In this evocative and intensely personal history of the blues, Bill Wyman pays tribute to the musicians who inspired him and whose music he took around the world as a member of the Rolling Stones. The starting point of Bill's Odyssey is the journey of African slaves to the plantations of America's Deep South. We follow their descendants as they walk, travel the highways, and ride the railroads out of the Delta and the troubled South via Memphis to the northern cities of Chicago and St. Louis. But this is no superficial history: Bill Wyman's in-depth odyssey reveals a society where poverty and injustice as well as love and faith, found their expression in a musical style that gave birth to rock 'n' roll. Location shots of smoky juke joints, railroad stations, and endless highways combine with richly detailed maps to bring the Blues alive. Feature spreads with previously unpublished photographs from Bill Wyman's personal archive showcase 40 Blues legends from Robert Johnson to John Lee Hooker, telling the story of their fascinating and often troubled lives. Bill Wyman is a legend in his own right. He has known and played with many of the Blues legends, and his personal knowledge and unprecedented access give this book an authenticity that is almost impossible to match.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
As much a history of the African-American experience as it is a music resource, Wyman's latest book (after Stone Alone) chronicles the rise of that heartbreaking, uniquely American music: the blues. With beautiful photographs, maps, drawings, portraits, time lines and record cover reproductions, the book spans nearly 400 years, from 1619 and the origins of slavery to the modern-day sounds of Bonnie Raitt and Eric Clapton. Although Wyman (of the Rolling Stones and the recently formed Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings) is credited as the author, the work includes many boxed quotations from the musician himself, thus leaving the reader wondering how much of the writing actually fell on Havers, who receives only minor recognition. This stands as a truly comprehensive look at the blues. Readers learn about Papa Charlie Jackson, one of the first bluesmen to record (in Chicago, 1924); Ma Rainey, credited with bridging the gap between "urban" and "country" blues; and John Lee Hooker, who before his recent death was the "last living link to the prewar Delta blues tradition." The authors also discuss particular songs, including "Beale Street Blues" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," telling who has covered them and when. Instruments, geographical locations and record labels are discussed, as are society's racial reactions to the music (for example, although physical segregation was rampant in the 1950s, radio helped in eroding the differences between black and white). Throughout, interesting if sometimes irrelevant details abound: from tidbits about Fats Waller's childhood to the finer points of cotton growing and a list of battles won by the Confederacy. Overwhelming and extensive, this is a fine addition to any African-American history, jazz or blues collection.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Wyman, former bass guitarist for the Rolling Stones and the author of two previous books, has assembled a visually stunning coffee-table tribute to the blues that serves as the companion volume to the Bravo special of the same name, airing on November 1. Although detail is somewhat thin in this type of book, given the breadth of the subject, Wyman brings out the connections among blues and jazz, vaudeville, rock'n'roll, minstrel song, and white country music as well as anyone could in anything short of a scholarly treatise. Included are the author's interesting vignettes from his tour notes with the Rolling Stones, interviews with blues performers, brief biographies, fact files, and influences. Wyman's love of the blues and his attachment to its practitioners are obvious at every turn. Although Wyman does not include a bibliography or even a short suggested reading list, he does offer a discography of favorite recordings that captures a large range of blues-based styles from Bessie Smith to Eric Clapton and shows the debt rock owes to blues music. Blues fans and especially followers of blues-influenced rock bands will pore over this; recommended for public libraries with large popular music collections. James E. Perone, Mount Union Coll., Alliance, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential for the blues collector,
This review is from: Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music's Heart & Soul (Hardcover)
This book falls somewhere between the in depth tomes of Paul Oliver and the "Blues for Dummies" book. It has greater depth than the "Dummies" book, covering such history as the slave trade and American Abolition movement to a greater extent than found in a casual survey. Wyman & Havers also provide a decent intro for ragtime, spirituals and jazz before they get into the meat of the subject. The book covers the usual subject matter with a little greater depth than usual. Excellent features include profiles of essential artists (including suggestions on what to purchase for great listening), recording histories of the great songs (Stack O'Lee, Rollin' and Tumblin', etc.) and a recurring map featuring blues highlights. As a blues fan and collector, I found it fascinating reading which I plan to pass on to other fans and nonfans alike.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rich personal history of the world of blues music,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music's Heart & Soul (Hardcover)
This rich personal history of the world of blues music blends a history of the movements of blues from Africa to the US with a personal exploration of the society and places which fostered the rise of blues music. From location shots of juke joints to biographical sketches of big names in blues music, this is packed with color images which bring a far more personal touch to the subject than most.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty Pictures, Problematic Prose,
By LaChinchon (Mississippi headwaters) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music's Heart & Soul (Hardcover)
A coffee table book, pure and simple, with thick, glossy pages full of photos, timelines, and charts. But the prose is the equivalent of a high school term paper--no flow to the paragraphs, themes jumbled and disorganized, little explication or analysis. Sure, it is an encyclopedia of facts, some of them quite interesting, but who wants to read an encyclopedia cover to cover? Apart from the inelegant ghost writing, Wyman's own asides are entirely superfluous. Compare this to Alan Lomax's "The Land Where the Blues Began".
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