Francis Davis's The History of the Blues is a groundbreaking rethinking of the blues that fearlessly examines how race relations have altered perceptions of the music. Tracing its origins from the Mississippi Delta to its amplification in Chicago right after World War II, Davis argues for an examination of the blues in its own right, not just as a precursor to jazz and rock 'n' roll. The lives of major figures such as Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and Leadbelly, in addition to contemporary artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray, are examined and skillfully woven into a riveting, provocative narrative. Read more

"A must for all who would more knowledgeably appreciate and better comprehend America's most popular music." — Langston Hughes"The path the slave took to 'citizenship' is what I want to look at. And I make my analogy through the slave citizen's music—through the music that is most closely associated with him: blues and a later, but parallel development, jazz... [If] the Negro represents, or is symbolic of, something in and about the nature of American culture, this certainly should be revealed by his characteristic music."So says Amiri Baraka (previously known as LeRoi Jones) in the Introduction to Blues People, his classic work on the place of jazz and blues in American social, musical, economic, and cultural history. From the music of African slaves in the United States through the music scene of the 1960's, Baraka traces the influence of what he calls "negro music" on white America—not only in the context of music and pop culture but also in terms of the values and perspectives passed on through the music. In tracing the music, he brilliantly illuminates the influence of African Americans on American culture and history. Read more

Blues is the cornerstone of American popular music, the bedrock of rock and roll. In this extraordinary musical and social history, Robert Palmer traces the odyssey of the blues from its rural beginnings, to the steamy bars of Chicago’s South Side, to international popularity, recognition, and imitation. Palmer tells the story of the blues through the lives of its greatest practitioners: Robert Johnson, who sang of being pursued by the hounds of hell; Muddy Waters, who electrified Delta blues and gave the music its rock beat; Robert Lockwood and Sonny Boy Williamson, who launched the King Biscuit Time radio show and brought blues to the airwaves; and John Lee Hooker, Ike Turner, B. B. King, and many others. "A lucid . . . entrancing study" -- Greil Marcus "Palmer has a powerful understanding of the music and an intense involvement in the culture." -- The Nation Read more

Break Through the Boxes and Get Soloing! Master Your Very First Guitar Scale and Change the Course of Your Musical Journey!Scales! The single most quoted technique of any successful musician! Yet many of us just can't make sense of these patterns!Your Most Frustrating Guitar Lesson!I vividly remember the frustration I went through while learning scales."What patterns should I learn? Do I just learn all the patterns? How do I make music out of these patterns? How do I connect these patterns? Do I need to learn the theory? Are the patterns useful? WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE SCALES?"While learning scales can be a creative breakthrough for any guitarist, all of us can agree that it can be a pain in all the wrong places! Yet we need to scale this monstrous mountain to experience the view on the other side. Is there a solution to this?Let Me Help!While I was not lucky enough to learn the scales without going through the frustration, I have created a method to remove the frustration and teach you to solo and create music in a step by step manner. With the right guidance, anyone, just ANYONE can learn guitar scales and become the guitarist of their dreams. But such guidance is hard to come by!But you, my friend, have just struck gold! Your search ends here! Through this book, I intend to solve the problem every guitarist has to go through - mastering guitar scales!The Secret Method!Why is this method a secret, you ask? Well, I created it, no one else knows! So…. Isn't that a secret? Jokes aside, in this book, I teach you one scale - just one scale! But I teach you the way and method to learn every other scale you find in the future! I teach you the secret method to mastering scales as you start your journey to map out the fretboard.Create A Fretboard MapWouldn't it be nice if you had a mental map of what notes to play on the fretboard to create good music? In this book, I give you all the tools you require to make sense of the boxes and help you stitch them together to make a colorful map of notes on the fretboard which you can navigate elegantly to create the music of your dreams!A Quick Summary of What You'll Find Inside:A good mix of theory and simplicity! The secret method to mastering your very first scale and every other scale thereafterTips to help you create your very own fretboard mapSimplified theory on how scales are formed and how they workExercises to get you playing immediatelyTons of lick ideas to put the theory to practiceAudio tracks for the licks and backing tracks for you to jam alongAnd a lot more…..If you are struggling to make sense of scales and want to learn it in the easiest possible way. I don't see why you would skip this book.Scroll Up Click the Buy Now Button to Grab Your Copy Today! Let's Make Some Music and Get You Soloing! Read more

"Gorgeous. One of the music—and art—books of the year." (The Guardian)A characteristically idiosyncratic tribute by an underground icon to the musical innovators who helped inspire him, R. Crumb’s Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country is a must-have collection for Crumb aficionados, comics fans, and music lovers alike. Anyone who knows R. Crumb’s work as an illustrator knows of his passion for music. And all those who collect his work prize the Heroes of the Blues, Early Jazz Greats, and Pioneers of Country Music trading card sets he created in the early to mid-1980s. Now they are packaged together for the first time in book form, along with an exclusive 21-track CD of music selected and compiled by Crumb (featuring original recordings by Charley Patton, “Dock” Boggs, “Jelly Roll” Morton, and others). A bio of each musician is provided, along with a full-color original illustration by the cartoonist. Includes an introduction by Terry Zwigoff, award-winning director of Crumb. Read more

• Play solos like B.B. King and John Lee Hooker• Learn to Instinctively Play any Blues Song• Understand Scales and Techniques so you Find the Right Notes: Every TimeThe Complete Guide to Playing Blues Guitar CompilationDo you hear great blues guitar songs and wish you knew how to play them? Do you want to play great solos but don't even know where to start? Wouldn't it be great to emulate your favourite blues musicians or even pick up your guitar and work out your favourite songs by ear!?The Complete Guide to Playing Blues Guitar is a three-part series that teaches you the essential skills required to become a master blues guitarist.You save 15% when you purchase all three best-selling books in this one edition!Here's what you get...• Over 245 Pages of Blues Guitar Mastery focusing on Rhythm Guitar, Melodic Phrasing and Beyond Pentatonics that help you play any blues song• Over 400 Notated Audio Download Examples of Exercises, Techniques and Licks so you can hear and feel each stepping stone in the process of learning• Over 20 Backing Tracks so you can play and hear what you are learning in an Actual Musical Situation• The Complete Blues Guitar Soloing Course that will have you writing and improvising your own solos in no timeWith over 245 jam-packed pages and 400 notated audio examples from all 3 books in the Playing Blues Guitar series, this is the most comprehensive guide to playing blues guitar ever released.Book One – Rhythm Guitar focuses on the topic of rhythm guitar giving you a solid understanding and practice of not only the common blues chord structures... but also multiple approaches you can take to embellish the standard harmony. Beginning with the basic structure of the 12 bar blues and continuing with open string riffs, dominant 7 chords, Turnarounds, and more... this book gives you the tools needed to play any blues song.Book Two – Melodic Phrasing examines the most important aspects of blues guitar soloing, allowing you to develop your improvisational skills in the blues world. By teaching Rhythm, Phrasing and Placement you learn to use fundamental rhythmic fragments to create and drive your solo forward. Because when you know the building blocks... melodies will take care of themselves. Never worry about forgetting licks again.Book Three – Beyond Pentatonics teaches you the secrets of blues guitar soloing by showing you how to break away from the minor pentatonic soloing trap that plagues so many. It shows you how to target the most powerful notes from each chord in the blues progression to create the greatest emotional effect, wooing your audience. All of that plus discovering the many possible scale choices for each of the chords in the blues and you will be building solos like a master blues guitarist in no time.All 3 Amazon best-selling books are combined seamlessly in this complete guide of everything you need to know about playing the blues. Read more

Now You Can Grab the Ultimate Series on Guitar Scales at An Unbelievable Price! Get All Three Books at The Price of Two!The Hardest Nut to Crack!I'm sure you can agree, learning guitar scales is one of the hardest lessons you'll ever learn on guitar. Not only due to the amount of boring theory involved but also due to endless meaningless patterns you need to memorize. But every successful guitarist attribute their success to guitar scales! Forget making music, how do people even make sense of these patterns in the first place!?The Ultimate Guide to Scales!To liberate you from this misery, I designed the ultimate guide to scales. A bundle of three books that'll handhold you from a person with no knowledge of scales what so ever to a person who can solo up and down the fretboard on any scale he chooses! Follow the steps in the book, give it time and practice and you too could be that person who can solo and create music effortlessly!Everything You Need in One Place!This ultimate guide on guitar scales consists of three of my best-selling books! You get all the tools you need to conquer scales in one place at a discounted price! Can it get better? Here is how you are going to master scales in no time!Memorize the fretboard in less than 24 hours:The first step is to memorize the fretboard. Fretboard awareness in regarded as something reserved to the pros. In this book I make a laughing stock out of those ideas as I teach you every note on the fretboard in 5 simple steps! Anyone, absolutely anyone can master the fretboard in less than 24 hours! With your new-found awareness and skill, anything music theory gets 100 times easier.Learn the secret to mastering your very first scale as you learn to create licks and solo effortlessly:Once you have memorized the fretboard, learning the scales become effortless! In this book, you'll discover your very first scale and master it step by step! I teach you just one scale in this entire book! I got into such detail and make sure you nail that first scale as fast as humanly possible. With the help of the numerous backing tracks and lick ideas in the book, you'll find yourself soloing in no time!Get lost in the ocean of scales as you become a true guitarist:The third book in the series is where the transformation ends, and your journey begins! Having discovered your first scale, you are free to explore the old beaten path of music as you drown in the 30+ scales and lick ideas of this book! With dedicated lessons for each scale, you can find and master any scale you please with this book! This book is your encyclopedia of scales, a place you can run back to for anything scales!The Journey of a Lifetime Starts Here!Mastering music is a journey of a lifetime and this bundle is where it starts! Having acquired all the tools required for your journey from this book, it's only a matter of time before you become the guitarist you always wanted to be. Scales and soloing won’t seem so hard anymore and you'll be left wondering why you struggled with scales in the first place!Scroll Up and Click the Buy Now Button to Take the First Steps of Your Never-Ending Journey with Music! Read more

A Rolling Stone-Kirkus Best Music Book of 2020“[Brother Robert} book does much to pull the blues master out of the fog of myth.”—Rolling StoneAn intimate memoir by blues legend Robert Johnson's stepsister, including new details about his family, music, influences, tragic death, and musical afterlifeThough Robert Johnson was only twenty-seven years young and relatively unknown at the time of his tragic death in 1938, his enduring recordings have solidified his status as a progenitor of the Delta blues style. And yet, while his music has retained the steadfast devotion of modern listeners, much remains unknown about the man who penned and played these timeless tunes. Few people alive today actually remember what Johnson was really like, and those who do have largely upheld their silence-until now.In Brother Robert, nonagenarian Annye C. Anderson sheds new light on a real-life figure largely obscured by his own legend: her kind and incredibly talented stepbrother, Robert Johnson. This book chronicles Johnson's unconventional path to stardom, from the harrowing story behind his illegitimate birth, to his first strum of the guitar on Anderson's father's knee, to the genre-defining recordings that would one day secure his legacy. Along the way, readers are gifted not only with Anderson's personal anecdotes, but with colorful recollections passed down to Anderson by members of their family-the people who knew Johnson best. Readers also learn about the contours of his working life in Memphis, never-before-disclosed details about his romantic history, and all of Johnson's favorite things, from foods and entertainers to brands of tobacco and pomade. Together, these stories don't just bring the mythologized Johnson back down to earth; they preserve both his memory and his integrity.For decades, Anderson and her family have ignored the tall tales of Johnson "selling his soul to the devil" and the speculative to fictionalized accounts of his life that passed for biography. Brother Robert is here to set the record straight. Featuring a foreword by Elijah Wald and a Q&A with Anderson, Wald, Preston Lauterbach, and Peter Guralnick, this book paints a vivid portrait of an elusive figure who forever changed the musical landscape as we know it. Read more

In this thought-provoking book, the Black musicians who influenced Elvis Presley's music finally receive recognition and praise. After Baz Luhrmann’s movie, Elvis, hit theaters, audiences and critics alike couldn't help but question the Black origins of Elvis Presley’s music and style, reigniting a debate that has been circling for decades. In Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King​, author Preston Lauterbach answers these questions definitively, based on new research and extensive, previously unpublished interviews with the artists who blazed the way and the people who knew them.    Within these pages, Lauterbach examines the lives, music, legacies, and interactions with Elvis Presley of the four innovative Black artists who created a style that would come to be known as Rock ’n’ Roll: Little Junior Parker, Big Mama Thornton, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and mostly-unknown eccentric Beale Street guitarist Calvin Newborn. Along the way, he delves into the injustices of copyright theft and media segregation that resulted in Black artists living in poverty as white performers, managers, and producers reaped the lucrative rewards.    In the wake of continuing conversations about American music and appropriation, Before Elvis is indispensable. Read more

Jerry Portnoy grew up in Chicago hearing the blues being played outside his father’s rug store on famed Maxwell Street during the late 1940s and early '50s.  After dropping out of college, he became immersed in the colorful world of pool hustlers like Cornbread Red, and Minnesota Fats as he managed the largest pool hall in Chicago. During a stint as a paratrooper early in the Vietnam war, he applied for discharge as a conscientious objector, and lived in San Francisco during 1967’s "summer of love.” While bumming around Europe the following year, Portnoy heard the blues again on a record by Sonny Boy Williamson and instantly became obsessed with mastering blues harmonica. He returned to Chicago and in 1974 he was playing in small Black clubs at night when Muddy Waters plucked him from his day job at Cook County Jail to fill the historic harmonica chair in his fabled band. Eric Clapton followed suit in 1991. In a career that took him from ghetto taverns to the White House and the Royal Albert Hall, he went from the raggedy vans and cheap roadside motels of the blues world to the private jets and five-star hotels of the rock world. Between those two very different gigs was a struggle to survive the vagaries of the music business and the pressures of life on the road. In a remarkable life, he also assisted in surgery, lodged in a Moroccan whorehouse, dined at Giorgio Armani’s, and survived a brief shocking gig with Cyndi Lauper. Dancing with Muddy details the surprising, lively, and sometimes bumpy ride of a blues harmonica legend.   Read more

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A visual storytelling celebration of American roots music in its rich variety through unseen and newly scanned photographs by the founder of the legendary Arhoolie Records.Founded in 1960 by Chris Strachwitz, the one-man operation Arhoolie Records eventually produced more than four hundred albums during more than forty years in operation, exploring the far corners of American vernacular music—blues, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, hillbilly, Texas-Mexican norteño music, and more.From the very beginning, Strachwitz brought his camera along with recording equipment as he met and recorded now-legendary artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Clifton Chenier, and Big Joe Williams. This book collects more than 150 of his best, most intimate, and exciting images—many never-before-seen—each with rich captions by Strachwitz and award-winning music journalist Joel Selvin, along with a substantial 20,000-word essay by Selvin about Arhoolie, Strachwitz, and the music.INTIMATE AND AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHS: Although Strachwitz would always self-deprecatingly claim that the photographs he took while meeting and recording musicians were strictly documentary, and *maybe* of some use for a record sleeve later, they are much more than that. Lyrical, candid, real: His rapport with the musicians and their families is glowing and evident in these photographs.RIVETING MUSIC HISTORY PHOTO BOOK: These are never-before-seen photos, and photos like you’ve never seen before. Every image is from freshly remastered scans, and the authors dove deep into the Arhoolie archives to uncover images almost no one has had the chance to see. CRUCIAL AMERICAN MUSIC AND CULTURAL HISTORY: Strachwitz’s wide-ranging interest and unbridled enthusiasm for all sorts of roots music led to his crisscrossing the country from artist to artist based on recommendations, rumor, tips, radio broadcasts—the result being a portrait (in sound for the label, and image in this book) of vital American music in a wide range of genres. He has rich stories for each photograph and artist. AN INVALUABLE DOCUMENT: Arhoolie fundamentally shaped our understanding of American music. Renowned music writer Joel Selvin has not only worked with Strachwitz to draw out the stories behind the photographs, but he has contributed an invaluable long-form essay about Arhoolie, Strachwitz, and the label's cultural legacy to anchor this incredible book.Perfect for:Fans of American roots music, including the blues, folk, Cajun, Creole, zydeco, Mexican American border music, and moreFans of Lightnin' Hopkins, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Mama Thornton, Lydia Mendoza, Clifton Chenier, Flaco Jiménez, Mance Lipscomb, Narciso Martínez, Big Joe Williams, and the other fantastic artists whose records Arhoolie released over the yearsBirthday, holiday, graduation, or anytime gift for musicians and music loversCollectors of music history, American cultural history, Black history, and music photography books Read more

How do you love and not like the same thing at the same time? This was the riddle that met Mississippi writer B. Brian Foster when he returned to his home state to learn about Black culture and found himself hearing about the blues. One moment, Black Mississippians would say they knew and appreciated the blues. The next, they would say they didn't like it. For five years, Foster listened and asked: "How?" "Why not?" "Will it ever change?" This is the story of the answers to his questions.In this illuminating work, Foster takes us where not many blues writers and scholars have gone: into the homes, memories, speculative visions, and lifeworlds of Black folks in contemporary Mississippi to hear what they have to say about the blues and all that has come about since their forebears first sang them. In so doing, Foster urges us to think differently about race, place, and community development and models a different way of hearing the sounds of Black life, a method that he calls listening for the backbeat. Read more

Master Acoustic Fingerstyle Blues Guitar Break down this challenging yet rewarding genre step-by-step, from your first finger independence exercises right through to complete studies that seamlessly combine chords, bass lines and melodies into full pieces of music.199 Audio Examples in Standard Notation and Tablature Each element and technique of the early Delta blues style is tackled step by step and demonstrated with over 190 detailed notated examples that you can download for free from www.fundamental-changes.com.Develop the Finger Independence to Blend Alternating Bass Lines, Chord and Melodies Fingerstyle blues is a deceptively demanding genre. The engine that drives the music is the 1/4 note alternating or static bass line played with the thumb. This technique is mastered first before melody and then chords are introduced on top. Every technical exercise is introduced via a musical example or phrase that will naturally become part of your playing. Musical Techniques Fingerstyle Blues Guitar builds technique and independence through musical phrases and licks, so you will learn to develop the essential syncopation, legato, slides, slurs and vibrato required to play great blues naturally, and make them an unconscious part of your playing. The idea throughout is to build creative freedom so that you can always play what you hear. Of course, there are complete musical studies for you to learn, however, the focus is on building a technical understanding of the style allowing you to create and improvise your own ideas, just like the Delta masters.The technique you develop through musical vocabulary in Part One of the book is then applied to the essential chords and approaches of the Delta style. You will learn finger-picking patterns, alternate bass lines, chord progressions and turnarounds, and understand how to blend these features together with improvised melodies to build authentic, unaccompanied blues guitar song.Fingerstyle Blues Guitar Covers:Alternating, static and walking bass linesBends, Slides, Legato, Vibrato techniquesImprovising Solos and building SyncopationCombining melodies with chords and bass linesChord inversions, fragments and playing up the neckTurnarounds, licks and tricksComplete Musical StudiesThe Most Popular Guitar Books on Amazon With over 2000, 5* reviews on Amazon, Fundamental Changes bring you the highest rated guitar books available on Amazon. This is a new title and reviews take time, but check out our other releases to see what we're providing. Buy it Now and Master Fingerstyle Blues Guitar Kindle is great, but we do recommend learning music from the paperback version of any guitar book, science says our brains retain more information that way. And you probably spend too long staring at a screen anyway, right?Whichever version you get, you'll receive free delivery to your door with Amazon Prime or direct to your eReader.Have fun mastering this intricate genre and accompanying yourself when playing the blues. Read more

An illustrated history of blues music, featuring blues artists of every era, over 350 stunning photographs and illustrations, and a wealth of rare graphic memorabilia Foreword by Marshall Chess, veteran record producer with legendary Chicago rhythm-and-blues label, Chess Records The deceptively simple, 12-bar musical form of blues has become the common denominator that has driven the popular music of the last hundred years. As John Lee Hooker put it: “The music we play . . . that music is the roots. Rock music, everything else, is like a branch on the same tree. It all comes from the blues.” Charting the history of blues music from its rural roots in the American South, and focusing on the key musicians and singers who brought it recognition worldwide, The Blues: A Visual History is a unique and fully illustrated account of the development of the blues, and features: 350 stunning photographs and illustrationsA wealth of archive photographyRare graphic memorabiliaBlues artists of every era, from pioneers like Ma Rainey and Robert Johnson, through legends such as Muddy Waters and B. B. King, to newer stars like Keb' Mo', Dom Flemons, and Shemekia CopelandForeword by Marshall Chess, veteran record producer with his family’s legendary Chicago rhythm-and-blues label, Chess Records Author Mike Evans is a musician, editor, and author whose books include the best-selling Elvis: A Celebration, and Ray Charles: The Birth of Soul. Consultant editor Robert Gordon is a Grammy Award–winning writer and filmmaker specializing in the music of the American south, and Scott Barretta is a blues specialist writer, broadcaster, and lecturer. Read more

The Penderyn 2020 Music Book Prize (UK edition)Living Blues Critics Choice Best Blues Book of 2019Living Blues Readers Choice Best Blues Book of 2019Certificate of Merit in the Best Historical Research in Recorded Blues, Soul, Gospel, or R&B category from ARSC (Association for Recorded Sound Collections)An essential story of blues lore, black culture, and American music historyRobert Johnson’s recordings, made in 1936 and 1937, have profoundly influenced generations of singers, guitarists, and songwriters. Yet until now, his short life—he was murdered at the age of 27—has been poorly documented. Gayle Dean Wardlow has been interviewing people who knew Johnson since the early 1960s, and he was the person who discovered Johnson’s death certificate in 1967. Bruce Conforth began his study of Johnson’s life and music in 1970 and made it his mission to fill in what was still unknown about him. In this definitive biography, the two authors relied on every interview, resource, and document, much of it material no one has seen before. This is the first book about Johnson that documents his lifelong relationship with family and friends in Memphis, details his trip to New York, uncovers where and when his wife Virginia died and the impact this had on him, fully portrays the other women Johnson was involved with and tells exactly how and why he died and who gave him the poison that killed him.Up Jumped the Devil will astonish blues fans worldwide by painting a living, breathing portrait of a man who was heretofore little more than a legend. Read more

“The essential history of this distinctly American genre.”―Atlanta Journal-Constitution In this “expertly researched, elegantly written, dispassionate yet thoughtful history” (Gary Giddins), award-winning author Ted Gioia gives us “the rare combination of a tome that is both deeply informative and enjoyable to read” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). From the field hollers of nineteenth-century plantations to Muddy Waters and B.B. King, Delta Blues delves into the uneasy mix of race and money at the point where traditional music became commercial and bluesmen found new audiences of thousands. Combining extensive fieldwork, archival research, interviews with living musicians, and first-person accounts with “his own calm, argument-closing incantations to draw a line through a century of Delta blues” (New York Times), this engrossing narrative is flavored with insightful and vivid musical descriptions that ensure “an understanding of not only the musicians, but the music itself” (Boston Sunday Globe). Rooted in the thick-as-tar Delta soil, Delta Blues is already “a contemporary classic in its field” (Jazz Review). 38 illustrations Read more

Master 100 Classic Blues Guitar Licks & Learn the Language of the 20 Greatest Blues Guitar PlayersPlay in the style of the 20 greatest classic blues guitarists.Master 5 genre-defining guitar licks for each player.Combine and personalize vocabulary into your own unique style.Get creative jamming over original backing tracks.Learn two complete classic blues guitar solos and develop your own musical language.Discover extensive biographies and essential discographies for every player.100 Classic Blues Licks for GuitarAre you struggling to learn the language of classic blues guitar?Want to combine blues guitar licks into meaningful, personalized solos?Do you need a complete theoretical and technical breakdown of blues guitar soloing?Do you want develop a never ending arsenal of authentic blues guitar licks?100 Classic Blues Licks for Guitar goes way beyond every other ‘boring’ lick book, and teaches you 100 essential blues guitar licks in the style of the world’s 20 greatest blues guitarists….Here’s What You Get:100 classic blues guitar licks that teach the language of 20 guitar legends.Playing advice and a breakdown of every lick, from fingering to performance notes.Two solo studies that teach you to combine licks into musical phrases, unique to your own musical voice.20 Backing tracks to make the music come alive while you develop your chops.Perfectly notated examples with tab and studio-quality audio to download for free.Bonus One: Essential discography for every player.Bonus Two: Tips on phrasing, articulation and how to make each lick your own.Go Way Beyond “Traditional” Guitar Lick Books100 Classic Blues Licks for Guitar is different to every other guitar lick book available. It’s not simply a cold list of licks, it is a breakdown of the playing styles of the world’s most important blues guitarists. You won’t just copy lines verbatim, you’ll internalize the language of the blues guitar masters and incorporate it into your everyday playing.Along with extensive biographies and equipment advice, the musical style and language of the 20 greatest blues guitar players is discussed and analyzed, with 5 defining, “in the style of” licks for each legend broken down note by note.You will learn guitar licks in the style of: Elmore James | Albert King | B.B. King | Albert Collins | Freddie King | Otis Rush | Buddy Guy | Roy Buchanan | Jimi Hendrix | Mike Bloomfield | Johnny Winter | Eric Clapton | Peter Green | Rory Gallagher | Gary Moore | Robben Ford | Stevie Ray Vaughan | Joe Bonamassa | Derek Trucks |As well as discovering 100 musical blues guitar licks, you’ll also master two complete guitar solos created from licks in the book that you can play over the accompanying backing tracks.Hear it!Learning classic blues guitar licks from paper is one thing, but once you hear how to apply them, they become music. 100 Classic Blues Licks for Guitar contains over 100 supporting audio examples and 20 backing tracks to help you get inside the music and quickly apply each lick in any real musical situation.Buy it now to bring the authentic language of the classic blues guitar legends into your playing. Read more

Superbly researched and vividly written, The Devil's Music is one of the only books to trace the rise and development of the blues both in relation to other forms of black music and in the context of American social history as experienced by African Americans. From its roots in the turn-of-the-century honky-tonks of New Orleans and the barrelhouses and plantations of the Mississippi Delta to modern legends such as John Lee Hooker and B. B. King, the blues comes alive here through accounts by the blues musicians themselves and those who knew them. Throughout this wide-ranging and fascinating book, Giles Oakley describes the texture of the life that made the blues possible, and the changing attitudes toward the music. The Devil's Music is a wholehearted and loving examination of one of America's most powerful traditions. Read more

A collection of photographs of jazz LP album covers from the 1950s, taken mostly from the Pacific Jazz, Contemporary, and Fantasy catalogs. Read more