The Blues: A Very Short Introduction

The Blues: A Very Short Introduction by Elijah Wald

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. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

A history needn't be long to be both thorough and illuminatingMr. Wald's no-nonsense 152-page study of the blues deromanticizes a musical genre about which vast amounts of fuzzy-minded nonsense have been written. It would be impossible to pack more critical wisdom-or common sense-into a smaller, shapelier package. * Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal *

Elijah Wald is a musician who teaches blues history at UCLA. His books include How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll, Global Minstrels, and Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780195398939
ISBN 10	0195398939
Title	The Blues: A Very Short Introduction
Author	Elijah Wald
Series	Very Short Introductions
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press Inc
Year published	2010-06-24
Number of pages	152
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable