ABSTRACT
Broadcasting the Blues: Black Blues in the Segregation Era is based on Paul Oliver's award-winning radio broadcasts from the BBC that were created over several decades. It traces the social history of the blues in America, from its birth in the rural South through the heyday of sound recordings. Noted blues scholar Paul Oliver draws on decades of research and personal interviews with performers--some of whom he "discovered" and recorded for the first time--to draw a picture of how the blues aesthetic developed, giving new insights into the role blues played in American society before racial integration.
The book begins by outlining the history of the blues from African music through country stomps, ragtime songs, and field hollers. From the heroic figures of black folksong--including the steel-driving railroad worker John Henry and the destructive Boll Weevil--to the content of the emerging blues, the author discusses the "meaning" behind the often coded words of the blues, evoking topics such as playful sexuality, magic and medicine, the stresses of segregation, and commentary on national events. Finally, the author traces the history of blues documentation, showing how our views of the early blues have been shaped through a complex interplay of social forces, and indicating possible lines for future research.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |6 pages
Introduction: The Development of the Blues
part |2 pages
Before the Blues
chapter |4 pages
Blues in Retrospect
chapter |4 pages
Echoes of Africa
chapter |4 pages
Go Down, Old Hannah
chapter |4 pages
Old Country Stomp
chapter |4 pages
Ragtime Millionaire
chapter |4 pages
Doctor Medicine
chapter |4 pages
John Henry and the Boll Weevil
chapter |4 pages
Yonder Comes the Blues
part |2 pages
Blues, How Do You Do?
chapter |4 pages
Anticipatin' Blues
chapter |6 pages
In the Field
chapter |6 pages
Playing the Boards
chapter |4 pages
Declassifying the Classic Blues
chapter |4 pages
Blues as an Art Form, Part I: Playing the Blues
chapter |8 pages
The Blues and Black Society
chapter |6 pages
Singing the Blues
chapter |6 pages
Blues as an Art Form, Part 11: Expressing the Blues
part |2 pages
Meaning in the Blues
chapter |4 pages
Blues and Trouble
chapter |4 pages
Down the Dirt Road
chapter |4 pages
Black Cat's Bone
chapter |4 pages
Tricks Ain't Walkin' No More
chapter |4 pages
Jail House Moan
chapter |4 pages
Let's Have a New Deal
chapter |4 pages
High Water Everywhere
chapter |4 pages
This World Is in a Tangle
chapter |4 pages
Blues with a Feeling
chapter |4 pages
Three Ball Blues
part |2 pages
Documenting the Blues