Beyond the Crossroads (eBook)

The Devil and the Blues Tradition

Adam Gussow (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017
416 Seiten
The University of North Carolina Press (Verlag)
978-1-4696-3367-1 (ISBN)

Infos

The devil is the most charismatic and important figure in the blues tradition. He's not just the music's namesake ("e;the devil's music"e;), but a shadowy presence who haunts an imagined Mississippi crossroads where, it is claimed, Delta bluesman Robert Johnson traded away his soul in exchange for extraordinary prowess on the guitar. Yet, as scholar and musician Adam Gussow argues, there is much more to the story of the devil and the blues than these cliched understandings.In this groundbreaking study, Gussow takes the full measure of the devil's presence. Working from original transcriptions of more than 125 recordings released during the past ninety years, Gussow explores the varied uses to which black southern blues people have put this trouble-sowing, love-wrecking, but also empowering figure. The book culminates with a bold reinterpretation of Johnson's music and a provocative investigation of the way in which the citizens of Clarksdale, Mississippi, managed to rebrand a commercial hub as "e;the crossroads"e; in 1999, claiming Johnson and the devil as their own.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.9.2017
• Reihe/Serie: New Directions in Southern Studies
• Reihe/Serie: New Directions in Southern Studies
• Zusatzinfo: 6 halftones, 2 maps, 1 table, appends., notes, bibl., index
• Verlagsort: Chapel Hill
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 160 x 160 mm
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Musik ► Jazz / Blues
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Weitere Religionen
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• Schlagworte: African American Religion • Bessie Smith • Black Church • Black Religion • black religion and the blues • blues music in Mississippi • blues tourism • Clarksdale, Mississippi • Cross Road Blues • Crossroads • Crossroads film • deal with the devil • Delta Blues • Delta Blues Museum • Devil • devil's music • devil's music blues • devil woman • hell • Hellhound on my Trail • Honeyboy Edwards • I'd Rather Be the Devil • John Lee Hooker • Johnny Shines • Lonnie Johnson • Me and the Devil Blues • Mississippi • Peetie Wheatstraw • Robert Johnson • selling your soul to the devil • sold his soul to the devil • sold it to the devil • the devil's son in law • white devil
• ISBN-10: 1-4696-3367-1 / 1469633671
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4696-3367-1 / 9781469633671