditions of people from the various tribes and countries, presenting styles which could be found in the music of the eastern and southern United States from the late 19th and on into the early 20th Century. He highlights, in great detail, the sounds and how they were made in the mouth by particular tribes in Africa, and in what areas of the country and these sounds began showing up performed in field hollers done by workers on plantations throughout the south. I do not use the word anthropological lightly, as Robert Palmer does a magnificent job of highlighting the blues tradition from it's specific oral traditions in Africa, to it's nascent phase in the early 20th Century, to Muddy Waters' time in the Delta on up through his success in Chicago, to Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time radio show and beyond.

Various interviews abound from people and relatives of the blues musicians and by articles from early periodicals detailing their lives, so by the end of the book one really feels as though we were on the freight car with Robert Johnson traveling and avoiding the hellhound on his trail.

A book for anyone who truly loves the blues. Being a book just shy of 300 pages however, only so much detail can be given, which is why this will probably not be the last book on the blues I own. 4 1/2 stars.

Miles: The Autobiography (Picador Books)

Miles Davis, Quincy Troupe

List Price: $20.65 By: Picador Amazon Marketplace: 11 new & used starting at $1.60

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 66 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Miles 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Miles: The Autobiography by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe *****


Miles Davis has always been a fasinating character to me so when I realized that there was an autobiography of him I tracked it down and bought it. While and after I read the book I didn't know what to think. I mean it is not your typical autobiography. It doesn't talk about most of the stuff you would expect him to talk about and when he does talk about it it's very brief and not in depth in the slightest, but at the same time it is still very interesting. The drug addiction, the women, the violence, the racism, everything the man went through is here. Not much is said about his children how ever, I'm not sure if that is purposeful or not but he does say that his sons are "screw ups" so it is all possible that he just didn't give to nothings about them, though when he briefly mentions his daughter he seems very proud of her. So all in all Miles is a great and interesting tale of one of the most important, original, and influential musicians of all time.

My only complaints are that Miles comes across as an ego maniac though he claims he is not several times in the book. The other one is that Miles Davis is one of the biggest and most racist men in all of history. Everything he says about being treated like nothing because he is black is the same way they he treated white people and the saddest part was that he couldn't even see that he was doing it. He claimed that blacks did everything better and white people stole everything. I will admit white people steal a lot, whites are essentially the `vultures of culture' but blacks did not invent everything, whites, Mexicans, and every other race invented things, and just because some one was influenced by it doesn't mean they copied it like he claims. Also just because someone invented something does not mean they do it the best, to even say that applies prejudice. It depends on the person not what color they are. As a musician Miles is killer, but as a person he really just sucked.

So if you can get past this then Miles is a great and interesting read.

Editorial Review:

A frank autobiography of the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. This book records his life - the music, the women and the drugs. It talks about the white promotors and producers who exploited black musicians as well as the critics.

Stevie Ray Vaughan : Caught in the Crossfire

Joe Nick Patoski, Bill Crawford

Amazon Price: $10.19 List Price: $14.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Little, Brown and Company Amazon Marketplace: 70 new & used starting at $2.98

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

his life the ultimate blues song 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Stevie Ray Vaughan started playing guitar at the age of 11. He would sneak into his bedroom closet when his older brother Jimmie was out and lose all sense of time and place in Jimmie's guitar. He was a natural, and soon guitars were all he cared about. He idolized Jimi Hendrix and overplayed his blues solos just like Hendrix had. His fingers bled from the heavy-gauge strings he used to get the sound he wanted from his beloved Strat and Rickenbacker. He spent most of his life in a ferocious, silent competition with Jimmie. These are just a few of the facts Patoski and Crawford reveal in their richly detailed chronicle of SRV's agonizing and convoluted journey to fame.

The book also details Stevie Ray's continual struggles with substance abuse. He gave to alcohol and cocaine the same devotion and intensity he gave to his music, and the years of abuse showed when he performed. After collapsing near death in London, he finally got clean. He was as zealous about being in recovery as he was about playing the blues. And then, in supreme irony, he died in a helicopter crash following a performance.

This book depicts the Texas music scene of the 70s and 80s, showing the evolution of Austin as a center for live music. It is a great read, not only for blues devotees, but for anyone who loves music.

Editorial Review:

Hailed as the greatest guitarist since Hendrix, virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan forged a distinctive style out of blues, rock and roll and R&B roots. A genuine guitar hero who crafted his attack in countless pass-the-hat jams in Austin bars and ended his career performing to sold-out stadiums full of awestruck devotees. This biography chronicles Vaughan's emergence from the hotbed of Texas blues, his bitter rivalry with his brother Jimmy, his constant battle with drugs and alcohol, his recovery from addiction and the impact of his helicopter crash accident on the music community.

R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz, & Country

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: "Harry N. Abrams, Inc." Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $10.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Novelty Item Reincarnated As Artistic Tour De Force 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Richard Nevins of Rounder Records first came up with the idea for Robert Crumb to illustrate a series of early Blues, Jazz, and Old Time Music and Bluegrass greats along the lines of the baseball cards of his childhood. Crumb went for the idea and produced what became three boxes of cards with illustrations taken from old photos on the front and write-ups about the players on the back (many of them by Nevins).

Now the famous fine arts publisher Abrams Books has designed and published a superb volume that includes the Crumb artwork as never before -- in brilliant color and on a larger scale than the cards -- along with expanded bios and a bonus CD that samples some of this great American roots music. Anyone interested in high-level cartoon art and this powerful expressive music will want to own this book.

Editorial Review:

Anyone who knows R. Crumb’s work as an illustrator knows of his passion for music. And all those who collect his work prize the Heroes of the Blues, Early Jazz Greats, and Pioneers of Country Music trading card sets he created in the early to- mid-1980s. Now they are packaged together for the first time in book form, along with an exclusive 21-track CD of music selected and compiled by Crumb himself (featuring original recordings by Charley Patton, “Dock” Boggs, “Jelly Roll” Morton, and others). A bio of each musician is provided, along with a full-color original illustration by the cartoonist. A characteristically idiosyncratic tribute by an underground icon to the musical innovators who helped inspire him, R. Crumb’s Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country is a must-have collection for Crumb aficionados, comics fans, and music lovers alike.

Rage To Survive

Etta James, David Ritz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Rage de survivre 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The title of this book, Rage to Survive, is very well chosen, hinting is at does to the French phrase "rage de vivre," rage to live.

I grew up with Motown, Aretha, and Otis Redding, but never heard of Etta James until I was over 50! The singer I know only thanks to YouTube, but what I heard there was so talented it's almost scary: soul and blues, sure, but also country and jazz. I suspect that her drug addiction in the late 50s and early 60s led the publicity industry to shun her. (It was only starting in 1968 that one could do drugs and not get the silent treatment.) I know that this is an "as told to" book, but how many soul musicians have bothered to write any kind of memoir? This book deserves to become a classic of its kind.

Amy Weinhaus sounds fresh and interesting only because Etta James is so little known. Weinhaus's career may be over, and she probably won't live to see 30. James is 71. If I am right, Weinhaus will never have a child. James performs with her sons. Etta, you are one tough momma...

Editorial Review:

Perhaps the finest soul singer of the rock era-but equally at home singing blues and jazz—Etta James is one of the great women of American music. In Rage to Survive she tells her mesmerizing tale in her uniquely big, bold, and unrepentant voice. Without a trace of self-pity she describes her chaotic world of early R&B, depicts legends like Sam Cooke and Little Richard, details her dependency on drugs and bad men, and unsparingly recounts the golden age of soul, when her “Tell Mama” topped the charts. Rage to Survive is a funky, ribald tale told with unparalleled sass.

Lead Belly: A Life in Pictures

Tyehimba Jess

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The influential Louisiana bluesman, Lead Belly, wrote and performed some of the best-loved songs of the twentieth century, including "The Midnight Special," "Rock Island Line" and his signature song, "Goodnight, Irene," which became an international hit in 1950, eight months after his death. John A. Lomax, the esteemed Library of Congress folk music anthropologist, discovered Lead Belly serving time (for assault and murder) at the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in 1934. He immediately saw that Lead Belly was a walking anthology of African-American music, and arranged for him to come to New York, where he created a sensation. Reporters followed Lead Belly everywhere, theaters clamored to book him and celebrities thronged to his concerts. His influence on a later generation of popular musicians was massive: Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Van Morrison, Robert Plant and Beck have all paid their respects.
Lead Belly: A Life in Pictures is a treasure trove of rare, unpublished photographs, news clippings, concert programs, personal correspondence (including letters from Woody Guthrie), record albums, awards and other memorabilia retrieved only recently from a basement trunk in New York.

Lead Belly, born Huddie Ledbetter on a Louisiana farm in 1888, won international fame as an interpreter of African-American folk songs and blues. For 15 years he performed folk songs, spirituals, blues and ballads to enthusiastic audiences at night clubs, political rallies, universities, concert halls and private parties. In 1988 Lead Belly was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where he was the subject of a major retrospective in 2004.