Deep Blues

I happened across Robert Palmer's book at the local American Center library and to invoke a hoary old cliche - my life was not the same again. It was briliiant, powerful and very revealing.

Today, as I listen to the Complete Recordings of Robert Johnson, or the early Muddy Waters, I have Mr. Palmer to thank for showing me the Majesty of the Blues.

Thank you!!


This book is the BIBLE of juke joint fables!   August 4, 1998
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Robert Palmer wrote the most colorful stories on the blues I have ever read. The way he describes the way Ike Turner "accidently" discovers distortion/fuzz by having his amps fall off of the top of his station wagon as he is racing across state lines (narrowly outrunning the local law enforcement) in order to catch the last ferry crossing the Mississippi to make it to a second gig, wow! I would have loved to have knocked back a few tall cool ones with this guy!


An Engrossing History of America's Most Influential Music   September 22, 1996
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

From the steamy cotton fields of Mississippi, to the mean streets of Chicago and beyond, the history of the blues mirrors that of African American society in the 20th century. Respected music writer, historian, and record producer Robert Palmer traces the history of the music that begat every other form of American popular music in rich detail, blending first-hand accounts, interviews, and historical narrative into a seamless, eminently readable and enjoyable historical work of great importance. This book should be required reading for highschool history students, fans of popular music, and anyone who enjoys engrossing and entertaining non-fiction writing.


It stays with you   February 4, 1999
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I read this book about 15 years ago, sometime after it first came out, and have probably re-read it three or four times since then. I haven't read it in about 10 years, but continually recommend it to friends who want to know something about the blues. A great read.


Simply The Best   February 8, 1999
17 out of 20 found this review helpful

There's no other way to put it, this is simply the best book out there on the blues both as a music form and as force in shaping American culture. At once simple and concise, yet broad and in depth enough to tell a very complete story, this one work should satisfy everyone from the novice to the experienced blues fan.

Meticulously researched, Palmer uses Muddy Waters as a jumping off point to explore the history and evolution of the blues as music as well as the society and culture from which it sprang. He peppers his work with amazing anecdotes, from the story of Robert Johnson, the Band meeting a dying Sonny Boy Williamson, an aging Howlin' Wolf giving a phenominal concert that add color to his story and helps make his frequent forays into musicology more tolerable to the non-musician. Best of all is the sense of time and place the book evokes, from plantations and dark swamps in rural Mississippi, to the noisy, crowed streets of South Chicago at the peak of the Great Migration, to small clubs and long forgotten juke-joints.

I read this book for the first time 10 years or so ago and have probably reread it 5 times since. I keep coming up with new things to admire about the book every time. That so much richness can be packed into such a short readable work is amazing. This book triumphs over everything else written on the subject and only leaves you wanting to explore further.