Nothing but the Blues: The Music and the Musicians

by Lawrence Cohn

Overview

It is our most passionate music, rooted in ancient Africa but brought to blossom in America at the doorstep of the twentieth century. It is a living heritage of song born in poverty, persecution, and hard labor, born of love and love betrayed, of holiness and sin, the pleasures and the pains of the flesh, the experience of tragedy, comedy, drunkenness, despair, desolation, and pure joy. It is the blues.

At root, the blues is rich in its simplicity, but it has flowered across the years in a variety of rare complexity. Perhaps no form of popular art is more immediately appealing than the blues, yet so rewards a thorough knowledge of its finer points. In eleven authoritative essays commissioned especially for the book, Nothing But the Blues traces the African-American origins of the music, its early development as popular entertainment, its early recorded manifestations, its regional differentiation (Mid-South, Tidewater-Piedmont, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles), its many stylistic dimensions, and its contemporary manifestations. Country blues, urban blues, the evolution of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, and the blues revival are all fully covered.
But the written history is only part of the story. Blues fans have always treasured rare photographs of their heroes, and Nothing But the Blues is gloriously illustrated with posed and candid shots of the musicians as well as photographs of such one-of-a-kind artifacts and documents as Leadbelly's NYPD rap sheet and classic recording contracts. Nothing But the Blues features an introduction by one of the genre's living legends, B. B. King, and a comprehensive "best of the best" discography, including current and rereleased recordings as well as the collectors' treasures to go after.

Blues is more popular than ever before. Not only are reissues of historical blues classics selling in unprecedented numbers, but a whole new crop of vital young blues artists is active in clubs and on record today. Nothing But the Blues is a lavishly illustrated comprehensive history of the music and the musicians, as well as the promoters, producers, and others who have shaped--and continue to shape--this powerful and enduringly popular American musical art form.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780789206077
Publisher:	Abbeville Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/01/1999
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Lawrence Cohn is best known as one of the creators of Legacy Recordings, a branch of Sony Music Entertainment and as the originator and producer of the Roots 'N' Blues series.

Cohn was educated as a lawyer and became Vice-President of CBS/Epic Records and later head of Playboy Records and Music. One of his responsibilities at CBS was to co-supervise the Country Music Division. He was also COO & minor partner in the short-lived CBS Records-Bob Dylan generated label, "Accomplice Records." [1980-82] He has continued his career as a producer, writer and critic. He wrote Movietone Presents the Twentieth Century (New York : Saint Martin's Press, 1976) and edited Nothing But The Blues : The Music and the Musicians (New York : Abbeville Press, 1993).

He has eight Grammy Award nominations and won Grammy Award for Best Historical Album in 1991 for the "Robert Johnson : The Complete Recordings" project. In the same year he also received the W. C. Handy Award for his work on Robert Johnson and was honored with a Special Distinction Award by the Blues Foundation for his "Contribution to the Blues." Moreover, Sony Music provided him with their first President's Award, for his work on Robert Johnson. He was also selected as one of the "100 Most Important People In The Music Business."

Read an Excerpt

Nothing but the Blues

The Music and the Musicians

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By Lawrence Cohn

Abbeville Press

Copyright © 1999 Lawrence Cohn
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7892-0607-7

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Foreword by B. B. King

I first met Larry Cohn in 1969, after having read a most favorable article he wrote about me and my career as it was at that time. It wasnt too hard to see that not only was he interested in my music, he was interested in the blues, period. Well, lots of time has passed since that meeting. Many nights have been spent on the road touring. Ive made lots and lots of records, had--like everyone else--high points and low points, but what has always stayed the same has been the blues. The thrill may be gone for other things, but not for the blues.

It has been a long haul. From Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton to Son House and Robert Johnson, from Lightnin Hopkins and Muddy Waters to Eric Clapton and Johnny Winter, to Robert Cray and the many other blues players and singers. Some recorded, some never did. Some traveled and performed, some stayed at home. But whatever the way, the tradition has carried on. In many cases, it had to take a European detour before some Americans would recognize their own music, but I feel that it is now firmly entrenched in the consciousness not only of Americans, but of music lovers throughout the world.

This book will take the reader on an adventure--an adventure through the "houses of the blues," where many different individuals will be encountered. Some are colorful, some are mysterious, all are interesting.

So, read on, knowing full well that the blues is alive and well and will be so when you finish this lovingly presented portrait of the music and the musicians.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Nothing but the Blues by Lawrence Cohn. Copyright © 1999 Lawrence Cohn. Excerpted by permission of Abbeville Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Foreword: B. B. King


Preface: Lawrence Cohn


1. Workin on the Building: Roots and Influences by Samuel Charters


2. Goin Up the Country: Blues in Texas and the Deep South by David Evans


3. Country Girls, Classic Blues, and Vaudeville Voices: Women and the Blues by Richard K. Spottswood


4. Holy Blues: The Gospel Tradition by Mark A. Humphrey


5. Bright Lights, Big City: Urban Blues by Mark A. Humphrey


6. Truckin My Blues Away: East Coast Piedmont Styles by Bruce Bastin


7. A Lighter Shade of Blue: White Country Blues by Charles Wolfe


8. Dont Leave Me Here: Non-commercial Blues: The Field Trips, 1924-60 by John H. Cowley


9. Jump Steady: The Roots of R & B by Barry Pearson


10. I Once Was Lost, But Now Im Found: The Blues Revival of the 1960s by Jim ONeal


11. Standing at the Crossroads: The Blues Today by Mary Katherine Aldin


Discography: Lawrence Cohn


Bibliography: Lawrence Cohn


Index

Editorial Reviews

"Nothing But the Blues is a gorgeous object, packed full of rare photographs and written by a virtual who's who of blues experts." -- Boston Globe



"Extensively illustrated, comprehensive volume...Cohn does full justice to this rich and vibrant chapter of American history." -- Publishers Weekly



"Lavishly illustrated, well researched, and written in a lively style, this book should become a standard on the topic." -- Library Journal

From the Publisher

In this extensively illustrated, comprehensive volume, Grammy-winning CD producer Cohn provides an elegant pictoral and intellectual history. In the first of 11 essays, Samuel Charters writes on the roots of the blues; in others, David Evans digs into Texas and Deep South blues and Mark A. Humphrey examines the gospel and urban traditions of the blues. Bruce Basti, Jim O'Neal and Mary Katherine Aldin are among the writers covering such topics as white country blues, the 1960s blues revival and the blues today. Richard K. Spottswood offers an excellent essay on women and the blues. The 325 illustrations include Leadbelly's NYPD rap sheet, recording contracts and rare historic photos of blues performers making their music. Cohen does full justice to this rich and vibrant chapter of American musical history. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This compilation of 11 articles, edited by Grammy Award-winning blues producer Cohn, examines the beginnings and progress of the blues. The book starts with a penetrating essay by noted blues writer Samuel Chaters, who investigates the origins of the blues. It follows with chapters that clearly, extensively, and intelligently describe early blues in the Deep South and Texas, women and the blues, urban blues, the Sixties blues revival, and such often-neglected aspects of the blues tradition as gospel, Piedmont regional blues, white country blues, and the role of music researchers like John and Alan Lomax. Only chapters about the current blues scene and rhythm and blues offer disappointingly superficial treatment. Lavishly illustrated, well researched, and written in a lively style, this book should become a standard on the topic for both the general public and scholars. Recommended for most collections. The publisher is releasing a limited edition of this work that includes a compact disc.--Ed.-- David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle

Library Journal