The bluesman: the musical heritage of black men and women in the Americas

by Julio Finn

By Julio Finn. 256 pages with index. Illustrated by Willa Woolston. ISBN 0-7043-2523-3. ** From the back "A learned and wide-ranging survey of the blues, embracing African animist religion, the slave trade, Voodoo, Hoodoo, the early country blues and its modern urban electric equivalent."

Genres: Music

220 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jamie Howison · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the end, the question I'd want to ask Finn is this: is there nothing wise or insightful or lasting or important about the black Christian experience of the past 200+ years? Yes, the story is complex; yes, the place of the vestiges of an African religious heritage has been overlooked in all manner of ways; yes, the blues can only be understood in context... but is not the black church a part of that context, rather than simply its foil? All of those preachers who were also blues people; do they mean nothing? Talk to me about Blind Willie Johnson and Rev Gary Davis before being so dismissive of the church's place in culture...

An insight-filled yet ultimately frustrating book.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece of rooted cultural connections. If you want to understand the spiritual roots of this music through the lens of diasporic African syncretic belief systems and the role the blues play in society this book is fantastic. Well researched and written without losing the pulsing soul and passion of the artist.