New Series: The Men Behind The Bluesmen

I like to give credit where credit is due. That's just how I roll. Some people mistakenly believe that the blues is a black or white thing. It is true that many of the great bluesmen were black, it is also a fact that there were many white men standing behind them encouraging them, enabling them, cajoling them, collaborating with them to create this great art form that we all love so much.

Any way, I just want to shed some light on the men who stood with the bluesmen. Who helped them become the giants that we know today. In the coming months I plan to cover their bios, books, music, and other contributions of the following in a series of post I'm calling "The Men Behind the Bluesmen."

Lenard Chess

Phil Chess

Sam Philips

Alan Lomax

Robert Palmer

And many, many others.

Blues Books: Deep Blues by Robert Palmer

This is one of those must own books for a blues music fan. It was written by Blues Hall of Fame inductee Robert Palmer, if you own only one book about the blues, this is the one to own. The reason that I like this book so much is that it is not only a great book about the blues, but it is a very good history book as well.

The orgin of the blues is covered along with the the life and times of many the great bluesmen, like Charley Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, Little Walter, Muddy Waters and others. The book shows the development of a music that grew directly out of the earth of the Mississippi Delta, and tells the story of how it spread around the world. It tells the story of how the bluesmen made do with what they had, how tough their lives were and the fun they had going from town to town playing dances and in the juke joints of the time.

Deep Blues:
A Musical and Cultural History
of the Mississippi Delta

my copy looks like the one above.


click images for info @Amazon.com


Blues Books @SqueezeMyLemon

Blues Music Books @Amazon.com