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137th out of 158 books
—
24 voters
The Land Where the Blues Began
by
Alan Lomax
Set in an era as harsh and fertile as Delta silt, The Land Where the Blues Began reveals how the river of African-American culture overtook its repressive banks�to give us R & B, soul, rock 'n' roll, and the only purely American art form, the blues. Alan Lomax takes us on an adventure into the "bad old days" of the post-slavery, Jim Crow Mississippi Delta�the birthplac...more
Paperback, 560 pages
Published
November 1st 2002
by New Press, The
(first published 1993)
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Let me just start off by saying that this book is completely obviously a treasure trove of information for people curious about blues lineages or who'd like to learn more about the "discovery" of the now-canonical old blues figures like Son House, Muddy Waters, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and many more. I say discovery in quotation marks because for the most part, these musicians were already relatively well-known within their own communities, but Alan Lomax was the first to go into all these small,...more
Lomax was not a perfect man, but he was a man of his time, and oh, what would we have done without his work?
He might not be a father to the blues so much as a shepherd of it, tending to it by documenting these songs and stories so that we might know the real roots of the blues, before it became just another boutique form for white kids who enjoy expensive guitars. The stories from the levee camps are particularly shocking, as a brutal America dependent on vigilante justice, unspoken codes, and s...more
He might not be a father to the blues so much as a shepherd of it, tending to it by documenting these songs and stories so that we might know the real roots of the blues, before it became just another boutique form for white kids who enjoy expensive guitars. The stories from the levee camps are particularly shocking, as a brutal America dependent on vigilante justice, unspoken codes, and s...more
I liked this best when Lomax lets the stories flow. I have no idea whether all the stories are precisely true, but they sound authentic. At other times, there is something that annoys me about Lomax's writing. I'm not sure exactly what it is. Perhaps he is just a man from too different a time and place than I am.
By the end of the book, I thought that Lomax thought he was the only white man who could come close to understanding the 'real' blues and that the 'real' blues were diminished whenever t...more
By the end of the book, I thought that Lomax thought he was the only white man who could come close to understanding the 'real' blues and that the 'real' blues were diminished whenever t...more
This book isn't just about the Blues; it is also about race relations. Alan Lomax's stories about how he tracked down and recorded Delta blues artists--and the challenges he faced as a white man while doing so--are fascinating. While Jim Crow in part created these highly talented Delta musicians, it also denied many of them the opportunity to pursue a musical career. By recording their songs, Lomax gives us a unique opportunity to experience in a deep and immediate way the social conditions of t...more
Great book on the Blues and the conditions that spawned them. After almost 50 years of "Affirmative Action" one might think that black people should be better off today than they are. This book outlines just HOW BAD things were in the 30's, 40's, and 50's for blacks. That's NINETEEN 30's, 1940's, and 1950's, not EIGHTEEN 30's, etc., long after slavery, but during the time when Jim Crow ruled. Lomax can get a bit tiresome and wordy, over intellectualizing music that relies so much on pure emotion...more
This is not a quick read and the prose is quite heavy, but it's also a portrait of the American South from someone with an absolutely unique perspective. Lomax had probably 50 or 60 full years of his life that were completely unique to him.
I've long known Lomax's field recordings and imagined what the trips were like to make those recordings. He fleshes a lot of that out but what I didn't know was that he also interviewed the musicians he recorded and from that and his own experience he weaves...more
I've long known Lomax's field recordings and imagined what the trips were like to make those recordings. He fleshes a lot of that out but what I didn't know was that he also interviewed the musicians he recorded and from that and his own experience he weaves...more
Bless Alan Lomax and his old recorder for capturing the music and oral histories of 30's to 40's Mississippi Delta.
This is my favourite music history book and an incredibly interesting social history of the Southern United States.
Alan Lomax made one of the most remarkable contributions to folk and oral history in the 20th Century and was undoubtedly responsible for the discovery and rise to prominence of countless blues and folk musicians. This book gives a very rare insight into what life was like for African American musicians in the South; as well as detailing the many difficulties (including threat on t...more
Alan Lomax made one of the most remarkable contributions to folk and oral history in the 20th Century and was undoubtedly responsible for the discovery and rise to prominence of countless blues and folk musicians. This book gives a very rare insight into what life was like for African American musicians in the South; as well as detailing the many difficulties (including threat on t...more
Required reading. Definitive. Revelatory.
Lomax was a Shakespearean character - a hero with enormous flaws, one of which is his positively gushing purple prose writing style. To be read by American folk roots fans with a degree of caution, and easy access to some of hundreds of hours of sublime music he recorded, because without these constant reminders you may find yourself thinking disgraceful thoughts like "why am I reading a book by this tedious old windbag?"
Feb 06, 2008
Chadwick
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who love music, people who care about the South
Recommended to Chadwick by:
Meredith
Shelves:
music
Not only is this a fascinating account of the roots of the blues, told in the voices of the people that were its living architects, but Alan Lomax's love for his interviewees and his real sympathy for their hard, hard lives rings through on every page. Lomax is personally responsible for saving some of the greatest folk musics of the world from being completely lost, and we owe him immensely for this grand service.
ive bought this book soo many times because it's awesome and i inevitably move and forget to recon my books from everyone.
It's slow as hell, but if you like roots music it's a good pal. i know there's also a cd (possibly two) that goes along with it. Great read if you know who charlie patton is. (im a dork.)
It's slow as hell, but if you like roots music it's a good pal. i know there's also a cd (possibly two) that goes along with it. Great read if you know who charlie patton is. (im a dork.)
colorfull stories of alan lomax's experiences traveling the mississippi delta recording all those blues tunes. i love it cause its all reall stories, of the time lomax recorded blind lemon and muddy waters. a great peice of history. i still have about a hundred pages of this one too. bret, can i borrow it back?
presenting stories as necessary as the music he recorded, lomax has done us a great service in conceiving of this book, telling the tales of a white man in the black south. he should have left the writing to someone else, though.
This book gives an amazingly in depth look at the southern black roots of American music. So good.
Essential reading for anyone even remotely interested in the blues.
Nov 28, 2007
Hater Shepard
added it
more on this later.
At least get Blues in The Mississippi Night
,,,
At least get Blues in The Mississippi Night
,,,
Nov 18, 2008
Kelly Ellenburg
is currently reading it
Excellent stories of the Mississippi Delta.
Feb 08, 2008
Craig
marked it as to-read
on my list to read.
A wonderful look at the the people and places that gave birth to the blues.
May 22, 2013
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