- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Backbeat Books; Softcover with CD edition (Aug 1 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0879305525
- ISBN-13: 978-0879305529
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.1 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#423,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #67 in Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Soul
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Chasin' That Devil Music has the feel of a documentary about the making of a thrilling motion picture. The main focus is on the Delta blues singers of the early 20th century--artists such as Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Son House, and Blind Lemon Jefferson who've achieved near-mythic status in blues circles. In addition, many of the articles gathered in this splendidly illustrated volume capture the process and people involved in tracking long-lost recordings nearly as elusive as the performers who made them. Here, for example, is the story of author/blues scholar Gayle Dean Wardlow's three-year hunt for the death certificate of Robert Johnson, the celebrated Mississippi bluesman and a figure whose legend has grown greater with each year since his much-debated death in 1938. The text here is nearly as raw in spots as the music that sparked it, but, as with those sounds (which can be heard on a terrific CD sampler included with the book), enthusiasts will find Chasin' That Devil Music riveting. --Steven Stolder
Review
"A beautiful piece of research...essential reading." -- Jazzbeat, Spring 1999
"A special book. I highly recommend this work for anyone who wants to know more or better understand our music." -- Jazz Educators Journal, May 1999
"Clarifies information or solves mysteries regarding dozens of lesser-known musicians...a resonant breath of the real people whose lives came and went, leaving behind performances of beauty and power. The accompanying CD is a generous batch of rare recordings with interview excerpts interspersed." -- Tower Records' "Epulse" website, December 7, 1998
"Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Delta blues." -- Blues Revue, April 1999
"If the book alone isn't bargain enough, the accompanying CD makes a great deal...and it's a helluva show! -- Vintage Guitar Magazine, February 1999
"If your interest in blues music is limited to Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jonny Lang or even B.B. King, Chasin' That Devil Music might not hold your interest. However, if you want to know who most influenced those artists, this book is one not to miss." -- The Clarion-Ledger, December 6, 1998
"Nothing short of a milestone...a truly amazing book." -- Dirty Linen, February/March 1999
"Presents a wealth of information available nowhere else. The same can also be said of the recordings on the enclosed CD, which are taken from rare discs in the author's private collection." -- Book News, December 1998
"Wardlow amply deserves the description 'legendary blues sleuth'...the book makes a fascinating read..." -- Juke Blues
"Wardlow is a virtual Sherlock Holmes of the blues." -- The Rylander
"A special book. I highly recommend this work for anyone who wants to know more or better understand our music." -- Jazz Educators Journal, May 1999
"Clarifies information or solves mysteries regarding dozens of lesser-known musicians...a resonant breath of the real people whose lives came and went, leaving behind performances of beauty and power. The accompanying CD is a generous batch of rare recordings with interview excerpts interspersed." -- Tower Records' "Epulse" website, December 7, 1998
"Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Delta blues." -- Blues Revue, April 1999
"If the book alone isn't bargain enough, the accompanying CD makes a great deal...and it's a helluva show! -- Vintage Guitar Magazine, February 1999
"If your interest in blues music is limited to Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jonny Lang or even B.B. King, Chasin' That Devil Music might not hold your interest. However, if you want to know who most influenced those artists, this book is one not to miss." -- The Clarion-Ledger, December 6, 1998
"Nothing short of a milestone...a truly amazing book." -- Dirty Linen, February/March 1999
"Presents a wealth of information available nowhere else. The same can also be said of the recordings on the enclosed CD, which are taken from rare discs in the author's private collection." -- Book News, December 1998
"Wardlow amply deserves the description 'legendary blues sleuth'...the book makes a fascinating read..." -- Juke Blues
"Wardlow is a virtual Sherlock Holmes of the blues." -- The Rylander
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Although I enjoyed blues and jazz records, I did not begin as a collector of race discs. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Although I enjoyed blues and jazz records, I did not begin as a collector of race discs. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Definte, interesting, scholarship, good CD,
By Tony Thomas (SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chasin' That Devil Music - Searching for the Blues (Paperback)
Whatever you think of Wardlow's own views, this is the kind of definite real scholarship someone who wants to become really knowledgeable about Mississippi blues and its economic and cultural milieu. Despite what various comments are, Wardlow's writing is not overly intellectual, rather it is very factual. It is record collectors and blues lovers like Wardlow in the late 1950s and early 1960s that laid the basis for their being original Delta blues records (and their peers in old time "white" music)to be reissued and who "found" so many of the original blues stars. Wardlow provides a lot of good basic information about the recording practices for the music, and the situations of lots of blues players you may or may not have heard of. These are all articles where he announced his or others work making the discovery. \One thing to read is his article that clearly illustrates that Robert Johnson never said, thought, or was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil. No one who knew Johnson ever said that. One informant took the story that Tommy Johnson told and told a credulous folk nik "blues expert" this in the 1960s, the rest has become a minor industry. The CD provided is fun and provides some players most havent heard of. The Western Swing tune about selling the soul to the Devil has beocme part of my performance repertpor!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wardlow is by far the greatest modern blues researcher/write,
By Okiedokiestomper "okiedokiestomper" (Lancaster, PA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chasin' That Devil Music - Searching for the Blues (Paperback)
Anyone interested in the pre and post war blues stylists should place this book at the top of their "to read" list! In fact it is an indispensable read for any one truely interested in blues musicians, the socio-economic conditions giving rise to their individual music legacies and manner in which research was conducted and the trials and tribulations overcome to bring their stories to light. Gayle Dean Wardlow, through his tireless research efforts and excellent writing paints a clear portrait of many known and lesser known (but equally important) pre and post war blues musicians. Wardlow captures their history, and conveys in a manner that both captures the imagination and inspires the reader to seek out the music for themselves....and that is the greatest reward of all! For anyone seriously looking to explore the great pre-war stylist...check out Document Records and you will find most of the artists portrayed in this book. There is also a cd included which is also incredible and will give you a taste of the treat you are in for the further you delve!!!
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Interviews,
By Jay Hardaway (Abilene, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chasin' That Devil Music - Searching for the Blues (Paperback)
Chasin' That Devil Music is definitely not a very cohesive work. It is a series of articles by Blues scholar Gayle Dean Wardlow detailing the lives of and searches for early Delta Bluesmen. The parts about Charley Patton are especially interesting, with insights to other parts of his life besides his singing career. He also puts the spotlight on some forgotten giants of the Delta Blues, like Ishmon Bracey, one of the first recorded Blues artists. A CD with some rare recordings and interviews with these legends and their associates is included. While this is a fascinating book, I would not recommend it to anyone who is not a Blues fan.
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