Goin' Back to Sweet Memphis : Conversations with the Blues

Fred J. Hay

ISBN 10: 0820327328 / ISBN 13: 9780820327327

Published by Longleaf On Behalf Of Univ Of Georgia Press Jun 2005, 2005

About this Item

Neuware - Memphis, Tennessee, is a major crossroads for blues musicians, songs, and styles. Memphis is where the blues first 'came to town' and established itself as a cosmopolitan performance genre, and the city has long been a center of synthesis and evolution in blues recording. This volume tells the story of the blues in Memphis through previously unpublished interviews with nine performers who helped create and sustain the music from the days before its commercial success through the early 1970s. Their attitudes, experiences, and insights impart a deeper understanding of the blues aesthetic and philosophy. The performers' backgrounds range across the blues genres, from classic blues (Lillie Mae Glover) to country blues (Bukka White), from jug band blues (Laura Dukes) to tough, postwar electric blues (Joe Willie Wilkins and Houston Stackhouse). Some, like Furry Lewis and Bukka White, are known around the world. Others, like Laura Dukes, are locally popular, while Boose Taylor is virtually unknown. The range of instruments mastered by the musicians--banjo, fiddle, guitar, fife, bass, ukulele, piano, and harmonica--testifies to the many expressive voices of the blues. Some of the interviewees were singing and performing mostly for white blues/folk revivalist audiences by the 1970s; others, such as Joe Willie Wilkins and Houston Stackhouse, continued to perform mostly for black audiences in Memphis and in the small cafes that dotted the Mississippi Delta. Each interview is illustrated by noted printmaker George D. Davidson and introduced with a biographical sketch by Fred J. Hay. In addition, Hay's extensive notes identify many other blues performers--friends and music partners of the interviewees whose names come up in their many asides and allusions. Together these materials document and pay tribute to the remarkable richness of the Memphis blues scene.

Seller Inventory # 9780820327327

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Goin' Back to Sweet Memphis : Conversations with the Blues
• Publisher: Longleaf On Behalf Of Univ Of Georgia Press Jun 2005
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820327328
• ISBN 13: 9780820327327
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Illustrator: Davidson, George D.
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 232W x 160H x 20D millimeters 232 millimeters width by 160 millimeters height by 20 millimeters depth
• Weight: 417 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Memphis, Tennessee, is a major crossroads for blues musicians, songs, and styles. Memphis is where the blues first "came to town" and established itself as a cosmopolitan performance genre, and the city has long been a center of synthesis and evolution in blues recording. This volume tells the story of the blues in Memphis through previously unpublished interviews with nine performers who helped create and sustain the music from the days before its commercial success through the early 1970s. Their attitudes, experiences, and insights impart a deeper understanding of the blues aesthetic and philosophy. The performers' backgrounds range across the blues genres, from classic blues (Lillie Mae Glover) to country blues (Bukka White), from jug band blues (Laura Dukes) to tough, postwar electric blues (Joe Willie Wilkins and Houston Stackhouse). Some, like Furry Lewis and Bukka White, are known around the world. Others, like Laura Dukes, are locally popular, while Boose Taylor is virtually unknown. The range of instruments mastered by the musicians—banjo, fiddle, guitar, fife, bass, ukulele, piano, and harmonica—testifies to the many expressive voices of the blues. Some of the interviewees were singing and performing mostly for white blues/folk revivalist audiences by the 1970s; others, such as Joe Willie Wilkins and Houston Stackhouse, continued to perform mostly for black audiences in Memphis and in the small cafes that dotted the Mississippi Delta. Each interview is illustrated by noted printmaker George D. Davidson and introduced with a biographical sketch by Fred J. Hay. In addition, Hay's extensive notes identify many other blues performers—friends and music partners of the interviewees whose names come up in their many asides and allusions. Together these materials document and pay tribute to the remarkable richness of the Memphis blues scene.

About the Authors

FRED J. HAY is a professor of Appalachian studies at Appalachian State University, where he is also librarian of the W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection. His books include Documenting Cultural Diversity in the Resurgent American South.

GEORGE DAVIDSON is a former writer and editor for Georgia Sea Grant.