Ramblin' on My Mind: New Perspectives on the Blues (African Amer Music in Global Perspective)

This compilation of essays takes the study of the blues to a welcome new level. Distinguished scholars and well-established writers from such diverse backgrounds as musicology, anthropology, musicianship, and folklore join together to examine blues as literature, music, personal expression, and cultural product. Ramblin' on My Mind contains pieces on Ella Fitzgerald, Son House, and Robert Johnson; on the styles of vaudeville, solo guitar, and zydeco; on a comparison of blues and African music; on blues nicknames; and on lyric themes of disillusionment. Contributors are Lynn Abbott, James Bennighof, Katharine Cartwright, Andrew M. Cohen, David Evans, Bob Groom, Elliott Hurwitt, Gerhard Kubik, John Minton, Luigi Monge, and Doug Seroff. Distinguished Scholars And Well-established Writers From Such Diverse Backgrounds As Musicology, Anthropology, Musicianship, And Folklore Join Together To Examine Blues As Literature, Music, Personal Expression, And Cultural Product. Bourdon, Blue Notes, And Pentatonism In The Blues : An Africanist Perspective / Gerhard Kubik -- They Cert'ly Sound Good To Me : Sheet Music, Southern Vaudeville, And The Commercial Ascendancy Of The Blues / Lynn Abbott And Doug Seroff -- Abbe Niles, Blues Advocate / Elliott S. Hurwitt -- The Hands Of Blues Guitarists / Andrew M. Cohen -- From Bumble Bee Slim To Black Boy Shine : Nicknames Of Blues Singers / David Evans -- Preachin' The Blues : A Textual Linguistic Analysis Of Son House's Dry Spell Blues / Luigi Monge -- Some Ramblings On Robert Johnson's Mind : Critical Analysis And Aesthetic Value In Delta Blues / James Bennighof -- Guess These People Wonder What I'm Singing : Quotation And Reference In Ella Fitzgerald's St. Louis Blues / Katharine Cartwright -- Beyond The Mushroom Cloud : A Decade Of Disillusion In Black Blues And Gospel Song / Bob Groom -- Houston Creoles And Zydeco : The Emergence Of An African American Urban Popular Style / John Minton. Edited By David Evans. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Introduction 10 1. Bourdon, Blue Notes, and Pentatonism in the Blues: An Africanist Perspective 20 2. "They Cert'ly Sound Good to Me": Sheet Music, Southern Vaudeville, and the Commercial Ascendancy of the Blues 58 3. Abbe Niles, Blues Advocate 114 4. The Hands of Blues Guitaritsts 161 5. From Bumble Bee Slim to Black Boy Shine: Nicknames of Blues Singers 188 6. Preachin' the Blues: A Textual Linguistic Analysis of Son House's "Dry Spell Blues" 231 7. Some Ramblings on Robert Johnson's Mind: Critical Analysis and Aesthetic Value in Delta Blues 267 8. "Guess These People Wonder What I'm Singing": Quotation and Reference in Ella Fitzgerald's "St. Louis Blues" 290 9. Beyond the Mushroom Cloud: A Decade of Disillusion in Black Blues and Gospel Song 337 10. Houston Creoles and Zydeco: The Emergence of an African American Urban Popular Style 359 Contributors 408 Index 412