Music - Genres & Styles - Blues

"A treasure trove of information...told with real feeling." --Washington Post Book World"Charming...honest...transcendent.... It reads like a warm and lengthy conversation with a close friend." --BillboardThe undisputed king of the blues, B.B. King puts his life into words in a story that spans tragedy, triumph,...

From one of this country's most important intellectuals comes a brilliant analysis of the blues tradition that examines the careers of three crucial black women blues singers through a feminist lens. Angela Davis provides the historical, social, and political contexts with which to reinterpret...

"A must for all who would more knowledgeably appreciate and better comprehend America's most popular music." -- Langston Hughes"The path the slave took to 'citizenship' is what I want to look at. And I make my analogy through the slave citizen's music--through the music...

Jerry Portnoy grew up in Chicago hearing the blues being played outside his father's rug store on famed Maxwell Street during the late 1940s and early '50s. After dropping out of college, he became immersed in the colorful world of pool hustlers like Cornbread...

Down On The Corner is the story of music performed on the streets, in subways, in parks, in schoolyards, on the back of flatbed trucks, and beyond, from the 1920s to the present day.Drawing on years of interviews and eyewitness accounts, Down On The...

The life of blues legend Robert Johnson becomes the centerpiece for this innovative look at what many consider to be America's deepest and most influential music genre. Pivotal are the questions surrounding why Johnson was ignored by the core black audience of his time...

How to Play Blues Guitar gives you vital instruction in blues basics from top guitar teachers and reveals the screts of blues greats, often in their own words. Revised and expanded with 32 pages of new lessons and packed with musical examples, charts, and...

James Baldwin used to tell Nina Simone, "This is the world you have made for yourself, now you have to live in it." Simone has created for herself a world of magnificent peaks. Often compared to Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf, Simone is known...

An idea 50 years in the making, this entertaining cookbook from a cult music legend is chock-full of stories and soul foodBefore there was Snoop Dogg, there was Swamp Dogg. Born Jerry Williams Jr., he first rose to fame as a 12-year-old soul singer...

"Gorgeous. One of the music--and art--books of the year." (The Guardian) 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,...

The Blues Foundation's 1996 Hall of Fame "Classics in Blues Literature" award One of Vibe Magazine's "Eight Favorite Music Books," Vibe, September 2007 One of Pitchfork Magazine's "50 Favorite Music Books," 2011. One of the "Fifteen Books Every Music Fan Should Read," Billboard 2022....

Whether you want a complete method to learn blues guitar or just a set of 100 excellent blues guitar licks, this book has you covered. Most guitarists stay locked into the same patterns and scale shapes for years, unable to break out of the...

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...

An updated new edition of Ted Gioia's acclaimed compendium of jazz standards, featuring 15 additional selections, hundreds of additional recommended tracks, and enhancements and additions on almost every page. Since the first edition of The Jazz Standards was published in 2012, author Ted Gioia...

Author: Josephine Matyas,Craig JonesPublisher: Backbeat BooksPublished: 10/16/2025Pages: 272Binding Type: PaperbackWeight: 0.70lbsSize: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70dISBN: 9781493089635About the AuthorJosephine Matyas is a full-time travel writer and member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), and The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC). She has...

The Story of the Blues in 50 Songs traces the evolution of the blues and its influence on modern music. Highlighting 50 key recordings, the book explores the genre's roots in Black American culture and its impact on rock, soul, jazz, and hip-hop. Entries...

The Penderyn 2020 Music Book Prize (UK edition) Living Blues Critics Choice Best Blues Book of 2019 Living Blues Readers Choice Best Blues Book of 2019 Certificate of Merit in the Best Historical Research in Recorded Blues, Soul, Gospel, or R&B category from ARSC...