Embedded Files
Baraka, I. A. (2002). Blues people: Negro music in white America. Morrow.
“From the music of African slaves in the United States through the music scene of the 1960's, Baraka traces the influence of what he calls ‘negro music’ on white America—not only in the context of music and pop culture but also in terms of the values and perspectives passed on through the music. In tracing the music, he brilliantly illuminates the influence of African Americans on American culture and history.” [From the Publisher]
Barlow, W. (1989). Looking up at down: The emergence of blues culture. Temple University Press.
“Using rare recordings, oral histories, and interviews, Barlow analyzes how the blues was sustained as a form of Afro-American cultural resistance despite attempts by the dominant culture to assimilate and commercialize the music and exploit its artists.” [From the Publisher]
Bastin, B. (1995). Red river blues: The blues tradition in the southeast (Illini books). Univ. of Illinois Press.
“Bruce Bastin traces the origins of the music to the turn of the twentieth century, when African Americans rejected slave songs, worksongs, and minstrel music in favor of a potent new vehicle for secular musical expression.” [From the Publisher]
Charters, S. (1975). The country blues. Da Capo Press.
“Virtually rewriting the history of the blues, Charters reconstructs its evolution and dissemination, from the first tentative soundings on the Mississippi Delta through the emergence, with Elvis Presley, of rock and roll.” [From the Publisher]
Cohn, L. (19991993). Nothing but the blues: The music and the musicians (1st paperback). Abbeville.
“In eleven authoritative essays commissioned especially for the book, Nothing But the Blues traces the African-American origins of the music, its early development as popular entertainment, its early recorded manifestations, its regional differentiation (Mid-South, Tidewater-Piedmont, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles), its many stylistic dimensions, and its contemporary manifestations. Country blues, urban blues, the evolution of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, and the blues revival are all fully covered.” [From the Publisher]
Davis, F. (2003). The history of the blues (2nd pbk. ed. 1st Da Capo Press). Da Capo Press.
“Francis Davis’s The History of the Blues is a groundbreaking rethinking of the blues that fearlessly examines how race relations have altered perceptions of the music. Tracing its origins from the Mississippi Delta to its amplification in Chicago right after World War II, Davis argues for an examination of the blues in its own right, not just as a precursor to jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.” [From the Publisher]
Evans, D. (1987). Big road blues: Tradition and creativity in the folk blues. Da Capo.
“This book analyzes the process of composition, learning and performance of the Southern folk blues of black America [. . . .] Evans traces the impact of commercialism, especially the phonograph record, on blues history, as well as the various local traditions that produce a given blues tune and text.” [From the Publisher] David Evans recorded Jessie Mae Hemphill on his Highwater Record Label. The book includes a brief discussion of Sid Hemphill, the grandfather of Jessie Mae Hemphill.
Ferris, W. R. & Taylor B. (1984). Blues from the delta. Da Capo Press.
“William Ferris, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, has written a book as deep as the blues: rich in conversation, reference, history, and firsthand experience with blues musicians and the culture that informs the music.” [From the Publisher]
Gioia, T. (2008). Delta blues: The life and times of the Mississippi masters who revolutionized American music (1st ed.). W.W. Norton.
Drawing on extensive fieldwork, archival research, and oral histories, this book examines the intersection of race and the commercialization of blues. The book includes a brief discussion of Sid Hemphill, the grandfather of Jessie Mae Hemphill.
Groom, B. (1971). The blues revival. Studio Vista.
“The author surveys the expanding popularity of the blues, from skiffle through rock ‘n’ roll to the current interest in both old-time and modern forms, describing research, rediscoveries and recordings.” [From the Publisher]
Keil, C. (1991). Urban blues. University of Chicago Press.
“Charles Keil examines the expressive role of blues bands and performers and stresses the intense interaction between performer and audience.” [From the Publisher]
King, C. T. (2021). The blues: The authentic narrative of my music and culture. Chicago Review Press.
"[Chris Thomas] King's enlightening narrative reveals tragedy and heroism as he struggles to preserve the authentic historical memory of his music and culture." [From the Publisher]
Lomax, A. (1995). The land where the blues began (1st ed.). Dell Publishing.
“Artistic expression has always been a way for oppressed peoples to speak truth to power, assert their dignity, and simply live in a world rife with injustice. The Land Where the Blues Began is an enthralling chronicle of the journey to bring this irrepressible art out of the Delta where it began and into the ears of every American.” [From the Publisher]
Menconi, D. (2020). Step it up and go: The story of North Carolina popular music from Blind Boy Fuller and Doc Watson to Nina Simone and Superchunk. University of North Carolina Press.
This book “shows North Carolina's influence on American popular music runs deep. David Menconi uses profiles of artists and their role in creating or shaping genres to reveal the richness of the state's musical landscape, with an arc that runs from the origin of recorded music in the state to the digital age" [From the Publisher]. The book includes significant discussion of the Piedmont blues and musicians like Etta Baker, Elizabeth Cotten, and Algia Mae Hinton.
Oakley, G. (1997). The devil's music: A history of the blues (2nd ed. updated). Da Capo Press.
“The Devil's Music is one of the only books to trace the rise and development of the blues both in relation to other forms of black music and in the context of American social history as experienced by African Americans.” [From the Publisher]
Oliver, P. (1984). Songsters and saints: Vocal traditions on race records. Cambridge University Press.
Paul Oliver provides a history of "other important vocal traditions also available on Race records: the songs of Southern rural dances, the comic and social songs and ballads of the medicine shows and traveling entertainments, and, even more neglected, the sacred vocal traditions [. . . .]” [From the Publisher]
Oliver, P. (1989). Screening the blues: Aspects of the blues tradition. Da Capo Press.
“The noted blues scholar Paul Oliver here examines the many different skeins of the blues form, relating them to other black traditions–musical and religious–and tracing the origin of the blues through the dense, many-colored warp and weft of influences and inspiration.” [From the Publisher]
Oliver, P. (1990). Blues fell this morning: The meaning of the blues (2nd rev.). Cambridge University Press.
“A revised edition to the first edition published in 1960. Looks into the cultural meaning of the blues within the historical and social context drawn from various fields, including anthropology, economics, and sociology. Based on the transcription of approximately 350 fragments of blues songs portraying different themes, categorized and discussed in ten chapters.” [From Oxford Bibliographies Online]
Oliver, P. (1998). The story of the blues (New). Northeastern University Press.
Paul Oliver “deftly traces the evolution of the blues from the work songs of slaves, to acoustic country ballads, to urban sounds, to electric rhythm and blues bands. Oliver vividly re-creates the economic, social, and regional forces that shaped the unique blues tradition, and superbly details every facet of the music, including themes and subjects, techniques, and recording history.” [From the Publisher] The book includes discussion of Rosa Lee Hill and Sid Hemphill, aunt and grandfather to Jessie Mae Hemphill.
Oliver, P. Russell T. & Dixon R. M. W. (2001). Yonder come the blues: The evolution of a genre. Cambridge University Press.
“This book combines three influential and much-quoted books: Savannah Syncopators; Blacks, Whites and Blues, and Recording the Blues. Updated with additional new essays, the book discusses the crucial early development of the blues as a music of Blacks in the United States, explaining some of the most significant factors that shaped this music.” [From the Publisher]
Obrecht, J. (2000). Rollin' and tumblin': The postwar blues guitarists. Miller Freeman.
“This is the most comprehensive and insightful study ever published on the pioneers of electric blues guitar – including the great Chicago, Mississippi Delta, Louisiana, Texas and West Coast bluesmen. Rollin' and Tumblin' offers extensive interviews with some of the world's most famous blues guitarists, and poignant profiles of historical blues figures.” [From the Publisher]
Obrecht, J. (2015). Early blues: The first stars of blues guitar. University of Minnesota Press.
“Since the early 1900s, blues and the guitar have traveled side by side. This book tells the story of their pairing from the first reported sightings of blues musicians, to the rise of nationally known stars, to the onset of the Great Depression, when blues recording virtually came to a halt.” [From the Publisher]
Oster, H. (1969). Living country blues. Folkore Associates.
“The definitive book on contemporary country blues, one which focuses on the songs rather than the musicians, although it includes a 16 page insert of wonderful photographs. While this includes chapters on the Setting of the Blues, their history, and a definition of the blues, as well as one on the blues as poetry, the majority of the book contains complete annotated lyrics to over 200 songs, some with scores.” [From the Publisher]
Palmer, R. (1982). Deep blues. Penguin Books.
“Robert Palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of Chicago’s South Side, to international popularity, recognition, and imitation.” [From the Publisher] The book includes some discussion of Sid Hemphill, grandfather of Jessie Mae Hemphill.
Pearson, B. L. (2005). Jook right on: Blues stories and blues storytellers (1st ed.). University of Tennessee Press.
“Jook Right On: Blues Stories and Blues Storytellers is what author and compiler Barry Lee Pearson calls a “blues quilt.” These blues stories, collected by Pearson for thirty years, are told in the blues musicians’ own words. The author interviewed over one hundred musicians, recording and transcribing their stories.” [From the Publisher] Featured artists include Jessie Mae Hemphill, Precious Bryant, Algia Mae Hinton, and Cora Fluker.
Rosenberg, N. V. (1993). Transforming tradition: Folk music revivals examined. University of Illinois Press.
“Transforming Tradition examines the phenomenon of the folk song revival, those vibrant meldings of popular and folk culture that captured public awareness in the 1950s and 1960s.” [From the Publisher]
Rowe, M. (19811975). Chicago blues: The city & the music. Da Capo Press.
Chicago has “been the home for countless black musicians and the birthplace of a distinctly urban blues-more sophisticated, cynical, and street-smart than the anguished songs of the Mississippi delta--a music called the Chicago blues. This is the history of that music and the dozens of black artists who congregated on the South and Near West Sides.” [From the Publisher]
Springer, R. (2006). Nobody knows where the blues come from: Lyrics and history. University Press of Mississippi; Roundhouse distributor.
The essays in this collection analyze underlying meanings in blues lyrics and the lyrics of other forms of Black popular music. The chapter by David Evans titled "High Water Everywhere: Blues and Gospel Commentary on the 1927 Mississippi River Flood" includes significant discussion of and quotes from Jessie Mae Hemphill and Sid Hemphill.
Titon, J. T. (1994). Early downhome blues: A musical and cultural analysis (2nd ed.). University of North Carolina Press.
“Combining musical analysis and cultural history approaches, Titon examines the origins of downhome blues in African American society. He also explores what happened to the art form when the blues were commercially recorded and became part of the larger American culture.” [From the Publisher]
Wald, E. (2010). The blues: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Wald provides a compact history of the blues from its roots in work songs and spirituals to its influence on jazz, country, and contemporary musical genres like hip hop. A great text for anyone seeking a crash course on the blues.
Wardlow, G. & Komara, E. M. (1998). +Chasin' that devil music: Searching for the blues. Miller Freeman Books.
"This book by expert blues scholar Gayle Dean Wardlow reveals the stories of the great blues pioneers - many in their own words [. . . .] He paints colorful portraits of both legends and unknowns of the 1920s, '30s, and beyond who helped shape the music [. . . .]” [From the Publisher]
Weissman, D. (2005). Which side are you on?: An inside history of the folk music revival in America. Continuum.
This book provides a history of the folk music revival and includes chapters on revivalists and performers like the Lomaxes and Pete Seeger. “Weissman also explores the folk music business in depth--how it works, where the power really lies, how the artists have been manipulated and often exploited, as well as the mysterious dynamic between artist and audience” [From the Publisher].
Work, J. W., et al. (2005). Lost Delta found: rediscovering the Fisk University-Library of Congress Coahoma County Study 1941-1942. Vanderbilt University Press.
Alan Lomax’s book The Land Where the Blues Began includes a history of his field recordings in Mississippi from 1941 to 1942. Lost Delta Found provides the writings, interviews, notes, and musical transcriptions produced by three Black scholars from Fisk University -- John W. Work III, Lewis Wade, and Samuel C. Adams -- who accompanied Lomax on research trips to Coahoma County, Mississippi from 1941 to 1942. “This remarkable book recovers [these] three invaluable perspectives, long thought to have been lost, on the culture and music of the Mississippi Delta.” [From the Publisher]
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