Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
"This oral history recounts Townsend's early days as a shoeshiner fronting for a bootlegging operation, his passion for the guitar, and his collaborations and friendships with many of the musicians and entrepreneurs who shaped the blues scene in St. Louis.
Through Townsend's easy reminiscences, the guitarist Lonnie Johnson, the pianists Walter Davis and Roosevelt Sykes, and the promoter Jessie Johnson come vividly to life, along with scores of other individuals both remembered and forgotten who left their mark on a key musical genre."--BOOK JACKET.
"Touching on important social aspects of St. Louis life, from racism and police harassment to honky-tonk speakeasies, A Blues Life offers a personal and often moving commentary on music and culture in the city. Townsend recounts that in the 1920s, St. Louis's Booker Washington Theatre brought in famous acts like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Peg Leg Bates, but very few local blues artists ever appeared there.
While middle-class blacks regarded jazz as on the border of respectability, the blues were far over the line, and especially the raw, "gut bucket style blues" that Townsend says set St. Louis blues apart from the styles developing in Chicago, Kansas City, and Mississippi."--BOOK JACKET.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
Subjects
Blues musicians, Biography, GuitaristsShowing 1 featured edition. View all 1 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1
A Blues Life (Music in American Life)
September 14, 1999, University of Illinois Press
Hardcover
in English
0252025261 9780252025266
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
First Sentence
"Shelby, Mississippi, is where we originated from."
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?History
- Created April 30, 2008
- 10 revisions
Wikipedia citation
×CloseCopy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page. Need help?
July 17, 2024 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
September 17, 2023 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
November 30, 2020 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
May 20, 2019 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |