Book Review
Aug. 31st, 2025 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Land Where the Blues Began
by Alan Lomax
This book was written in 1993, but covers Lomax's pre and post war field recording expeditions in the American south. He collected the music of African-American men living under Jim Crow, with a concentration on the Delta blues. He recorded sharecroppers, prisoners, and people making a large part of their living as musicians. The book is filled with the stories of his encounters with these men and of the men themselves and what their music meant to them. Lomax interjects very little analysis or commentary, letting the bluesmen and their experiences largely speak for themselves. It's a pretty unflinching account of life under Jim Crow laws.
I very much enjoyed this book. Lomax really cetners his subjects and lets them speak for themselves. What emerges is a really fascinating portrait of the blues, its origins, and the people who created it. I came away with a much better understanding of and appreciation for Delta blues and for its foundational role in American popular music.
by Alan Lomax
This book was written in 1993, but covers Lomax's pre and post war field recording expeditions in the American south. He collected the music of African-American men living under Jim Crow, with a concentration on the Delta blues. He recorded sharecroppers, prisoners, and people making a large part of their living as musicians. The book is filled with the stories of his encounters with these men and of the men themselves and what their music meant to them. Lomax interjects very little analysis or commentary, letting the bluesmen and their experiences largely speak for themselves. It's a pretty unflinching account of life under Jim Crow laws.
I very much enjoyed this book. Lomax really cetners his subjects and lets them speak for themselves. What emerges is a really fascinating portrait of the blues, its origins, and the people who created it. I came away with a much better understanding of and appreciation for Delta blues and for its foundational role in American popular music.
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Date: 2025-09-01 03:13 pm (UTC)