Taj Mahal: Autobiography of a Bluesman [Paperback]

Taj Mahal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2002

With 40 albums behind him, including two Grammy Award winners, Taj Mahal conveys his personal honest and frank account of his life and legacy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A good bluesman, he sings it different than anyone else. He mixes reggae, Caribbean, African and blues." -- John Lee Hooker

"Taj is probably the most important bridge we have between blues and rock-n-roll. He's as bad as they get." -- Bonnie Raitt

"When you run into Taj, it's like a day when you got an extra helping of cake." -- Linda Ronstadt

"[Taj is] considered a living link to the old blues tradition. That's exactly what he is." -- Mick Jagger --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

There are people who play music, and then there are artists who use music as their medium. Blues legend Taj Mahal is such a musician.

In the course of his unique 30-year career, Taj has embraced the blues, folk, reggae, R&B, gospel, rock 'n' roll, zydeco, Caribbean, African, and Hawaiian music, and has worked with and influenced some of the greatest musicians of our time. Mick Jagger, John Lee Hooker, Linda Rondstadt, Bonnie Raitt, and Keb' Mo' are just a few of the stars who tell their own stories of Taj. Others recount tales of touring in an African war zone; of putting together revolutionary bands; and of playing "inside a song" with Taj.

Taj's lifelong quest has been to get closer to his roots music. Realizing as a child that the songs he was hearing bore fragments of ancestral songs, he strove to popularize this authentic music, often in the face of crippling opposition from a blinkered music industry.

Off-stage, the double Grammy award-winner steps out of the shadows and invites the reader into his private life. He tells of personal tragedies previously not revealed. His immediate family talk of their brother, their husband, and their father with frank sincerity. The result is an astonishing but, above all, honest account of the life of a bluesman. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Sanctuary Publishing (September 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860744311
• ISBN-13: 978-1860744310
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,878,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Composers & Musicians > Rhythm & Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not an autobiography but a great book, November 2, 2004

By 

V. Crawford (Park City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taj Mahal: Autobiography of a Bluesman (Paperback)

This book is portraying this bluesman in his own words, but also by the words of many others. It is unfair to label this as a "bad" book just by the fact that it is not an autobiography. And people complain about reading about his life. . . a book about a musician would not be a book if it didn't focus on his life. You can hear the music, but you need to read his life. This is a well written book with many celebrity interviews about this influential artist. I've bought this book for several people with no regrets. . .they don't regret reading it either. They do nothing but rave about it, and that's all that I can do.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep on Keepin' On, June 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Taj Mahal - Autobiography of a Bluesman (Hardcover)

I truly loved this book about a legendary bluesman. He seemed to be up-front and honest about his personal life and trials as well as experiences in the cutthroat world of music as business. Interviews-with/comments-from "stars" in the music industry like Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and Mick Jagger showed just what an indelible mark Taj has made on their lives. Stories from Taj's family were poignant.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chasing Taj Mahal, September 29, 2001

By 

Richard P. Haight (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taj Mahal - Autobiography of a Bluesman (Hardcover)

Stephen Foehr is a master of networking. I can tell you, because I copy edited much of this book, that bringing it to publication was a Herculean chore. Taj Mahal's internationl concert schedule and complex family relations made him an elusive, sometimes reluctant, contributor to the project. Foehr was forced to tell the story as much by contacting Taj's myriad kin, fellow musicians, friends, and others as by getting Taj to tell it in his own words. The result is a rich, multifaceted combination of autobiography and biography that provides a classic example of the genre as well as a fascinating portrait of its subject, the world of the blues, Taj's family and friends, and a history of the blues in the last 40 or 50 years. Taj's supporting cast, his friends and antagonists, comprise a gallery of equally gifted and admiraqble characters. Foehr's relentless and creative networking with them and tracking them down made this book possible. Taj's complex, talented, intriguing life has been given its definitive treatment.