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Charley Patton (Blues paperbacks)

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Focused primarily on a detailed analysis of Patton's music, this book goes deeply into the structure of the music and lyrics of Charley Patton's Blues. The first 25 pages deal with life in the Mississippi Delta and Charley Patton's role in that culture. Although brief, these pages bring the area and the culture to life in a truly remarkable way.

The majority of the book, from page 32 to page 111, is an in depth study of the music of this early Blues musician. In three chapters titled

Modes, Scales, Tunings and New Terms,

Tune Analysis, and

Tune Families

John Fahey provides a comprehensive discussion and five tables that arrange Patton's works by Guitar Tunings and Keys, Notes Played in Each Song, Songs According to Scale, Tune Families, and Structural Analysis.

The last section of the book is devoted to examining the texts of Patton's songs. Fahey concludes that, although each stanza seems to be on a specific thought, Patton seems to string together stanzas in a somewhat random order without an attempt to put together an organized story. An Appendix lists the words, notes and chords to 44 of the songs discussed in the book.

Illustrated with black-and-white photographs and reproductions of the original 1920's advertising fliers for the recordings, this is an important work for anyone wanting to study the music of Charlie Patton who is often called the best of the Mississippi blues singers. It is a welcome companion to have while listening to Charley Patton's music.