Books:
Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta (Robert Palmer):
A highly readable, anecdotal tour of the Delta's geography,
personalities, customs and history told from a musician's perspective.
The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America
(Nicholas Lemann): The best analysis of America's own Black Diaspora that
took place between 1940 and the early 1960's. Lemann follows specific Black families out of the deep South
and into the urban North with remarkable insight and compassion. A classic of
contemporary history, this book is vivid, heartfelt and features a brilliant
analysis of the social, political and cultural forces at work.
Roll, Jordan, Roll (Eugene D. Genovese): A comprehensive
interdisciplinary examination of "the world that the slaves made". This
book presents an eloquent look at black and white power dynamics in the
slave period and the forces they set loose in Southern culture and
society. Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads (Scott Ainslie): Guitar transcriptions,
annotated lyrics, historical introductory notes to each of Johnson's songs
and a biography highlight this ground breaking work on Mississippi's most
famous blues legend. Praised for its scholarship, as well as the accuracy
of its transcriptions, this book has a place on the shelves of historians
and musicians, alike.
Rising Tide: The 1927 Flood of the Mississippi and How It Changed America (John Barry):
This is another epic cross-disciplinary study of events in the Mississippi River valley that
stretches across two centuries and cultures. One of the most influential
and readable books I have read in the last decade.
Discography:
Roots 'n' Blues (Columbia/Legacy): white and black roots for American Blues
including mountain string band, early country, gospel, primitive blues,
cajun music and early rhythm and blues. Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings (Sony/Columbia): all 41 surviving
takes of the twenty-nine songs recorded by this Mississippi Blues legend
in the 1930's which upon their re-release in 1962 literally changed the
direction of rock through the work of Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin and others.
Other artists: Son House, Muddy Waters, Blind Blake, Jimmy Reed, J.B.
Lenoir, Bukka White, B.B. King, Leadbelly (Deeper South); and Rev. Gary
Davis, Blind Boy Fuller, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee (Durham); Libba
Cotten and Etta Baker (NC).
Magazine Articles:
North Carolina Blues, Parts 1 & 2 (Living Blues Magazine, February and
April, 1993) Profiles of living blues musicians from all across the state,
a valuable resource! Available from Living Blues, University of
Mississippi, University, MS 38677. Interview: Scott Ainslie (Acoustic Musician, October, 1995) An interview
that exposes much of the background and social context of blues and
addresses some of the issues that Blues music faces today.
Videos:
The Land Where The Blues Began (Alan Lomax) An unequaled video
introduction to the American musical and cultural background of
Mississippi Delta Blues (a companion to Lomax's book by the same name). Searching For Robert Johnson (John Hammond) A video tour of the
Delta with blues artist John Hammond as your host, examining the
haunts and few existing acquaintances of this blues legend.