Evans, Mike - The Story of the Blues in 50 Songs

Highlights 50 milestone blues recordings and brings a new focus to the history of the blues, through key songs, singers, and the musicians who made it possible. Song-by-song format. Covers more than a century of landmark recordings in entries of two or four pages in length, offering an accessible and entertaining way to learn about the history of the genre, from its origins up to the present day. 50 legendary artists. Featured include world famous names such as Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Charlie Patton, Blind Willie Johnson, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Guitar Slim, Ruth Brown, Jimmy Reed, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Taj Mahal. 50 classic songs: such influential titles as "St. Louis Blues," Bessie Smith (1925); "Crossroad Blues," Robert Johnson (1937); "The Come Back," Memphis Slim (1952); "Rock Me Baby," B.B. King (1964); "Sophisticated Mama," Taj Mahal (1997); "662," Christone "Kingfish" Ingram (2021). Fully illustrated. More than 250 colour and b/w images including vintage photographs, archive press and advertising memorabilia, key graphic material including album art and singles labels. Mike Evans is also the author of the acclaimed The Blues: A Visual History. Noted foreword. Shelley Ritter is the executive director of the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi.