Books

JJerome:

Start with Kim Field's "Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers." And check out David's interview with Kim on this site.

Next up, "Blues With A Feeling" by Tony Glover and Scott Dirks. The classic Little Walter biography.

Blues in general? There are a lot of great ones, but by all means don't miss Adam Gussow's "Who's Blues?," "Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition," "Journeyman's Road: Modern Blues Lives From Faulkner's Mississippi to Post 9/11 New York," and his biographical "Mr. Satan's Apprentice: A Blues Memoir."

The life of a touring blues muscian? Check out Mark Hummel's "Big Road Blues: 12 Bars on I-80." Not the most carefully edited book, but a ton of fun.

Leroi Jones' "Blues People: Negro Music In White America" is a literary classic.

Roger Stolle, owner of Clarksdale MS's Cathead Delta Blues and Folk Art store (www.cathead.biz), has written two books you can order on his web site, "Hidden History of Mississippi Blues" and "Mississippi Juke Joint Confidential." And any book that Roger sells via the book part of his on-line Store can be depended upon to be good. He knows his stuff.

A great one to leave out on your coffee table for visitors, and that you'll go back to time and time again: Bill Wyman's "Bill Wyman's Blues Odessey: A Journey to Music's Heart & Soul." Yep, that Bill Wyman. (Interestingly, the "other" Bill Wyman, the NPR journalist who has written about the Stones, and rock music in general, was actually born "William Wyman," but once received a cease & desist letter from attorneys for the Stones' Bill Wyman. To whom he pointed out that he was the "real" Bill Wyman, and had been writting about the Rolling Stones long before the Stones' Bill Wyman was first published, and that in any event, the Stones' Bill Wyman was actually born William George Perks, and didn't legally change his name until 1964.)

Finally, be sure to subscribe to Living Blues Magazine, founded in 1970, and now part of the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Always interesting history articles in each issue.

There are some writers who claim to know about the blues, and serve up a lot of baloney. But there are a whole lot of good writers out there who can really give you non-baloney-ish food for thought.

Masters of the Harmonica: Thirty Master Harmonica Players Share Their Craft, by Margie Goldsmith. She interviewed 30 of the best. They talk about how they got into the harp, their careers, how they developed their skills. I found it inspiring and encouraging. A cool book.