Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From a professional reviewer, September 10, 2007
Over the last several years I have written a lot of reviews for Crowsfeet Productions. They handle publicity for several labels. Betsie Brown has been my contact for the West Coast. It has been a pleasure to bring the wonderful entertainment of the East coast to the attention of readers and listeners here in Washington. Occasionally the review I'm asked to write is on other than music releases. Such as in this case. When I was asked if I was interested in reviewing this book I jumped at the chance. Even though book reviews are a lot more time consuming, than reviewing CDs or even DVDs, I feel that they are a media source that need more coverage in Blues reviews.
The secondary title to this book might suggest a very highbrow and hard to read tome concentrating on the literary works of Faulkner. Fear not. While there is a healthy chapter dedicated to the analysis of Faulkner's relationship to the Blues the majority of this text is an appealing, and easy to follow, observation of life as a street musician, jam session veteran and club performer. There are highlighted profiles of New York area Blues musician's that are compelling as well as occasionally touching.
Gussow is not only an award-winning scholar and an Assistant professor (English & Southern Studies-University of Mississippi). He is also a very accomplished harmonica player and recording artist who has been nominated for a W.C. Handy award. His partnership with Sterling "Mr. Satan" Magee was remarkably unlikely from the beginning. Adam Gussow was young, white and Ivy League and "Mr. Satan" was older, black, street-wizened and an accomplished one-man band. Nonetheless together they built a very large fan base, made a few albums, and performed all up and down the East Coast. In reading this book I became so intrigued that I bought two of their three CDs and have played them on my radio show. For my money that's why it's good that we, on the West Coast, can hear about this stuff. We need to know that there is some wonderful music that normally doesn't get distributed to this side of the country.
There are many parts of this book that I can point to as a highlight for me. Gussow's words of disgust for southern racism are similar to my own beliefs. His mentoring of young Bluesman Jason Ricci is a good read because I was participated in a post-concert interview with Jason and heard of his victory over his troubles with substance abuse. I found him to be a sensitive and talented artist. Addam Gussow can claim a little credit for that. My favorite part is Adam's writing about his own mentoring by Sterling Magee. This relationship is covered well in Gussow's first book, "Mr. Satan's Apprentice". There is enough of the Satan & Adam storyline here to serve as an excellent backdrop to the bigger dissertation. It blends together well compilations of articles Gussow has written for Harper's and Blues Access as well as critical essays. The comprehensive examination of William Faulkner's relationship with the Blues is covered here fro the first time. It is deep but I found it enlightening. It made me think about the famous author's place in literary history a little more.
What I assumed would be a slightly self-indulgent semi-autobiographic of Mr. Gussow's life in Blues actually became more of a modern day true life text book. This would serve well any class on black history, Blues history or literary history. There is so much more to Journeyman's Road- other than what I have outlined here. Find out more by visiting his web page & on YouTube (www.modernbluesharmonica.com & www.youtube.com/kudzurunner). To purchase contact www.utpress.org ($30 hardcover)
Well done Mr.Gussow! I believe I shall now have to find Mr. Satan's Apprentice. I can't wait to read it.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughts on a blues book, June 10, 2007
I first became aware of Adam Gussow through his YouTube blues harmonica lessons. That is how I became aware of the fact the he was writing this book. I have read many books. This is the first time that I have ever felt the need to write a review.
At first glance it would seem to be a collection of short stories or articles which could stand on their own if read as such. It is much more; it is a book that should be read from front to back in its entirety. It is actually several books in one, each with their own appeal.
It is the story of Adam Gussow, an interesting man, who is both a street blues musician who played the streets of Harlem, and toured the blues joints, and a teacher of much more than the blues harmonica. He bares his soul through his music (his CDs are available at Amazon.com), and with this book.
It is the story of blues musicians, and indeed, it is even the story of the blues itself. A story of the call and response music form that is the cry of love lost, or unfound, and the promise of how good life could be if you can just find it.
He reminds us of the "bad old days" that spawned the blues, where the black man's call for love went unanswered. It is a bit painful to read, but he takes the reader to a place of hope. Perhaps the influence of the music itself is an answer to that call.
It is the story of Sterling Magee (Mr. Satan), and Adam's relationship with him. It is a story of respect and love for the man that he apprenticed himself to.
Mr. Gussow gives the love to the blues men, and women, who gave him the gift of their music. He passes on their gift, and he finds the love. The long awaited response to his own blues call.
The first readers of this book will undoubtedly be blues harmonica players. The book deserves a much wider audience than that. It will appeal to a wider audience than that. I hope that many people discover this book, and read it. I'm glad that I did.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who Owns The Blues?, February 16, 2009
Here's a thumbs up for Adam Gussow's book "Journeyman's Road". You blues harmonica players know Mr. Gussow--he's one of the most dynamic living blues harpists out there, a bona-fide modern harp master. He's also a college professor, teaches at Ole Miss, and a wealth of knowledge and insight on the history of blues and its related culture. So, no offense to anybody else, but Gussow's a rarity: a bluesman who has got a sound mind AND soul.
This book is filled with all sorts of insights and subjects concerning blues and blues culture--just take a look at the Table Of Contents and that is apparent. What interested me most was the moving/disturbing passages on the history of racial violence in the good ol' US of A; amusing anecdotes on "amp love"; and an intriguing chapter ("Whose Blues...") concerning the issues of blues "authenticity" and the racial/cultural stereotypes of entitlement that still seem to surround that old controversy... And then, of course, the continuing saga of his old blues duo, Satan & Adam...
Ethno-diversity is mainstream in our art, politics and infused, as Gussow illustrates in his book, into our blues music these days. Still, to some, blues is strictly a black cultural thing. Yet, with due respect for any black person informed by their own African-American perspective, Gussow's book shows how anybody who states that blues is off limits to white people or any one else, seems to be denying history, let alone the realities of the cross-pollination of blues voices within today's blues scene--many sincere, soulful, creative artists that deserve validity. Gussow highlights a few of these artists in the current blues scene (particularly in the New York scene of the 1990's), however, these sections can be a little dated, since they were originally written as articles for a blues magazine in the late 1990's-early 2000's. A quote from the epilogue to Journeyman's Road: "(blues) transformed itself in the aftermath of sixties Blues Revival into a profoundly miscegenated American subculture..." Gussow's book has sections that riff off of this whole idea, making one think not just about the music itself, or the technical aspects of blues, but far beyond the "who's who" of any local music scene.
Even Muddy Waters was quoted somewhere as saying that "white people saved the blues," and Buddy Guy said that "music is colorblind." There may be a cornel of truth in what Waters said, but there's definitely a genuine lesson in Guy's statement. Blues music is a world subculture; harmonica players are a subculture within that, and what matters most is how well you `deliver the goods," as Kim Wilson said in an interview for the film documentary, "Antone's: Home of the Blues". Amen. The timeless elements of musicianship and showmanship (soul, originality, technical prowess, etc...) are the real test of who is who when it comes to the blues or any almost any other music. Again, Gussow covers this with humor and humility.
Read Gussow's books about the blues and his experiences in the blues world. The history of the blues and its pioneers and current masters are fascinating to think about. Especially if you're interested in thinking about a style of music and culture that, of course, really doesn't need too much thinking about (if all you want is to sit back and enjoy, or to just get up and boogie). That's fine, too. I'm just saying. Good for the mind and soul, I bet.
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