The Rough Guide To The Blues

This guide gives you the lowdown on all the grittiest singers, bottleneck guitarists, belt-it-out divas and wailing harmonica players that made the most influential music of last century. From music legend B.B. King to folk hero Robert Johnson, profiles are included of hundreds of artists and reviews of their best albums.

This guide informs readers how to build a collection of blues CDs from the wealth of material currently available. It traces the music's journey from its early 20th-century Southern USA roots to it's post-war development in Chicago. It also explores blues in the Bahamas, England and Mali.

The Rough Guide to Jimi Hendrix is a thorough reference book about the life and music of the greatest rock guitarist of all time. It covers all the key events throughout his metamorphosis; from a misfit youngster growing up in poverty to his rise to international stardom, and from his days as a starving backup musician in the early 1960s to his triumphant appearances at the Monterey Pop and Woodstock rock festivals, not to mention his mysterious and sordid death in 1970. Special chapters are devoted to vivid description and critical evaluation of all his important studio and live albums and best thirty songs, as well as all major live and documentary Hendrix videos; his myriad musical influences from blues, soul, rock, and jazz; Hendrix-related sites and shrines; and his spectacular arsenal of guitar techniques and effects. Also including special features on overlooked aspects of his art ranging from his love of Bob Dylan's music to his relationship with the Black Power movement, The Rough Guide to Jimi Hendrix documents all dimensions of this one-of-a-kind musical genius.

Compiles career biographies of over 1,200 artists and rock music reviews written by fans covering every phase of rock from R & B through punk and rap.

From cosmopolitan Paris to the sunny Cote d'Azur, from historical Normandy to the rocky Pyrenes, this new edition updates the best of towns, attractions, and landscapes of every region. 100 maps. of color photos.

Rock legends Led Zeppelin remain a colossal music force with songs at once mystical, heavy, traditional and highly original. The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin tells the story of the life and afterlife of this most extraordinary supergroup. Features include: The Story: from the first meeting of Plant and Page to the untimely death of John Bonham, detailing the magic, mayhem and excesses of the era. The Music: the band’s fifty best songs unpicked, plus coverage of blues influences, bootlegs, solo careers, and the best Jimmy Page guitar solos and most outstanding Robert Plant vocals. The Passengers: profiles of collaborators and colleagues including Roy Harper and Mickie Most. The Cargo: Zeppelin films, places, myths and memorabilia, books, websites and the afterlife of “Stairway to Heaven.” It’s a whole lotta Zep...

At a crossroads in the Mississippi Delta, Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the Devil so that he could become a guitar virtuoso and King of the Delta Blues. Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues will tell you where that legendary deal was supposed to have been made and guide you to all the other hallowed grounds that nourished Mississippi's signature music. Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Memphis Minnie, Jimmie Rodgers, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, Little Milton, Elvis Presley, Bobby Rush, Junior Kimbrough, R. L. Burnside-the list of great artists with Mississippi connections goes on and on. A trip through Mississippi blues sites is a pilgrimage every music lover ought to make at least once in a lifetime, to see the juke joints and churches, to visit the birthplaces and graves of blues greats, to walk down the dusty roads and over the levee, to eat some barbecue and greens, to sit on the bank of the Mississippi River, and to hear some down-home blues music. Blues Traveling is the first and only guidebook to Mississippi's musical places and blues history. With photographs, maps, easy-to-follow directions, and an informative, entertaining text, this book will lead you in and out of Clarksdale, Greenwood, Helena (Arkansas), Rolling Fork, Jackson, Natchez, Bentonia, Rosedale, Itta Bena, and dozens of other locales that generations of blues musicians have lived in, traveled through, and sung about. Stories, legends, and lyrics are woven into the text so that each backroad and barroom comes alive. Touring Mississippi with Blues Traveling is like having a knowledgeable and entertaining guide at your side. Even people with no immediate plans to visit Mississippi will enjoy reading the book for its photos, descriptions, and lore that will broaden their understanding and enhance their appreciation of the blues. Steve Cheseborough is an independent scholar and blues musician. His work has been published in Living Blues, Blues Access, Mississippi, and the Southern Register .

The Rough Guide to the USA is the most comprehensive and colourful guide to the fifty states available. There are lively accounts of every region and attraction from the bright lights of Broadway to the vast open plains of Wyoming. The guide gives refreshingly opinionated reviews of the established sights and landmarks as well as uncovering many of the lesser-known gems, allowing the visitor to make the most of their trip. There are feature boxes that provide information on a variety of subjects from the Delta blues to the geology of the Grand Canyon. There are also maps and plans to help you navigate around the major attractions, inner city streets or interstates