history of blues,african worksongs info?

Subject: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Jan 01 - 05:01 PM

Copied from the Help Forum

---

Subject: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: [e-mail]
Date: 04-Jan-01 - 03:27 PM

Hey there, I was wondering if you could help me with info on the history of blues music, and how it came from african slaves work songs. Thank you for your time, Lee.

Subject: RE: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: GUEST,Barry at work
Date: 04 Jan 01 - 06:28 PM

A must would be Alan Lomax's "Where the Blues Began" or maybe it's born & not began. You'll find a huge chunk of what you want right there. Barry

Subject: RE: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: GUEST,Barry at work
Date: 04 Jan 01 - 06:28 PM

A must would be Alan Lomax's "Where the Blues Began" or maybe it's born & not began. You'll find a huge chunk of what you want right there. Barry

Subject: RE: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 04 Jan 01 - 07:31 PM

There's a wonderful Bill Moyers video with Bernice Johnson Reagon, The Songs Are Free, with some of the history of African and more on the development of African American music. My library has it, maybe yours does too.

Subject: RE: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 04 Jan 01 - 11:16 PM

In addition to the other works mentioned, there is an excellent study called "Black Culture And Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought From Slavery To Freedom" by Prof. Lawrence W. Levine. It is a major work by a (now retired) UC Berkeley historian who looked at the history of orally transmitted African American culture. There is much discussion of field hollers, other work songs, and blues. Published in 1977 or '78, one of his theses is that historians should pay much more attention to oral culture when writing cultural and social history. I believe this book is, unfortunately, out of print, but you might want to check your local public library, or, if you live in a college town, an academic library. Levine's a very good writer, too. No dry academic writing here. -chanteyranger

Subject: RE: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: MMario
Date: 05 Jan 01 - 09:50 AM

there is some information here url=http://www.virtualblues.com/brokenheart/origins/origins.asp?Page=default

and also here url=http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb/History/blues1.html

a google search for "blues origins" turns up quite a few interesting sites.

Subject: RE: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 05 Jan 01 - 11:28 PM

A web search reveals that Lawrence W. Levine's book is IN print. I don't know where I got the idea that it is out of print. Amazon has it in paperback. Really worth having.

-chanteyranger

Subject: RE: history of blues,african worksongs info?
From: fat B****rd
Date: 06 Jan 01 - 08:36 AM

"The Roots of the Blues (An African Search) by Samuel Charters uarter Books 1981