The Devil's Music: History of the Blues

Bought this without realising it was tied in to the old BBC series of the same name which I watched not so long back on i-player. Goes into much more depth and detail than the programme and takes in not just the music but the background and history and the effects of changing times and locations on the Blues as it was and is played. Gives more space to the women of the Blues than many other similar themed books.Predictable as many blues stories and characters are if you have read a few books already, The Devils Music nevertheless contained many little nuggets of info and reminiscences that I had not come across before.There is an odd thickness of page and a grainy look to the print and the b&w picture plates that some may not like, but I found it to be kind of in keeping with the books style as a whole, so not sure if it is a deliberate effect or just cost cutting on the print run.Very satisfying read that had me reaching for my cd's more than once.

FactUal book with a history of where blues came from, discussion of lyrics and the histories of individual artists and collaborations. There is a collection of photographic plates in the middle of the book. I hate that. I wish they would put the photos in around the discussion of the subject. It would help break up some of the monotony of the text, as it is easy to put down and not pick up for a while. It's good to have an I pad handy whilst reading, so you can get you tube performances of songs by featured performers.

Bought as a gift. Feedback from recipient good.

I have bought this for my son - an avid fan of all things New Orleans, especially the music. And this will be a perfect read for him and increase his desire to visit.

If you want to dig deep and get a real feel for the history of the blues then this is an ideal book!

Very factual and informative. I feel the book is very let down by the photographs which are appallingly bad quality. They all look like 3rd generation photocopies that have been copied through tissue paper and then printed, too dark, onto the same type of paper as the text! Very unprofessional. Maybe, if another updated edition was planned, more care should be put into the images and their reproduction.

Excellent well written account of the social context in which blues music developed. Shame the print is rather poor quality and the pitures are rather poor quality. But excellent content.

This book is not for the faint hearted. I bought it based on the recommendation of justinguitar, but he must have been really bored on the road to read this! There is absolutely no frills here in this account of the blues. The photos are authentic period images (so low quality anyway), but due to the low grade of paper used they seem worse, and as a result do little to break up the heavy timbre of this book. Clearly a lot of research has gone into this work, so I blame the publishers for printing this book in the cheapest way possible and overpricing it. Clearly I like historical books to have some eye candy, an illustration or two, to reinforce what I am reading. If you like the same then I recommend you look elsewhere for your inspiration.