Songsters and Saints: Vocal Traditions on Race Records [Paperback]

Paul Oliver (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521269423 | ISBN-13: 978-0521269421 | Publication Date: October 26, 1984

In this innovatory book the celebrated writer on the blues, Paul Oliver, rediscovers the wealth of neglected vocal traditions presented on Race records. When blues first reached a large audience it was through the 'Race records' issued specifically for black purchasers in the 1920s. Blues South have been extensively discussed by many writers. Paul Oliver shows that this emphasis has drawn attention away from the other important vocal traditions also available on Race records: the songs of Southern rural dances, the comic and social songs and ballads of the medicine shows and travelling entertainments, and, even more neglected, the sacred vocal traditions, from the song-sermons of the Baptist and Sanctified preachers to the gospel songs of the church congregations and of the 'jack-leg' preachers and street evangelists. Over 500 artists and 700 song titles are indexed and there is a guide to reissued recordings.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...fills an interesting and important gap in American musical history." Cashbox

Book Description

This original study reveals that the emphasis on blues has drawn attention away from other rich and important vocal traditions such as Southern rural dance music and the comic and social songs and ballads of travelling entertainment shows. Includes a guide to reissued recordings and indexes of approximately 500 artists and 700 song titles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 26, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521269423
• ISBN-13: 978-0521269421
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #476,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book must be read and it must be reprinted, December 5, 2008

By 

Tony Thomas (SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songsters and Saints: Vocal Traditions on Race Records (Paperback)

It is a crime that this wonderful book is not available in an inexpensive edition but only in a collectible price because it is effectively out of print.
It provides a real history of the music that preceded the Blues and Dorsey-based Gospel in and outside of the recording music and makes an essential contribution to the history of the Blues and African American music in the 1880-1930 period. Oliver speaks about factors left out of most discussion of the Blues. For example, he surveys the very large repertoire of Ragtime and pseudo ragtime tunes that were part of the repertoire of early Blues singers and he suggests how this music may have been one of the initial building blocks of the blues. Oliver also discusses the wave of Black Southern vernacular dances that conquered the South and much of the nation in the early 20th century which were key to the development of new Black musics in those years.

When you first read this, you will wish you had bought this book sooner!