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Superbly researched and vividly written, 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 its roots in the turn-of-the-century honky-tonks of New Orleans and the barrelhouses and plantations of the Mississippi Delta to modern legends such as John Lee Hooker and B. B. King, the blues comes alive here through accounts by the blues musicians themselves and those who knew them. Throughout this wide-ranging and fascinating book, Giles Oakley describes the texture of the life that made the blues possible, and the changing attitudes toward the music. The Devil's Music is a wholehearted and loving examination of one of America's most powerful traditions.
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When in 1863 President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was read out loud in Boston's Tremont Temple, the audience sang: Sound the loud timbrel. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When in 1863 President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was read out loud in Boston's Tremont Temple, the audience sang: Sound the loud timbrel. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read any number of books on the Blues and this is one of the best. It couples the music's development with contemporaneous cultural events - the plantation system, share-cropping, and segregation. And it brings in the authentic voices of the bluesmen themselves. Anyone interested in the Blues should have this on their shelf.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
if you're at all interested in the history of the blues - especially if you think it started with red house or stevie ray vaughan - this book is essential. get it !!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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2 reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Highly eductional; great for the early blues
27 Jun 2007
Format:Paperback
Very comprehensive; from Slavery era through the 60s, provides a long list of the men and women who created the blues and the following generations that assimilated and popularized them. Discusses the social, economic and political forces that influenced them as well. Good educational read. Pretty much ends at the Muddy Waters/BB King heyday of the 60s. If you're looking more for the modern blues (the Alberts, Buddy Guy, Clapton, Hendrix, SRV even) then this one is not for you. However, if you want to know about the guys (and gals) from whom the modern-era bluesmen learned their chops, this is your book.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Blues You Can Use
23 Oct 2008
Format:Paperback
For anyone interested in a learning more about the blues, including it's history, different styles and most important musicians, this book is an excellent choice. It traces the music from it's roots in work songs, gospel and tent shows through the country blues of the South and the electric blues of Chicago on to the modern era.
The writer clearly has great admiration for this music, not only for it's creative spirit but as a reflection of the black experience in America and the struggle of so many folks to survive bigotry and economic injustice.
Top notch blues perfomers like Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters are covered as well as lesser known but still influential talents such as Gus Cannon and Henry Thomas. Written in 1976, Oakley's comments on the contemporary blues scene can sometimes sound dated. But an excellent afterword, written in the late 90's, bring it somewhat more up to date. If you want to know more about the blues then this book is a great place to start.
The writer clearly has great admiration for this music, not only for it's creative spirit but as a reflection of the black experience in America and the struggle of so many folks to survive bigotry and economic injustice.
Top notch blues perfomers like Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters are covered as well as lesser known but still influential talents such as Gus Cannon and Henry Thomas. Written in 1976, Oakley's comments on the contemporary blues scene can sometimes sound dated. But an excellent afterword, written in the late 90's, bring it somewhat more up to date. If you want to know more about the blues then this book is a great place to start.
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