Review by Choice Review
Professional writer Davis presents a wide-ranging history of the blues as a companion to a three-part PBS television series of the same name. Starting with a deft overview, he moves quickly to specific portraits of such early female performers as Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith, then mentions obscure songsters and other blues prototypes. The heart of the book is dedicated to a discussion of the standard names--Blind Lemmon Jefferson, Charlie Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, et al. Davis touches on their recording careers, diverse musical styles, and personal lives, and on the changing blues scene from the 1920s to the 1990s, North and South. He draws on a wide range of secondary sources in attempting to make sense out of the music and its continuing popularity among both blacks and whites. Highly readable, the book includes numerous photos and a helpful bibliography and discography. A good companion to more detailed or specialized studies, particularly Lawrence Cohn's Nothing but the Blues (CH, Jan'94), it is recommended for all libraries. R. D. Cohen; Indiana University Northwest
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Davis ambitiously chronicles one of the oldest American musical genres that remain thriving today, and because of his astute observations, personable wit, and challenging proposals, produces what is clearly one of the best books on it. Effectively using a first-person perspective, Davis explores the history of the blues throughout the rural South, its evolution in northern cities, and the marketing of vintage and contemporary blues musicians today. Moreover, he places the music's development within the context of general American cultural and social development. His commentary embraces such high-profile players as Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, and Muddy Waters as well as such far less known figures as Johnny "Daddy Stovepipe" Watson. Davis points out that modern country music and the blues share a common genesis in rural medicine shows, and he is courageous enough to make the politically unfashionable declaration that Elvis was "one of the finest singers ever spawned by the Southern United States" and then provide enough reasons to back up the claim. Companion to a new PBS TV series, this book is, like Davis' two collections of jazz articles, In the Moment (1987) and Outcats (1990), essential for the music library shelves. ~--Aaron Cohen
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Davis, music critic for the Atlantic, treats the history of the blues with an emphasis on his own involvement with this music. He believes that attempts to discover the origins of the blues, often based on simplistic theories about slavery and Africa, are inconclusive, and he stresses that the interaction between recordings and the actual music makes it difficult to follow the music's internal development. He touches on the issue of white involvement with the blues and concludes with an elaborate ``Blues Timeline'' showing how significant dates in blues history relate to developments in jazz, pop, theater and literature as well as to important events in American history, arts, sciences and technology. His impressionistic text rambles at times, but numerous passages on individual performers such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly and others are engaging, as are accounts of his trips to Memphis and Mississippi to see where it all began. Selected discography. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Since its origin in Mississippi before the turn of the century, the blues has been pronounced dead many times. Davis (music critic of the Atlantic) assures us that it "rises up like Lazarus every ten years or so." This book, published in advance of a three-part PBS companion series scheduled to air in the fall of 1995, is a great starting place in understanding the continued appeal of this uniquely American music. Moving from its roots in field hollers, work songs, spirituals, country reels, and Anglo-Scottish ballads to its present-day uses selling diet soda and laxatives, Davis profiles the major artists and the developmental changes of the music. An extensive discography and bibliography give ample resources for future exploration, while a "Blues Timeline" offers an at-a-glance overview of blues milestones in relation to corresponding events in art and history. This fine introduction to the blues is recommended for most libraries.-Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A quirky inquiry into the nature of the blues. Although written to accompany a three-part series on PBS, this book is more substantive than most TV tie-ins. Davis (Outcats, 1990, etc.), music critic for the Atlantic, divides his investigation into three sections: the ``prehistory'' of the blues; a more or less chronological portrait of leading blues figures; and a discussion of the blues revival and the reasons why an African- American folk art appeals so strongly to a white, urban audience. His approach is highly personal. He begins the book by recounting his trip to Clarksdale, Miss., a mecca for blues lovers in the heart of the Delta country. An outsider to the culture of the blues, Davis invites the reader to share his puzzlement at the deep faith of rural performers (``There are people who grow up actually reading the Bible...who accept what I read as lunatic ravings as both prophecy and literal history''). But he also tries to provoke the reader with outrageous comments, as when he describes Mick Jagger as ``the most famous of contemporary minstrels [who] sings and struts as though trying to get in touch with his Inner Negro.'' The heart of the book is a series of thumbnail sketches of key performers that capture the essence of what makes each performer great. His description of Big Joe Williams is particularly apt: ``He looked like the whale that swallowed Jonah, and sounded like Jonah bellowing to get out.'' Sadly, the accompanying selection of photos is uninspired, relying heavily on oft-published shots. The final section, on the blues revival, is perhaps the most interesting. In it, Davis underscores many of the ironies that occurred when white revivalists ``rediscovered'' the blues performers of the 1920s and '30s, many of whom had to be retaught their own songs because they had long since quit playing. This deserves wide reading among fans of blues and traditional musical forms. (100 b&w photos)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
