Chicago has always had a reputation as a ”wide open town” with a high tolerance for gangsters, illegal liquor, and crooked politicians. It has also been the home for countless black musicians and the birthplace of a distinctly urban blues—more sophisticated, cynical, and street-smart than the anguished songs of the Mississippi delta—a music called the Chicago blues. This is the history of that music and the dozens of black artists who congregated on the South and Near West Sides. Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Tampa Red, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, Otis Rush, Sonny Boy Williamson, Junior Wells, Eddie Taylor—all of these giants played throughout the city and created a musical style that had imitators and influence all over the world.
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very imformative reading,
By "pawvt" (East Burke, VT United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chicago Blues: The City & the Music (Paperback)
This book is one of those 'text' books that reads well. It isn't really a text book but it contains more information about Chicago Blues than I have found in a single book anywhere else. It covers the standard demographic changes and other things that lead to the development of the music, but then it walks you through the artists, big and small, the different labels, big and small. From Muddy Waters to Mighty Joe Young, Chess to Jax. Also included are billboard rating charts, and a very comprehensive discography by artist. The only limitaion I found was that it does not cover the more modern artists, leaving off around the mid seventies. For someone who loves blues and wants to know more, this is a great guidebook for a journey though a great musical tradition.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but could and should have been Great,
By
This review is from: Chicago Blues: The City & the Music (Paperback)
This is an important book for Blues fans, but it had the opportunity to be so much more in terms of size and detail, as most of the artists mentioned in this book were still alive at its initial publish date in 1973. Though many of the artists are quoted, it appears from the skimpy Source section in Chicago Blues that most of the quotes were obtained from Blues Unlimited magazine or from Mike Leadbitter's book, Nothing But The Blues, which also sources Blues Unlimited.
If author Mike Rowe actually had gone to Chicago, Memphis and various cities in Mississippi to personally interview the artists in this book, Chicago Blues would still be the definitive book on Chicago Blues today. Sadly, all but a handful of the artists referenced in this book are deceased today, thus rendering it impossible for another author to attempt to document first and second hand accounts of the shaping of Blues music in Chicago. Rowe may never have intended this book to be the definitive piece on Chicago Blues music, so it may be a bit unfair of me to chastise him for not taking advantage of the availability of the artists and presenting a greater work. In addition to my disappointment of what this book could have been, I take exception with some of Rowe's artist assessments. He incorrectly dismisses Billy Boy Arnold as only an "average talent" and tends to gloss over those with exceptional talent. Blues music was at a dreary point in the early 70s and combined with Rowe's personal biases towards or against artists, influenced the tenor of this book. Though Chicago Blues has its shortcomings, I am going to order a second copy as my 20 year old copy is worn.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
chicago blues, the people who made music, their story,
By
This review is from: Chicago Blues: The City & the Music (Paperback)
one of the best on the subject, a classic standing on its own, many cds sleeve notes and other publications have as their source the stories and information in its pages,Highly Recommended Some books have a built in obsolessence in them as time goes by, this book as all the best works on a given subject will never be less than essential.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
The early '50s were remarkable for the last resurgence of the country blues-a style that had been largely superseded by the urban blues of the late '30s and '40s. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
money taking woman, first club date, bottleneck style, bottleneck guitar, dang doodle, jump blues, amplified guitar, slow blues, second guitar, blues scene Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sonny Boy, Big Bill, Muddy Waters, West Side, Cash Box, Jimmy Rogers, Tampa Red, Floyd Jones, Johnnie Jones, Sunnyland Slim, Memphis Minnie, Eddie Taylor, Joe Brown, New York, John Lee, South Side, Willie Dixon, Homesick James, Johnny Williams, Lazy Bill, Len Chess, Maxwell Street, Robert Johnson, Snooky Pryor, Junior Wells New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The early '50s were remarkable for the last resurgence of the country blues-a style that had been largely superseded by the urban blues of the late '30s and '40s. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
money taking woman, first club date, bottleneck style, bottleneck guitar, dang doodle, jump blues, amplified guitar, slow blues, second guitar, blues scene Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sonny Boy, Big Bill, Muddy Waters, West Side, Cash Box, Jimmy Rogers, Tampa Red, Floyd Jones, Johnnie Jones, Sunnyland Slim, Memphis Minnie, Eddie Taylor, Joe Brown, New York, John Lee, South Side, Willie Dixon, Homesick James, Johnny Williams, Lazy Bill, Len Chess, Maxwell Street, Robert Johnson, Snooky Pryor, Junior Wells New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 37
books:
See all 37 books this book cites
11
books
cite this book:
See all 11 books citing this book
- Bad Boy (Harlequin Temptation) by Roseanne Williams on page 159
- Too Much by William Rogers in Back Matter
- Going Down by John St. Robert in Back Matter
- Coming Home (American Adventure (Barbour)) by Veda Boyd Jones on page 203
- American Folk by Gerald W.R. Ward in Back Matter
See all 37 books this book cites
- The B.B. King Reader: Six Decades of Commentary by Richard Kostelanetz on page 142, and Back Matter
- Leavin' Trunk Blues (Nick Travers Mysteries) by Ace Atkins in Front Matter
- The Man-Made City: The Land-Use Confidence Game in Chicago by Gerald D. Suttles in Back Matter
- Blues Mandolin Man: The Life and Music of Yank Rachell (American Made Music) by Richard Congress in Back Matter
- The Pilgrim Jubilees (American Made Music Series) by Alan Young in Back Matter
See all 11 books citing this book
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
