Review: Escaping The Delta by Elijah Wald

Subject: Review: Escaping The Delta by Elijah Wald
From: GUEST,Whistle Stop
Date: 08 Apr 04 - 01:42 PM

I lurk around this forum a good deal, but so far haven't seen any mention of this book, so I thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention. I just finished reading "Escaping The Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues" by Elijah Wald, and recommend it to any of you who are interested in the history of the blues. The author is a folk/blues musician who has written other interesting works, including a fairly recent book on the music and culture of the "narcocorridos," and has undertaken to write an exploration of the history of the blues that tries to distinguish the reality of the growth of blues music from the myths that have grown up around this music, and its practitioners, since its rediscovery by young white kids on both sides of the Atlantic.

The central thesis of the book is that the blues were popular, modern music that was widely enjoyed by black people in the US in the first half of the 20th century, and that its original audience viewed the blues quite differently than did the white audiences of the 60s and beyond. The latter developed a largely false view of the music as an unschooled expression of a primitive culture, and tended to gravitate towards those musicians who best fit their preconceived notions of what a blues musician should look, act, and sound like. Ultimately, the more urbane and sophisticated blues musicians either tailored their presentation to the audience's expectations, or got left behind in the resurgence of the music (and the better bookings and more substantial paydays that went with it). Robert Johnson is an important touchstone for all this, since very little was known about him when his records first came to the attention of a broad audience over 20 years after his death, so people were able to construct myths around him that reinforced their notions of what an "authentic" blues musician was all about.

This is not an entirely new subject, but I found the book to be well-written and thought-provoking. The writer's opinions are presented as just that -- opinions -- with appropriate humility and respect for other viepoints. But he offers a lot of support for his views, and presents them in a way that had a lot of resonance for me. I would encourage any of you with an interest in this stuff to check it out.    It's published by Amistad Books (www.amistadbooks.com), copyright 2004. Hope others enjoy it as much as I did.

Subject: RE: Review: Escaping The Delta by Elijah Wald
From: Nerd
Date: 09 Apr 04 - 12:25 PM

Sounds like a good book. I'd say, along with Whistle-Stop, that the thesis is not new, and has been the accepted wisdom among scholars for some time. People like Johnson and other old-time blues musicians could play a wide variety of popular music, from country to vaudeville, and were often both cosmopolitan and musically sophisticated. In fact, most of the early ones were not "blues musicians" at all, but general popular songsters who included blues, spirituals, murder and train-wreck ballads, novelty pieces, dance music, kids' songs and everything else in their repertoires--much like their white counterparts. But the recording companies generally wanted blues out of black folks, so the majority of recordings reflect that bias.

Wald is a good writer, and may be able to let the general blues-buying public know what serious students already do.

Subject: RE: Review: Escaping The Delta by Elijah Wald
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 09 Apr 04 - 04:06 PM

It seems that, back in the 20s/30s, record companies wanted to market black singers in a narrow way i.e. blues singers, and so Son House, for example, is now thought of as a blues singer whereas Leadbelly, who was discovered by a folklorist, is considered to be a folksinger who just happened to sing a few blues. Alan Lomax, in his fabulous, " The Land Where the Blues Began" lists Muddy Waters repetoire from the early 40s and it contained all sorts of different songs.

Subject: RE: Review: Escaping The Delta by Elijah Wald
From: Mark Clark
Date: 14 Jun 04 - 11:38 PM

I'm nearly finished reading Wald's Escaping the Delta and I must say it entirely lives up to expectations. His documentation is detailed and his history of the blues is quite telling. He notes that Robert Johnson was virtually unknown—until is work was reissued in 1961—and, as good as he was, had almost no influence on the the development of the blues. Wald even suggests quite convincingly that Johnson might have wound up fronting a jazz band had he lived even a few more years.

Anyone interested in the actual histories of American popular music should read this book. Wald doesn't just show that blues players were really working across the spectrum of popular music but takes the trouble to show how the white "old-time" string bands were influenced by these same popular trends.

I'll be interested to see what others have to say as more members read this book.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Review: Escaping The Delta by Elijah Wald
From: GUEST,guest from NW
Date: 15 Jun 04 - 12:58 AM

i thought this book was one of the best blues history/commentary books ever. well-written, well documented, and. as mentioned, spun with humility and respect for other opinions but he makes an excellent case for his view. i really enjoyed the book and attended a reading recently with the author and found him to be well-spoken and entertaining. i guess i'm saying thumbs up!!