Books #19 - Chasin' That Devil Music by Gayle Dean Wardlow

I was given this book by my son for my birthday last June and I have been reading it ever since. It's not that the book is particularly long (288 pages) or difficult to read, it's just that it is the kind of book that makes you pause to listen to the music that is being referred to within the text. Helpfully the book comes with a 19 track CD which includes some of that music by various artists and also some interesting clips from interviews conducted by the author Gayle Dean Wardlow during his extensive research.

So, the book has taken me seven months to finish but it has been an enjoyable and worthwhile experience and I have learned a lot about many of the singers and musicians whose music has brought me much pleasure in recent years. Of course some of those names are very well known to us, such as Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson, but other characters are possibly less well known. For example among my favourite blues recordings are 'Future Blues' by Willie Brown, 'Cottonfield Blues' by Garfield Akers (accompanied by Joe Callicott), 'Woman Woman Blues' by Ishmon Bracey and 'Outside Woman Blues' by Blind Joe Reynolds. All are written about extensively in this book AND are included on the CD.

The subtitle of the book is 'Searching for the Blues' and it is clear that the research conducted by Wardlow in tracking down the story behind these elusive and often mysterious figures, has been long and painstaking but the results are always interesting and he clearly has an extensive knowledge and deep love of this musical genre.

Much of the material in the book has been previously published in blues magazines such as 'Blues Unlimited' and '78 Quarterly' but it is nice to have all of this information brought together in one volume. I should add that the book is also lavishly illustrated with photographs and documents, many coming from Wardlow's own personal collection.

If you are interested in the blues and wish to learn more about some of the almost forgotten Delta bluesmen, then I highly recommend this book.

For a taste of the music included, here is a link to Willie Brown's Future Blues