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	Essential Blues Books Part III

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Each month Bad Dog Blues takes a look at essential blues, those artists whose music stands the test of time. Each month we'll pick an artist or two or discuss a slice of blues history that we feel is important. We'll make sure to list all essential records. This month This month part 3 of our look at essential blues books. .

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Essential Blues Books Part III: Research & Reference

For those who really get infected with the blues bug simply listening to the music isn't enough. We want to know about the artists, their background, who influenced them and to be able to put the music we love into some kind of context. Fortunately their has been some outstanding blues research by dedicated blues scholars who have shone the light on a culture that was once hidden to us. Those who made the blues didn't document it, they lived it and the blues researcher had to tirelessly interview these folks and pore over public records like death certificates, the census and newspapers to slowly piece together the lives and history of those who made the music.

A t the beginning of the 21st century we can look back on 50+ years of blues scholarship from book length studies, academic pieces and pioneering articles in blues magazines like Blues Unlimited, 78 Quarterly, Living Blues and many others. The state of blues scholarship today is still a strong one particularly thriving among the University presses who are continually publishing studies on the blues. A positive trend in recent years has been a spate of very good blues biographies. In the first part of our look at blues literature we take a look at some of theses important blues biographies, ones that should be a part of any blues library.

Blues Encyclopedias

"The Blues" radio series chronicles blues music from its roots in West Africa; its spread through the rural south to the high-energy blues scenes of Chicago, London, and Memphis; its survival through the lean '70s; resurgence in the '80s; and growth into today's thriving blues communities. Each episode of the 13-part series features new and archival interviews with blues legends, prominent contemporary artists, record producers, and historians combined with historic and modern-day blues recordings to create the most extensive blues-based radio series ever produced.

In addition, the series includes performances of seminal blues songs by contemporary artists and visits to blues venues such as the Delta Blues Museum, Chess Studios in Chicago, and Beale Street in Memphis, emphasizing the music's contemporary connections and demonstrating that blues music is alive and well in the 21st century. The 13 episodes include:

Blues Album Guides & Reference Books

Under the guiding hand of Executive Producer Martin Scorsese, The Blues is a seven-part television series of personal and impressionistic films viewed through the lens of seven world famous directors who share a passion for the music. The films, by Charles Burnett, Clint Eastwood, Mike Figgis, Marc Levin, Richard Pearce, Martin Scorsese, and Wim Wenders, capture the essence of blues music and delve into its global influence-from its roots in Africa to its inspirational role in today's music. Four of the seven films are written by Charles Burnett, Robert Gordon, Peter Guralnick, and Wim Wenders. The Blues is a series of impressionistic and iconoclastic films—each director exploring the music through his own personal connections. Simply put, it is the journey from Robert Johnson's Delta blues "Love in Vain," to John Coltrane's transcendental anthem, "A Love Supreme." Driven by the beat of performances by famous players from every kind of music the blues has inspired—hip-hop, rhythm and blues, soul, country and rock and roll—this seven-part series takes us on a journey as soulful and ebullient as the music itself. Martin Scorsese personally introduces each of the seven episodes. Along with Scorsese, Paul G. Allen and Jody Patton of Vulcan Productions and Ulrich Felsberg of Road Movies are executive producing the series; Alex Gibney is the series producer; Margaret Bodde is the producer and Richard Hutton is the co-producer. The seven-part film series airs from 9/28/03 - 10/4/03 and includes:

Blues Discographies

This August, PBS stations across the country will air "Blues Story" a documentary that features numerous living icons of the blues for the first time telling their own story, in words and song. Blues Story is expected to be a keystone component of PBS pledge drives this year. Featuring a who’s who of blues performers giving their own first person accounts of the origin and power of this music, the film includes newly-shot, exclusive footage of Bobby “Blue” Bland, R.L. Burnside, Ruth Brown, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Pinetop Perkins, Rufus Thomas, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and many more. Blues Story is the result of five years of filming throughout the Mississippi Delta, in Memphis, Chicago and other regions. It features in-depth interviews, performances and archival film clips and stills to tell the story of one of America’s most lasting art forms.

Six of those who were interviewed in Blues Story have died since participating in the filming. That toll underscores just how important it was for the filmmakers’ to get Blues Story completed before an entire generation of blues legends would be lost. According to Levey, “The fact that we were able to film first hand testimony from such giants that are no longer with us, including Charles Brown, Willie Foster, Lowell Fulson, John Jackson, Rufus Thomas and Othar Turner, makes this work, in some sense, sacred. The preservation of their collective legacy and that of all of those who came before and since, including so many seen in Blues Story, is the very purpose of the film.”