Blues Off The Record: Thirty Years Of Blues Commentary
Condition: SECONDHAND
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Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Good
Few musical forms carry the weight of American history, heartbreak, and resilience quite like the blues, and Paul Oliver's Blues off the Record: Thirty Years of Blues Commentary stands as one of the most authoritative and impassioned accounts of this essential genre. Compiled from three decades of writing, this collection chronicles Oliver's deep engagement with blues music — its artists, its recordings, and its social roots — presenting a panoramic view of a tradition that shaped the very soul of modern popular music. From Delta field hollers to urban electric sound, Oliver traces the evolution of an art form that refused to be silenced, illuminating the lives of the musicians who forged it and the cultural conditions that made it possible. Oliver, widely regarded as one of the foremost scholars of blues and African-American music, writes with a rare combination of academic rigour and genuine passion, making complex musicological arguments accessible without ever sacrificing depth. His prose is both authoritative and evocative, drawing the reader into smoky juke joints and crowded city streets, where the blues was not merely performed but lived. Blues off the Record is an indispensable volume for anyone seeking to understand not just a genre, but a way of seeing the world — leaving one to wonder what stories the record grooves still have left to tell.
Author: Paul Oliver
Format: Hardback
Published: 1984, IASPM (The International Association for the Study of Popular Music)
Genre: Music
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Good
Few musical forms carry the weight of American history, heartbreak, and resilience quite like the blues, and Paul Oliver's Blues off the Record: Thirty Years of Blues Commentary stands as one of the most authoritative and impassioned accounts of this essential genre. Compiled from three decades of writing, this collection chronicles Oliver's deep engagement with blues music — its artists, its recordings, and its social roots — presenting a panoramic view of a tradition that shaped the very soul of modern popular music. From Delta field hollers to urban electric sound, Oliver traces the evolution of an art form that refused to be silenced, illuminating the lives of the musicians who forged it and the cultural conditions that made it possible. Oliver, widely regarded as one of the foremost scholars of blues and African-American music, writes with a rare combination of academic rigour and genuine passion, making complex musicological arguments accessible without ever sacrificing depth. His prose is both authoritative and evocative, drawing the reader into smoky juke joints and crowded city streets, where the blues was not merely performed but lived. Blues off the Record is an indispensable volume for anyone seeking to understand not just a genre, but a way of seeing the world — leaving one to wonder what stories the record grooves still have left to tell.