Blues before sunrise : the radio interviews / [compiled by] Steve Cushing ; foreword by Jim O'Neal.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cushing, Steve.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Blues musicians--United States--Interviews.

Blues musicians.

Blues musicians--United States--Biography.

Physical Description:

xiv, 256 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This collection assembles the best interviews from Steve Cushing's long-running radio program Blues Before Sunrise, the nationally syndicated, award-winning program focusing on vintage blues and R&B. As both an observer and performer, Cushing has been involved with the blues scene in Chicago for decades. His candid, colorful interviews with prominent blues players, producers, and deejays reveal the behind-the-scenes world of the formative years of recorded blues. Many of these oral histories detail the careers of lesser-known but greatly influential blues performers and promoters. The book focuses in particular on pre-World War II blues singers, performers active in 1950s Chicago, and nonperformers who contributed to the early blues world. Interviewees include Alberta Hunter, one of the earliest African American singers to transition from Chicago's Bronzeville nightlife to the international spotlight, and Ralph Bass, one of the greatest R&B producers of his era. Blues expert, writer, record producer, and cofounder of Living Blues Magazine Jim O'Neal provides the book's foreword.

Contents:

Ancient age. Yank Rachell ; Jesse Thomas ; Alberta Hunter ; Grey Ghost

Postwar glory. John and Grace Brim ; Jody Williams ; Rev. Johnny Williams ; Little Hudson

Esoterica. Tommy Brown ; Ralph Bass ; Cadillac Baby ; Richard Stamz.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9786613028884

9781283028882

1283028883

9780252090936

0252090934

OCLC:

709664745