Blues And Evil [Paperback]

Jon Michael Spencer (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Ever since the 1930s, when Robert Johnson came to epitomize the hard-drinking, salacious blues singer who sold his soul to the devil for prowess on the guitar, blues music has been associated with evil. Spencer examines this connection from its origins in the myths of the African trickster-gods to the sensationalism of the music by white vaudeville promoters and record producers. Spencer challenges the notion that blues is evil; rather, he claims, it is an attempt to come to grips with a world ruled by a good god where evil is allowed to exist. Folklore, mythology, and theology are all used to explain the roots of this "simple" music. Copious footnotes and an excellent bibliography enhance this scholarly treatment of an important aspect of African American culture. Recommended for libraries with strong African American and folklore collections.
- Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Univ Tennessee Press; 1 edition (April 30, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870497839
• ISBN-13: 978-0870497834
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,226,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues and Evil is an exploration of a neglected area, May 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Blues And Evil (Paperback)

Blues and Evil is an exploration of a neglected area, that is, how the nature of AficanAmerican religious belief had an impact on the emerging art of the blues in its early stages when blues could be seen as an authentic expression of a very localizable Southern Black culture. The music of Southern Black folk is contextualized in a refreshing way; not as the antithesis or inversion of a powerful religious culture; but rather as an expression of its depth and breadth. Stereotypical views of both white scholars and somewhat conformist Southern Black Church leaders are challenged by the author, who shows that the blues constituted a cultural space in which the fears and difficulties, the personal and sexual conflicts, and the threatening social conditions of life among Black folk in the south could be worked with as a raw material for the spiritual elevation of the individual in his experience of these in his daily affairs. The blues therefore emerges in the author's hands as a tool with which conflicts are mediated, contemplated, and reintegrated for the participants in its rituals, its celebrations, and its expurgations. Perhaps the most moving revelation is that the extent to which these wonderful and brilliant artists lived as outsiders in an outsider culture has been exaggerated to a degree by romanticizing, though well meaning scholars, and by extension, in the eyes of the public. The book should be regarded as worthwhile both by students of the emergence of the blues, but also those interested in the emergence of a black culture in post-Reconstruction south at the beginning of our century. A very thoughtful book

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed but essential reading, March 9, 2004

By 

TLAG (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues And Evil (Paperback)

This book is essential reading for blues scholars and even for blues fans who want to understand blues mythology and the religious nature of the blues. Spencer writes well and the examples he uses from song lyrics do much to provide an understanding of where the music called the blues comes from, and the influence of religion and religious practice on its development. Spencer advances a few theories that I really found interesting: (1) That as the character of the blues changed from old country or delta to city blues and then to the urban blues of the Chicago blues - the religious nature of the music was "denatured" of explicit references to the blues, and (2)secondly that the blues has a strong tie to gospel spirituals and preaching. Both are interesting and provide unique insight. For that reason, this book should be read and I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the blues.

The problem with Spencer is two-fold. First, he plays the race card over and over and over. He asserts that white musicologists can never begin to understand or grasp fully what the blues is about because they are not black and cannot understand what it is like to suffer from slavery and overt racism. I think it is a fair point to make that white authors cannot begin to understand racism and slavery - another thing to translate that in toto to blues music as a whole. Spencer repeats this line of analysis again and again and by the middle of the book - just advances it as if previously proven by his own assertion. Secondly, he seems to focus almost entirely on the work of Paul Oliver to discredit white ethnomusicologists - (Robert Palmer, Samuel Charters, David Evans and William Ferris are either ignored completely or lumped into Oliver's Europeanist school.) Oliver certainly deserves far better here. Spencer tirelessly picks apart Oliver and assumes the most sinister and racist intentions from what mostly seems trivial. (I am sure that Spencer would argue that being black gives him special insight but I find that less than appealing.) At one point, he takes Oliver to task for quoting from a specific song lyric to make a general point. However, this is a technique that Spencer relies upon for almost every point he makes. At times the racial polemics become the focus and the music is left behind - which is a shame. Surely we can all love this music without setting up racial litmus tests?

In the end, it is unfortunate but not lethal. His insistence on attacking Oliver ad nausea only weakens what is a very important piece of work. But don't let that distract you. I think Spencer has a good thesis - he supports it well and he provides an insight into African as well as Christian religious influences on the blues - which has not really received this kind of in depth focus.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rascism at its Finest, February 23, 2006

By 

J. Prager "neoverexxa" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blues And Evil (Paperback)

while i agree with other reviewers that this a scholarly great text in some ways, i also agree that the author has a vendetta against anything white. Apparently he feels some special right to talk about the blues just because he is black, saying that he and his people understand aspects of the blues us whities could never understand. While that may have been totally true 100 years ago, i really question his assertion that a college professor with a phd in 1993 has any special insight into the life of wandering poor oppressed artists 100 years ago. Maybe i dont get it because im white; im sure that would be the authors opinion. I love the blues, and while this text explores areas of the blues that may have been obscure before, I feel that his paranoia of white people passing the blues off as anything but philosophically and morally profound because we still somehow see blacks as nothing more than minstrels is just ridiculous. Nobody today, or at least very very few people have any special insight into a culture that at the time was obscure and is long gone by now. The author is arrogant and pretentious, but I'm sure im just saying that because I am a white devil. Apparently the color of your skin matters more than what you have to say, because the author joyfully and overtly discredits other scholars just because they happen to be white (I swear to God that is the reason he gives, we whities be dumb!). I got this book because I felt it could help me dive into the complexities of the human condition that we all share, and that i can relate to in blues music. Apparently, because I'm white, i have no right to listen to the sacred music that should only be avaliable to blacks with the mysterious power to somehow interpret it correctly. I hate this race BS. Using race to discredit other points of view was wrong a hundred years ago, and it is still just as wrong today, it doesnt matter who you are.