2 options
I'd rather be the devil : Skip James and the blues / Stephen Calt.
Van Pelt - Class of 1979 Seminar Room (305) ML420.J234 C35 1994
Available
LIBRA ML420.J234 C35 1994
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Calt, Stephen.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- James, Skip, 1902-1969.
- James, Skip.
- Blues musicians--United States--Biography.
- Blues musicians.
- United States.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Physical Description:
- xiv, 385 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Da Capo Press, 1994.
- Summary:
- Skip James (1902-1969) was one of the greatest Mississippi bluesmen, and perhaps the most creative and idiosyncratic of all blues musicians. His 1931 performances of "Devil Got My Woman," "I'm So Glad," and "22-20 Blues" are masterpieces that transcend the genre. I'd Rather Be the Devil is the first biography ever written of James--and one of the few accounts of the dangerous and disreputable life of a professional blues musician. Drawing largely on hundreds of hours of conversations with James himself, Stephen Calt paints a dark and unforgettable portrait of a man untroubled by his own murderous inclinations, a man who achieved one moment of transcendent greatness in a life haunted by failure. And in doing so, Calt offers new insights into the nature of the blues, the world in which it thrived, and its fate when that world vanished.
- Contents:
- 1. The Blues Singer 3
- 2. The Researcher 7
- 3. The Quarry 15
- 4. Looking Back 17
- 5. Woodbine 23
- 6. The Birth Of The Blues 34
- 7. The Buck Rabbit 47
- 8. The Young Sport 56
- 9. The Bootlegger 75
- 10. The Musician 87
- 11. The Performer 97
- 12. The Devil Woman 107
- 13. The Songwriter 111
- 14. The Murderous Music Cat 122
- 15. Recording 133
- 16. Greatness At Grafton 138
- 17. Releasin's 158
- 18. The Convert 165
- 19. Devil Got Religion 168
- 20. The Prodigal Son 184
- 21. Limbo 191
- 22. Resumption 206
- 23. Recognition 214
- 24. The Delta 224
- 25. The Prospectors 239
- 26. The Folk Movement 252
- 27. The Fan 260
- 28. Newport 267
- 29. Washington 274
- 30. The Sick Man 281
- 31. Air Puddings 286
- 32. The Age of Aquarius 313
- 33. The Impostor 332
- 34. The Barrel Of Crabs 338
- 35. Scorpions 344
- 36. The Funeral 347
- 37. The Burying Ground 352
- 38. The Man Nobody Knew 355
- Transcription: Devil Got My Woman 367
- Appendix Idioms 369.
- Notes:
- Includes index.
- ISBN:
- 0306805790 :
- OCLC:
- 30735286
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.