Table of Contents

Part One * Slavery * Nigger Minstrels and Coon Songs * From Emancipation to Segregation * From Minstrels to Ragtime * Early New Orleans Jazz and Blues * Work and Song * W.C. Handy Part Two * Charley Patton * Henry Thomas Ragtime Texas * Lead Belly * The Barrelhouse Circuit and the Piney Woods * Migration Part Three * Crazy Blues * Showbiz Blues I: The Tent Shows * Ma Rainey * Showbiz Blues II: The Theatres * Bessie Smith * Womens Blues Part Four * The Men Start Recording * Field Recordings * Atlanta * Memphis Part Five * The Depression * City Blues * Blues in St. Louis * Blues in Chicago * The Rural South * Blues in the South Part Six * Post-war Blues * The End of an Era * Say it Loud Part Seven * Dealing with the DevilInto the Nineties * Blues as Heritage * Blues Down HomeThe New South * The Malaco Story * New SouthNew Blues * Gonna Be Some Changes Made * Chicago Blues Today * The Strong Persuaders

About the Author

In 1976, Giles Oakley helped produce the acclaimed five-part BBC documentary The Devil's Music, which resulted in this book. He has since coproduced numerous prime-time programs and series for BBC-TV and has contributed to many books and journals.