All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings (2nd Ed) [Paperback]

Michael Erlewine (Editor), Vladimir Bogdanov (Editor), Chris Woodstra (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Amg All Music Guide Series | Publication Date: 1999

A collection of biographies, discographies, reviews, ratings, essays and charts to help blues and gospel fans explore recordings. It identifies more than 3500 CDs, albums and tapes in key blues styles, and features personal profiles of more than 700 musicians and singers.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The New Blackwell Guide to Recorded Blues. Blackwell. Dec. 1996. c.448p. permanent paper. ed. by John Cowley & Paul Oliver. index. LC 96-12140. ISBN 0-631-20163-7. $49.95; pap. ISBN 0-631-19639-0. $19.95. Blackwell has distinguished itself as a publisher of music guides, and its latest offering upholds the high standards set by previous ones, including the blues guide (The Blackwell Guide to Blues Records, LJ 12/89) updated here. As is generally true of Blackwell guides, the coverage is selective rather than exhaustive; in this case, the book consists of 11 discographical essays, each covering a period in blues history and recommending around 50 recordings as either "essential" or "basic" to a blues library. The essays are consistently well written and extremely informative. More that simply guiding the reader to good blues recordings, they also provide a remarkably thorough overview of the history and development of specific artists and styles. Each citation includes a catalog number and complete track list. A number of the recordings cited are UK-only releases, which limits somewhat the guide's usefulness to American readers. Still, this guide should find a place in most academic music collections. (Index not seen.) Where the Blackwell guide offers impressive depth, the All Music guide offers impressive breadth. Those familiar with the "All Music Guide" series know exactly what to expect here: a huge number of brief reviews and artist biographies covering almost every blues artist one can think of, as well as several useful appendixes on instrumental and regional styles and numerous charts illustrating webs of influence among artists and the connections among blues subgenres. As is also generally the case with All Music guides, the rating system is so ambiguous as to be almost meaningless, and the writing is uneven in quality. Not all research collections will need it, but this guide can be confidently recommended as a resource for the nonspecialist reader.?Rick Anderson, Penacook, N.H.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

[PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED D 15 94, under All Music Guide to Jazz.] --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 658 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books; 2nd edition (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879305487
• ISBN-13: 978-0879305482
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #486,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Complete and Extensive Book on the Blues, January 31, 2000

By 

Brandon Paul - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings (2nd Ed) (Paperback)

I love this book. It has rested by my bedside for several months now and I am constantly picking it up. The great thing about this book is that it has opened so many doors to new great blues artists I'd never heard of before, and really serves as a chain in which I discover a blues artist I like, which leads to another, and another. Simply put, you can't go wrong with this book because by the time you waste your money on two CDs you dislike because of poor sound quality or because it's one of the artist's lesser works, you caould have bought this book. If you're at all interested, buy it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By Far The Best Blues Reference Guide Available, May 16, 1999

By 

political idiot (california) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings (2nd Ed) (Paperback)

I've read them all and this is the very best of all the blues guides available. While some of the reviews are inconsistant as are the recommended CDs, reviews and recommendations by Bill Dahl and Cub Coda, which account for most of them, are 100% on the mark every time. It is an excellent way start a killer blues library and avoid the less than desirable CDs and save yourself some money. This is the one to buy.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Valuable Tool, September 21, 2000

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"wednightprayermeeting" (Bellview, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings (2nd Ed) (Paperback)

This book (encyclopedia) gives a description of, and rates nearly every quality blues recording available. Contains detailed histories of the lives of thousands of blues artists.

Contains detailed essays on the roots of the blues, the evolution, and different styles of blues, such as Delta, Chicago, Piedmont, West Coast.....And also has music maps showing the influences on different styles of blues, as well as describing the most influential artist in each respective style.

I don't buy an album without consulting this, or the jazz edition. This blues edition is so comprehensive it even delves into gospel, jazz, and a bit of soul music.

Full of great information. I am sure that this is the best blues encyclopedia available.