Blue Rhythms

by Deffaa, Chip

• ISBN13: 9780252022036
• ISBN10: 0252022033
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

The high times and hard times of six of the greatest living rhythm and blues artists unfold in the pages of Blue Rhythms. In this vivid slice of oral history. Chip Deffaa profiles Ruth Brown, the most popular female black singer of the early 1950s; LaVern Baker, who succeeded Brown; Little Jimmy Scott, who Madonna calls the only singer who ever really made her cry; Charles Brown, master of the "club blues" style he popularized; Floyd Dixon, a more rambunctious fellow traveler; and Jimmy Witherspoon, whose blend of earthiness and urbanity helped earn him as big an r&b hit as was ever recorded. Deffaa deals not only with the performers' music but also with their struggles against racism and financial exploitation. The work is illustrated with more than forty photographs.

Author Biography

Chip Deffaa, jazz critic for the New York Post, is the author of six other books on jazz, blues, and the musicians who specialize in them, including Voices of the Jazz Age: Profiles of Eight Vintage Jazzmen, Swing Legacy, and Traditionalists and Revivalists in Jazz.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Note on the Rhythm and Blues Foundation	xv
Introduction	1	(14)
``Nobody knows you....''	15	(58)
Ruth Brown
``Like a motherless child....''	73	(29)
Little Jimmy Scott
``I'm driftin' and driftin'....''	102	(36)
Charles Brown
``Hard living alone....''	138	(36)
Floyd Dixon
``Where ya been so long?''	174	(43)
LaVern Baker
``How long blues?''	217	(26)
Jimmy Witherspoon
Suggestions for Further Listening and Reading	243	(18)
Notes	261	(8)
Bibliography	269	(6)
Index	275