Customer Reviews

Blind Lemon Jefferson: His Life, His Death, and His Legacy

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This is an excellent,straight-to-the-point book on the beginning,life of and ending of the 1st great Country bluesman, Blind Lemon Jefferson.The book is a good ,factual account of his life taken from people that actually knew him or encountered him mixed in with family members recollections of him.If anyone wants an insight to the Life of this music legend and the development of Blues music in general; this book is a must have!!!

Uzzel borrows liberally from previous research and writing on Jefferson while supplying very little of his own. I didn't learn anything new about Jefferson from reading this, nor will any other decently informed blues fan. There is absolutely zero analysis of BLJ's songs or musicianship, nor any attempt to place him in the context of his times. Uzzel knows nothing about other bluesmen, so he abstains from potentially insightful comparisons to BLJ contemporaries in Texas and Mississippi. There is no discography, so the reader is left guessing at exactly what, when, and where BLJ recorded his tunes. All in all, a vacuous read and a waste of everyone's time and money.

Smilin Jack clearly has his own little axe to grind. I recommend this heart felt book. There are also good chapters on BLJ in The Country Blues and The Bluesmen, both by Samuel Charters.