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W. W. Norton
November 2008
On Sale: October 20, 2008
448 pages
ISBN: 0393062589
EAN: 9780393062588
Hardcover
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Multicultural
The definitive account of how the rough sounds of the Mississippi Delta changed the course of American popular music. The blues grew out of the plantations and prisons, the swampy marshes and fertile cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. With original research and keen insights, Ted Gioiaβ the author of a landmark study of West Coast jazz and the critically acclaimed The History of Jazzβbrings to life the stirring music of the Delta, evoking the legendary figures who shaped its sound and ethos: Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and others. Tracing the history of the Delta blues from the field hollers and plantation music of the nineteenth century to the exploits of modern-day musicians in the Delta tradition, Delta Blues tells the full story of this timeless and unforgettable music. No cultural force boasts such humble origins or such world-conquering reverberations. In this evocative rags-to-riches tale, Gioia shows how the sounds of the Delta altered the course of popular music in America and in the world beyond. 38 illustrations.
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