| Early Blues: The First Stars of Blues Guitar Subjects: Blues (Music) -- 1921–1930 -- History and criticism; Blues musicians -- United States; Guitarists -- United States; Weaver Sylvester; Jackson Papa Charlie; Jefferson Blind Lemon 1897–1929; McTell Blind Willie; Johnson Blind Willie; Johnson Lonnie; ; Winner of the 2016 Living Blues Award for Blues Book of the Year Like the best music documentaries, Early Blues: The First Stars of Blues Guitar interweaves musical history, quotes from celebrated musicians (B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Ry Cooder, and Johnny Winter, to name a few), and a spellbinding array of life stories to illustrate the early days of blues guitar in rich and resounding detail. In these chapters, you'll meet Sylvester Weaver, who recorded the world's first guitar solos, and Paramount Records artists Papa Charlie Jackson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Blind Blake, the "King of Ragtime Blues Guitar." Blind Willie McTell, the Southeast's superlative twelve-string guitar player, and Blind Willie Johnson, street-corner evangelist of sublime gospel blues, also get their due, as do Lonnie Johnson, the era's most influential blues guitarist; Mississippi John Hurt, with his gentle, guileless voice and syncopated fingerpicking style; and slide guitarist Tampa Red, "the Guitar Wizard." Drawing on a deep archive of documents, photographs, record company ads, complete discographies, and up-to-date findings of leading researchers, this is the most comprehensive and complete account ever written of the early stars of blues guitar--an essential chapter in the history of American music. Jas Obrecht is an award-winning music journalist and former editor of Guitar Player magazine. He has written for Rolling Stone, Living Blues, Blues Revue , and many other publications. His books include Rollin' and Tumblin': The Postwar Blues Guitarists and Blues Guitar: The Men Who Made the Music . |