Praised as "suave, soulful, ebullient" (Tom Waits) and "a meticulous
researcher, a graceful writer, and a committed contrarian" (New York Times
Book Review), Elijah Wald is one of the leading popular music critics of
his generation. In The Blues, Wald surveys a genre at the heart of American
culture.


It is not an easy thing to pin down. As Howlin' Wolf once described it,
"When you ain't got no money and can't pay your house rent and can't buy
you no food, you've damn sure got the blues." It has been defined by
lyrical structure, or as a progression of chords, or as a set of practices
reflecting West African "tonal and rhythmic approaches," using a five-note
"blues scale." Wald sees blues less as a style than as a broad musical
tradition within a constantly evolving pop culture. He traces its roots in
work and praise songs, and shows how it was transformed by such
professional performers as W. C. Handy, who first popularized the blues a
century ago. He follows its evolution from Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith
through Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix; identifies the impact of rural field
recordings of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and others; explores
the role of blues in the development of both country music and jazz; and
looks at the popular rhythm and blues trends of the 1940s and 1950s, from
the uptown West Coast style of T-Bone Walker to the "down home" Chicago
sound of Muddy Waters. Wald brings the story up to the present, touching on
the effects of blues on American poetry, and its connection to modern
styles such as rap.

As with all of Oxford's Very Short Introductions, The Blues tells
you--with insight, clarity, and wit--everything you need to know to
understand this quintessentially American musical genre.